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Series 2 of Doctor Who was David Tennant's first full series as the Tenth Doctor. It wrote out Billie Piper's Rose Tyler and briefly introduced the character of Donna Noble. Significantly, series 2 also served as a mild advertisement for the then-forthcoming Torchwood television series, since its main story arc established the origins of the Torchwood Institute.
- You may be looking for season 2 of the original series.
Unlike series 1, the main production team did not feature Mal Young. Instead, Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner carried on as executive producers and Phil Collinson continued in his role as the main producer — an arrangement that persisted through to series 4's Journey's End.
Everything from the 2005 Children in Need Special to Doomsday was a part of the series 2 production block — though the "regular season" is typically characterised as the stories from New Earth to Doomsday.
Overview
The main story arc for the season was the Torchwood Institute, referenced only twice previously, which served to lead up to the final episodes as well as the Torchwood spinoff series. A secondary arc dealt with the development of the love story between Rose and the Doctor. Series 2 saw the return of the Cybermen to television, and the return of companions Sarah Jane Smith and K9. Both were last seen (notwithstanding independent, fan-made productions) in 1983; their successful return sparked the commissioning of a second spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, for CBBC. The series 2 finale saw the introduction of Donna Noble.
This was the first series to feature a "Doctor-lite" episode. These were episodes in which the Doctor (and, usually, his companion) only appears in one or two scenes, with the story carried by new, supporting characters. This allowed David Tennant to film two episodes at the same time. Love & Monsters was the first episode to use this innovation, though it did not receive the same level of acclaim as later Doctor-lite episodes such as Blink and Turn Left.
Each episode (not counting the specials) was accompanied by a short teaser "Tardisode" which was only viewable on the Internet; this experiment was not repeated for succeeding seasons, though several online prequels would once again be produced for series 6; the Tardisodes were the first BBC-filmed Doctor Who productions since TV: Mission to the Unknown in which neither the Doctor nor a companion appeared (with the exception of the Tardisode for TV: School Reunion which featured Mickey Smith).
Cast
Recurring
- The Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
- Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
- Mickey Smith - Noel Clarke
- Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
- Pete Tyler - Shaun Dingwall
- Jake Simmonds - Andrew Hayden-Smith
- Harriet Jones - Penelope Wilton
- Lady Cassandra - Zoë Wanamaker
- Face of Boe - Struan Rodger (Voice)
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- K9 (Mark III & Mark IV) - John Leeson (Voice)
- Donna Noble (The Bride) - Catherine Tate
Guest
- Sycorax leader - Sean Gilder
- Queen Victoria - Pauline Collins
- Mr Finch - Anthony Head
- Madame de Pompadour - Sophia Myles
- John Lumic - Roger Lloyd-Pack
- The Wire - Maureen Lipman
- Eddie Connolly - Jamie Foreman
- Tommy Connolly - Rory Jennings
- John Jefferson - Danny Webb
- Ida Scott - Claire Rushbrook
- Tobias Zed - Will Thorp
- Zachary Cross Flane - Shaun Parkes
- Elton Pope - Marc Warren
- Victor Kennedy - Peter Kay
- Chloe Webber - Abisola Agbaje
- Yvonne Hartman - Tracy Ann Oberman
- Adeola Oshodi - Freema Agyeman
- Rajesh Singh - Raji James
Television stories
Mini-episode
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Children in Need Special | Russell T Davies | Euros Lyn | Follows on from The Parting of the Ways. No official title given for mini-episode, though sometimes referred to as "Born Again". |
Christmas special
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | The Christmas Invasion | Russell T Davies | James Hawes | Introduction of the Sycorax and reappearance of Harriet Jones. First encounter with the Torchwood Institute's operations. |
Regular season
