Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie

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Doctor Who The Complete Second Series Blu-ray Movie United States

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BBC | 2005-2006 | 646 min | Rated TV-PG | No Release Date

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series (Blu-ray Movie)

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Movie rating

8.3
 / 10

Blu-ray rating

Users0.0 of 50.0
Reviewer3.5 of 53.5
Overall3.5 of 53.5

Overview

Doctor Who The Complete Second Series (2005-2006)

All 14 episodes from the second series of the relaunched sci-fi adventure drama, starring David Tennant as the latest incarnation of the legendary Time Lord. In this series, the tenth Doctor takes companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) to New Earth and struggles to overcome the effects of regeneration. In the opening Christmas episode London is deluged by Santa Claus impersonators and Christmas trees intent on malice. Mankind is threatened by a planetary invasion and there's only the Prime Minister to battle it out. The episodes are: 'The Christmas Invasion', 'New Earth', 'Tooth and Claw', 'School Reunion', 'The Girl in the Fireplace', 'Rise of the Cybermen', 'The Age of Steel', 'The Idiot's Lantern', 'The Impossible Planet', 'The Satan Pit', 'Love and Monsters', 'Fear Her', 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday'.

Starring: David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker, Christopher Eccleston
Narrator: Nicholas Briggs, Marnix Van Den Broeke
Director: Graeme Harper, Euros Lyn, Douglas Mackinnon, James Strong, James Hawes

Adventure100%
Sci-Fi88%
Fantasy82%

Specifications

  • Video

    Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
    Video resolution: 1080p (upconverted)
    Aspect ratio: 1.75:1
    Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1

  • Audio

    English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)

  • Subtitles

    English SDH

  • Discs

    Blu-ray Disc
    Three-disc set (3 BDs)

  • Playback

    Region A (B, C untested)

Review

Rating summary

Movie3.5 of 53.5
Video3.0 of 53.0
Audio4.0 of 54.0
Extras5.0 of 55.0
Overall3.5 of 53.5

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  3.0 of 5

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  4.0 of 5

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  5.0 of 5

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  3.5 of 5

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.


Other editions

Doctor Who: Other Seasons



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