by Kroze Kresky, Media Editor and Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

Doctor Who has always been one of the longest running television Sci-Fi series, but up until recently, it hasn’t always gotten the respect or clout that it deserved. Back in 2005 after a long hiatus, The Doctor returned to television in a new revamped and revitalized series. Young stars and amazing special effects would soon turn The Doctor from a very niche obscure british television show, into a household name among all of geekdom. A large part of this came from bringing David Tennant on board. Tennant who had recently found fame through being in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, had the perfect charm and quirkiness to win him the role as the replacement for Christopher Eccleston who was leaving the show after the first season of the reboot. David Tennant quickly became one of the most beloved Doctors to ever grace the show, bringing with him an equal gendered fanbase that the show had rarely seen up until that point.

The new 26-disc Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Years DVD set collects every episode, special, and short that David Tennant starred in. Combining Seasons 2, 3, and 4 as well as The Specials, the set also features the exploits of companions Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, and Donna Noble as they travel with The Doctor having grand adventures!

HIghlights:

“Army of Ghosts” / “Doomsday”: The Cybermen have managed to breach their alternate dimension and now made it onto our Earth with the help of the Torchwood Institute. Can The Doctor keep our world from being converted into Cybermen? And what happens when Daleks are suddenly thrown in the mix? And can the Doctor manage to make it through without having to sacrifice someone he loves?

“Blink”: Written by current Doctor Who showrunner Stephen Moffat, this episode centers around the strange journey of Sally Sparrow as she is hunted down by living statues who can only move when nobody is looking at them. The Doctor is trapped in 1969 with no way back and no way to help, so it is up to Sally to brave the threat of The Weeping Angels and return the TARDIS to the him before the angels are able to claim it for their own! Possibly one of the best written Doctor Who episodes ever and the most fan loved! Do watch this at night with no lights on!

“The Sound of Drums” / “Last of the Time Lords”: The Doctor’s age old adversary The Master has managed to survive the Great Time War and is now back to seek revenge upon The Doctor and control all of humanity into doing his bidding! When the entire population of Earth is turned against the Doctor, Martha and Jack Harkness, is there any possible way to fight back against The Master’s new world order or will they be forced to submit?

“Silence in the Library” / “Forest of the Dead”: Responding to a distress signal, The Doctor and Donna Noble find themselves in the biggest library in all of history… only its completely deserted without any clue as to what happened to its residents. They discover that its not just darkness that lurks in the shadows… and just who is this mysterious woman River Song that knows the doctor from his future? Warning: SPOILERS! 😀

“The Doctor’s Daughter”: The Doctor and Donna travel to a planet where a war is being waged between two factions, one of which uses genetic information to create and breed warriors. When the Doctor himself is used as a genetic template he comes to the realization that he is now the father of a healthy, beautiful, teenaged girl who is ready to fight! Can the Doctor save his new daughter? And what part will she play in the future? Only time can tell (but I will tell you this: whatever they do with her, it’s going to be great!!!).

“The Stolen Earth” / “Journey’s End”: The Doctor must reunite with all of his friends in order to stop a great evil from The Time War! If they can’t stop this villain, then the Earth and the Universe will be lost…forever…This finale features appearances from Sarah Jane Smith, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, and Captain Jack Harkness!

“The Next Doctor”: David Tennant continues his incredible tenure as The Doctor, this time venturing back to London in the year 1851. There he encounters some old friends, The Cybermen, and gets the opportunity to meet another version of himself (played by David Morrissey)! But wait… how can there be TWO Doctors? Now the two men must work together to stop the Cybermen from altering history and ruining Christmas (the Christmas part is more important).

