Doctor Who (2005): Series 2 Review

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm going to be looking back at the whole of Doctor Who series 2 (or 28, depending on where you start counting). I've already written about the individual episodes and now I want to see if I liked the season overall.

I've been covering Doctor Who way out of order, starting with Peter Capaldi, then eventually working my way around to the classic series before finally reaching David Tennant. But I'm here now, in Doctor Who (2005)'s golden age, so now I get to ask the question "But was it really that good though?" Was the Tenth Doctor and Rose's time in the TARDIS really the stuff of legends, or does this run look very dated 20 years later?

I can tell you right now that I still don't like that logo much. It looks like it should be mounted in front of a shop somewhere on the trendier side of a high street, not mucking about in the time vortex.

Okay, there are going to be SPOILERS here mostly for The Christmas Invasion up to Doomsday, though I may also mention something from an earlier story. I'll not be saying anything about The Runaway Bride, though you can probably assume from the title that it has a bride in it.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-13: Doomsday - Part 2

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, hi! Sorry, I wrote too many words again, so I decided to split my Doomsday review into two parts. Even though the episode is already the second half of a two-parter.

If you want to go back to part one, click HERE.

Alright, I will continue to write words under screencaps for basically every scene and there may even be SPOILERS for Classic Who stories too. I'll not say a thing about anything that happens afterwards though, even if it had been given away in a press release by this point.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-13: Doomsday - Part 1

Episode:

723

|

Serial:

177

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Graeme Harper

|

Air Date:

08-Jul-2006

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's another Russell T Davies Doctor Who finale, as I'm going to be watching Doomsday.

Actually, this will be a rewatch for me, so I already know where it's going. I can't make any wild theories about what could happen in it. Well, I could make some fake predictions as a joke, come up with something too absurd and implausible for anyone to take seriously, but I don't want to accidentally guess the plot of the 2026 Christmas special.

Hang on, people are saying that the Christmas special has been cancelled? Damn that's a relief! Uh... I mean, oh no!

I'll be going through this episode scene by scene, so if you want to avoid SPOILERS it would be a terrible idea to read any further. If you're looking for a recap though you're in luck! And I won't be spoiling anything that happens later in the series.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-12: Army of Ghosts

Episode:

722

|

Serial:

177

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Graeme Harper

|

Air Date:

01-Jul-2006

---

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's 1st July 2006, exactly 20 years after the first episode of Doctor Who's epic two-part series two finale, Army of Ghosts! So I thought it'd be a good time to write about it.

The episode was scripted by Russell T Davies and I could write a lot about him right now as well. But I won't. Graeme Harper is also a familiar name at this point, as he directed the big mid-season Cybermen two-parter. He didn't return to direct this though, as he never actually left - the two stories were filmed back to back. They could've given the poor guy a bit of a break!

This wasn't anything strange for the Doctor Who revival though, as it was standard procedure to shoot episodes out of order. In fact, it wasn't even unusual that there was an overlap and they were filming shots for both stories on some days! Compared to the old American sci-fi show production line where they'd get an episode done in 6-7 days and then move right onto the next, it seems like it was chaos.

Okay, I'll be going through the whole episode a scene at a time, so there will be SPOILERS. But I won't spoil anything that happens afterwards, even if I can remember it.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-11: Fear Her (Quick Review)

Episode:

721

|

Serial:

176

|

Writer:

Matthew Graham

|

Director:

Euros Lyn

|

Air Date:

24-Jun-2006

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the 24th of June 2026, the 20th anniversary of Fear Her. So now I'm writing about it.

It was the fourth and final episode of season 2 to be directed by Euros Lyn. If you sort the season by IMDb rating, three of those stories are down near the bottom and one is right at the top. This is not the one at the top. Lyn came back for the Christmas special and then disappeared for most of the RTD era, only returning for two more stories, which are often regarded as being 'bangers'.

This time the writer was Matthew Graham and it was his only story for the Tenth Doctor, though he did eventually come back for an Eleventh Doctor story. His episodes aren't generally considered to be top tier Doctor Who, though he's had some success outside of the series. He co-created Life on Mars and wrote half the episodes for instance. Then he came back to that universe and co-created Ashes to Ashes, writing six episodes of that.

