Radio Times

Episode 1/14 Christmas Special - The Christmas Invasion

It may be the season of goodwill to all men but homicidal Santas and deadly Christmas trees herald an attack from the vicious Sycorax race. With the Doctor unconscious, recovering from the stress of his regeneration, it's up to Rose and Prime Minister Harriet Jones to tackle the enemy. Things are looking grim, until a humble remedy revives the Doctor. David Tennant makes his debut as the Time Lord.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 25 December 2005)

What a Christmas treat: an old-fashioned, family-friendly, good-versus-evil adventure from Russell T Davies. The Christmas Invasion is exciting, funny, good-hearted and packed with great special effects. And in David Tennant as the new Doctor Who, it has a thoroughly winning central figure.

Episode 2/14 New Earth

The Doctor and Rose are summoned to a hospital on New Earth, where the dying Face of Boe is expected to reveal a secret to the Time Lord. Old foe Lady Cassandra takes possession of Rose's body, but can she fool the Doctor into believing she's really his trusty companion? He badly needs someone he can rely on as he investigates some medical anomalies. Zoë Wanamaker guest-stars.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 15 April 2006)

It might be a different Doctor Who, but the same verve and energy still fire up this exciting, funny and occasionally camp adventure series. David Tennant is perfect as the hero, and throughout he looks delighted at his obvious good fortune. He's sexy, too, so there's a frisson of romantic tension with his sidekick Rose. The story, by Russell T Davies, has poignancy and heart, and it's great family viewing (but not suitable for very young children).

Episode 3/14 Tooth and Claw

The Doctor and Rose journey back to 1879 and join Queen Victoria (guest star Pauline Collins) as she travels to the Torchwood estate in Scotland. Unbeknown to them, a group of sinister monks have taken the house by force and are masquerading as servants. What's in the cage they were transporting, and what do they want with the royal personage?

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 22 April 2006)

After last week's comparatively thoughtful opener, here's a full-on action adventure. It's completely preposterous, but tremendous fun of the good old-fashioned, old-dark-house-on-a- lonely-night variety.

The actual werewolf transformation is very effective indeed and, though this is still good family fun with a bit of heart and soul, as always, any tots in the audience might find it a bit too scary.

Episode 4/14 School Reunion

Mickey encourages the Doctor and Rose to look into strange goings-on at a high school. The Time Lord is surprised when erstwhile companion Sarah Jane turns up, investigating the same peculiar circumstances. Can they put the past behind them and uncover the plans of sinister headmaster Mr Finch (Anthony Head)? And can Rose come to terms with the Doctor's attitude to his old friends?

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 29 April 2006)

Any die-hard Doctor Who fan will doubtless go all misty eyed at this episode, which includes the reappearance of two of the Doc's best-loved sidekicks, former assistant Sarah Jane Smith and tin dog K-9.

It's a smart and funny episode, considerably enlivened by the initial jealousy and mistrust between Sarah Jane and Rose Tyler. There's emotional depth, too, when we learn that Sarah Jane still carries a torch for the man who left her so long ago, and never returned. Thus, the final scene between the Doctor and his erstwhile assistant is a great big "aaaaah" moment.

Episode 5/14 The Girl in the Fireplace

Sinister clockwork killers from an abandoned ship far in the future are trying to lay claim to Madame de Pompadour. Using the same methods of time travel, the Doctor flits between the ship and Regency France to protect her. He finds himself drawn to the shrewd beauty, but is he willing to make a huge personal sacrifice to save her?

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 6 May 2006)

Without wishing to stereotype anyone, I have to say that this is one for the ladies. Of course, it could just be me being soppy, but it's probably as close as we'll ever get to a Doctor Who romance.

Tennant is at his most larky and funny and, obviously drawing on his swashbuckling days as Casanova, has a terrific scene when he rides to his beloved's rescue. Oh, and if you're not a little puddle of weeping goo by the end, well, you don't have a heart.

Episode 6/14 Rise of the Cybermen (Part 1)

When the Tardis is trapped on a parallel Earth, Rose is keen to track down her parents, deaf to the Doctor's pleas for caution. Mickey gets mixed up with a resistance cell investigating the dealings of Cybus Industries' dying owner, John Lumic, as Lumic himself hatches a plan to prolong his life. To the Doctor's horror, an old enemy is reborn.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 13 May 2006)

Gripping though all this is, the real interest of [this] episode is the return of the Doctor's old foes, the Cybermen. There's a big build-up to their first appearance, and you can hear their terrifying footsteps long before they stomp into view in all their tinny majesty.

Time has moved on, of course, and they look very different from how they did in the old days. If anything, they're more scary, and there's genuine dread as they clump, clump, clump towards the Doctor and Rose, ready to take over the world.

