Season 2

I hate to admit it but, on rewatch, I don't like Series 2 as much as remember. On an episode to episode quality level Series 2, to me, is weaker than its predecessor. From aggressively boring episodes (Fear Her) to episodes destroyed by awful endings (Love & Monsters; The Idiot's Lantern) the lows here much lower and more frequent than in Series 1. Don't get me wrong there were highs, (Girl in the Fireplace; The Impossible Planet 2-Parter) but even those highs don't reach the levels of the multiple absolute bangers of series 1. Outside of the 2 unquestionable hits every other episode in this series was middling to bad.

The thing I'm most sad I don't love like I used to is Ten and Rose's relationship. It's the heart of the series, its central emotional conflict and it just didn't do much for me here. Removed from my own subjectivity I did see dozens of moments across the series were Rose and Ten were sweet and fun together. Billie Piper and David Tennant have a clear chemistry that I understand logically. And yet I still found their romance, I hate to say it, tedious. This was such a shock to me. I used to adore Ten and Rose so much. But when that Doomsday finale hit :spoiler:and the two were separated,:spoiler: despite Piper and Tennant acting their hearts out, I didn't feel it. It was a sign I was deeply disengaged with a core aspect of this series.

Looking across the season Ten and Rose's dynamic was fractured to me from the start. They had a cavalier/unserious mode to how they traveled together (being snarky and making irreverent quips regardless of the severity of the situation they faced) that didn't work for me. It often made them feel like that annoying couple doing aggressive PDA all the time. These two were in their own world and I never felt invited into it.

The I also think TenRose dynamic made Rose worse off as a character. A big part of her characterization in Series 1 was her connection to the people and aliens she met, her awe at the things she saw, and her genuine desire to help people. Series 2 flattens these dimensions to centralize The Doctor as the sole reason she travels. It’s why her jealousy at the Doctor interacting with any woman, regrettably, becomes more prevalent. This all consuming, possibly detrimental, love for the Doctor is certainly an intentional theme of this series and its problematized by people like Mickey and Jackie. But knowing it was intentional doesn’t do anything to make me like Rose more this series. :spoiler:Her willingness to discard even her mother without thought for the Doctor was especially off putting.:spoiler:

Again, this doesn’t mean I hated the series. Outside of his relationship with Rose, I found Ten to be a very engaging Doctor. There’s a physicality and energy to Tennant’s performance that was really compelling. While Ten’s darker undercurrents feel less barbed than Nine’s Tennant doesn’t bring a lot of engaging intensity to the role. From his explosions of rage to his moments of stony malice and that undercurrent of loneliness he does a great job bringing this version of the Doctor to life.

I could make the same complaints about series 2 as I did with the previous, but I can't deny that the show moves forward with much more confidence here. David Tennant injects some wonderful energy into the lead role and has a stronger chemistry with Billie Piper. Ecclestone did a fantastic job, but Tennant is more charismatic, more playful and more interesting.

I'm coming to accept the inherent cheapness of the show and the super kid-friendly writing, just enjoying the stories for what they are. It's very noticeable that for a show about being able to travel anywhere in space/time, they keep ending up in the contemporary UK. I would say that this sort of thing could never win any awards, but somehow the episode 'The Girl in the Fireplace' came away with a Hugo. Shows what I know. The bad guys still look terrible but they are done with a bit more style here. The special effects are low quality even for 2006, that's just unavoidable given the show's budget and scale.

It's the characters. They work, they're fun. Their relationships become irresistible. There are some real high points in this series and they all come down to powerful character moments for me. My favourite thing here was the two part 'The Impossible Planet'/'The Satan Pit' in which everything clicked. The episodes benefited from atmospheric location shooting and effective lighting which made them look better than anything else the show has done so far, as well as liberally borrowing from things like Event Horizon and Aliens, but it was the material between the Doctor and Rose which made this into something magical. 'School Reunion' was also a wonderfully fun exploration into the Doctor's history.

However, when the show got bad it was almost unbearable. Episodes like 'Love and Monsters' and 'Fear Her' were tacky and dull and so poorly made, seemingly full of afterthoughts in every department. The first includes an embarrassing Scooby-Doo chase scene and a woeful Peter Kay. I also couldn't get into 'Rise of the Cybermen'/'The Age of Steel' despite its impact on the story going forward, largely due to the bad acting and overblown danger from a very silly enemy.

Fortunately the good outweighs the bad here and the series culminates in some truly emotional scenes.