Incidentally the main character of Life on Mars has the same last name as Rose Tyler, because the guy's daughter was a Doctor Who fan and suggested it.

Okay I need to cut the trivia short as I'm going to go through the episode more quickly than usual, instead of examining every scene. There'll still be SPOILERS though. I won't spoil anything from the next episode however, even though the trailer did.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-10: Love & Monsters (Quick Review)

Episode:

720

|

Serial:

175

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Dan Zeff

|

Air Date:

17-Jun-2006

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the 20th anniversary of Doctor Who series 2 episode 10: Love & Monsters!

Here's a pointless fact for you, Love & Monsters aired 448 days after Rose, the story that kicked off this era of Doctor Who.

Another fact: if you start at the air date of An Unearthly Child, the first episode of classic Doctor Who, and go forwards 448 days, you'll land on episode one of The Web Planet, my least favourite story of the whole show, possibly television in general. It's that one with the dancing moth people (I don't like it when the series gets too silly).

Has history repeated here? Is this the worst episode of the RTD era? You've probably made your own mind up about that already, but just in case you haven't seen this yet I'll warn you about SPOILERS. I won't spoil anything from the episodes that come after this, but I may talk about earlier stories if something gets referenced, or if I feel like going on a rant about The Web Planet.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-09: The Satan Pit

Episode:

719

|

Serial:

174

|

Writer:

Matt Jones

|

Director:

James Strong

|

Air Date:

10-Jun-2006

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the second half of the second two-parter of the second series of Doctor Who, The Satan Pit. Just in time for its 20th anniversary today.

Both parts were written by Matt Jones, and this turned out to be his only work for the series. On the plus side, this meant he never wrote a bad story. In fact if you average his IMDb scores he's one of the best writers Doctor Who ever had with 8.7! He's right up there with Paul Cornell (8.8), Steven Moffat (8.4), Phil Ford (8.2), Neil Gaiman (8.1) and Jamie Mathieson (8.0).

(If you're curious, Russell T Davies averages 7.7 for his Doctor Who episodes and Chris Chibnall has 6.4.)

Speaking of ratings, this episode apparently had the lowest viewer count of the Russell T Davies era, and wasn't beaten for 9 years, until The Witch's Familiar, when the series' ratings finally began falling for whatever reason. Other low points for viewing figures include: Bad Wolf, Blink and the Silence in the Library two-parter. Seriously.

I heard a pretty convincing explanation for why this happened though: they all aired around the same point in June, the same time that I'm publishing this in fact. So it was probably a really nice day outside.

Okay, there will be SPOILERS below, but nothing for later stories. In fact I can't even remember what episodes came after this! Hang on, I remember what they are now. Oh no.

Doctor Who (2005) 2-08: The Impossible Planet

Episode:

718

|

Serial:

174

|

Writer:

Matt Jones

|

Director:

James Strong

|

Air Date:

03-Jun-2006

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about another Doctor Who two-parter, starting with The Impossible Planet! They didn't give us much of a break after the Cybermen two-parter, all we got was The Idiot's Lantern and then they went right back into another epic story. I guess they wanted to get this out just before the 6th of the 6th, 2006. For... reasons.

The season's basically structured the same as last year though, and the series is going to continue giving us three two-parters a year (more or less) until a couple of seasons into Steven Moffat era. After that point they threw the idea of a regular format out the window, with some seasons having no two-parters, some being all two-parters, and one being a six parter! Honestly, it's very true to the original series, which was also all over the place.

Anyway, this is the first episode to be written by Matt Jones and also the first to be directed by James Strong. So next time I write about one of their episodes I can mention that they did this too. Though Matt Jones had written a Doctor Who novel, Bad Therapy, plus some articles for Doctor Who Magazine, so he wasn't completely new to the universe.

There will be SPOILERS below for the episode, but it's actually June 2006 for me right now so I can't give away anything that happens next. Just ignore all that stuff I just mentioned about future two-parters.

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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.