Series 2 (Doctor Who 2005)

For the 1964-1965 season of the original series, see Season 2.

Series 2 of Doctor Who, also known as Season 28 to differentiate it from Season 2, ran between April 2006 and July 2006 and starred David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. The 2005 Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, and the 2005 Children in Need Special were filmed as part of the Series 2 block and featured on the Series 2 DVD. Despite this, The Christmas Invasion is listed as a special episode and therefore not considered to be a part of Series 2 by the Episode Guide on the official website. The 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride is sometimes listed as being part of Series 2; however it carries a Series 3 production code and is treated as a Series 3 episode by the BBC in its promotion and merchandising.

Promotional postcard for the series.

Overview

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 and the Tardisodes were not included in the DVD release. The main story arc for the season was the Torchwood Institute, referenced only twice previously, which served to lead up to the finale 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 appear 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 later Doctor-lite episodes such as Blink and Turn Left.

Television stories

Mini-episode

#	Title	Writer	Notes
N/A	Children in Need Special	Russell T Davies	Follows on from The Parting of the Ways

Christmas special

#	Title	Writer	Notes
N/A	The Christmas Invasion	Russell T Davies

Regular season

#	Title	Writer	Notes
1	New Earth	Russell T Davies	Final Appearance of Cassandra, Reintroduction of the Face of Boe
2	Tooth and Claw	Russell T Davies
3	School Reunion	Toby Whithouse	Reintroduction of Sarah Jane Smith. Final appearance of K9 Mk. III. First appearance of K9 Mk. IV. Mickey Smith becomes a companion
4	The Girl in the Fireplace	Steven Moffat
5	Pt. 1: Rise of the Cybermen Pt. 2: The Age of Steel	Tom MacRae	First Appearance of the Cybus Cybermen. Final regular appearance of Mickey Smith. First Appearance of Jake Simmonds.
6	The Idiot's Lantern	Mark Gatiss
7	Pt. 1: The Impossible Planet Pt. 2: The Satan Pit	Matt Jones	First appearance of the Ood.
8	Love & Monsters	Russell T Davies	First Doctor-lite episode
9	Fear Her	Matthew Graham
10	Pt. 1: Army of Ghosts Pt. 2: Doomsday	Russell T Davies	Final regular appearances of Rose Tyler and Jackie Tyler. Final Appearance of Jake Simmonds. Formal introduction of Torchwood. First appearance of Donna Noble