TV Review: Doctor Who S2

After its revamp in 2005, ‘New Who’ had taken the UK by storm and David Tennant’s portrayal of the Tenth Doctor made him a household name when he starred alongside Billie Piper in 2006. Series Two of Doctor Who was Tennant’s first series and Piper’s last – but is regarded as one of the best ever made.

Masterminds Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner created a series that covered most of time and space as the Doctor and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) visited New Earth, the 2012 Olympics, the Queen’s coronation and, of course, Bad Wolf Bay. Davies hired a number of different writers to contribute to the series, including BBC Sherlock writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat.

School Reunion, The Rise of the Cybermen, Fear Her and The Impossible Planet are perhaps some of the best episodes on series two to name but a few. But Tennant and Piper’s acting was really put to the test during the two-part finale where Rose and the Doctor parted ways. Army of Ghosts and Doomsday are two hours of sci-fi that are impossible to watch dry-eyed. The Doctor’s heart is broken and so is Rose’s – and it gets worse when he admits he’s “burning up a sun just to say goodbye”.

While there may have been some tragic times in series two, there were some fantastic ones too. Watching the Tenth Doctor and Rose bond with each other is something that generations to come will continue to marvel at and fall in love with – they will always be Who‘s greatest love story. Moreover, the writing in series two trumps any other series of Doctor Who ever made.

Steven Moffat’s often depressive Twelfth Doctor and his half-developed Eleventh will never be any match to the energetic, loving and compassionate Tenth who taught my generation all we need to know about war, self-belief and love in just thirteen episodes of a lost man travelling in his blue box.