Introduction
Series 2 brought a new Doctor the the form of David Tennant and the last regular series for Billie Piper's Rose. I found it a bit of a mix with good and not so good episodes and while I do love the Tenth Doctor and Rose, I thought the dynamic was a little less fraught with tension last series compared to this one.
Christmas Special - The Christmas Invasion
The Tenth Doctor's first episode was the Christmas episode.
Episode 1 - New Earth
To be completed
Episode 2 - Tooth and Claw
To be completed
Episode 3 - School Reunion
To be completed
Episode 4 - The Girl in the Fireplace
To be completed
Episode 5 - Rise of the Cybermen
To be completed
Episode 6 - The Age of Steel
To be completed
Episode 7 - The Idiot's Lantern
To be completed
Episode 8 - The Impossible Planet
To be completed
Episode 9 - The Satan Pit
To be completed
Episode 10 - Love and Monsters
This episode has generally not come out well from reviews and is Doctor-lite as it was filmed the same time as The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. So how to keep an epsiode with minimal Doctor/Rose focused on The Doctor? Hark back to the very first epsiode and Clive's obsessive search for the Doctor. The main protagonist for this episode is Elton, who met the Doctor when he was a young boy but due to the traumatic circumstances, has repressed the memory. He becomes involved in a group called LINDA (London Investigation n Detective Agency) which brings together a group of fellow Doctor fans to discuss theories on the Doctor's identity. They become a close-knit group which is interrupted by a stranger, Vincent Kelly, who is obsessed with the Doctor and starts taking over and focusing the search of the Doctor through his associates - Rose.
There's references to the series arc - Torchwood - as well as to the series 1 arc - Bad Wolf. Elton by a stroke of luck finds Jackie Tyler and starts to integrate himself into her life (not at all difficult as Jackie all but invites him constantly over to her place). Here we also see the flip side of travelling with the Doctor, the effect on those who are 'left behind'. Jackie used to have Mickey but now that Mickey's gone, Jackie has essentially nobody to share her experience with. Nobody else knows or understands what she's going through - the uncertainty of never knowing where Rose is or the dangers she may be facing or if and when she might return.
Jackie eventually finds out about Elton's hidden agenda and she's furious. I gotta love Jackie. She had a tough life but she will protect Rose and the Doctor till her last breath. She of course tells Rose, who later arrives with the Doctor and is seriously not happy. Nobody upsets her mum. But before this happens Elton and the others discover the truth of Vincent Kelly - he's an alien that has been absorbing the LINDA members one by one until only Elton is left. Personally I thought it was a bit suss that nobody really questioned their friends disappearing. But in any case the Absorbaloff (designed by a nine year old who won a competition) is uncovered and chases Elton to a dead end. Cue the Doctor and Rose and some heroics by the abosorbed LINDA members which destroys the Absorbaloff.
Elton finally learns the truth of the night he met the Doctor as a 3 year old - the Doctor had investigated a shade in Elton's home but sadly not before it took his mother's life. The Doctor also manages to sort of save Ursula for Elton (an animate face forever stuck in a concrete slab). Happy ending. But also sort of sad and again references what Clive said - the Doctor is brilliant and amazing, but there is also destruction unintentially left in his wake. Elton had a great time with LINDA and ended up with Ursula, but his friends lost their lives and Elton saw some terrible things. He wonders how long Rose and Jackie can sustain this life they're living...a foreshadowing of things to come.
I quite liked the episode. We got to see a different perspective. And we got Jackie Tyler, always a bonus. The live action was interspersed with video blog entries by Elton, a normal regular bloke who gets caught up in the world of the Doctor.
Episode 11 - Fear Her
To be completed
Episode 12 - Army of Ghosts
To be completed
Episode 13 - Doomsday
To be completed