Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 3, 2019

In an appealing new inteview which is included on this multi-disc set as a supplement, David Tennant talks about the kind of “mad rush” of not just being in Doctor Who but of being Doctor Who. He talks about meeting adults who Tennant kind of jokingly pretends to be gobsmacked by when they tell him they “grew up” watching his exploits as the venerable doctor, but the fact is Tennant’s tenure in the role was by all measures rather lengthy, lasting around four and a half years, coming in at second place in the series’ long and heralded run, only after Tom Baker’s over six and a half years in the part (Peter Capaldi got into "close but no sonic screwdriver" territory with Tennant by portraying Doctor Who for around four years). Interestingly, Tennant (again, perhaps at least slightly jokingly) talks about having “grown up” with Baker as Doctor Who, and so as might be said about more than one element with regard to the much loved series, the more things change, the more they apparently stay the same.

While there are of course the “usual suspects” in this set of Doctor Who episodes in terms of villains, notably both Cybermen and Daleks, it’s probably in the Doctor’s relationship to Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) that this version of Doctor Who really finds its most considerable emotional content. (The Doctor later cohorts with Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman, and Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate.) The series continues the kind of unabashedly goofy ambience that has been its calling card, with some dry humor, “wetter” almost slapstick laden comedy, and at least a few passing dalliances with some interesting science fiction concepts along the way.

This version of Doctor Who also more vigorously promotes what was then the new spin-off of the series, Torchwood, including guest appearances by John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness. Tennant makes for a rather dashing if sometimes slightly addle pated Doctor, probably a bit less snarky than, say, Peter Capaldi’s (at least early) take on the character. The show continues to mine both humor and pathos in the early Tennant episodes from the Doctor's predicament of getting used to a new identity, but after the "shakedown" period, it settles into an enjoyable if arguably formulaic approach to both character and plotting.

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1. Tennant's tenure in the role is notable for a reason in addition to its length — it occurred during the switchover from standard definition to high definition, at least if you include the so-called "Specials", which were in essence a limited run set of new episodes, and which are part of this expansive set. Therefore, fans need to expect something akin to a two different Doctors, with Series 2, 3 and 4 obvious upscales, and at least most of the specials looking considerably better, having been culled from native high definition sources. (I haven't been able to find any really verifiable information about this, but to my eyes the first special, "The Next Doctor", looks like an upscale to me as well, something bolstered by the fact that the Confidential about that special is in 480i on the Supplements list I've included below, while the rest of the special Confidential episodes are all in 1080i.) There are persistent upscaling "bugaboos" throughout the presentation of these upscales, including noticeable stairstepping and signs of digital sharpening (with some resultant haloing), but detail levels can often be surprisingly strong, at least given an understanding of context. The palette also looks decently fresh and vivid. Things improve markedly with regard to most of the specials, and some of the other supplemental material, like the animated specials and the two part "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith", from The Sarah Jane Adventures, a perhaps understandably lesser remembered Doctor Who spinoff (see screenshots 21 through 25 for a look at the animated fare as well as the Sarah Jane episodes). In the native high definition material, fine detail levels enjoy a rather considerable uptick, and the palette looks nicely suffused and vivid. Even in the native HD presentations, CGI can at least occasionally look a little soft. My score is a kind of "average" spread across the entire content of this expansive set: Series 2, 3, and 4 probably hover in the 2.5 - 3.5 range in terms of video quality, while the native HD material is at least at 4.0 levels and I'd argue up toward 4.5 levels quite a bit of the time.

Screenshots 2, 5 and 13 through 19 are of upscaled material.

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection features some surprisingly robust sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, with consistent engagement of the surround channels as well as some floorboard rattling LFE, at least on occasion. There are occasional goofy but nonetheless enjoyable sound effects, including some swirling panning effects as the TARDIS makes its way to new locations (both spatially and temporally). Some urban or at least relatively crowded sequences also provide good opportunities for well placed ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Series 2, Disc 1

• Billie Piper's Doctor Who Video Diaries (480i; 4:18)


• Children in Need Special (480i; 7:15)


• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 2, Disc 2

• Outtakes (480i; 8:19)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 16:06)


• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 2, Disc 3

• Doctor Who Confidential (480i; 2:37:42) offers featurettes on the following episodes:

  Backstage at Christmas

  
  

  Episode 1 - New New Doctor

  
  

  Episode 2 - Fear Fear Factor

  
  

  Episode 3 - Friends United

  
  

  Episode 4 - Script to Screen

  
  

  Episode 5 - Cybermen

  
  

  Episode 6 - From Zero to Hero

  
  

  Episode 7 - The Writer's Tale

  
  

  Episode 8 - You've Got the Look

  
  

  Episode 9 - Myths and Legends

  
  

  Episode 10 - The New World of Who

  
  

  Episode 11 - The Fright Stuff

  
  

  Episode 12 - Welcome to Torchwood

  
  

  Episode 13 - Finale

• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (480i; 1:25:19)


• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 3, Disc 1

• Freema Agyeman Studio Tour (480i; 18:17)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 18:03)


• Outtakes (480i; 5:26)


• BBC Trailers (480i; 4:10) includes:

  Teaser 1

  
  

  Teaser 2

  
  

  Launch Promo 1

  
  

  Launch Promo 2

  
  

  Launch Promo 1 (Short Version)

  
  

  Launch Promo 2 (Short Version)

  
  

  Episode 2

  
  

  Episode 3

  
  

  Episode 4

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 3, Disc 2

• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (480i; 1:45:21)


• BBC Trailers (480i; 00:47 ) include:

  Episode 6

  
  

  Episode 7

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 3, Disc 3

• Music and Monsters (480i; 58:33) is a concert with classical musicians and Daleks. So there.


