Hello there! I began watching 2005’s rebooted Doctor Who from the very first airing of the very first episode, at the impressionable age of nine years old. I’ve since rewatched various seasons at various times in my life, but with the arrival of season 11 and Jodie Whittaker I’ve decided to (perhaps belatedly) rewatch seasons 1-10, providing short reactions to each episode. I’ll make one post per season and, just a warning, mild spoilers are inbound. And just so we’re clear, I don’t consider the Doctor’s regeneration to be a spoiler, as it’s typically advertised to viewers well before the fact!
It’s time for Tenant, then! Possibly the most iconic of the New Who Doctors, David Tenant stuck around for three fantastic seasons and easily cemented himself as one of the greats. Personally, I remember being almost offended when Eccleston turned into this Richard Hammond lookalike (as I then considered him). Not my Doctor, I said. Oh, how wonderfully wrong I was.
Episode Christmas: The Christmas Invasion
Blimey, that’s a bit intimidating!
As much as I enjoyed Tenant, it originally took me a while to warm up to him, and this episode explains that a bit. When you’re introducing a character, typically you shouldn’t have them absent for most of the episode, and at 1000% for the rest of it. I don’t know, he just seems a little… off, this episode.
That being said, it was still a fun one. Tenant obviously grew into the role remarkably, and this episode saw a noticeable bump in production value that was sorely needed.
Episode 1: New Earth
Look! We’ve got a budget now!
To be honest, there’s not much to say about this episode. Pretty good all round story. There was some body swapping stuff that was well acted by all parties involved, very believable, and used as a vehicle to expose some inner monologue of Rose and the Doctor regarding one another post-regeneration. Clever, clever.
Episode 2: Tooth and Claw
Pictured: The Doctor and his timorous beastie.
One of the show’s many attempts to explain myth as being of alien origin. Wasn’t half bad, though. Although the Doctor and Rose do come across as slightly tone deaf in this episode. There is a lot of gruesome death followed by a lot of laughter. Bit rude.
Episode 3: School Reunion
If the Doctor was my science teacher, I might have gotten more than a C
Aw, I really liked this episode. The Doctor has to face the fact that his life has lasting repercussions for his ex-companions, plus Anthony Head makes a fantastic villain. I did notice however that the Krillitanes didn’t seem to have any specific motivation for what they were actually trying to accomplish, nor did what they were attempting seem feasible with the resources they had, even by Doctor Who standards. Besides that, though, I enjoyed every second.
Episode 4: The Girl in the Fireplace
More like the Weird Man in the Fireplace Plus Friends, from where I’m standing.
This episode was a bloody masterpiece. The imagination behind the premise and the villains was wonderfully unique, and this was the first time that the show really explored the possibility of multiple time travel trips inside an episode, and the repercussions of that. The soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous, too. The only problem is that big ol’ plot hole of the villains needing power and using much more power than they require to get to it. Ah, Doctor Who. Do you ever make sense under scrutiny?
Episode 5: Rise of the Cybermen
What divergence point in this universe led to… blimps?
I actually didn’t remember much about this double-parter, but parallel universes are my jam! The entire time I was watching this I was trying to pinpoint the divergence point in human history that domino-effected all the changes in this universe.
Oh, and the massively popular ear pods are hilariously prescient. I remember finding them unlikely on my first viewing as a kid, and yet now we all have smartphones which conduct many of the same functions that the ear pods did. If the Cybermen were invented for the first time today, we’d be calling them an on-the-nose commentary about being brainwashed by smartphones and social media. Hah!
Episode 6: The Age of Steel
Rose it’s fine! Suspension of disbelief, come on, you can do it!
And now we see the Cybermen in full force. I always loved their design from this era. Plus, it’s fun to see an apocalyptic style event played with outside of a finale. Parallel universes are nifty like that, eh? The end of this episode did go on for just a little too long, though. They looped Gold’s score three times. Three times!
Episode 7: The Idiot’s Lantern
Really pushing the boat out on these high budget sci-fi settings!
It’s like a writer’s room challenge was issued where whoever could think up the most British episode would win that episode slot for the season. 1950s Britain? Check. Queen’s Coronation? Check. The villain lives inside a telly? Check.
