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The DOCTOR WHO Rewatch Project - Season Two
🕑 Added 2023-09-23 22:10:44 +0000 UTCHot take alert: I think this is the “worst” of the Davies seasons.
And it’s still pretty good! Especially with its powerful, well-earned ending (I mean wow wow wow). But it just hits some rocky spots along the way. But we’ll get into all that granular stuff in the episodic section (especially because there’s CERTAINLY the standout). But at its core, this season does a really great job with its central mission, which is introducing us to a brand new Doctor! With that let’s get right into it…
Tennant - Gosh, I love this man. For nearly two decades he’s been a source of constant joy, excellent performances, and somehow even better interviews (especially with his old pal Michael Sheen). But I’m pretty sure this show was my first proper introduction to him? (Honestly, all I remember about his Barty Crouch Jr. appearance in Harry Potter was that he kept sticking his tongue out like a weird snake). But I’m going to try to do my best to zoom past the nearly two decades of adoration to look back and remember what was so special about this debut. Because, to be fair, I remember the transition not being super smooth and it took me a little while to get used to him (we’ll touch more on this in the episode responses). But where Eccelston’s goofy side had that rubber-faced cartoon energy, there’s something more dry and stone-faced to his deliveries. Which is not to say that’s his persona! It’s just more in the moderate range. Like, there’s a way he’ll just quickly rattle off jokes like he doesn’t care if someone’s actually listening. But then there’s the moments he completely brightens up and unleashes this amazing, delighted, beautiful smile that just lights up a whole ass planet (like his face when he first sees Sarah Jane!). You believe how much he just absolutely finds these things delightful. And by the time you get to the fireworks of season two’s end, you see just how hearting an actor he can be, too. Speaking of which…
Rose, Part Two - What a beautiful little story, huh? And it’s one of those arcs that really sneaks up on you. Because they do such a good job of setting things up on the sly. Like, implicitly we understand that she thinks this is going to be her life forever. But the first plant is with the Sarah Jane Smith story setting the notion of how The Doctor moves on and replaces people. But it’s not done out of malice, just simple realities of being a person who lives on, which is something later told in microcosm in “The Girl In the Fireplace.” Then we get the alternative dimension world as the secret set-up. Then the final misdirect of her saying “this is how I died” before getting to the even more heartbreaking goodbye (again, we’ll tackle all that in the finale write-up!). But just to say, Rose’s two-season arc is really one of the best things that Doctor Who has ever done, and sets the standard for the seasons to follow.
On The Cybermen - Daleks are terrifying. Daleks are space nazis. Daleks being so powerful makes them great opponents to outthink. Thus, Daleks are wonderfully entertaining. And in comparison, I’ve always found The Cybermen to be an interesting curio? Like, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “oh, they’re a metaphor for the extremes of fascism and communism!” And I’ve always felt that was a weirdly reductive simplification of both leftism AND what’s going on with Cybermen. Like the Daleks, you’re stuck with the lovely, throwback goofy design, but I like that it remains effectively scary in terms of the idea of your body getting sliced and diced. As an extension of that, it is certainly the most emotionally affecting when it examines “the humanity within” the human body parts that remain… But for some reason I just never quite end up loving the overall stories as much? I don’t know, I look forward to this rewatch in terms of trying to come up with a good theory on why.
World Over-Building - It’s funny, back in 2005-2006 we were all hungry for the notion of world building and interlocking movies and shows, especially as the MCU was just dawning! But even way back then I was watching this show and was like “this feels like a lot?” But now on rewatch - maybe just feeling the fatigue of the over-bloated death knell of the MCU - Davies’ instinct to make Torchwood involved in EVERYTHING honestly bugs me a little. Not in some show crushing way. I just really dislike the feeling of having homework for the show you are trying to actively watch. And it certainly lacks a kind of elegance that I normally like in these kinds of stories. But even then, it’s not too bad. And I’m sure many adored it.
