DVD
Review: Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series
Reviewed
by Craig Byrne
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Anyone
who has been reading KryptonSite for years knows there are two
TV series that I constantly, and often annoyingly, make reference
to. One is The Dukes of Hazzard, which featured one of
Smallville's own in John Schneider. The other show has
very little to do with Smallville, and isn't even produced
in the same country, and that program is a U.K.-originated BBC
series called Doctor Who. The second season of the new
incarnation of Doctor Who hits stores on January 16.
Doctor
Who,
in a nutshell, is about an eccentric alien who travels through
time and space in something that resembles a blue police box,
usually accompanied by an attracrive female companion, and sometimes
even more than one companion at a time. That's really the main
gist of what you need to know.
Contrary
to what Stargate fans will try to have you believe, Doctor
Who is the longest-running science fiction TV series of
all time. The show ran from 1963-1989 and then ended after a
whopping 26 seasons. The concept was revived for a 1996 TV movie
that was co-produced with Universal and aired on FOX in the
U.S.; sadly at the time, FOX decided not to go any further with
it. The show's unique and large fandom, now including industry
professionals in their own right, kept Doctor Who alive
in the intervening years with a wide range of bonus material
including audio adventures and a series of books.
In
March 2005, Doctor
Who returned
to TV screens, even though those of us in the United States
had to wait a bit longer for the SciFi Channel to begin airing
it. The Doctor in this new incarnation was played by the fantastic
Christopher
Eccleston. Sadly, Eccleston bowed out after only one season.
One of the qualities of Doctor Who that helps the series endure
is that the appearance and demeanor of The Doctor can change
or "regenerate;" in this case, (SPOILER WARNING!)
at the end of the first season, Eccleston was out and regenerated
into David Tennant.
Tennant,
a rising star in the U.K., might be most familiar to American
audiences for playing Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and
the Goblet of Fire. A life-long Who fan, taking on the role
of The Doctor was a dream come true. Assisting Tennant as his
companion, returning from the previous year, is Billie Piper.
Piper was a very successful pop star in her younger years -
sort of a British equivalent to Britney Spears, complete with
the tabloid attention.
This
new version of Who is executive produced by a popular and prolific
writer named Russell T. Davies. Aside from Doctor Who
(of which he was also a big fan), Davies is probably associated
the most with creating the original British incarnation of Queer
As Folk. More on him in a bit. You're probably wondering
where the DVD review comes in, so here it is:
Packaging/Design:
This is the first thing I noticed, and unfortunately, the first
thing I can complain about. The box set comes with an outer
cover much like the First Series set did. The only problem is,
I don't remember the First Series cover being so darned tight!
Not only was it damaged when I received it, but it seems impossible
to slide the outer cover back on. Which is a real shame.
There's
a lenticular TARDIS on the front cover. It looks beautiful,
but I don't know, I would almost rather have a cheaper cover
than to have to pay the expected $69.99-$99.98 for 14 episodes
that this is supposed to sell for.
U.K.
fans should note that their
version of Series Two comes with a collectible Cyberman head
cover. Put it next to your Cylon and have a fight. And then
switch President Roslin and Sarah Jane Smith and see if anyone
notices!
The
packaging interior is all right, but the design isn't as cool
as the TARDIS interior from the first series set.
Six
discs are within. Five containing episodes and one containing
Doctor Who Confidential and other extras. Unfortunately,
they do that "overlapping disc" thing that I hate
so much, but there's no use in complaining since they're going
to keep doing it.
There's
a very cool, well designed booklet detailing what is on each
disc.
The
Episodes: Doctor Who: The Complete Second Season
(or "Series," you're free to call it what you want.
Some even call it Season 28) starts off on a very high note
with a "Children in Need" mini-episode that features
the newly-generated Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose. It leads
directly into Tennant's first full episode, "The Christmas
Invasion," which is also one of his best outings. My hopes
for this new Doctor were very high at first glance.
Tennant
does a very good job of embodying what one would expect from
The Doctor. He's a bit sillier and more whimsical than Christopher
Eccleston had been. And, you can tell he loves his job - which
gets bonus points. But, there are some negatives to this as
well.
Following
"The Christmas Invasion" we get "New Earth,"
which might be one of the weakest episodes on the set. It featured
the because-no-one-demanded-it return of Cassandra (from "The
End of the World"), and unfortunately, it had bits that
were derivative of an episode of Smallville. Even worse, it
was derivative of a BAD episode of Smallville as Rose and Cassandra
swapped bodies, Dawn-Stiles-in-"Spirit" style. Sad
thing is, no one was around to announce "The crown's mine,
bitch!"
"Tooth
and Claw" was merely okay but the Tenth Doctor and Rose's
private jokes and flirtation are starting to get annoying to
me already. I should point out that I'm not a "shipper,"
never have been when it came to The Doctor and his companions.
It's just too much familiarity, but I'm glad this issue is touched
on (and brilliantly) in the very next episode. One high point
of "Tooth and Claw," beyond Pauline Collins' turn
as Queen Victoria, is that there is a reference to one of the
Doctor's 1960's companion characters, which made me happy. Unfortunately,
all happiness for "Tooth and Claw" was killed by a
pointlessly-added Torchwood reference at the end.
