TENTH DOCTOR
DAVID TENNANT — 2006 - 200?
Following the surprise (to some) announcement that Christopher Eccleston would be leaving the series after appearing in only one season, the producers were faced with introducing a new lead actor just one year into the run of the new series. Enter David Tennant.
The BBC gave the go-ahead for a second season 4 days after the broadcast of the premiere epsisode, "Rose". It was later announced that a 60-minute Christmas epsiode would be included in the package. At the completion of the hugely successful first season, the Beeb announced plans for a third season, complete with a second Christmas special.
David Tennant is a life-long fan of Doctor Who and says he is thrilled to be playing the part. He says he's always wanted his own TARDIS and how he's got one!
Following the casting of the Doctor and the news that Billie Piper would be staying on for the whole of Season Two, the first big press item of the Second Season was the the Cybermen would be returning for a 2-part story.
The second big press release was the confirmation that Elizabeth Sladen would be returning to the series, reprising her very popular character Sarah Jane Smith, former companion to the 3rd and 4th Doctors in the '70's, in Episode Three, "School Reunion". Joining her would be John Leeson giving bark to K9. Also appearing in the episode will be Anthony Stewart Head, one of the rumoured leading contenders to be cast as the 9th Doctor, appearing as the school's head master.
The rest of the season proved to be a big win as well, with trips to the 1950s for the Queen's coronation ("The Idiot's Lantern"), to 17th Century Versailles ("The Girl in the Fireplace") and the 2012 Olympics ("Fear Her"); we visited two alien planets (in "New Earth" and "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit"); and were treated to a big surprise reappearance of the Daleks to do brief battle with the Cybermen in "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday".
In an unsurprising move, Billie Piper announced that she'd be leaving at the end of Season Two. "Army of Ghosts" guest star Freema Agyeman has been cast as the new companion, Martha Jones, who will show up not in the 2006 Christmas special ("The Runaway Bride") but in the first episode of the Season Three, which is rumoured to feature a return of the Ice Warriors.
| Season | Story Title | # of Eps | Companions | Avg Rating | Main Threat |
| S | untitled ('Children in Need' 6-minute episode) | 1 | Rose | 9.82 mil | |
| S | "The Christmas Invasion " | 1 | Rose | 9.84 mil | The Sycorax |
| S | "Attack of the Graske" (special interactive mini-ep available on BBC Digital) | 1 | Rose | The Graske | |
| 2 (28) | "New Earth " | 1 | Rose | 8.62 mil | Cassandra / The Sisterhood of Plentitude |
| 2 (28) | "Tooth and Claw " |
1 | Rose | 9.24 mil | a Werewolf |
| 2 (28) | "School Renuion " |
1 | Rose, Sarah Jane Smith, K9 | 8.31 mil | The Krillitane |
| 2 (28) | "The Girl in the Fireplace " | 1 | Rose, Mickey | 7.9 mil | Clockwork Androids |
| 2 (28) | "Rise of the Cybermen" (pt 1 of 2) |
1 | Rose, Mickey | 9.22 mil | The Cybermen |
| 2 (28) | "The Age of Steel" (pt 2 of 2) |
1 | Rose, Mickey | 7.63 mil | The Cybermen |
| 2 (28) | "The Idiot's Lantern " |
1 | Rose | 6.76 mil | The Wire |
| 2 (28) | "The Impossible Planet " (pt 1 of 2) |
1 | Rose | 6.32 mil | "...an old enemy" |
| 2 (28) | "The Satan Pit" (pt 2 of 2) |
1 | Rose | 6.08 mil | "...an old enemy that looks like the Devil " |
| 2 (28) | "Love & Monsters" | 1 | Rose | 6.66 mil | The Abzorbaloff |
| 2 (28) | "Fear Her" |
1 | Rose | 7.14 mil | Set at the 2012 Olympics |
| 2 (28) | "Army of Ghosts" |
1 | Rose | 8.19 mil | The Cybermen and the Daleks |
| 2 (28) | "Doomsday" |
1 | Rose | 8.22 mil | The Cybermen and the Daleks |
| S | "The Runaway Bride" | 1 | Donna | 9.35 mil | The Queen of Racnoss |
| 3 (29) | "Smith and Jones" | 1 | Martha | 8.71 mil | The Judoon, a Plasmavore |
| 3 (29) | "The Shakespeare Code" | 1 | Martha | 7.23 mil | The Carrionites |
| 3 (29) | "Gridlock" | 1 | Martha | 8.41 mil | The Macra |
| 3 (29) | "Daleks in Manhattan" (part 1 of 2) | 1 | Martha | 6.69 mil | The Daleks |
| 3 (29) | "Evolution of the Daleks" (part 2 of 2) | 1 | Martha | 6.97 mil | The Daleks |
| 3 (29) | "The Lazarus Experiment" | 1 | Martha | 7.19 mil | Weird Science |
| 3 (29) | "42" | 1 | Martha | 7.41 mil | |
| 3 (29) | "Human Nature" (part 1 of 2) | 1 | Martha | 7.74 mil | Scarecrows |
| 3 (29) | "The Family of Blood" (part 2 of 2) | 1 | Martha | 7.21 mil | Scarecrows |
| 3 (29) | "Blink" | 1 | Martha | 6.62 mil | The Weeping Angels |
| 3 (29) | "Utopia" (part 1 of 3) | 1 | Martha, Capt. Jack | 7.84 mil | The Master |
| 3 (29) | "The Sound of Drums" (part 2 of 3) | 1 | Martha, Capt. Jack | 7.51 mil | The Master, the Toclafane |
| 3 (29) | "The Last of the Timelords" (part 3 of 3) | 1 | Martha, Capt. Jack | 8.69 mil | The Master, the Toclafane |
| S | "Time Crash" (Children in Need) | 1 | 5th Doctor | 10.9* | |
| S | "Voyage of the Damned" | 1 | Astrid Peth | 13.31 mil | Some guy in a wheelchair |
| 4 (30) | "Partners in Crime" | 1 | Donna | 9.14 mil | The Adipose |