Now, with the general subjects covered, it’s best to dive into…
EPISODE RESPONSES
The Christmas Invasion - Here we have Tennant’s coming out party! It is one of those episode ideas that makes a lot of sense on paper: you put The Doctor out of commision to show how much you need the doctor! It’s a meta-confirmation of why we want this new Tennant fellow in the role! But the obvious problem is that it also, you know, takes the doctor out of commission for the episode. That can technically work if you have the characters running around with their own agency / stories, but soooo much of this episode is just, as the song goes, waiting ’n wishing ’n hoping ’n thinking n’ praying for him to wake up. But in true Whovian tradition, all's well that ends well. And the big moment where The Doctor / Tardis come back online is goosebump-inducing stuff. Especially because Tennant just gets to strut his stuff and show all his version of The Doctor’s cheeky affectations (along with a lame sword fight that’s still endearing). So as much as you end up waiting? The entrance is at least worth it.
New Earth - I really like this episode, but my only complaint is more of a meta seasonal structural complaint! Because everyone LOVES a body-switch episode, right? You get to watch the characters get to act out of character and have a blast. But the problem is that we haven’t really gotten to ESTABLISH Rose and Tennant’s whole interplay yet (we literally only get one scene). So they’re doing an inversion of something that isn’t even quite, you know, VERTED yet. So I just wish it came a little later in the season (even after the next one quite honestly). That being said, it’s still pretty endearing and we get to see the way each actor plays “Cassandra” in their own way. And again, it shows off the power of a good ending, specifically the way it gives Cassandra’s evil character just a little bit of humility - not in a way that redeems, but just shows what a moment of mercy can actually feel like - all before the cathartic end.
Tooth and Claw - See THIS ONE is the perfect establishing of Rose and Tennant’s interplay, specifically their little flirting, smiling, and nudging. They’re so damn good at feeling like they have their own little world (cue the Frances Ha speech). As for the episode, as neat as the fighting monks are in this story, the circumstances of the mystery are… fine? It’s kind of a hat on a hat and definitely spends a little too much time on the lore establishment / world building. But all is forgiven by the fact that Pauline Collins’ Queen Victoria performance is *EXCELLENT* And the little “we are not amused” running joke pays excellent dividends (especially when it turns tooserious). Plus the episode gets bonus points for it being the first time Tennant whips out his cute little reading glasses, which inherently adds 8 stars to any episode (based on a four star rating system).
School Reunion - So the first time I watched this I had no idea who Sarah Jane Smith was… so it would seem like quite the obstacle, no? Because you’re having an episode with a throwback to a big character from the past. But do you know what good writing does? It makes it so that you don’t have to know any of it. And it informs you elegantly along the way. So here we see two old friends not just reminisce over the past, but it’s brought to life through the conflict of another new story, well told. It’s just a delightful bit of business and full of warmth (even if I do wish good old Giles from Buffy got to have a little bit more fun). But you really feel the spirit of all things in this one. Even the last second “everyone lives!” gesture with K-9 ends up having a really poignant thematic point about the way the doctor replaces people over time. I really like this episode (even if it is yet another backdoor pilot / spin-off that will be taking up Davies’ brainspace).
The Girl In The Fireplace - And just like that, we get the first straight up masterpiece in the new run of Doctor Who. Don’t get me wrong, there are great episodes that have come before this one. But this is just one of those start-to-finish perfect bangers that cemented Moffat as the writer whose best work can take the show into the damn stratosphere. It’s kind of a perfect example of what makes the show so good, too. The way we see The Doctor’s one little visit to a spaceship overlaps with one woman’s whole life. And it is Madame de Pompadour no less! And gosh is Sophia Myles genuinely incredible in this. She, like a lot of Moffat heroines, is headstrong, witty, flirty, and good at solving problems (which makes me wish Myles got more of her due from Hollywood). But like so many of the best of Moffat’s episodes, it doesn’t just offer fun, surprising bits along in the adventure, it crests into something poignant and heartbreaking. Those last few moments are so perfect in the way they capture the devastating preciousness of a short life lived “the long way around” and how much The Doctor carries around so so so so much loss in his heart. It’s just a perfect episode of television. We rate it a billion stars… especially for the one that wasn’t visited :(
Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel - I will say this, my absolute favorite thing about this two parter is how Mickey finally gets his due. Not just because he gets to play a fun dual role (which is part and parcel of how Davies has always been really generous to his actors), but because it really dives into his character, from his past, to his feelings of discontent, to his genuine aspirations. The way he makes a home in this alternative world isn’t just about some plotty nonsense, it’s about character growth and finding your place in the universe (even if it's a different one). And as far as the rest of it goes? I always felt a little odd about coming back to Rose’s dad again. The first season episode is just such a great way of handling that entire story and ending on a perfect note. I really wish they left it be and instead used this story as a way of examining her relationship with “an alternative mom” figure, so that she could then realize what she has with her REAL mom, but I get the larger why (especially given how it is all set up for later). Also, the needle drops in this show can sometimes be something else. ChoosingTthe Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is a very bold choice.
