Doctor Who (2005) – Series 5

Title: Doctor Who

Series Number: 5

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Number of Episodes: 13

Original Release: 3 April 2010 – 26 June 2010

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Official Trailer

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With a new Doctor, a new companion, a new Tardis, a new sonic screwdriver, as well as a new showrunner (Steven Moffat), this season feels like another reboot of the series. And let me tell you, I like Doctor Who a lot more now. Moffat is doing wonders for this show. It is young and fresh, and its fast pace makes you feel like you are living an adventure yourself. As opposed to Davies’ series which were more slow and dramatic.

After watching the first episode of the season, “The Eleventh Hour”, Matt Smith’s Doctor became my favorite Doctor yet. This feeling was only strengthen after each episode. He is energetic, smart, witty and super crazy. I love how Matt Smith has made a more physical Doctor. With his constant hand gestures and his moving about you get a glimpse of the craziness inside his head.

Amy is also a really good character, worthy companion for The Doctor. I don’t like the sense of ownership she has over The Doctor, but I can deal with that. She is strong, decided, and unafraid. She leads The Doctor more than he leads her. Their friendship is a story for the ages.

The other traveler in the Tardis this season, Rory, caught me by surprise. He seemed like an ordinary scrawny doofus in the first episode and I didn’t give him much thought. Until the very end of the series. His love and loyalty towards Amy left me speechless. The sacrifice he made for her brought tears to my eyes. I will not look at him the same way again, no matter how dorky he still looks.

It was also super fun to see River Song again. That one-off Moffat character that knows The Doctor’s name. Her flirtations with this younger, super awkward Doctor are hilariously cheeky but cute. She is a sexier female version of The Doctor and I love it. Still, the mystery continues. We don’t know who she is or how she knows The Doctor. We know that she likes to order him around and that she flies the Tardis like a pro, better than The Doctor himself. But that’s not much.

Moffat has changed Doctor Who for good. This whole season was amazing, full of remarkable character, laughs, and feels. It has many extraordinary episodes like the one where you meet The Doctor: “The Eleventh Hour”; the laugh-out-loud funny: “The Lodger”; and the one that makes me cry every time I watch it: “Vincent and The Doctor”. Not every episode in this series is grandiose, but they are all really good. And even the ones that I consider a bit slow, (like “The Vampires of Venice”) are way better than most of the episodes of previous series. Moffat is definitely off to a great start.

Doctor Who (2005) Special - The End of Time, Part 1 & 2

Doctor Who (2005)

Episode Title: The End of Time Part 1 and Part 2

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Official Synopsis: It is Christmas Eve, and the Doctor is reunited with Wilf [… He] faces the end of his life, as the Master's victory unleashes the greatest terror of all.

Official Page



Trailer

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This is a two-part farewell for David Tennant so, as expected, it ended with a bang. Sadly, the journey to that 'bang' isn't what you'd expect. The first part sucked, while the second part was actually pretty epic. There's not much to say, honestly. There's a lot of plot devices, useless moments, as well as far too much taken for granted. The overall plot (humankind being replaced) isn't quite original, since that's the basics of all Cybermen episodes up until now. There was, however, a lot of redeeming points, specially David Tennant's performance of the Doctor. He was, without a doubt, amazing. His ability to transmit the Doctor's emotions is just fantastic, and that's without even saying anything. Wilfred was both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and his love for the Doctor just makes him all the more adorable.

Doctor Who (2005) Special - The Waters of Mars

Doctor Who (2005)

Episode Title: The Waters of Mars

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Official Page

Official Synopsis: Mars, 2059. Bowie Base One. Last recorded message: 'Don't drink the water. Not one drop.'.

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This episode is great, in some ways. Oddly sad, in others. And, slightly terrifying in others. Lets just say this episode increased my fears of water to all new heights. Anyway, though it is terrifing, I have some interesting issues with this. For starters, the fact that it's a fixed point in time, it effectively means that, no matter what happens in the episode, these people will die. And the Doctor's actions shouldn't have been able to do anything to change that. 

