Doctor Who (series 2)

Doctor Who series 2
DVD box set
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	14 (+2)
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	15 April 2006 (2006-04-15) – 8 June 2006 (2006-06-08)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	16 January 2007 (2007-01-16)[1]
Region 2	20 November 2006 (2006-11-20)
Region 4	7 December 2006 (2006-12-07)
Series chronology
← Previous Series 1 Next → Series 3
List of Doctor Who serials

The second series of British science fiction series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "New Earth" on 15 April 2006. In addition, two short special episodes were produced; a Children in Need special and an interactive episode, as well as 13 TARDISODEs. The series won the 2006 BAFTA for Best Drama Series.

Production

Following the success of the opening episode of the first series, the BBC announced that Doctor Who had been recommissioned for both a second series and a Christmas special on 30 March 2005.^[2] Recording for the Christmas special began on 22 July 2005,^[3] with production on the series itself beginning on 1 August^[4] and concluding on 11 April 2006.^[5]

New writers for the show included Toby Whithouse, creator of the Channel 4 drama No Angels, Tom MacRae, creator of Sky One’s Mile High, Matt Jones, also a prolific script editor and producer, and Matthew Graham, co-creator of the BBC science fiction series Life on Mars. Previous writers Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies all contributed to the series, with Davies continuing to act as head writer and executive producer. Phil Collinson produced all episodes, with Julie Gardner as executive producer. The series was directed by James Hawes, Euros Lyn, James Strong, Dan Zeff and Graeme Harper, who had directed episodes of the programme's original run. Production blocks were arranged as follows:

Block	Episodes	Director	Writers	Code
1	"The Christmas Invasion" "School Reunion" "New Earth"	James Hawes	Russell T Davies Toby Whithouse Russell T Davies	2.X 2.3 2.1
2	"Tooth and Claw" "The Girl in the Fireplace"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies Steven Moffat	2.2 2.4
3	"Rise of the Cybermen" "The Age of Steel" "Army of Ghosts" "Doomsday"	Graeme Harper	Tom MacRae Russell T Davies	2.5 2.6 2.12 2.13
	"Doctor Who: Children in Need" "Attack of the Graske"	Euros Lyn Ashley Way	Russell T Davies Gareth Roberts	CIN -
4	"The Idiot's Lantern" "Fear Her"	Euros Lyn	Mark Gatiss Matthew Graham	2.7 2.11
5	"Love & Monsters"	Dan Zeff	Russell T Davies	2.10
6	"The Impossible Planet" "The Satan Pit"	James Strong	Matt Jones	2.8 2.9

A Children in Need special and an interactive episode, entitled "Attack of the Graske", were both produced alongside the series.

A series of 13 TARDISODEs were also produced. These mini-episodes (approximately 60 seconds in length) served as prequels to each forthcoming episode, and were available for download to mobile phones and viewable at the official Doctor Who website. The TARDISODEs were recorded intermittently from 31 January^[6] to 8 April 2006.^[7]

Casting

The title card for series 2 of Doctor Who, identical to that used for series 1.

Main characters

Series two was David Tennant's first in the role of the Doctor. Following his brief appearance in the closing moments of "The Parting of the Ways" he was next seen in the Children in Need special, broadcast on 18 November 2005. "The Christmas Invasion", broadcast one month later, marked his first full episode.

Billie Piper continued her role as companion Rose Tyler, although she left the series in the final episode. Noel Clarke's character Mickey Smith, a recurring guest character during the first series, became a member of the TARDIS crew for several episodes.

Guest stars

Camille Coduri continued to guest in the series as recurring character Jackie Tyler. Shaun Dingwall returned for several episodes as Pete Tyler and Penelope Wilton reprised her role as Harriet Jones.

Elisabeth Sladen featured in the episode "School Reunion", returning to the character of Sarah Jane Smith, companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors. John Leeson also featured in this episode as the voice of K-9.