The Idiot’s Lantern - So this is probably my least favorite episode from the first two seasons? Which stinks because it starts with the great promise with the poodle skirt and The Doctor’s bad attempt at greaser hair, but I should have known something was up the moment they said this was the time before Burgers (as a weird fan of hamburger history, it goes to the late 1800s). Anyway! All the parts of this show add up in this wonky, uneven fashion. It’s trying to talk about the Queen’s coronation, the dawn of television, the roles of 50s domesticity, and sexism - and I get that all that is happening concurrently - but none really roll into the central metaphor AT ALL. It’s just hats on hats on hats. And the ever weirder “resolution” with them telling the son to go talk to the shitty dad is even more bizarre. Especially because it’s a non-conclusion to any kind of story they had been telling thus far. There’s a reason this one often rates so low. And it’s because we'll take mediocre episodes that don’t quite land any day of the week over an episode that can never really figure out what it is / what it’s about.
The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit - Sometimes Davies has a two-parter problem where it’s not really like one big epic story. Instead, it starts like a normal episode and then it… just starts dragging and you realize “oh, we’re gonna have a two parter aren’t we?” And the entire episode just builds to the reveal of the conceit of what’s really going on. Then the next episode has a lot of them treading water until they actually get to the finale of solving (which means, it all should just be one episode, dammit). But, in essence, that’s the only real problem with this one. Because it all builds to that really nice final standoff where Tennant has to have a one-sided conversation with the devil and that gambit of breaking the vases / killing Rose is such a smart endgame conflict. Plus, the “I believe in her” is really the best of what the show has to offer. Also, what was up with that little beat where they all talk about each other's butts in the air ducts? That was so random… and admittedly funny.
Love & Monsters - I think I like this goofy episode more than others? I know it’s somewhat derided for its more joke heavy, cartoonish approach (what with the Scooby Doo hallway gags) but I honestly find that stuff delightful. Because that’s the great thing about the show isn’t it? One week you get Satan stand-off, the next you get farce. Doctor Who can be anything, really. And I genuinely like the story between Elton and Ursula (played the great Shirley Henderson! A Mike Leigh vet and none other than Moaning Myrtle). But the biggest problem is honestly the decisions with Peter Kay playing Victor Kennedy as too mincing and broad. It’s the kind of story that genuinely would work better if the character had a better misdirect and you got swept up in the bait and switch. Instead, the dramatic irony doesn’t play AT ALL. So it’s the one aspect of the episode that needs to be a little grounded. But the episode has enough delights to propel it. I especially love when we come into The Doctor and Rose and they’re already in the middle of an adventure we haven’t seen. But the fact that the episode ends on the world's strangest oral sex joke is one of the funniest things in the world to me. I just can’t believe they did it. Sometimes, audacity will get you everywhere.
