Doctor Who - Series Two Review

I'll get into any sort of spoilers in the first comment of this post.

When Doctor Who returned in 2005, that a television series that was pretty much the same old Doctor Who in spirit as well as in title was enough to celebrate.

The second season was patterned very similar to the first, really.

In the first comment I'll go from worst to best:

Offical Doctor Who Soundtrack

I was able to get the new series Doctor Who soundtrack. In general, I'm quite happy with it -- the soundtrack for the new series has definitely grown on me over time, and so it's nice to have it available. Doctor Who has always had a distinctive soundtrack in one fashion or another, and while Gold's soundtrack fits into that as much as anything.

I can't be all positive, however. I am a little disappointed in the version of Song for Ten on the soundtrack -- it is recorded with a different singer, and the production isn't as lush as the version on the episode.

Right now the CD looks to only be available as an import in the US through sites like Who NA, but it looks to be available through sites like Amazon in the new year. And as it looks like it's available in the UK version of iTunes, I wonder if we'll see it on the American version of iTunes when it is fully released here as well.

Thoughts on Love and Monsters

I enjoy Love and Monsters, the tenth episode of the 2006 series of Doctor Who. It is obvious to anyone that it's as much about people that are fans of Doctor Who (and really, fans of everything) as it is an episode that needed to have only a little bit of the leads in.

And when the villain of the piece is the very worst parts of fandom -- those that take advantage of individuals for their own purposes. I've certainly seen man Victor Kennedys in my time -- those that take away some part of the joy that you get within a community of people. They're the ones that take advantage, steal, get on ego-trips, assume that whatever fan activity it is was just for them, and not something that lots of people can get involved in and be a part of.

And it is quite fitting that the this is visualized by a monster created by a child for a contest. That it works so well thematically in the episode is just right. And the ELO soundtrack feels thematically right and true as well -- that love of something that isn't really fashionable, but celebrating being true to oneself and that sort of geeky passion that is true of any sort of fandom.

Should every episode be like Love and Monsters? Of course not -- this is Doctor Who, a series that thrives on variability and change. But it really worked for me, and it's an excellent part of the latest series.

Christmas Invasion and New Earth Comments

The track record for a new Doctor's first story is frequently mixed. There are some that are amongst the best in the series -- both Power of the Daleks and Spearhead from Space come to mind. But others, like The Twin Dilemma and Time and the Rani, are amongst the worst.

I've placed my full comments in the comment section of this post, so you can avoid for spoiler purposes.

Note that the commentaries for all of the series two episodes are available on the BBC site.

Reviews

I'm not sure if one way to prime this site is to recycle links to old content -- especially as it looks like the main way old articles and reviews show up are by people googling for the topic of that article.

I posted a lot of reviews back in the day that the New Adventure Doctor Who novels were at their peak, and into the first set of BBC Book as well.

Here they are, completely unchanged from when they were posted in the late 1990s:

Dead Romance by Lawrence Miles [NA, Chris]
The Taint [BBC, 8, Sam, Fitz]
Realitywarp [Fan Video/The Federation, 6/Peri]
The Infinity Doctors by Lance Parkin [BBC, The Doctor]
From A to Z by Gary Gillatt [Nonfiction]
Fury From The Deep [Recon, 2, Jamie, Victoria]
The Tenth Planet [Recon, 1, Ben, Polly]
The Macra Terror [Recon, 2, Jamie, Ben, Polly]
The Invasion [Recon, 2, Jamie, Zoe]
Vanderdeken's Children by Christopher Buils [BBC, 8, Sam]
Shadowmind by Christopher Bulis [NA, 7, Ace, Benny]
Placebo Effect by Gary Russell [BBC, 8, Sam]
Doctor Who Magazine #268
Seeing I by Jon Blum and Kate Orman [BBC, 8, Sam]
The Face of the Enemy by David A. McIntee [BBC, UNIT, Master, Ian, Barbara]
The Dark Path by David A. McIntee [MA, 2, Jamie, Victoria, Master]
So Vile a Sin by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman [NA, 7, Chris, Roz]
Dreamstone Moon by Paul Leonard [BBC, 8, Sam]
Phase Four [ Fan Video ]
Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel [BBC, 8]
Walking to Babylon by Kate Orman [NA, Benny]
Longest Day by Michael Collier [BBC, 8, Sam]
White Darkness by David A McIntee [NA, 7/Ace/Benny]
Short Trips [Short Stories Audio Book]
The Reign of Turner by the ex-Federation [Fan Parody Video]
Option Lock by Justin Richards [BBC,8,Sam]
Kursaal by Peter Anghelides [BBC,8, Sam]
Business Unusual by Gary Russell [BBC, 6, Mel]
The Devil Goblins From Neptune by Keith Topping & Martin Day [BBC, 3, Liz, UNIT]
The Sands of Time by Justin Richards [Virgin, 5, Tegan, Nyssa]
Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles [BBC,8/Sam]
War of the Daleks by John Peel [BBC,8/Sam]
Genocide by Paul Leonard [BBC, 8/Sam]
The Bodysnatchers by Mark Morris [BBC, 8/Sam]
Licence Denied Edited by Paul Cornell [Fanzine retrospective]
The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks [BBC, 8/Sam]
Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimore [NA, 7/Ace/Benny]
Evolution by John Peel [MA, 4/Sarah Jane]
The Pit by Neil Penswick [NA, 7/Benny]
Vampire Science by Jon Blum and Kate Orman [BBC, 8/Sam]
The Highest Science by Gareth Roberts [NA, 7/Benny]
State of Change by Christopher Bulis [MA, 6/Peri]
Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark by Andrew Hunt [NA, 7/Ace]
The Dying Days by Lance Parkin [NA]
Lungbarrow by Marc Platt [NA]
Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman [NA]
Sleepy by Kate Orman [NA]
Venusian Lullaby by Paul Leonard [MA]
The Menagrie by Martin Day [MA]
The Room With No Doors by Kate Orman [NA]
The Nth Doctor by Jean-Marc Lofficier
Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell [MA]
Christmas on a Rational Planet by Lawerence Miles [NA]
The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts [MA]
Cold Fusion by Lance Parkin [MA]
Doctor Who - The Novel of the Film by Gary Russell
Who Killed Kennedy
Transit by Ben Aaronovitch [NA]
Invasion of the Cat-People by Gary Russell
System Shock by Justin Richards
Sorcerer's Apprentice by Chris Bulis
Cat's Cradle: Warhead by Andrew Cartmel
The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch
Head Games by Steve Lyons
Just War by Lance Parkin
A History of the Universe by Lance Parkin[reference book]
Dimensions in Time and Happy Endings[TV Special and 50th NA]
Time Rift[Fan Video]
Enemy Within[FOX Doctor Who TV Movie]
Millennial Rites by Craig Hinton[MA]
Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Mark Platt[NA]
Timewyrm: Apocolypse by Nigel Robinson[NA]
Decalog 2, Edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker[Short Stories]
Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks[NA]
Decalog, Edited by Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker[Short Stories]
All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane[NA]
Set Piece by Kate Orman[NA]
Timewyrm:Revelation by Paul Cornell[NA]
The Romance of Crime by Gareth Roberts[MA]
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans[Video]
Iceberg by David Banks[NA]
Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans[NA]
Timewyrm:Genesys by John Peel[NA]
Original Sin by Andy Lane[NA]
Human Nature by Paul Cornell[NA]
The Reference Guide Review (Handbooks, Discontinuity Guide)
Love and War, and No Future by Paul Cornell[NA]
The Left Handed Hummingbird by Kate Orman [NA]
Goth Opera by Paul Cornell[MA]
Blood Harvest by Terrance Dicks[NA]