Other guest stars included Adam Garcia, Daniel Evans, Zoë Wanamaker, Anna Hope, Pauline Collins, Anthony Head, Sophia Myles, Roger Lloyd Pack, Andrew Hayden-Smith, Don Warrington, Maureen Lipman, Danny Webb, Shaun Parkes, Claire Rushbrook, Will Thorp, Marc Warren, Peter Kay, Shirley Henderson, Simon Greenall, Moya Brady, Kathryn Drysdale, Nina Sosanya, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Raji James, Barbara Windsor, Derek Acorah, Alistair Appleton, Trisha Goddard and Freema Agyeman, who went on to play companion Martha Jones.

List of episodes

The second series encompassed a loose story arc based around the word "Torchwood", which first appeared in the 2005 episode "Bad Wolf". The mythology of Torchwood is built across the series; in "The Christmas Invasion" it is revealed to be a secret organisation which possesses alien technology, and its establishment is shown in "Tooth and Claw". Contemporary Torchwood is finally visited by the Doctor and Rose in "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", at which point it is situated within London's Canary Wharf and accidentally allows the invasion of the Cybermen and, subsequently, the Daleks. The Doctor and Rose are forcibly separated by these events, which lead to Rose's entrapment within a parallel universe.

The Doctor and Rose are indirectly responsible for their separation; their enjoyment of the events of "Tooth and Claw" horrifies Queen Victoria and leads to the establishment of Torchwood. Over a century later, the institute's foolish actions are resolved at the expense of the Doctor and Rose's companionship. "It's deliberate when that happens [The Doctor and Rose's arrogance]", said head writer Russell T Davies, "and they do pay the price. In "Tooth and Claw", they set up the very thing - Torchwood - that separates them in the end. It's sort of their own fault."^[8]

Story No.	Episode	Title	Directed by	Written by	UK viewers[9] (million)	AI[9]	Original air date	Production code
167	—	"The Christmas Invasion"	James Hawes	Russell T Davies	9.8	84	25 December 2005 (2005-12-25)	2.Xt
A newly-regenerated Doctor must battle the Sycorax. But he can't do that when he's lying unconscious in Rose's house...
168	1	"New Earth"	James Hawes	Russell T Davies	8.6	85	15 April 2006 (2006-04-15)	2.1
As Rose Tyler embarks upon her first big TARDIS adventure with the newly-regenerated Doctor, they discover a sinister hospital run by strange cat people and run in to two old acquaintances, The Face of Boe and Cassandra.
169	2	"Tooth and Claw"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	9.2	83	22 April 2006 (2006-04-22)	2.2
Landing in 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria, travelling with her to spend the night at the Torchwood Estate. However, a group of warrior monks have sinister plans for the monarch, and the full moon is about to summon a creature out of legend.
170	3	"School Reunion"	James Hawes	Toby Whithouse	8.3	85	29 April 2006 (2006-04-29)	2.3
By chance, the Doctor encounters old companion Sarah Jane Smith. Rose discovers the legacy of that role.
171	4	"The Girl in the Fireplace"	Euros Lyn	Steven Moffat	7.9	84	6 May 2006 (2006-05-06)	2.4
The Doctor, Mickey and Rose land on a spaceship in the 51st century only to find 18th century Versailles on board, the time of Madame De Pompadour! To find out what's going on the Doctor must enter Versailles through a fireplace and save Madame De Pompadour but it turns into an emotional roller coaster for the Doctor.
172a	5	"Rise of the Cybermen"	Graeme Harper	Tom MacRae	9.2	86	13 May 2006 (2006-05-13)	2.5
The Tardis ends up in an alternate universe, and must recharge before the Doctor, Mickey and Rose can return home. But John Lumic has created an improved version of one of the Doctor's old enemies.
172b	6	"The Age of Steel"	Graeme Harper	Tom MacRae	9.0	86	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)	2.6
Lumic's army of cybermen is on the rise, and with more and more people being converted by the hour, time is of the essence. The gang are reduced to fugitives as they roam the streets of parallel London trying to rid the earth of cybermen.
173	7	"The Idiot's Lantern"	Euros Lyn	Mark Gatiss	6.8	84	27 May 2006 (2006-05-27)	2.7
In 1950s London, the police are hunting down strange, mute creatures. The people of Britain gather around their new-fangled "tele-vision" sets to celebrate the new Queen's coronation - but is something affecting the signal?
174a	8	"The Impossible Planet"	James Strong	Matt Jones	6.3	85	3 June 2006 (2006-06-03)	2.8
The TARDIS lands on an alien planet shrouded in a darkness that even the Doctor can't figure out. And what is lurking at the bottom of The Satan Pit?
174b	9	"The Satan Pit"	James Strong	Matt Jones	6.1	86	10 June 2006 (2006-06-10)	2.9
As Rose battles the murderous Ood, the Doctor finds his every belief being challenged to the core, as the Pit beckons. With the planet threatening to fall into the black hole, the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice.
175	10	"Love & Monsters"	Dan Zeff	Russell T Davies	6.7	76	17 June 2006 (2006-06-17)	2.10
Elton Pope is part of a group named LINDA, who actively seek out alien activity. But little do they know there is an alien amongst their number...
176	11	"Fear Her"	Euros Lyn	Matthew Graham	7.1	83	24 June 2006 (2006-06-24)	2.11
The Doctor and Rose travel to London in 2012 to see the Olympics - only to find that children are mysteriously disappearing before peoples very eyes. The answer seems to lie with a young girl named Chloe and her strange drawings - but is there something more sinister behind the disappearances?
177a	12	"Army of Ghosts"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	8.2	86	1 July 2006 (2006-07-01)	2.12
Ghosts are appearing worldwide. And the mystery of Torchwood is revealed.
177b	13	"Doomsday"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	8.2	89	8 July 2006 (2006-07-08)	2.13
The ghosts are Cybermen, and the Daleks are back as well. Can the Doctor defeat this twin threat? And at what cost?