Fear Her - Another one-off sotry that would take my vote for “worst episode so far” were it not for The Idiot’s Lantern. Because look, if you’re going to do a riff on one of the greatest episodes of The Twilight Zone (that would be “It’s A Good Life” with the boy who could do anything with his mind) then you better be sure you have a damn good reason for trying to update it. And instead, it’s another episode that can’t really seem to pick a conceit. I mean it lays the abusive parent thing in like an atomic bomb and then weirdly leaves it alone? Because it’s just some weird motivator about loneliness? And the way it intersects with the Alien being feels SO weird and the fact that this is yet ANOTHER episode that hinges on a mass televised event stealing people or whatever. But really it’s just a failure of basic writing prompts, too. Like they go with the mystery format of investigation, but we also see what’s happening in the cold open so there is no mystery to us, the audience. And also there’s a beat that explains so much of what bad writing does: they need to fuel the spaceship and the TV right in THAT MOMENT says “the torch is a beacon of love!” and he’s like “that’s it, love!” and that’s a beat that will always ring false to us. In order to storify it, that’s something you have to plant earlier in the episode and then you have a character realize that connection through a dramatized change in the story. That feels earned instead of getting a cheap answer out of nowhere, right in the moment. Even the choice to have The Doctor carry the torch (when he’s trying to keep a low profile) feels so haphazard and convenient and not even real within the universe of even THIS show. So yeah, all in all these two super rough episodes really really hurt the overall quality of the season.
Army of Ghosts - Oh, look more Torchwood! Anyway, it’s amazing how much of this show deals with Davies criticizing British militaristic thinking / protecting our borders and to think people ended up voting for Brexit! If anything, it’s plainly evident that the show could have gone about ten times harder, but at the same time they ARE invaded sooooo. Double-anyway, I forgot how much of this episode literally the plot of Michael Chrichton’s Sphere. But this is yet another of those classic Davies two parters where the whole thing is just mystery boxing until the big reveal, but at least the fun and games of the first part are really good here - in particular, bringing a super confident Mickey back into the fold, along with finally bringing Rose’s mum along for the adventure. But really the grand appeal of the whole thing is that big end moment of realizing we’re gonna get a Cybermen / Dalek double header in the finale. That’s the big goosebumps stuff!
Doomsday - Once again, all's well that ends well. And this episode really is a great example of what Davies does best. It’s bold, earnest, heartfelt, tragic, and perfectly played with the actors. So much of the big fight is well done, in particular the boastful / mean interactions between the Cyberman and Daleks (“it would take ONE Dalek!”). But it’s all about that ending. Never mind the somewhat wonky mechanics of how we get there. It’s just that simple realization for The Doctor. The second he knows what needs to happen, you see him steeling himself. The certainty. The directness. The emotionless pushing her away. He’s just become this hollow shell of himself, broken from the endless years of goodbyes and loss, knowing he has to do it again. And in the wake, he’s just a deadened face pressed against the wall (cue meme). Even in the final goodbye across space and time and dimension on the beach, he tries to hold composure as best he can. All of which is juxtaposed by Billie Piper’s incredible breakdown. She barely can get the words out. She wanted this life with him forever and she knows this is it. It’s over. With a different writer, there are so many ways the “and your family is all reunited” ending could come across as treacle-y, but it’s not here. As lovely as it is, it’s just a consolation prize. She doesn’t want that. She wants a life with him. Which is why the death” isn’t a fake out. This is really a death for her. It’s the biggest, most important part of her going away. And the show knows their goodbye is a million times sadder than any on screen death could be.
She didn’t even get to hear him say “I love you.”
And all he’s left with is his tears, unseen.
TOP FOURTEEN BEST QUOTES / JOKES
14. The Doctor: “It is. It’s the city of New New York. Strictly speaking, it’s the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York.
13. The Doctor: “If you want to know what’s going on, work in the kitchen.”
12. The Doctor: “Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don’t tell people I traveled through time and space with her mother.”
11. Ida: “Well, we’ve come this far. There’s no turning back.”
The Doctor: Oh, did you have to? “No turning back.” That’s almost as bad as, “nothing can possibly go wrong” or “This is going to be the best Christmas Walford’s ever had.”
10. The Doctor: “Even now, standing on the edge. It’s that feeling you get, hm? Right on the back of your head. That impulse. That strange little impulse. That mad little voice saying, “Go on! Go on. Go on. Go over, go on!” …Maybe it’s relying on that.”
*looks at horrific void*
“For once in my life, Officer Scott, I’m going to say… retreat.”
9. The Doctor: “Nah. Nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous… Well, not that dangerous… Know what, I’ll just have a quick scan. In case of something dangerous.”
