DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 2 RETROSPECTIVEDoctor Who's second series should have built on the success of its debut year, but while it maintained the momentum, it struggled to maintain the quality. In many ways, series 2 was just a paler continuation of last year, not really having its own identity beyond David Tennant replacing Christopher Ecclestone in the TARDIS.
Tennant was unquestionably less impressive than Ecclestone eventually became as The Doctor, despite most of the difficult groundwork in place. That's not to say Ecclestone was perfect either; he wasn't. In fact, he was often embarrassing when the role required "wackiness" from him, probably because such behaviour was out of Ecclestone's natural comfort zone.
Tennant's Doctor is geekier and more approachable, but Ecclestone's had a dark centre lurking behind the grins that Tennant only recaptures in bursts. Simply put, Tennant's Doctor should have been more fun than he was. A lot of the blame lies with the writers, with most writing The Doctor in a fairly generically goofy way, never giving us any real insight into his character, and therefore denying Tennant decent material to work with. Last year Ecclestone's Doctor had the Time War tragedy to provide some isolation and seriousness, but The Doctor had nothing comparable this year.Occasional moments did tap into The Doctor's personality with just the right combination of eccentricity, seriousness and drama: the Doctor torn between spending the day with Mickey or Rose (Rise Of The Cybermen), the entire Girl In The Fireplace episode, The Doctor's farewell to Sarah-Jane (School Reunion), the window pane explanation (Army Of Ghosts), the moped scene (The Idiot's Lantern) and the fabulous beach farewell of Doomsday. But such scenes were few and far between.
Billie Piper was the crux of the show last year, as Doctor Who shifted the emphasis onto companion Rose Tyler as a means for new audiences to enter the Who universe through her eyes. It was a brilliant idea and well-executed, but nothing really progressed this year for her. Rose was less naïve and green around the ears, but the only new facet to her character was the more overt signs she fancied the Doctor; witness the jealousy of Sarah-Jane in School Reunion.
The Doctor-Rose "romance" was a slight undercurrent this year but never blossomed into anything, quite rightly, until the tear-jerking "I love you" moment in the finale. But, for the meat of the season, the writers were faced with a relationship dead end – with The Doctor only able (willing?) to return Roses' affections platonically. More could have been made with this frustration, but TARDIS romance is perhaps too much of a hot potato with Whovian purists and young audiences. With sex clearly a no-go area, Rose and The Doctor had to make doe-eyes at each other and be content with that.While friendship became the only outlet for the characters, even their companionship lacked the spark of last year. To my recollection, only three sequences really exhibited any sparkle –- The Doctor and Rose posing as waiting staff (Rise Of The Cybermen), and the investigations of The Idiot's Lantern and Fear Her.
It was also notable how ill-treated Jackie Tyler (Camille Codouri) was this year, particularly when Codouri tends to improve every scene she's in! She single-handedly rescued Love & Monsters from total failure, yet was given short shrift everywhere else.
In stark contrast, Noel Clark managed to carve out a half-decent character with Mickey Smith, taking an annoying one-note character and turning him into sympathetic comic relief (School Reunion) and eventual action hero (The Age Of Steel).
Executive producer and writer Russell T. Davies, however you feel about his scripts, masterminded an effective relaunch of the show in 2005. I'm sure many of the show's successes would have happened without his input (in terms of design and production values), but his casting and grand scheme to series 1 was superb. In particular, the subliminal occurrence of BAD WOLF last year was a masterstroke... so it was disheartening to see him replicate this idea with Torchwood for series 2...
Yes, Torchwood. We all know it's the upcoming Who spin-off with John Barrowman, but was also a word sprinkled throughout series 2. So, while BAD WOLF remained enigmatic until the finale, Torchwood's meaning was pretty much sussed very early on, giving the series a slow feel as it limped to its "revelation" that Torchwood was a government agency created by Queen Victoria to investigate alien technology. Yeah, we know; you told us in the press release for Torchwood, guys...
I like the idea of giving Doctor Who a seasonal sub-plot, but Davies is going to have to think up something more interesting for series 3, as simply peppering scripts with a certain phrase to be explained in the finale would be lazy and tiresome if attempted yet again...
The episodes themselves varied in quality, as indeed they did last year, but the wavering quality was more noticeable because the show couldn't gloss over any weaknesses with nostalgia and the goodwill from fans just thankful the show was back on air.
New Earth -- limp sci-fi, rambling narrative, cheap gags; Tooth And Claw -– impressive effects, fresh pace, neat plot; School Reunion -– good characterisation, clichéd premise, poor plot; The Girl In The Fireplace -– deft plotting, strong performances, great imagination; Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel –- cool premise, misshapen plot; The Idiot's Lantern –- unfulfilled promise, weak execution; The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit -– epic scope, strong drama, great effects; Love & Monsters –- poor plot, ill-conceived; Fear Her –- weak story, meandering; Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday -– fast pace, epic scope, engaging story, great effects.
The biggest offender this year was undoubtedly Love & Monsters, an episode littered with problems and weaknesses, for some it even marks a low point for the entire show. Most of the episodes were enjoyable, yet ultimately disappointing, particularly the mid-series Cybermen story. The best episode was The Girl In The Fireplace, Steven Moffatt's show that made me hope he replaces Davies someday and remodels the show into the shape we glimpse through fleetingly through his writing.
Mind you, Russell T. Davies output was considerably better than last year. Tooth And Claw was easily the best "fantasy episode", while Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday was a very entertaining finale. A shame he still writes forgettable pap (New Earth) and diabolical smugness (Love & Monsters) between these high points.
Interestingly, last year's non-Davies penned episodes were the highlights, but not so much this time around. The Cybermen two-parter was sporadic work from Tom MacRae, Mark Gatiss disappointed with Idiot's Lantern, Fear Her was trite and boring, while School Reunion was immature and only saved by the Sarah-Jane/K-9 subplot.
However, beyond Moffatt (who receives too much praise, perhaps!) the real standout for me was Matt Jones' fabulous two-part episode The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. Frightening and mysterious, with excellent special effects and tense atmosphere, it will be interesting to see what Jones cooks up in series 3!
Overall, the Who barometer is still in the healthy zone. It's clear that the show has lost its armour of nostalgia, which is no bad thing. Last year the Cybermen episodes would have been praised to the heavens, but the thrill of seeing Doctor Who on our screens is beginning to wane. Familiarity and nostalgia isn't enough now... we want to see Doctor Who raise its game and give us the imagination and unpredictability of its classic years.
I'm sure the Daleks will always be waiting to exterminate any lull in the ratings, but the producers shouldn't rely on characters from the extensive back-catalogue. Who has a rich and multi-layered history, but simply raking over past glories prevents the show from forging its own mythos. The honeymoon period is over, Mr Davies. With a new companion in the TARDIS next year, let's see the creativity really begin to flow... oh, and less time spent in contemporary London, perhaps?
