Series 2 of Doctor Who ran from 18 January 2006 to 8 July 2006 . It starred Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith. The regular series was preceded by The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"], opened with New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"] and concluded with Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"].
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Series 2for other, similarly-named pages.
Overview
It consisted of twelve stories and fifteen episodes. It was Christopher Eccleston's first full series as the 9th Doctor, 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.
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 the 2009 New Year Special Journey’s End.
Everything from the 2005 Children in Need Special to Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"] was a part of the series 2 production block — though the "regular season" is typically characterised as the stories from New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"] to Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"].
Production
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, and let the production team speed up the filming schedule. Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"] 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 [+]Loading...["Blink (TV story)"] and Turn Left [+]Loading...["Turn Left (TV story)"].
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 [+]Loading...["School Reunion (TV story)"] which featured Mickey Smith).
Cast
Recurring
- Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
- Mickey Smith - Noel Clarke
- Harriet Jones - Penelope Wilton
- Trinity Wells - Lachele Carl
- Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17 - Zoë Wanamaker, Billie Piper, David Tennant, Sean Gallagher
- Novice Hame — Anna Hope
- Face of Boe — Struan Rodger
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- K9 - John Leeson
- Peter Tyler - Shaun Dingwall
- Jake Simmonds - Andrew Hayden-Smith
- Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
- Ood - Paul Kasey and voiced by Silas Carson
- Cyber-Leader - Paul Kasey and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
- Daleks - operated by Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Stuart Crossman, Anthony Spargo, Dan Barratt, David Hankinson and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
- The Bride - Catherine Tate
Guest
- Sycorax leader - Sean Gilder
- Sister Jatt — Adjoa Andoh
- Queen Victoria – Pauline Collins
- The Host – Tom Smith
- Lassar - Anthony Head
- Reinette - Sophia Myles, Jessica Atkins
- Clockwork Man - Paul Kasey
- Alternative Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
- John Lumic - Roger Lloyd Pack
- President of Great Britain - Don Warrington
- The Wire - Maureen Lipman
- Magpie - Ron Cook
- Toby Zed - Will Thorp
- The Beast - Gabriel Woolf, Will Thorp
- Abzorbaloff - Peter Kay
- Elton Pope - Marc Warren
- Hoix - Paul Kasey
- Chloe Webber - Abisola Agbaje
- Yvonne Hartman - Tracy-Ann Oberman
- Adeola Oshodi - Freema Agyeman
- French Newsreader - Anthony Debaeck
Television stories
Mini-episode
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Children in Need Special | Russell T Davies | Euros Lyn | No official title given for mini-episode, though sometimes referred to as "Born Again"[1][2]. |
Christmas special
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"] | Russell T Davies | James Hawes | First encounter with the Torchwood Institute's operations. |
Regular season
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Tardisode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"] | Russell T Davies | James Hawes | 1 | First episode set off of Earth. First appearance of New Earth and Hame. First mention of the Face of Boe's secret. Final appearance of Cassandra. |
| 2 | Tooth and Claw [+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"] | Euros Lyn | 2 | Founding of Torchwood. | |
| 3 | School Reunion [+]Loading...["School Reunion (TV story)"] | Toby Whithouse | James Hawes | 3 | Reintroduction of Sarah Jane Smith. Final appearance of K9 Mark III and first appearance of K9 Mark IV. Mickey Smith joins the TARDIS crew. |
| 4 | The Girl in the Fireplace [+]Loading...["The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)"] | Steven Moffat | Euros Lyn | 4 | |
| 5 & 6 | Rise of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)"] / The Age of Steel [+]Loading...["The Age of Steel (TV story)"] | Tom MacRae | Graeme Harper | 5 & 6 | Introduction to Pete's World. First appearance of the Cybus Industries Cybermen. Final appearance of Mickey Smith as a travelling companion. |
| 7 | The Idiot's Lantern [+]Loading...["The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)"] | Mark Gatiss | Euros Lyn | 7 | First appearance of the recurring Magpie Electricals brand. |
| 8 & 9 | The Impossible Planet [+]Loading...["The Impossible Planet (TV story)"] / The Satan Pit [+]Loading...["The Satan Pit (TV story)"] | Matt Jones | James Strong | 8 & 9 | First appearance of the Ood. |
| 10 | Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"] | Russell T Davies | Dan Zeff | 10 | First official Doctor-lite episode. |
| 11 | Fear Her [+]Loading...["Fear Her (TV story)"] | Matthew Graham | Euros Lyn | 11 | |
| 12 & 13 | Army of Ghosts [+]Loading...["Army of Ghosts (TV story)"] / Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"] | Russell T Davies | Graeme Harper | 12 &13 | Final regular appearances of Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler. Formal introduction of Torchwood. Destruction of Torchwood One and resolution of the Torchwood arc. First appearances of the Cult of Skaro and Donna Noble. |
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
VHS
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All episodes of Series 2 including the Born Again [+]Loading...["Born Again (TV story)"] and The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"] were released in July 2006 by Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment.
