Title:
Doctor Who: Season Two
Episodes:
“Christmas Invasion”, “New Earth”, “Tooth And Claw”
Stars:
David Tennant, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, and Noel Clarke
Guest
Stars: Zoe Wanamaker Penelope Wilton, and Pauline Collins
Writer:
Russel T. Davies
Directors:
James Hawes and Euros Lyn
Executive
Producers: Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner
“Christmas
Invasion/New Earth” Running Time: 150 minutes with commercials
“Tooth
And Claw” Running Time: 60 minutes with commercials
Media:
SCI FI Channel Second Season Premiere Episodes (NTSC DVD Screener)
“Christmas
Invasion/New Earth” Premiere: Friday,
September 29, 2006, at 8pm (ET/PT)
“Tooth
And Claw” Premiere: Friday, October 6, 2006, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Network:
SCI FI Channel (Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV
Rating: Not Available At The Time Of Review
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, 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 the 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
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. 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 begin an
invasion of Earth.
The
second episode, which will air back to back with the 90 minute “Christmas
Invasion” premiere has 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. The third episode, which will air in the normal SCI FI Friday timeslot
of 8pm (ET/PT) entitled “Tooth And Claw,” has The Doctor and Rose protecting
Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) from an alien lycanthrope.
While the
ninth Doctor 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. Familiar faces of friends
from the classic series reprise their roles in season 2 as well as fan favorite
villains too. I must confess that I have seen season 2 or series 2 as it is
referred to in the U.K. 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 season is better than the first season and beautifully enriches and
resolves storylines and character arcs that began in the first season with
bittersweet moments and unforgettable drama.
By the
time the holidays role around, both American and British viewers of Doctor
Who will be caught up for season 3, which is already in production and
hopefully will air on SCI FI concurrently while it airs on the BBC in England.
The second series also lays a foundation for a spin-off series called Torchwood
that I hope SCI FI will air here and perhaps concurrently with the BBC broadcast
pattern too. With the new Doctor Who and the reimagined Battlestar
Galactica airing back to back this fall, I think this will be the best SCI
FI Friday lineup yet! The second season of Doctor Who premieres on SCI FI
with two back-to-back episodes beginning at 8pm (ET/PT) and 9:30pm (ET/PT)
respectively on September 29, 2006. Then regular episodes will air on Fridays
thereafter this fall at 8pm (ET/PT). Treat yourself this autumn and watch both
shows on SCI FI!
©
Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.