Doctor Who: Series 2 – Volume 1 David Tennant 2006 DVD Top-quality

The first volume from the second series of the relaunched sci-fi classic, starring David Tennant as the legendary Time Lord and Billie Piper as his human sidekick, Rose Tyler. In the Christmas special, ‘The Christmas Invasion’, the Doctor is still suffering from his regeneration at the end of the last series. Unfortunately an evil alien species has chosen this precise moment to invade Earth, and with Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) captured aboard their gigantic floating spaceship, it’s up to Rose to save the day. But when things go drastically wrong, will the Doctor revive in time to save her? In the first episode of the second series, ‘New Earth’, the Doctor and Rose travel far into the future and come across a sinister race of cat people who are working as nuns in a futuristic hospital. There the Doctor comes across old adversary Cassandra (Zoe Wanamaker) and the mysterious Face of Boe. But what exactly are the cat nuns hiding, and how are they able to cure every disease known to man?
David Tennant ably steps into the shoes of the famous Timelord, as the first couple of episodes of the second series of the reborn Doctor Who make it to DVD.
In fact, thats not quite true. The first of the two is actually the excellent 2005 Christmas special, The Christmas Invasion, which not only marked Tennants first full story in the role, but also proved to be an excellent way to spend an hour. Taking place during the festive season, the story finds Earth under imminent threat of invasion, at a time when the Doctor is still getting over his regeneration. That means extra pressure for Billie Pipers Rose Tyler, but also offers a welcome return to the series for the terrific Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones. Yet its the witty script and Tennants confident performance that define the episode.
The proper start of the second series was the slightly uneven New Earth, which scores well again in the humour stakes, but struggles a little more with the story itself. The Doctor and Rose find themselves billions of years in the future, called to a hospital where the feline nursing staff have a cure for every disease. Naturally, theres something more sinister going on, and theres the returning, unscrupulous last surviving human Cassandra (played again by Zoe Wanamaker) to deal with. But while it amounts to a fun episode, its slightly below the standard the show has set itself of late.
All considered though, as a kick off to the second series DVD collection, theres plenty in the pair of episodes on offer here to enjoy, and plenty of potential in David Tennant as the Doctor. Now bring on the rest!