DVD
This section need images added.
All episodes of Series 2 were released in 2006 in both individual volumes and in box set form by 2|Entertain for Regions 2 and 4, and by Warner Home Video for Region 1.
In 2014 the series was re-released on DVD in the US, split into two volumes labelled "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.
| Title | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 1 The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"] New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"] |
1 x 60 min. 1 × 45 min. |
1 May 2006 | 20 July 2006 | TBA |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 2 Tooth and Claw [+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"] School Reunion [+]Loading...["School Reunion (TV story)"] The Girl in the Fireplace [+]Loading...["The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)"] |
3 × 45 min. | 5 June 2006 | 17 August 2006 | TBA |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 3 Rise of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)"] / The Age of Steel [+]Loading...["The Age of Steel (TV story)"] The Idiot's Lantern [+]Loading...["The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)"] |
3 × 45 min. | 10 July 2006 | 10 September 2006 | TBA |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 4 The Impossible Planet [+]Loading...["The Impossible Planet (TV story)"] / The Satan Pit [+]Loading...["The Satan Pit (TV story)"] Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"] |
3 × 45 min. | 7 August 2006 | 5 October 2006 | TBA |
| Doctor Who: Series 2, Volume 5 Fear Her [+]Loading...["Fear Her (TV story)"] Army of Ghosts [+]Loading...["Army of Ghosts (TV story)"] / Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"] |
3 × 45 min. | 25 September 2006 | 2 November 2006 | TBA |
| Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series | 1 x 60 min. 13 × 45 min. |
20 November 2006 | 6 December 2006 | 16 January 2007 (US) 6 February 2007 (Canada) |
| Doctor Who: Series Two, Part One The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"] New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"] Tooth and Claw [+]Loading...["Tooth and Claw (TV story)"] School Reunion [+]Loading...["School Reunion (TV story)"] The Girl in the Fireplace [+]Loading...["The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)"] Rise of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)"] / The Age of Steel [+]Loading...["The Age of Steel (TV story)"] The Making of Doctor Who Series 2, Part 1 |
1 x 60 min. 6 x 45 min. 1 x 20 min. |
8 April 2014 | TBA | 8 April 2014 |
| Doctor Who: Series Two, Part Two The Idiot's Lantern [+]Loading...["The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)"] The Impossible Planet [+]Loading...["The Impossible Planet (TV story)"] / The Satan Pit [+]Loading...["The Satan Pit (TV story)"] Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"] Fear Her [+]Loading...["Fear Her (TV story)"] Army of Ghosts [+]Loading...["Army of Ghosts (TV story)"] / Doomsday [+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"] The Making of Doctor Who Series 2, Part 2 |
7 × 45 min. 1 x 20 min. |
13 May 2014 | TBA | 13 May 2014 |
Blu-ray
This section need to have images added and possibly a table.
Series 2 was included in the Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray boxset, released on 4 November, 2013 in the UK and 5 November, 2013 in the US. In 2015, Series 1-4 were reissued on Blu-ray individually.
Series 2 was upscaled to HD along with Series 1, 3 and 4 and released on 21 November 2023 in a limited edition Blu-ray box set containing every "New Who" series up to Series 13[3] or in a seperate box set containing only the first four upscaled series on 27 November 2023.[4][5]
New Who Limited Edition (front)
New Who Limited Edition (back)
New Who Limited Edition (front)
New Who Limited Edition (back)
New Who Limited Edition promo
New Who Limited Edition promo
Series 1-4 & Specials Box Set
Series 1-4 & Specials Collection
Series 1-4 & Specials (back)
Series 1-4 & Specials promo
Stories set before this series
Sarah Jane Smith
- Main article: Sarah Jane Smith (audio series)
Stories set during this series
Novels
- The Stone Rose
- The Feast of the Drowned
- The Resurrection Casket
- I Am a Dalek
- The Nightmare of Black Island
- The Art of Destruction
- The Price of Paradise
Audio stories
Promotional trailer
- A trailer using specially shot footage of the Doctor was created to promote the new season.
External links
- ↑ Doctor Who: Companions and Allies
- ↑ Who-ology: The Official Miscellany
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/doctor-who-limited-edition-complete-new-who-blu-ray-set-is-up-for-preorder
- ↑ https://hmv.com/Store/Film-TV/Blu-ray/Doctor-Who-Series-1-4?clickref=1101lxWJx3d4&utm_source=Visualsoft&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=skimlinks_phg
- ↑ https://cultbox.co.uk/news/remastered-doctor-who-series-1-4-blu-ray-coming-in-november