Speaking of the villain, I wasn’t entirely convinced. This was one of those episodes where the climax was so mixed up in sci-fi jargon that it was bordering on nonsensical. I’ve never really rated this episode, and this viewing has not changed my mind.
Episode 8: The Impossible Planet
They set the tone for this one quite early on
This is one of my favourite double-parters in all of Doctor Who. You’ve got a premise that’s extremely sci-fi and yet isn’t afraid to explore other avenues, a setting that’s one giant mystery and doubles as a ticking time bomb, and side characters that are actually charismatic and worth giving a damn about.
Episode 9: The Satan Pit
God damn I love this scene
Continuing with the strength of mystery from the previous episode, this one delves deeper into the idea of mythological possibility and manages to make you legitimately fear for the characters, without resulting in a rushed climax. A particular somebody’s means of escape does seem a little improbable when you consider things, but suspension of disbelief and all that.
Episode 10: Love and Monsters
Baby Groot did it better
I seriously debated skipping this episode. But then, what’s the point of rewatching a series with the intention of re-assessing past episodes if you skip the ones you don’t like? Even if it was worse than the Slitheen episodes.
Alright. Fine.
Love and Monsters was conceptually interesting. Revisiting the concept of those who get left behind as with the previous low budget episode, but this time focusing almost entirely on those characters. The result was quite dire, but uh…
Ah let’s just move on, there’s no redeeming Love and Monsters.
Episode 11: Fear Her
The Doctor and Rose travel to the distant future of… London 2012.
This whole episode was just… naff. I’m sorry, but from the underwhelming setting of near-future neighbourhood Britain, to the entire premise of the villain, it just landed like a bit of a wet fart. And fair play for trying to tackle the issue of an abusive father, but it felt somewhat half-baked when all was said and done. The scribble monster did screw with me, but that’s only because it plays on a personal and very niche fear of mine, that being the concept of encountering some kind of glitch in real life. Eech. Nope.
Oh, and that ominous line from the Doctor at the end. “There’s a storm coming.” Could that have been any more ham-fisted? There was literally no logical reason for him to suddenly come out with that. It was just INSERT FINALE FORESHADOWING HERE.
Episode 12: Army of Ghosts
Hi-jinks!
It’s always difficult to write about two-parters, as I’m forced to write about the merits of the first half of a story. Typically for me, that comes down to pacing, and the quality of the cliffhanger. Well, for Army of Ghosts I’d say it’s pretty great on both fronts. The episode does a neat job of respecting character relations and establishing premise and context, while the end of the episode takes a severe turn beyond what you were expecting and leaves you excited for more.
Spoilers ahead.
Episode 13: Doomsday
Bring back the hi-jinks…
So. If I’m giving this episode a critical review, I’d say things like there were some parts that didn’t entirely make sense, like the Cybermen forming an alliance with humans, or Pete’s Torchwood creating the parallel hopping devices, feasible or not. But that would be turning a blind eye to what this episode was really about: the end of the Doctor and Rose’s relationship.
And, yeah. It still gets me. That was cruel! To end a Will They Won’t They with a They Would But Lol is cruel enough, but to cut off that goodbye at the most important part? And Murray Gold’s brilliant score didn’t help at all! Not at all. Damn you all. I’m going to bed.
Summary
As a kid, I took this Doctor / companion relationship as being normal, because it was the only one I knew. It was only later that I found out that some people didn’t like Rose, as she reduced the show to a Will They Won’t They for the first two seasons. But you know what? She was fantastic. She had great character development throughout her seasons, and whatever you think of it, the romantic undertones between her and the Doctor really added severity to some situations, such as The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. Plus, personally, it was great for me to watch as a kid and relate to throughout my teenage years. In this rewatch, I’ve come to the conclusion that yeah, Rose is still one of my favourite companions.
Season 2 had some stinkers and some diamonds. For a series which advertised their ability to visit alien planets with their larger budget, there weren’t half a few too many terrestrial stories. That being said, it’s still probably one of my favourite series of the show, just because of that Tenant-Piper dynamic.
Now: Onwards, to Martha!
Perpetually Perturbed 