Episode 7/14 The Age of Steel (Part 2)

Terror mounts as the Cybermen seize London and begin to "upgrade" its inhabitants. The Doctor's ragtag band split up: Pete and Rose are desperate to rescue Jackie from the conversion centre; the Doctor and Mrs Moore sneak into the same building via underground tunnels; and Mickey and Jake plan to sabotage Lumic's airship. Will they succeed in saving this parallel Earth - and at what price?

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 20 May 2006)

That David Tennant - he's such a good actor. We're roughly halfway through the second series and it's instructive to see just how utterly at home he is in a role he's made his own. Tennant's Doctor is confident, quirky, empathetic and with a mile-wide streak of mischief. Frankly, it's impossible not to sigh in sheer admiration.

There's an embarrassment of riches here, because for my money this concluding episode of the Cybermen two-parter is the best yet. It's gripping and exciting, and the monsters are fabulous; grinding, crunching machines that sound even more terrifying than they look.

Episode 8/14 The Idiot's Lantern

1953: as people gather to watch the Coronation on their prized new television sets, rumours of monsters abound. The Doctor discovers the police are holding faceless humans captive, trying to cover up their existence. A boy whose grandmother has been affected gives the Doctor a vital piece of information, but it could come too late for Rose… Guest-starring Maureen Lipman.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 27 May 2006)

It's a typically making-the-normal-weird story from [Mark] Gatiss, a member of the League of Gentlemen, and it's good, black fun. But there are some longueurs and a rather pointless sub-plot about a bullying dad. Still, the terrific life-or-death tussle atop the Alexandra Palace transmitter in London is a real show-stopper.

Episode 9/14 The Impossible Planet (Part 1)

The Doctor and Rose find themselves on a barren world orbiting a black hole. A human team are trying to identify the power source generating the gravitational field that prevents the planet from being sucked into oblivion. As the Doctor accompanies the science officer into the depths of the planet, the Ood - a genial telepathic slave race living on the base - begin acting out of character.

RT Choice (Jane Rackham, 3 June 2006)

It's a terrific, pacy episode reminiscent of Ridley Scott's Alien. If you're not on the edge of your seat (or behind the sofa) throughout, you must have nerves of steel.

Episode 10/14 The Satan Pit (Part 2)

Rose galvanises the Torchwood team into action to neutralise the Ood threat. Zack prepares to abandon the base, but Rose refuses to leave without the Doctor. Trapped deep below the planet's surface, the Time Lord confronts the creature that claims to be Satan. Faced once again with the risk of losing Rose, can the Doctor bring himself to save the entire universe from the Beast?

Episode 11/14 Love & Monsters

An ordinary Joe obsessed with the Doctor and Rose meets a group of like-minded people and together they form a society. As time goes by, the focus of their meetings changes, but they are sharply reminded of their original aim - to track down the Time Lord - when an enigmatic being (comedian and Phoenix Nights star Peter Kay) enters their midst. Hustle's Marc Warren also guests.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 17 June 2006)

Marc Warren takes a break from playing perverts, weirdos and wide boys to turn in a terrific, sparkling performance as a shy, sweet and naive geek who finds love. Now, if that doesn't sound like a typical Doctor Who episode, that's because it isn't. Writer Russell T Davies has fashioned a curious, elegiac and rather sad exploration of love and loss in which the Doctor and Rose play only peripheral parts. (They're hardly on screen at all.)

It's a highly unusual episode, full of Davies's trademark quirks. And if you don't have a good old cry when Elton remembers his mum, well, you're made of stern stuff.

Episode 12/14 Fear Her

The Doctor plans to show Rose the London Olympics of 2012, but they get sidetracked by the news that several children have vanished from a nearby housing estate. Rose suspects that introverted schoolgirl Chloe could be involved in the disappearances. But when Chloe realises the time-travelling duo are on to her, she makes the Doctor himself melt away… With the voice of newsreader Huw Edwards.

RT Choice (Alison Graham, 24 June 2006)

This episode, by Life On Mars co-writer Matthew Graham, returns to regular Doctor Who themes of love and loss. There are no monsters (unless you count a possessed child's talking drawing), just lots of suggestion and hints at some sinister force. It's a curious episode that's a bit too touchy-feely in parts. Still, it's notable for a remarkable piece of information that the Doc lets slip.

Episode 13/14 Army of Ghosts (Part 1)

The human race rejoices as the ghosts of loved ones return home. But the Doctor traces the phantoms to the mysterious Torchwood Institute, where scientists are monitoring the appearance of the otherworldly visions - and are flummoxed by a vast alien sphere in the basement. Featuring Barbara Windsor, Derek Acorah, Alistair Appleton and Trisha Goddard.

Episode 14/14 Doomsday (Part 2)

As the Cybermen and the Daleks clash, some familiar faces from another dimension arrive and place yet more demands on the Doctor. The Time Lord devises an audacious plan to get rid of the alien threat in both dimensions, but it means bidding farewell to Rose for ever. And his devoted travelling companion isn't prepared to let that happen…