8. The Doctor: “1979! Hell of a year! China invades Vietnam. The Muppet Movie. Love that film. Margaret Thatcher. Ugh. Skylab fell to Earth with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb. And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I’m very attached to my thumb.”
*steps out of the Tardis and sees the armed men on horseback*
“… 1879. Same difference.”
7. The Doctor: “Hold on a minute. There are three important, brilliant and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One—“
*The officer hits him*
6. Rose: “I want her to say “We are not amused.” I bet you five quid I can make her say it.
The Doctor: Well if I gambled on that it’d be an abuse of my privilege as a traveler in time.
Rose: Ten quid?
The Doctor: Done.”
5. The Doctor: “…Except that implies—in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils—that she’s just a victim. But I’ve seen a lot of this Universe. I’ve seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods. And out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing—just one thing—I believe in her.”
4. Sarah Jane: “I can’t believe it’s you.”
*hears horrible screams inside*
“Okay, now I can.”
3. *Elton, holding the slab of concrete with his girlfriend Ursula’s head on it.*
Elton: “We’re happy… even got a bit of a love life.”
Ursula: “Let’s not talk about that”
2. Sarah Jane: “You were my life! You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next. No, with what doesn’t happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?”
1. The Doctor: “Go to the window. Pick a star. Any star.*
*she goes, the Doctor returns to find that in the mere moments past for him, she has died… and after a conversation about her yearning in those final moment, he returns to the Tardis, full of the quietest devastation. Rose notices*
Rose: “You all right?
The Doctor: … I’m always all right.”
Me: *cries forever*
<3HULK
Comments
Ruxandra Grecu
Haven't finished the article, but I need to get this out of my system. Last year, I think, when Moffat's Time Traveler's Wife adaptation came out, I was translating an interview with him and this STRUCK ME. "SM: In my case, and it was me first in this case, I read the book when it first came out or nearly when it first came out and loved it. I absolutely loved it. Wonderful story. And at the time I was in the very early stages of writing Doctor Who. I suggested to Russell [T Davies, then Doctor Who showrunner] that we should do an episode like this. So I did an episode called The Girl in the Fireplace, which has some resemblances to The Time Traveler's Wife. In Audrey's next book she has a character watching The Girl in the Fireplace on television. So I realised at that point, she was on to me and that I had ripped her off and she ripped me off back again! We then got in touch and we were friendly and we liked each other and she came to a screening of one of the Riversong episodes of Doctor Who and so on. Having riffed on The Time Traveler's Wife several times on Doctor Who, on the very last day Brian [Minchin, producer] mentioned he’d been looking into the rights to The Time Traveler's Wife." Because fuck, of course, the episodes he wrote were quite good, some of them... But the similarity is just A LOT. And the whole River Song arc in a way is exactly the Time Traveler's Wife, and Amy Pond's first episode as well, etc etc. I used to love them, it just feels... idk. Like I can't look at them the same again!
Brian Block
Hey, I like "Love & Monsters" too! (With the same caveat.) But as for "School Reunion", while it's well-done, and seeing evil Giles is always fun, I hate what it did with Sarah Jane: making her post-Doctor life one of this passive, lost unfulfilment. It's conceivable, I suppose, that this is a consequence of my loving the novels. One candidate for my favorite Doctor-Who-story-in-any-form is Lawrence Miles's 8th-and-3rd-Doctor novel "Interference", where, in one thread, Sarah Jane has spent the 1990s as an investigative reporter and, here, is doing a (very realistic) exploration of the international illegal arms trade, and the governments illegally encouraging it. (She's in a better position to cope than most when this particular story involves aliens, although they're clearly *not* the scummiest folks involved or even close.) My kids, who knew nothing about Sarah Jane, immediately fell for her intelligence and wit and moral passion. She did get to see the Doctor again in the book, and it mattered, but she'd also clearly used her talents to make a full life without him. So you could argue that the novel biased me against "School Reunion". But me, I think knowing her original character was all I needed to be upset: yes, that Sarah loved the Doctor, but that Sarah, the original one, had a strength and fierceness and curiosity the Davies version flattened to unrecognizability. K-9, in "School Reunion", though? Absolutely PERFECT. Some of my biggest smiles ever.