Furthermore, the deadly virus, or germ, was able to transmit, or implant, itself into the humans on Mars. But, these people got that virus from using the Martian water. Why didn't they bring their own water, if they were becoming a colony? They're the first colony out on Mars, and they know nothing of it. Wouldn't they bring as much as they could from Earth, in order to avoid just this type of catastrophy?

Another point, probably the main reason why I dislike this episode, is the 'villains.' They are, basically, visually, water-possessed humans. The first impression of these baddies is impressive, definitely scary. But, after that first impression passes, they just feel kinda silly. Even though, sure, the power of water is great, these bad guys get really old, really fast. 

Finally, I find it impossible to believe that the Doctor can barely pilot the Tardis on his own, but could somehow make the 'funny robot' control it perfectly enough for it to matterialize around them. However, even though this episode is not great, it is basically the best of the specials between Series 5 and Series 6, mostly because the ending of the episode is flawless.

Doctor Who (2005) Special - Planet of the Dead

Doctor Who (2005)

Episode Title: Planet of the Dead

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Official Page

Official Synopsis: A London bus takes a detour to an alien world, but can the Doctor defeat the Swarm?

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This episode was mostly a waste of my time. I didn't enjoyed it; and that's coming from a Doctor Who fan. The story dragged on forever without anything actually happening. It wasn't funny, thrilling or dramatic. Most characters were dull and added nothing to the story. Not even the Doctor was that good, and Christina was just annoying. I can't understand how the Doctor actually thinks that they are a perfect team. Yes, they are both adrenaline junkies, but the Doctor can't be with someone that is trying to one-up him all the time. The only character I actually enjoyed was Malcom; he was just adorable. The alien enemies were actually cool too. Unfortunately, having cool enemies and one good character is not enough to sustain a whole hour of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who Christmas Special - The Next Doctor

Title: The Next Doctor

Broadcasting Station: BBC

Original Airdate: 25 December 2008

Official Page

Official Synopsis: When the Doctor meets another Doctor, the two must combine forces to stop the Cybermen and the colossal CyberKing.

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The title of this special definitely scared me when I first read it. I mean, David Tennant was an amazing Doctor, so thinking of him leaving was little less than a death sentence. I began the episode hoping Tennant didn't die. Upon seeing the so-called "Next Doctor", I realized he wasn't really a new regeneration. All throughout the episode I honestly knew the guy wasn't the Doctor at all, which destroyed most of the episode's excitement. Adding to that, the Cybermen are an overused enemy, which made the this episode all the more painful. David Tennant was, obviously, amazing, as were all the other actors, but this episode was, sadly, a filler. It was fun, but one of my least favorite episodes ever. At least we got a enormous robot and a balloon.

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After the emotional climax that was the end of “Journey's End” I was left with high hopes for the future of Doctor Who. However, “The Next Doctor” went back to the uninteresting type of episodes of season two. The overall story of the episode wasn't something fresh or engaging, possibly due to nature of the enemy: The Cybermen. At least since they started appearing in New Who they have always wanted the same thing: to upgrade humankind, to convert everyone into Cybermen. I know they are classic Doctor Who villains, but, after a while, their stories start to seem the same.

What gave a little twist to this particular story was The Next Doctor. He was a clever Doctor with a dramatic story. His partnership with The Doctor was lively and witty. Unfortunately, since this was a special, individual episode we probably won't see the character again.

Doctor Who (2005) - Series 4

Title: Doctor Who (2005)

Season: Series 4

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Synopsis: The tenth Doctor reunites with Donna Noble and, togehter, they embark on a series of adventures across time and space.