"School
Reunion" is the episode of new Doctor Who that I can watch
over and over again, and it was the first that I watched with
commentary upon getting my set. The episode features the return
of beloved 1970s companion Sarah Jane Smith, played by the still-stunning
Elisabeth Sladen. As the character of Mickey pointed out in
the episode, Sarah's return was for the Doctor something like
the new girlfriend meeting the ex-wife. "School Reunion"
featured a guest appearance by Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anthony
Stewart Head, and also featured the welcome return of John Leeson
as K-9.
"School
Reunion" also succeeded in finally making me like the Mickey
Smith character. When Mickey first appeared in the first season,
many of his scenes (aside from those in "Boom Town")
made me cringe. Noel Clarke really came into his own, and the
writers managed to turn this cowardly character into a hero
that you could get behind. These themes come up later in the
season as well, as he becomes an actual companion for The Doctor
and Rose. Though, at the end of "School Reunion,"
the Smith I wanted to see on board again was Sarah. Lis Sladen
was wonderful, and it was so great to see K-9 again.
The
fifth episode on the set, "The Girl in the Fireplace,"
features David Tennant's real-life love, Sophia Myles, as Madame
du Pompadour. While I couldn't stand the Doctor/Rose flirtation,
I was a Doctor/Reinette fan all the way. Why couldn't she have
come along in the TARDIS? This episode is written by Steven
Moffatt, creator of the excellent Coupling and writer
of two of new Who's best in Season One.
Doctor
Who foes the Cybermen make their long-awiated return in a 2-parter
at mid-season; unfortunately, even though the alternate-world
concept is fun and the new Cybermen designs are nice, it doesn't
come close to the way "Dalek" made me feel the first
year. I think one problem I'm having by this point is serious
Rose fatigue. Billie Piper is doing a great job and I think
it was the intention to have Rose become annoying; however,
I am starting to tire of the entire universe revolving around
her all the time... or universes, in this case.
"The
Idiot's Lantern" by Mark Gatiss follows, and I seemed to
like that one more than most others did; though I was disappointed
that there was no joke about the Doctor and transmitter towers.
Next, we finally see The Doctor on an alien planet in the "Impossible
Planet/Satan Pit" 2-parter which might be as close to classic
Who as you're going to get. I hope we get to see more alien
planets in the show's future.
And
at that point, we take a big dip downhill. "Love &
Monsters" is a huge waste of time and I might go so far
as to say you should skip it. "Fear Her," by Life
On Mars creator Matthew Graham, also suffers from a problem
I have with new Who, Tennant's era in particular: It is played
like a children's show.
I
understand that Doctor Who is a show intended for all audiences,
including children. But I don't understand the need to dumb
things down or give us stories involving children or childish
and campy situations for the sake of getting the kiddies to
watch. But you know what? Even the Kandyman of yore was less
camp than the Absorbaloff. It's really frustrating. Russell
T. Davies seems to like doing this childish camp, which is disappointing
because as a writer I know he is capable of doing so much more.
Tennant,
of course, plays the role as it is written, which is a role
that children, especially, would enjoy. But, sometimes I was
very nostalgic for the gruff, somewhat impatient take on the
character as played by Christopher Eccleston. It's almost as
though Tennant's Doctor was being a bit too NICE.
Thankfully,
Season Two ends on a high note. "Army of Ghosts" and
"Doomsday" bring back some of the Doctor's best foes
and you'd be hard-pressed not to have a tear in your eye by
season's end. Creator Davies takes a cue from a lot of American
TV, including Smallville, in creating, again, a riveting
season finale. (Just why oh why did Catherine Tate have to stink
it up and turn a perfectly emotional ending into camp?)
The
Extras: There are commentaries on every episode, including
multiple episodes with David Tennant (The Doctor). The biggest
highlight here is VIDEO commentary on the season finale, "Doomsday,"
with Tennant and Billie Piper. There are some deleted scenes
(some fun, others boring), and some outtakes which include some
Cybermen frolicking in the park with K-9. There is also a disc
full of Doctor Who Confidential Cut-Down, which is cool,
but I really do like the versions that I'd seen from the TV,
where we see clips from the classic series as well. There are
video diaries from Tennant and Piper that are so long I haven't
even begun to take a look yet.
Video
Quality: Doctor Who looks AMAZING on DVD. It's beautiful.
I can't say a single bad word about it. It's just that good.
The
Final Verdict: I think I liked the first
season better, but I still would recommend Doctor Who over
most other scifi TV of today. As I said in my review, some episodes
are better than others, and a lot of people seem to really love
David Tennant's charming take on The Doctor.
I'd
have to take away serious points for the outer cover thing,
and also for the really high price which I feel might scare
off potential buyers of this excellent set. With those things
considered, I give Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series
a 3 out of 5. Fix some of the packaging issues, and produce
14 good episodes out of 14, promise me nothing like "Love
& Monsters" ever again, and then we'll talk.
Click
here to order your copy of Doctor Who: The Complete Second
Series and support KryptonSite!
Fans
who enjoy the second season of Doctor Who may also want to check
out J. Shaun Lyon's excellent book Second
Flight: Back To The Vortex 2. It's a great read
and features some great analysis of the second year.
Visit
the official Doctor Who DVD site