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Tardisode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Earth | Russell T Davies | James Hawes | 1 | Final appearance of Cassandra and reappearance of the Face of Boe. |
| 2 | Tooth and Claw | Russell T Davies | Euros Lyn | 2 | Founding of Torchwood. |
| 3 | School Reunion | Toby Whithouse | James Hawes | 3 | Reintroduction of Sarah Jane Smith. Final appearance of K9 Mark III and first appearance of Mark IV. Mickey Smith joins the TARDIS crew. |
| 4 | The Girl in the Fireplace | Steven Moffat | Euros Lyn | 4 | Introduction of Clockwork Droids. |
| 5 & 6 | Pt. 1: Rise of the Cybermen Pt. 2: The Age of Steel |
Tom MacRae | Graeme Harper | 5 & 6 | Reintroduction of the Cybermen (albeit a parallel version). First appearance of Pete Tyler's parallel world counterpart. Final regular appearance of Mickey Smith. |
| 7 | The Idiot's Lantern | Mark Gatiss | Euros Lyn | 7 | First appearance of the recurring Magpie Electricals brand. |
| 8 & 9 | Pt. 1: The Impossible Planet Pt. 2: The Satan Pit |
Matt Jones | James Strong | 8 & 9 | First appearance of the Ood. First appearance of the Beast, allegedly the ultimate evil, as well as hints of a higher power that existed before the dawn of the universe. Foreshadowing of the Battle of Canary Wharf. |
| 10 | Love & Monsters | Russell T Davies | Dan Zeff | 10 | First Doctor-lite episode. Mentions all RTD series arcs at once in a single story- ongoing, resolved, and incoming plot arcs- Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Mr. Saxon, and Clom, later cited as one of the missing planets. |
| 11 | Fear Her | Matthew Graham | Euros Lyn | 11 | First story of Doctor Who to prominently address the issue of child abuse. |
| 12 & 13 | Pt. 1: Army of Ghosts Pt. 2: Doomsday |
Russell T Davies | Graeme Harper | 12 &13 | Reappearance of Mickey Smith and Pete Tyler. Reappearance of Cybermen and Daleks. Final regular appearances of Rose Tyler and Jackie Tyler. Formal introduction of Torchwood and resolution of Torchwood arc. First appearances of the Cult of Skaro and Donna Noble. |
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
VHS
All episodes of series 2 including the Children In Need special and The Christmas Invasion were released in July 2006 by Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment.
DVD
All episodes of series 2 were released in 2006 in both individual volumes and in boxset form by 2|Entertain and Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment for Region 2, in 2006 by Warner Home Video for Region 1. However, in region 4 volumes 3, 4 and 5 along with the complete box set were released by CTHE under the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment name.
In 2014 the series was re-released on DVD in the US, split into two volumes labeled "Part One" and "Part Two" respectively, mimicking the home video release of Series 6 and 7. This release is missing much of the bonus content seen on the previous box set. Re-packaged versions of the complete series were also made available.
| name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 1 The Christmas Invasion New Earth |
1 x 60 min. 1 × 45 min. |
1 May 2006 | 20 July 2006 | |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 2 Tooth and Claw School Reunion The Girl in the Fireplace |
3 × 45 min. | 5 June 2006 | 17 August 2006 | |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 3 Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel The Idiot's Lantern |
3 × 45 min. | 10 July 2006 | 7 September 2006 | |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 4 The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit Love & Monsters |
3 × 45 min. | 10 July 2006 | 5 October 2006 | |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 5 Fear Her Army of Ghosts / Doomsday |
3 × 45 min. | 10 July 2006 | 2 November 2006 | |
| Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series | 1 x 60 min. 13 × 45 min. |
10 July 2006 | 6 December 2006 | 16 January 2007 (US) 6 February 2007 (Canada) |
Bluray
Series 2 was included in the Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Bluray boxset, released on November 5th, 2013 in the US and November 4th, 2013 in the UK.
Novels
Promotional trailer
- A trailer using specially shot footage of the Doctor was created to promote the new season.