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Title:
Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series: 6-Disc Set
Region:
One
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy Adventure Series
Episodes Disc One: The Christmas
Invasion, New Earth
Episodes Disc Two: Tooth And Claw,
School Reunion, The Girl In The Fireplace
Episodes Disc Three: Rise Of The
Cybermen, The Age Of Steel, The Idiot’s Lantern
Episodes Disc Four: The Impossible
Planet, The Satan Pit, Love & Monsters
Episodes Disc Five: Fear Her, Army Of Ghosts, Doomsday
Stars: David Tennant, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, and Noel Clarke
Guest Stars: Elisabeth Sladen, John Leeson, Zoe Wanamaker Penelope Wilton, Anthony Head, Silas Carson, Pauline Collins, Shaun Dingwall, Roger Lloyd Pack, Maureen Lipman, Will Thorp, Marc Warren, Shirley Henderson, Simon Greenall, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Danny Webb, Paul Kasey, Nicholas Briggs, and Catherine Tate
Writers: Russel T. Davies, Toby Whithouse, Steven Moffat, Tom MacRae, Mark Gatiss, Matt Jones, and Mathew Graham
Directors: James Hawes Euros Lyn, Graeme Harper, James Strong, and Dan Zeff
Executive
Producers: Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
Feature
Length: 646 minutes
Extras: Doctor Who Confidential, David Tenant’s Video Diaries, Billie Piper’s Video Diaries, In-Vision Commentary, Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Children In Need Special
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Chapter
Stops: 12 Per Episode
Packaging:
Six-Disc Digipack Gatefold With A Holographic Cover Within A Clear Superimposing
Plastic Sleeve
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year Of
American Television Broadcast 2006/Year Of American DVD Release: 2007
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
In addition to the new Battlestar Galactica, the new Doctor Who is among the best-revitalized sci-fi series of the decade. Unlike Battlestar Galactica, Writer and Producer Russel T Davies’ renewed Doctor Who is actually a continuation of the classic series, which ran uninterrupted from 1963 to 1989 and then briefly appeared in 1996 for a TV movie before returning with brand new television episodes in 2005. Doctor Who is the oldest continuing sci-fi franchises on television with a fan following worldwide that rivals the second oldest television sci-fi series franchise, Star Trek. When we last saw The Doctor (David Tennant), he had absorbed the energy Rose (Billie Piper) had taken in from the TARDS to save the Earth in the future from the Daleks. This forced him to regenerate into the Tenth Doctor, which basically is a new human like form for a Time Lord. Physically the regenerated Time Lord looks different and may even have a few new eccentricities, but he retains the knowledge, memories, and emotions from all of his or her previous incarnations. Thus a Time Lord’s naturally long life span can be greatly extended by thousands of years and perhaps even indefinitely. So though The Doctor may look like a human being on the outside, internally he is not a human being. Unfortunately assimilating the energy he took from Rose to save her life complicated the Doctor’s regeneration and as a result he is disoriented and ultimately falls down unconscious when the TARDIS materializes on Earth. The residue of the Doctor’s regeneration has attracted some dangerous masquerading alien entities that spell trouble for Rose, her mother (Camille Coduri), and her boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke), who must revive the Doctor as another threat arises, the alien Sycorax have begun an invasion of Earth.
Following
“The Christmas Invasion” special, which aired in the UK in 2005 and
premiered in America on the SCI FI Channel in September of 2006, the second
series begins with the Tenth Doctor and Rose arriving on New Earth far into the
future where they discover a hospital run my a feline sisterhood with an
appalling secret behind their miracle cures as well as the return of a season
one arch enemy, the paper-thin Cassandra (Zoe Wanamaker), who is out for
revenge. Other noteworthy episodes include “Tooth And Claw,” which has The
Doctor and Rose protecting Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) from an alien
lycanthrope. This is followed by “School Reunion,” which reunites former
Third and Fourth Doctor traveling companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)
and the robot K-9 with the Doctor and features a villainous performance by Buffy
The Vampire Slayer alumni Anthony Head. The standout two-part episodes that
more or less define the second series include the rather self-explanatory
“Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel” storyline as well as the Lovecraft
inspired “The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit” and these directly and
indirectly wrap up story arcs in both series one and series two with finale
episodes “Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday.” Other noteworthy second series episodes
include “The Girl In The Fireplace”, “Love & Monsters”, and “Fear
Her.”
The
two-part second series finale features a clash between the Cybermen and the
Daleks that is all too short, but relentlessly paced. The original Cybermen came
from an Earth twin planet called Mondas in the classic series, but these
Cybermen are from a parallel universe and unfortunately they just don’t have
what it takes to give the Daleks any real competition. It would have been cool
to see the Cybermen kill some Daleks, but it just never happens in this episode.