Supplemental episodes

Two mini-episodes were also recorded: "Doctor Who: Children in Need" was produced for the 2005 Children in Need appeal, and interactive episode "Attack of the Graske" was recorded for digital television following the broadcast of "The Christmas Invasion". 13 TARDISODEs were also produced to serve as prequels to each episode. All episodes were filmed as part of the second series' production cycle.

Title	Directed by	Written by	UK viewers (million)	Original air date	Production code
"Doctor Who: Children in Need"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	10.8[10]	18 November 2005 (2005-11-18)	CIN
The Doctor has just regenerated; but will Rose be able to trust this strange new Doctor?
"Attack of the Graske"	Ashley Way	Gareth Roberts	N/A	25 December 2005 (2005-12-25)	—
The human race is in danger of being replaced by aliens (changelings). Only the Doctor's companion (the viewer) can stop them.

Soundtrack

Further information: Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack

Selected pieces of score from this series (alongside material from Series 1 and "The Runaway Bride"), as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 4 December 2006 by Silva Screen Records

International broadcasts

Australia

In Australia, this series aired in 2006, on ABC at 7:30 pm Saturdays. The premiere episode was the 2005 Christmas special. During the runs of these episodes, the Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down was not shown at that time. This series aired again from Tuesday, 27 January 2009 starting with "The Christmas Invasion" at 8:30 pm. From 3 February 2009, not only was the show airing on ABC2 on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm, Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down episodes aired right after the episode. This is the second time that the Doctor Who Confidential Cut Down episodes were shown; the first time happened in 2008 when airing series 4 of Doctor Who.

References

1. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JBWWP6/
2. ^ "Second season is go!". 2005-03-30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2005/03/30/18213.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
3. ^ "The Christmas Invasion", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 13, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
4. ^ "New Earth", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 25, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
5. ^ "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 71, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
6. ^ "New Earth: TARDISODE", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 22, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
7. ^ "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday: TARDISODE", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 101, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
8. ^ "Mister Blue Sky: Russell T Davies Interview", Doctor Who Magazine (374): 22, 2006-10-11 (cover date) 
9. ^ ^{a b} Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition), 2006-11-09 (cover date) 
10. ^ "Children in Need", Doctor Who Magazine: Series Two Companion (14 - Special Edition): 11, 2006-11-09 (cover date) 

External links

	Doctor Who portal
	BBC portal

• List of Doctor Who episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Doctor Who season 2 episodes at TV.com
• Doctor Who at epguides.com