Official Site

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Doctor Who has it's high and lows, it's great episodes and it's bad episodes. But this season is definitely one of the best. Katherine Tate was amazing as the season's companion, Donna Noble, and David Tennant was as impressive and endearing as ever. The Doctor's friendship with Donna Noble is my personal favorite. This season definitely has some of the best episodes of late, making me cry and laugh, many times at the same time. Halfway through the series Martha Jones returned, for two episodes that proved how she really was annoying. But, that's my own personal opinion. My own personal highlight of the series is Steven Moffat's two part story, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, where a character from the Doctor's future, but I won't give you any more spoilers. The finale of the series did cause me some trouble, or rather, it had too many characters that didn't actually do anything besides getting captured by the main villain (hint: Daleks.) The actual final moments involving Donna and The Doctor were heartbreaking and definitely tear-inducing, definitely a magnificent ending. If you've liked the series up until now, you'll love this season.

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When I saw that Donna was going to be the next companion I was less than happy. She had been very annoying on the Christmas Special she first appeared in. So, I thought she was going to make the whole series annoying. By the second episode, “The Fires of Pompeii”, she stole my heart. Catherine Tate, who plays Donna, was extraordinary in that episode, and every bad thought and feeling I had about her disappeared. From then on, I saw her as magnificent. I began to love how she is tough, decided and doesn't let anyone go over her. She asks the right questions and doesn't hold anything back. She brought a naturalness to the series and made it more emotionally engaging. By the end of the series I didn't want to see her go. Her demise was so powerful, heartbreaking and well-acted that it brought tears to my eyes. 

Overall the series wasn't great. The episodes were not that good. They weren't interesting or intriguing. Most of them were just OK. But the ending was not even “just OK”. It felt forced, like Russel T. Davies wanted an excuse to have all “The children of Time” together in an episode. But it wasn't a good excuse. Besides, there were so many sidekicks in one episode that most of them ended up doing nothing. The one that actually did something, and saved everyone, was Donna. Another reason to love her.

The only episodes that were really good were “The Fires of Pompeii”, "Midnight" and, once again, Steven Moffat's. His two-part story about The Library was amazing, intriguing, scary and set the tone for the upcoming series, where Moffat is going to be the new show-runner. Furthermore, in this story Moffat introduced an enigmatic new character that is loved by many and, sadly, hated by others: River Song. I'm in the group that loves her. She is wonderful, smart, passionate and a natural flirt. Yet, her whole story is a mystery; we know nothing about her, except she knows The Doctor very well. Which is were the whole mystery comes from. 

Doctor Who (2005) - Voyage of the Damned

Title: Doctor Who

Year: 2005

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Synopsis: A spacecraft set on an apocalyptic collision course with Earth, a host of killer robot angels and an evil severed-headed mastermind - it's just another Christmas for the Doctor... 

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I didn't really like this episode as much as I should. More angels, though nothing as cool and scary as the Weeping Angels, appeared in this episode. The Doctor is, in my opinion, strange throughout the whole episode and the final events made me think the story was too loose, leaving me with a bazillion theories to how the Doctor could have saved the girl. I really loved 'Alonso, Alon-sy,' and when the Doctor presents himself. I also was laughing out loud when they were talking about the people of Earth ("And then they go to war with the people of Turkey!") It was a weak episode, and only one or two moments actually made me feel anything besides slightly amused; like, when the red little being turned out to be a Cyborg with an E.M.P. in his chest. Apart from four or five tiny, not-very-important moments, the episode wasn't good. Definitely not what I've come to expect of Doctor Who. Then again, David Tennant continues to make an excellent Doctor.

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I don't know what to say about this episode; it wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was just there. It definitely has a moment or two that are quite funny, and a moment or two that are daring and inspiring. However, in an episode that lasts more than an hour, four two-minutes moments don't amount to much. Also, the companion's ending left an awful aftertaste because it was completely preventable.

This episode is just unmemorable, and not important to the actual story of The Doctor. However, one of its characters has a brief, unessential appearance later on in the show. If not for this tiny detail I would tell everyone to skip this episode.