There is a quick scene though that no doubt will enable another appearance in
the future series. My only warning to Mr. Davies is as much as we all love
hating the Daleks and watching the Doctor defeat them, if you use them every
single year, they will lose their mystique. Personally I’d like to see the
Sontarans, but what do I know, I’m an American writer/reviewer and fan and any
important decisions related to Doctor Who should always be made by the
British fans and producers lest we have another maligned 1996 Doctor Who
TV movie. Davies is one of the best writers and producers working in television
today and so far the new Doctor Who is great though at times a little too
derivative for it’s own good.
While the Ninth
Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston is a tough act to follow and easily
belongs up there with Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee as fan favorite incarnations of
The Doctor, David Tennant slips into his role as the Tenth Doctor rather
smoothly and wins the viewer over quickly too. The storylines at times might
seem reminiscent of other sci-fi shows and films, but the truth is that much of
what we as American audiences view as being original has been directly or
indirectly inspired by over forty years of Doctor Who. I must confess
that I have seen series two before it ever aired in America because of a fellow
fan and colleague has kept me up to date, but this also gives me an added
advantage to say that in many ways the second series is better than the first
and beautifully enriches and resolves storylines and character arcs that began
in the first series with bittersweet moments and unforgettable drama. They
clearly belong together as two halves of a larger story.
In the U.K., British viewers have
already seen the latest Christmas special “The Runaway Bride” as well as a
TV special featuring the character of Sarah Jane Smith and a spin-off series
entitled Torchwood, which is an anagram for Doctor Who that has
already finished it’s first series with a direct tie-in to the upcoming third
series of Doctor Who, which will premiere in the U.K. in the Spring of
2007 and on the SCI FI Channel in the States in the Fall of 2007. Series one has
already aired here on the SCI FI Channel and is available on DVD in both a
complete series set and individual volumes. Series one is now running on BBC
America too. Hopefully SCI FI or BBC America will air all of the Doctor Who
related shows in the States, including Torchwood, which features more
adult oriented plotlines and themes than one may have seen on Doctor Who.
These episodes look fantastic in 16
by 9 enhanced widescreen and absolutely gorgeous when upconverted to 1080i on
the Toshiba HD DVD player HD-XA1. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack has a very high fidelity, but in some ways it can seem a little too
loud so you might want to adjust the volume on your home theater receiver
accordingly. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired are also
encoded onto the discs as an option for both the episodes and extra value
material where available. Including “The Christmas Invasion,” all 14 series
two episodes feature episode length audio commentaries. There are also
picture-in-picture style In-Vision commentaries that enable the user to see as
well as hear the speakers in a little frame on the lower right hand corner. The
participants include Russel T. Davies, Julie Gardner, and Phil Collinson on
“The Christmas Invasion”, David Tennant, Sophia Myles, and Phil Collinson on
“The Girl In The Fireplace”, Graeme Harper, Nick Briggs, and Paul Kasey on
“The Age Of Steel”, David Tennant, Will Cohen, and Shaun Parkes on “The
Impossible Planet”, and David Tennant and Billie Piper enjoying themselves as
they watch the second series finale “Doomsday.” Within the packaging, which
feature holographic TARDIS spinning through the vortex there is a beautiful
ten-page full color series two episode guide complete with an essay by series
Executive Producer Julie Gardner, amazing panoramic photos from the episodes as
well as detailed chapter stop information and episode storylines and details on
the extra value features on each of the six discs within the set. The artwork on
the disc surfaces feature a Sycorax, K-9, a Cyberman, an Ood, a Dalek, and The
Tenth Doctor with Rose. The inside gatefold artwork shows the parallel Earth
with the gathering Cybermen marching in line while dirigibles fly through the
air.
Discs one and six have the majority
of the extra value material that includes a reel of 23 widescreen deleted scenes
(16:05), and a reel of widescreen outtakes (8:18), the Children In Need Doctor
Regeneration Scene (7:14) that takes place between the series one finale “The
Parting Of Ways” and “The Christmas Invasion” and this is presented in 16
by 9 widescreen with equal sound and picture quality to the episodes included on
the DVD set and there’s a short Billie Piper video diary (4:18) as well as a Doctor
Who: The Complete First Series: Five-Disc Set (: 31) and a BBC America
(1:02) TV spot too. Disc six includes David Tennant’s feature length video
diaries (1:25:13) and cut down versions of the Doctor Who confidential
episodes which feature behind the scenes footage and interviews for all 14 shows
that can be viewed individually or as one reel too. Sadly, the series two
TARDISODE teasers that can be viewed online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/
are not included within this DVD set. The menus are like the first season menus
with an three dimensional look within the control room of the TARDIS and while
the constant animation to get from one set of choices to another gets tiring,
overall the interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate. If this
DVD set were released before the start of this year hear in the States it would
easily make my top ten TV on DVD sets of 2006, but as it is now, it’s
definitely an early contender for 2007. Doctor Who: The Complete Second
Series: Six-Disc Set is available on Region One DVD now at retailers on and
offline courtesy of BBC-Video.
© Copyright 2007 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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