“Planet of the Dead”: This stand alone special features the Doctor at his best.  When a bus and its passengers are accidentally transported through a wormhole to an alien world, the Doctor must act quickly or everyone is doomed.  Luckily for him, he has the lovely Lady Christina (played by Bionic Woman‘s Michelle Ryan) to help with this tricky situation. As the episode opens, the audience learns that Christina is a very good thief as she successfully robs a London Museum. As she attempts to make her escape, she encounters several police officers hot on her tracks and she makes quick decision to board a double-decker bus. Who else happens to get on that bus? The Doctor! Moments after the two board, the bus is spirited off to a desert planet. Christina takes charge of the passengers and rallies them together. While trying to figure out the situation, The Doctor enlists the aid of U.N.I.T. and is connected with Professor Malcom. With his help, the Doctor is able to determine a little more about the planet they are on. The Doctor and Christina then take a look around the desert world only to find that they are not alone. The two encounter the Tritovores, a fly-like alien race that crashed on the planet. Using the Tritovores’s ship, the Doctor learns that there is a bigger danger awaiting them on the planet – a swarm of flying metal shark-like creatures are quickly approaching their location and if they don’t act fast, the creatures will travel back to Earth! Planet of the Dead is a fun tale in the Who Universe and it was great to see Tennant have fun with the character since the remaining specials seem to be heading down a dark path…

“The Waters of Mars”:  It is the year 2059 and humanity has established the first colony on Mars called Bowie Base One. The Doctor appears on Mars and is taken captive by the members of the human expedition and introduced to this legendary team of explorers. The team is led by the amazing Captain Adelaide Brooke, who was inspired to travel into space when she was a child. When the Daleks invaded Earth in the Season Four episode, “The Stolen Earth”, she encountered a Dalek who spared her life. She decided to venture out into the stars after the creature to see what else lay out in the universe. While the team has their conversation with the Doctor, a viral water creature has begun to inhabit the bodies of several of the other humans on Mars. The Doctor soon realizes that he has arrived on the day that Bowie Base One was destroyed, along with all of its human crew. He decides that it is time to go, but before he can react, he is pulled into a new adventure and must decide whether he has the right to alter history or if this event must remain a fixed point in time. This story really showed The Doctor in a new light, as he has become more cautious than ever before.

“The End of Time” Parts 1 and 2: The Master, The Doctor’s greatest enemy, is back and has a new plan that will not only threaten the human race, but the rest of time itself! The Ood have summoned The Doctor to warn him about the emerging darkness that will threaten all existance. The Doctor travels across the universe back to Earth to stop the return of The Master, but he finds that he is too late. Upon reaching Earth, he once again encounters Donna’s Grandfather Wilfred, who has been having terrible dreams and was determined to find the one man who could help him. The two men have a fantastic conversation about mortality and the Doctor acknowledges that he doesn’t want to die. The Doctor is determined to find The Master and tracks him down. A battle between the Time Lords ensue, and during the fight, The Master is taken captive by human forces. A man named Joshua Naismith, who recovered a gateway device from the remains of Torchwood (following the events of Torchwood’s Children of Earth series) has need of The Master and wants his help in fixing the damaged technology. The Master takes advantage of the situation and reprograms the device to rewrite all human DNA to match his own. Now The Doctor must face off an entire planet comprised of Masters!

Special Features:

• Doctor Who Confidential: In depth looks into the making of each and every episode showing off what goes into making such a unique Sci-Fi show like Doctor Who!

• David Tennant’s Video Diaries/Billie Piper’s Video Diaries/Freema’s Studio Tour: The stars of Doctor Who give you a unique inside look behind the scenes of Doctor Who and have some fun while doing so.

• Episode Commentaries

• Deleted Scenes

• Outtakes

• Children In Need Specials: Special shorts that take place inbetween seasons showing what happened inside the TARDIS. 

• Music and Monsters: Murray Gold gives a look at composing music for Doctor Who and a look at all the different monsters used in the show.

• Doctor Who at the Proms: The music of Doctor Who is featured at the BBC Proms in this unique special hosted by David Tennant and the rest of the show’s stars!

Overall:

While Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Years is just a collection of all the DVD sets that have been previously released, the quality and packaging of this set is quite something to behold! David Tennant for most people has been possibly the most memorable Doctor yet, and this set is the perfect tribute to his run as Doctor Who. If you have the original DVD sets then there is nothing really new here but if you don’t own any of David Tennant’s seasons, this is the best way to get it all in one go! Give the gift of Doctor Who this holiday season and show your friends and loved ones why David Tennant and Doctor Who are names that they should get to know and love!

ComicsOnline gives Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Years 5 wibbly wobbly timey wimeys out of 5!

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