Doctor Who (2005) - Series 3

Title: Doctor Who (2005)

Season: Series 3

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Official Website

Synopsis: A third season of sci-fi adventures for the venerable British Doctor with his brand new assistant, Martha.

Official Trailer


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This season is one I love to hate. See, most of the episodes in this one were great, such as ‘Blink’, ‘Human Nature’ and even ‘The Lazarus Experiment.’ The reason I say I love to hate it, though, isn’t the episodes. It’s Martha Jones. She’s whiny and dependent and her family is almost as annoying as Rose’s. She does, however, help The Doctor out with some stuff, but she still has an odd feeling to her. David Tennant, once again, made an amazing performance. The Doctor was, almost literally, the jewel of the Season. But, of course, he had a big contender once Captain Jack Harkness made his return! Season three definitely has some of the best episodes ever, and I can honestly say I don’t dislike any of them. Though, somehow, I wish I had seen more of the Jack/Doctor banter like it was with the Ninth Doctor.

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I'm beginning to see some improvement in this show. This series is way better than the ones that came before it; it was not perfect, but it was better. 

The first half of the series is a bit dull, and getting to know Martha Jones was a difficult task. She is a nice girl, yet, I don't know why, but I don't like her. I guess is the fact that she wasn't just a companion and friend. As she confirmed in the end, she was mostly traveling with The Doctor in the hopes that he would fall in love with her. And that just annoyed me; always with sad puppy eyes, always sighing and getting jealous of every woman. I understand The Doctor is an exceptional man and that any girl could fall in love with him. However, with Martha, I felt like she wasn't enjoying her journey because she was too inmerse in her feelings towards The Doctor.

The second half of this series was the total opposite: it was intense, intriguing and extremely entertaining. Every episode had me on the edge of my seat. Also, every episode featured a problem The Doctor couldn't solve, either because he was trapped, possessed or not himself. It was really nice to see him trusting and relying on other people to save him. This also led to Martha taking the reigns of some situations and actually doing something. In the end she proved herself useful and my opinion of her changed a bit.

The best of episode of this series is, once again, Steven Moffat's. "Blink" is such a great episode that it has become one of Doctor Who's best episodes overall, is one of the fan's favorites and its villain The Weeping Angels were chosen as the Scariest Doctor Who Villain in a BBC poll. This episode was amazing; Moffat is a genius.

The ending of the series was really good, though it was a bit anticlimactic because it didn't include a final showdown. The series story arc was better than previous ones and was, also, better constructed. The Master was brilliant; John Simm's performance was impeccable. He was a great match for David Tennant.

From now on Doctor Who will only get better. If you have liked the show so far, brace yourself for what's coming.

Doctor Who Christmas Special - The Runaway Bride

Title: The Runaway Bride

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Original Air Date: 25 December 2006

Synopsis: Killer Santas, exploding baubles, an alien spaceship shaped like a giant star - Christmas with the Doctor is anything but a silent night...

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This episode revolves around a bride that suddenly appeared inside the TARDIS. The instant she appeared, I thought she wasn’t very nice and very mean, but as the episode progressed, I began to really like her. By the end of the episode, the interactions between Donna and The Doctor became my favorite ever, and I was sad to see her go. David Tennant was epic, as usual, so there’s no doubt this is one of the best episodes so far.

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The first part of the episode was utterly annoying. Donna kept yelling every word and all i could think was: "could someone please shut her up?" Then again, she was "kidnapped" from her own wedding, I would probably yell too. Still, she was annoying. 

As the story progressed my opinion of her started to shift. It was really sad to see that nobody cared about her being missing, but it was heartbreaking to find about the real reason she was getting married. In that moment we got to see Donna's vulnerable side and I found myself defending her from the verbal attacks of a certain man.

