[TV] The New Doctor Who - Series 2 (2006)

As sad as it was to see the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) leave the show as part of his Regeneration at the end of the first season. Still, upward and onwards with a new season with a new Doctor (David Tennant), new adventures and more Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) to boot!

Come on, admit she's a fun addition to the crew.

With a new Doctor at the helm of the TARDIS, it's practically a new show but the writers certainly did their best to move things along so the momentum of the first season is far from lost with the introduction of a new Doctor.

The second season starts out slightly wobbly with Rose (and the audience) getting used to the new Doctor (and his sideburns). But still it was made more than clear that at the core it was the same brilliant personality behind those eyes and soon he and Rose get back into their adventuring groove.

I felt this season did a lot for the fans by helping set up the framework for the spin-off series Torchwood and tapping classic Doctor Who elements like the Cybermen and the Daleks to boot. Given they had gotten past the first hurdle of reviving the classic series and getting new audiences to hide behind their couches, all that was left to do was just have fun with things and push the limits of the show.

It's also quite the showcase for new science fiction stories and ideas from the mind-bending to the inane. Some of the stories start out pretty ridiculous-sounding but then I've learned early on never to underestimate what the writers are capable of. Especially with all the Torchwood references woven into the series in the same way the "Bad Wolf" concept was pretty worked into the last season.

While most if not all episodes are worth watching, of course a few are bound to stand out for me. One of the more interesting stories in terms of treatment has to be Love & Monsters (Episode 10) which starts not from the perspective of Rose or the Doctor but someone else entirely. It's also fun to have Shirley Henderson a.k.a. Moaning Myrtle of the Harry Potter movies as one of the characters to boot, hehe.

And of course one can't forget the two-part season finale composed of Army of Ghosts (Episode 12) and Doomsday (Episode 13) which was such a fan-whore episode really (and pardon my coarseness).

I hope I didn't spoil things too much for you. Either way, nothing can fully prepare you for how enjoyable the show is and this second season remains perfectly entertaining for a wide range of audiences. Believe me.