David Tennant

Three hour-long episodes with David Tennant returning as the 14th Doctor, and Catherine Tate as Donna. The first episode involves a crashed spaceship and a cuddly-looking alien called The Meep. The second has just the two main characters, abandoned in an almost empty spaceship at the edge of the universe. And the final episode involves a rather creepy puppet, John Logie Baird, and a character called The Toymaker, brilliantly portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris.

They are exciting, tense stories show more but I found them easier to follow than some of the earlier ones. The action is, at times, fast, but never incomprehensible. And there's a lot of extra dialogue and interaction going on, which lifts these above simple sci-fi adventures.

Lots of 'extra' features too, taking us behind the scenes and explaining how the more complex parts of each episode were done.

Definitely recommended.

Longer review here: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2024/06/doctor-who-60th-anniversary-specials... show less

We didn't watch the first two episodes on this DVD, either the first time we saw Series 2, or more recently. One of our sons had warned us that if we found cybermen scary, we would have nightmares from this two-part episode. I did read about them, and am sure they were well done. They tell the story where the Ood race are introduced - the gentle, servant-hearted aliens who appear in future episodes.

The third episode, 10th in series 2, is 'Love and Monsters'. It's quite light-hearted, with show more one or two scenes that made us smile. Rose's mother Jackie is involved, and the story is told by a young man called Elton who is filming a video in vlog format about his experiences. He and a group of four other people were involved in researching all they could about The Doctor, then they become quite close. And they're taken over by a very controlling man who - as is clear from the start - is not who he appears to be.

Very well made, and the main alien (apparently designed by a schoolboy for a competition) is bizarre enough not to be taken seriously, even though he's very dangerous.

The Doctor and Rose don't come into this episode as much as usual, but we enjoyed it anyway.

Longer review of the whole of series 2: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2024/12/doctor-who-series-2-david-tennant.ht... show less

Another excellent DVD with three episodes from Season Two:

Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel are a two-parter, and happily we allowed ourselves enough time to see them both in one sitting. I never did like the cybermen; it turns out that they're taking over a parallel universe where the Doctor and Rose have landed accidentally in a parallel London. The tardis has to recharge before they can leave. Rose finds that her father isn't just alive in this universe, but a big star. And he show more seems to have some connection with the big businessman who wants to 'upgrade' everyone into cyberpeople.

Oh, and Rose's boyfriend Micky, travelling in the tardis, is mistaken for his parallel person Ricky...

Quite chilling, but very well done and I liked the human interest part.

Episode 7 of the series, third on this DVD is 'the idiot's lantern', set in London (in the normal universe) in 1953. The Queen is about to be crowned and people are keen to get televisions. But some areas seem to have a huge number of tvs for the era. And there are bizarre disappearances, and something strange happening to people who watch TV...
Lighter than the Cybermen two-parter, and quite thought-provoking.

Longer review of the whole of series 2: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2024/12/doctor-who-series-2-david-tennant.ht... show less

Just two episodes on this DVD: 'The Christmas Invasion', which was broadcast as the 2005 Christmas Day special, and 'New Earth'. David Tennant is excellent as the tenth doctor, albeit in a coma for the first half of the first episode. He manages to channel some of the phrases and facial expressions of the ninth doctor before becoming his own character.

We hadn't seen these since 2012 and liked them very much. The Christmas Invasion has a scene that's terrifying to those of us with a phobia show more about heights, when hundreds of people are poised at the roof edge of high rise flats. That's all I had remembered from 12 years earlier.

Likewise with the second episode, I did remember nurses who were really human-sized cats, but nothing about the episode itself. So I'm very glad we saw them again. Best to see after the first series, as a few characters reappear, but each series stands alone.

Longer review of the whole of series 2: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2024/12/doctor-who-series-2-david-tennant.ht... show less