| 4 (30) | "The Fires of Pompeii" | 1 | Donna |
9.04 | |
| 4 (30) | "Planet of the Ood" | 1 | Donna | 7.50 | Human slavers, red-eyed Ood |
| 4 (30) | "The Sontaran Strategem" (part 1 of 2) | 1 | Donna, Martha | 7.06 | Sontarans |
| 4 (30) | "The Poison Sky" (part 2 of 2) | 1 | Donna, Martha | 6.53 | Sontarans |
| 4 (30) | "The Doctor's Daughter" | 1 | Donna | 7.33 | The Hath |
| 4 (30) | "The Unicorn and the Wasp" | 1 | Donna | 8.41 | |
| 4 (30) | "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2) | 1 | Donna | 6.27 | The Vashta Nerada |
| 4 (30) | "Forest of the Dead" (2 of 2) | 1 | Donna | 7.84 | The Vashta Nerada |
| 4 (30) | "Midnight" | 1 | Donna | 8.05 | Unknown |
| 4 (30) | "Turn Left" | 1 | Donna, Roses | 8.09 | A time-beetle thingie |
| 4 (30) | "The Stolen Earth (part 1 of 2) | 1 | Donna, Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Jack | 7.4* | Davros, Daleks |
| 4 (30) | "Journey's End" (part 2 of 2) | 1 | Donna, Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane | 9.4* | Davros, Daleks |
* denotes overnight estimates; final numbers aren't known for a week or so after the episodes airs.
Recommended Viewing
Listed below are some of the standout stories from the Tenth Doctor era, hand selected by members of the Atlanta Gallifreyans. This poll was taken at the completion of Tennant's first season on the show, and will be updated as additional seasons happen. The titles are listed in order of most votes.
"The Girl in the Fireplace" (2006)
Starring David Tennant (the Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Noel Clark (Mickey Smith)
Mickey's first trip in the TARDIS takes the Crew to an apparently abandoned space ship a great distance from Earth. The ship is still operational and is generating extraordinary amounts of power. The Doctor soon learns that there are time corridors from the ship to different points in Earth history, all centered on the life of one girl: Renette, who will grow up to become Madame de Pompadour. The mystery becomes considerably more urgent when it is discovered that Renette is being pursued by clockwork androids...
Comments:
"This was the 4th episode, and I felt it was here that Tennant stepped fully into the Doctor's shoes. He was commanding, compassionate, cranky, a tad impatient, and definitely heroic...all the qualities you want in a Doctor. The Clockwork Robots were spectacularly cool, and the team of Doc, Rose and Mickey travelling together, with Rose showing Mickey 'the ropes', was excellent. All-in-all, a gorgeous script by Steven Moffatt." ~Alan
****
"The Impossible Planet" (2006)
Starring David Tennant (the Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
The Doctor and Rose find themselves on a far distant (spatially and temporally) mining colony on a planet that's in stable orbit around a black hole. The mining team, who flew all the way from Earth just to find out how the planet exists, drill deeper into the planet's crust. At the center, a very ancient and very evil secret is unlocked that shakes the Doctor's beliefs to the core.
Comments:
"You see what mettle the Doctor is, trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation. The shot of David Tennant holding Rose as he looks up at the dead girl floating in space is a powerful image. The supporting cast is excellent and the effects scary and imaginative." ~Susan F
"You saw much more development of secondary characters than we'd seen in a long, long, LONG time, it introduced a really cool new race of bowl-smoking aliens, it kept you guessing until the very end (and beyond!), and it was fracking *creepy*! Even the Doctor was scared at a certain point—what was going on was completely beyond his experience and knowledge. All in all, it was just really cool." ~Adam
"The Ood are now one of my favourite Doctor Who aliens ever! A very atmospheric story...I love the scenes with the Ood hunting Rose and the mining personnel through the corridors of the station." ~Alan
****
"School Reunion" (2006)
Starring David Tennant (the Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Noel Clark (Mickey Smith), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), John Leeson (voice of K9), Anthony Stewart Head (Headmaster Finch)
Mickey contacts the Doctor and Rose about strange goings on centered on a local elementary school. The Doctor and Rose pose as new staff members at the school to try and find out what is going on. Also on the scene, though, is one of the Doctor's oldest friends. The Doctor must put a stop to the deadly plans of the Krillitane while making amends with Sarah Jane Smith...
Comments:
"Finally Doctor Who is given back the mantle of it's rich past that it's always worn so proudly. This may be an unpopular viewpoint, but to me Doctor Who is at it's most interesting whan it plays off it's own incredibly fascinating history." ~James
"Anthony Head as a baddie? The return of Sarah Jane Smith and K-9? Fantastic! This is the best Tennant adventure (to date) even though the slight retconning (Sarah forgetting "The Five Doctors") makes me cringe. Worth the price of admission just for Sarah and Rose trying to one-up each other!" ~Chad