• Doctor Who Confidential (480i; 2:32:41) offers featurettes on the following episodes:

  Episode 1 - Meet Martha Jones

  
  

  Episode 2 - Stage Fright

  
  

  Episode 3 - Are We There Yet?

  
  

  Episode 4 - A New York Story

  
  

  Episode 5 - Making Manhattan

  
  

  Episode 6 - Monsters Inc

  
  

  Episode 7 - Space Craft

  
  

  Episode 8 - Alter Ego

  
  

  Episode 9 - Bad Blood

  
  

  Episode 10 - Do You Remember the First Time?

  
  

  Episode 11 - Ello, Ello, Ello

  
  

  Episode 12 - The Saxon Mystery

  
  

  Episode 13 - The Valiant Quest

• BBC Trailers (480i; 1:28) include:

  Episode 11

  
  

  Episode 12

  
  

  Episode 12 Vote Saxon

  
  

  Episode 13

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 1

• Children in Need - Time Crash (480i; 8:01)


• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (480i; 14:54)


• Voyage of the Damned Deleted Scenes (480i; 2:36)


• Howard Attfield Deleted Scenes (480i; 6:46)


• Deleted Scenes (480i; 10:38)


• BBC Trailers (480i; 7:21) include:

  Cinema Trailer

  
  

  Cinema Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  TV Trailer

  
  

  TV Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  Teaser

  
  

  Series 4 Cinema Trailer

  
  

  Series 4 Launch Trailer

  
  

  Series 4 Launch Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  "OOD" Trailer

  
  

  Episode 2

  
  

  Episode 3

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 2

• Deleted Scenes (480i; 13:47)


• BBC Trailers (480i; 1:38) include:

  "Sontaran" Trailer

  
  

  Episodes 4 and 5

  
  

  Episode 6

  
  

  Episode 7

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 3

• BBC Trailers (480i; 2:19) include:

  Episode 8 (Season Finale Teaser)

  
  

  Episodes 9

  
  

  Episode 10

  
  

  Episode 11

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 4

• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (480i; 15:44)


• The Journey (So Far) (480i; 30:57) looks over the four years of Tennant's tenure in the role.


• Doctor Who Confidential (480i; 2:37:42) offers featurettes on the following episodes:

  Christmas Confidential

  
  

  Episode 1 - A Noble Return

  
  

  Episode 2 - The Italian Job

  
  

  Episode 3 - Odds & Ends

  
  

  Episode 4 - Send in the Clones

  
  

  Episode 5 - Sontar-Ha!

  
  

  Episode 6 - The Sins of the Fathers

  
  

  Episode 7 - Nemesis

  
  

  Episode 8 - Shadowplay

  
  

  Episode 9 - River Runs Deep

  
  

  Episode 10 - Look Who's Talking

  
  

  Episode 11 - Here Come the Girls

  
  

  Episode 12 - Friends and Foe

  
  

  Episode 13 - The End of an Era

• BBC Trailers (480i; 1:32) include:

  Dalek Teaser

  
  

  "Supreme Dalek" Teaser

  
  

  Episode 12 Finale

  
  

  Episode 13 Finale

• Deleted Scenes (480i; 6:34)


• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

The Specials, Disc 1

• Doctor Who at the Proms 2008 (1080p; 1:02:07)


• Commentary for all specials can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew.

The Specials, Disc 2

• David Tennant Doctor Who Video Diary - The Final Days (480i; 40:41)


• Doctor Who Christmas Idents (480i; 00:53)


• Doctor Who at Comic Con (1080i; 21;23)


• Deleted Scenes with Introduction by Russell T. Davies (1080i; 17:16)


• Commentary for all specials can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew.

The Specials, Disc 3

• Doctor Who Confidential offers featurettes on the following specials:

  The Next Doctor Confidential (480i; 55:34)

  
  

  Planet of the Dead Confidential (1080i; 57:16)

  
  

  The Waters of Mars Confidential (1080i; 58:07)

  
  

  The End of Time, Part 1 Confidential (1080i; 57:16)

  
  

  The End of Time, Part 2 Confidential (1080i; 57:07)

  Note: These Confidential featurettes are the sum total of the contents of this particular disc.

The Specials, Disc 4

• In Conversation with David Tennant (1080p; 17:38) is a fun newly done interview with the actor, who recounts the excitement and craziness of his Doctor Who adventures.

Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While the David Tennant Doctor Who episodes are probably not going to set videophiles' hearts on fire due to their standard definition source, this set is still rather remarkable and should be a treasure trove for most devoted Whovians. The native HD material looks largely fantastic here, which may help to offset some qualms about overall quality, and both audio and (especially) the supplemental package are excellent. Highly recommended.