Doctor Who (2005) 2-07: The Idiot's Lantern (Quick Review)

Episode:

717

|

Serial:

173

|

Writer:

Mark Gatiss

|

Director:

Euros Lyn

|

Air Date:

27-May-2006

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the 20th anniversary of The Idiot's Lantern, an episode from Doctor Who's second series.

It was directed by Euros Lyn, who had already done a few episodes this season and would be back to do more, but it was writer Mark Gatiss' only script for this series.

In fact it was Gatiss' last script for the whole Russell T Davies era. He did series 1's The Unquiet Dead, then this, and then he was done until Steven Moffatt took over the show. Though he did cross over to the other side of the camera in series 3's The Lazarus Experiment, making him one of the few Doctor Who writers to also be a guest star. In fact I think at this point there may have only been one name on the list, Glyn Jones, who wrote The Space Museum for the First Doctor and then appeared in Fourth Doctor story The Sontaran Experiment.

Okay, I'll be going through the episode quicker than usual, but there'll still be plenty of SPOILERS. Only for this and earlier stories though, nothing that comes later.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-06: The Age of Steel (Quick Review)

Episode:

716

|

Serial:

172

|

Writer:

Tom MacRae

|

Director:

Graeme Harper

|

Air Date:

20-May-2006

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the second part of Doctor Who's Rise of the Cybermen two-parter, The Age of Steel. So they're continuing series 1's approach of giving each part its own title.

The episode was written by Tom MacRae and directed by Graeme Harper, just like the previous one. Some series, like Star Trek, tend to get a different writer and director for every chapter, but Doctor Who treats its two-parters like they're a single story.

I hope you've seen this one already, as there will be SPOILERS below. For this and also the Third Doctor serial Inferno. Though I won't say a thing to ruin anything from the next 20 years of episodes.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-05: Rise of the Cybermen (Quick Review)

Episode:

715

|

Serial:

172

|

Writer:

Tom MacRae

|

Director:

Graeme Harper

|

Air Date:

13-May-2006

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's been exactly 20 years since they aired Rise of the Cybermen! It was actually a bit of an anniversary story, as it came along approximately 40 years after the Cybermen's debut. Which means that The Tenth Planet turns 60 this year!

Some titles leave you guessing what to expect, but this one's not hiding that it's the reintroduction of a classic villain. It's like series 1's Dalek in that way... plus both episodes came at the same point in the season, and they're both inspired by existing stories. In this case it was based on the Big Finish audio drama Spare Parts, by Marc Platt, and once again I haven't heard it. I need to try listening to one of these audio dramas already.

This was the first Doctor Who story to be written by Tom MacRae and he didn't write many more. His next was the Eleventh Doctor episode The Girl Who Waited, and that was pretty much it. He had been commissioned to write another David Tennant episode but it was cancelled.

Director Graeme Harper had a lot more history with the series, as the guy started in the Tom Baker era, directing parts of Warriors' Gate after Paul Joyce was too much of a renegade. The story felt unusually modern for its era and Harper brought a similar energy to his first full serial: the legendary Fifth Doctor story The Caves of Androzani. He also directed Revelation of the Daleks, which is widely regarded as being 'pretty decent for a Sixth Doctor serial'.

Harper took a 20 year break from the show, mostly because they stopped making it, but with this he became the first and only director to have directed episodes of both the classic and modern eras. He's basically the Jonathan Frakes of Doctor Who.

There will be SPOILERS below, but only up to 13th May 2006. I won't even spoil part 2.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-04: The Girl in the Fireplace

Episode:

714

|

Serial:

171

|

Writer:

Steven Moffat

|

Director:

Euros Lyn

|

Air Date:

06-May-2006

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the Hugo Award-winning The Girl in the Fireplace, by Steven Moffat, the guy who wrote the Hugo Award-winning The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances last season. This 'winning Hugo Awards' thing developed into a habit for him, so that must have given Doctor Who's credibility a bit of a boost.

The episode was directed by Euros Lyn, the guy who'd just done Tooth and Claw. The poor guy didn't have much luck this season, as by the end he'd directed three of the least loved stories, but at least he got this to make up for it.

I'll be going through the episode scene by scene, so there will be lots of SPOILERS. But only for this, not any future episodes.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-03: School Reunion

Episode:

713

|

Serial:

170

|

Writer:

Toby Whithouse

|

Director:

James Hawes

|

Air Date:

29-Apr-2006

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the 20th anniversary of the Tenth Doctor story School Reunion!

It was written by illustrator-turned-actor-turned writer Toby Whithouse, who'd go on to write another seven episodes for the series. He also turned back into an actor and played a German soldier, though that's in a later story. When he's not writing Doctor Who the guy creates TV series, including the UK version of supernatural comedy-drama Being Human.

The director this time was James Hawes, who'd already proven his skill with episodes like The Empty Child and The Christmas Invasion. This was his last episode however, he was busy on other shows. I don't actually know why directors tend to work on a bunch of episodes for a series and then never come back, maybe he just got too expensive.

Anyway, I'll be going through every scene of the episode, so beware of SPOILERS. I may even spoil elements of classic Doctor Who episodes from ancient times, but nothing from later stories.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-02: Tooth and Claw (Quick Review)

Episode:

712

|

Serial:

169

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Euros Lyn

|

Air Date:

22-Apr-2006

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the 22nd April 2026, making this the anniversary of Tooth and Claw, the second episode of Doctor Who's second series. The second second series, from 2006, not the one with William Hartnell from 1964 or the one with Ncuti Gatwa from 2025.

Though it's the third episode so far to be directed by Euros Lyn, one of the most prolific directors of the first Russell T Davies era. His episodes are all over the place in quality, but when he was paired up with writer Steven Moffat he produced some gold. Unfortunately this isn't a Moffat story, it's actually the sixth episode in a row to be written by RTD himself. It wasn't really meant to be, but he had to step in and get the job done when the original writer went rogue and wrote something they couldn't use.

I usually go through a whole episode scene by scene, but we're both busy people so I'm going with a shorter review format this time. With SPOILERS. Though I won't be spoiling anything that happens later in the series, so if you're watching the show for the first time you've got nothing to worry about from me.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-01: New Earth

Episode:

711

|

Serial:

168

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

James Hawes

|

Air Date:

15-Apr-2006

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm still writing about Doctor Who, even though I probably shouldn't.

I was supposed to be focusing on my poor neglected Super Adventures site this year! I was going to give it some proper attention and play lots of long, complicated Dungeons & Dragons RPGs.

But when I covered the Doctor Who revival's first series for its 20th anniversary I knew I'd be tempted to come back to it a year later for series 2. That's exactly the kind of thing I'd do. So here I am on the 15th April 2026, writing about a story that aired exactly two decades earlier: it's the first proper episode of the David Tennant era, New Earth!

(If you want to go back even further, you can find a list of my reviews for series 1 and The Christmas Invasion by clicking THIS LINK).

New Earth was written by showrunner Russell T Davies himself, in fact it was his fifth episode in a row and he's got one more coming after this before he takes a break. Director James Hawes is back as well, after directing the actual first story in the Tennant era, The Christmas Invasion. He also did the Empty Child / Doctor Dances two-parter last year, so he seems like safe hands.

This isn't my first time watching the episode, but it may be yours so be aware that this review is going to have all of the SPOILERS. Seriously, I'll be going through it scene by scene, with pictures. I won't be spoiling anything that comes after it though, so this will be safe for first time viewers.