Villain-wise not much happened. This story wasn't focused on Christmas or aliens invading Earth; it was mostly Donna's story. Still, David Tennant managed to shine on his own, as always. His performance as a pre- Time Lord Victorious was scary, chilling and impecable, and the ending just gave viewers a taste of what to expect from him in the future.

Doctor Who (2005) - Series 2

Title: Doctor Who

Year: 2005

Broadcasting Station: BBC One

Synopsis: David Tennant begins his run as the tenth Doctor as Rose (Billie Piper) continues her adventures through space and time.

Official Trailer

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This series is the one I like the least. Not because of Tennant, but because the episodes are actually not very good. David Tennant’s the reason this series is getting three stars, because his acting was amazingly emotional and, well, just perfect. The finale, though, was without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the whole series. Traveling through dimensions was to be impossible, so of course, everyone suddenly was able to do so. I didn't like the fact that the Daleks were ‘destroyed’ in the Time War, then once more when the Vortex took over Rose, yet, they’re back once more. Rose’s final farewell was heartbreaking, but, as usual, it was Tennant who made it that way.

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Series Two left much to be desired. Almost every episode lacked intensity and an engaging story. What kept Series Two going, was David Tennant's acting. Even though he wasn't given good stories to interpret, he managed to make the most of them.

The story arc for this series was really weak. It wasn't an life-changing situation or an unavoidable epic confrontation; it was an organization, its and its efforts to save humanity. The organization will continue in further series, however, it wasn't a strong topic to develop a whole series around.

The best episode of the Series - or in this case the only one that stands out - was, yet again, Steven Moffat's. "The Girl in the Fireplace" has the series worth of drama, comedy (banana jokes included), romance and intrigue.

The ending was bittersweet. To fans of the classic series of Doctor Who the finale was probably epic, having Cybermen and Daleks together for the first time ever. Nevertheless, the episode focused more on the Cybermen vs. Daleks showdown and not too much on The Doctor saving the Earth. The literal ending was, in fact, heartbreaking, but it was heartbreaking mostly because of the actors' performances. The fact that Rose stayed traped in a parallel universe is sad, but not heartbreaking. At least she has her whole family and Mickey to support her. I mean, if she had to leave, that is a decent way to do so.

Doctor Who Christmas Special - The Christmas Invasion

Title: The Christmas Invasion

Broadcasting Station: BBC

Official Site

Synopsis: It's Christmas Eve, but this is to be a far from silent night - the cruel Sycorax have come to Earth to enslave mankind and, as ever, only The Doctor can stop them. Unfortunately, he's lying in a coma in Jackie's home...

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This special Christmas episode revolves around how Rose Tyler copes with the Post-Regeneration Doctor. Honestly? Most of the episode kinda sucks, as The Doctor is unconscious for most of the episode, during which time all Rose actually does is cry about how she is, and I quote, 'Useless' and how that's not 'Her Doctor.' Luckily, at the end, David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor) finally wakes up and shows why he was chosen for the role, quickly making an extremely fun and cool finale for the special. Unfortunately, this episode meant a whole lot of Jackie and Mickey, both of which are annoying at best. It's an okay episode, but not what I'd expect of Doctor Who.


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The Christmas Invasion is the first story with David Tennant as The Doctor. I was expecting an epic introduction of this new Doctor. I wanted to know how he is and if he will live up to Eccleston's Doctor. Unfortunately, this episode featured an unconscious Doctor for the better part of it. During the first half of the episode the Doctor is unconscious and lying around. Rose is the only one that could do something, yet she admits that without the Doctor she is useless.

After two thirds of the episode, the Doctor finally awakens. He makes some laugh-out-load funny comments and fights the leader of the Sycorax. That took about 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes were amazing. The new Doctor impressed me beyond measure. If he managed to be witty, intense, decisive and powerful in just 15 minutes, I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do in 45-minute episodes.

Tennant was amazing and, at the end, that made the episode somewhat worthwhile. However, Tennant’s performance wasn’t enough to carry the whole episode.