Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 24, 2024

Note: This version of this series/season is available as part of BBC's Doctor Who Limited Edition New Who Collector's Set, featuring what BBC is describing as a "newly upscaled" video presentation.

The so-called second series of Doctor Who is notable for a number of reasons, including the fact that it introduced David Tennant as the tenth (tennanth?) incarnation of the titular time lord, as well as the fact that its inaugural episode, "The Christmas Invasion", was evidently the first Doctor Who "special" produced expressly to help celebrate that holiday. On a more mundane (literally, as in "world"ly things like commerce) level, this series/season also rather vigorously promotes the then new Torchwood , a production which has itself trundled off into whatever nook and/or cranny of the space time continuum cancelled shows are consigned to. That "tie in" aspect may actually come off as somewhat quaint, all things considered, though the baker's dozen of episodes (plus the Christmas special) offer other, less "spinoff specific", enticements.

While the Doctor himself may have "changed", Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) is still on hand as what might be termed the "main" companion, though several episodes actually offer Rose's boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke) as a veritable Jamie McCrimmon who tags along on various adventures. Penelope Wilton continues to be an imperious if slightly hilarious at times Prime Minister in the Christmas special, and Rose's parents Jackie (Camille Coduri) and Pete (Shaun Dingwall) also factor into various storylines. Somewhat interestingly, the Christmas special actually takes a while to get the Doctor up and at 'em after his regenerations, which arguably leaves at least some of the heavy lifting of this "introduction" to the supporting players, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Despite this series/season offering a "new" Doctor and even the repeated references to Torchwood (and/or Torchwood), then also "new", there's an undeniable "same old, same old" to many of the episodes, including ironically even the episode that introduced Rose in Doctor Who: The Complete First Series , in that quite a few storylines offer quasi-possessions or even Walking Dead type nemeses that are at least somewhat like the animated mannequins in "Rose". This emphasis on characters being "subdued" or "replaced" in one way or the other extends at least tangentially to several episodes, including one with Queen Victoria, which also manages to work in yet another Torchwood allusion.

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded (upscaled) 1080p transfers in 1.76:1. In going back and looking at the episodes included in Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection, I'd have to say that while, yes, there is some improvement in these new upscales, it's probably not going to be overly revelatory to anyone, and in fact things still have a somewhat processed, digital look, especially in some of the VFX moments. That said, I'd probably argue that fine detail is at least marginally improved on practical items like fabric textures or even some of the sets and other props. The palette looked more or less identical to my eyes when stacked up against the original release. There are occasional noticeable upscaling anomalies, including some minor stairstepping.

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series offers generally very enjoyable immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks. While some of the best surround activity attends to some of the bigger effects sequences, there's actually good attention paid to more "everyday" ambient environmental effects in any number of outdoor scenes (the Tennant era in particular liked to get "out and about" for at least some moments of virtually every episode). There are some fun panning effects as the TARDIS whirls through space (and/or time), and the kind of enjoyably goofy clamor inside the TARDIS courtesy of various (literal) bells and whistles offers really good immersion. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Series 2, Disc 1

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


• Children in Need Special (SD; 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 (SD; 8:19)


• Deleted Scenes (SD; 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 (SD; 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 (SD; 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.

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Tennant steps into the role of Doctor Who quite effortlessly, and I'm not especially loathe to admit I prefer Tennant to Christopher Eccleston. The fact that there's continuity courtesy of several supporting characters helps to make this a relatively seamless transition, though on the minus side, this series/season seems to "recycle" ideas quite a bit of the time. This is just one of four "newly upscaled" series/seasons offered in BBC's Doctor Who Limited Edition New Who Collector's Set, and as long as expectations aren't outsized, there are at least some marginal improvements in video quality when compared to the older transfers. Audio is generally nicely immersive, and the supplements are very enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.