Review - Doctor Who: The Tenth (2005-2010) and Eleventh (2010-2013) Eras

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're back talking about Doctor Who. And, today, we're focusing on the eras of two Doctors: the Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, and the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith. The Tenth Doctor era was overseen by Russell T. Davies, while the Eleventh Doctor era was overseen by Steven Moffat, and includes the series' fiftieth anniversary special, where both actors would appear together. But, we'll talk about that another time. 

        Anyway, during the Tenth Doctor era, we saw the returns of some iconic Doctor Who foes like the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Macra, and of course the Daleks and their creator Davros. And, along with them, we saw the returns of the Master, and eventually the Time Lords as well. And I will at that both Derek Jacobi and John Simm were excellent as two different incarnations of the Master. And, I will get into more detail about Timothy Dalton as Rassilon when I cover the two-parter The End of Time during 12 Reviews of Christmas. As for new aliens, we got the likes of the Family of Blood, the Toclaphane, the Weeping Angels, the Vashta Narada, the Adipose, the Judoon, the Ood, the Hath, and so on.

       This era also showcased some amazing Doctor Who Companions like the returning Rose Tyler, who was brilliantly portrayed by Billie Piper, the hysterical Donna Noble, played by the equally hysterical Catherine Tate, and my personal favorite of the bunch Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman. I think that Martha gets a bum wrap from fans because she got unfavorably compared to Rose, but I think Martha really stands out and has some badass moments throughout the season she was aboard the TARDIS. We also saw some amazing guest characters, such as River Song and Sally Sparrow, as well as the Doctor's daughter Jenny. In the episode "The Doctor's Daughter," the Doctor, Donna, and Martha are taken to a wartorn society, where the Doctor's DNA is sampled, and formed into a young woman with Time Lord physiology, and she is given the name Jenny. Fun bit of trivia, Jenny is portrayed by Georgia Moffett, who is the daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison, and she is married to David Tennant. Also, the military organization U.N.I.T. makes several appearances throughout this era, as well as the private firm known as Torchwood, which collects and analyzes alien tech that is found on Earth. 

       There were a lot of great episodes, with some of my personal favorites including the two-parter "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks," which saw the TARDIS land in New York during the Great Depression, where they meet the people of a tent city in Central Park called "Hooverville," and offer to help investigate some disappearances. Meanwhile, a businessman named Diagoras is overseeing a labor project involving the Empire State Building, which is still under construction at this time in history. But, he's actually in league with a quartet of Daleks called the Cult of Skaro. Part of why I enjoyed this two-parter is because I love seeing American history portrayed on screen, and two notable guest stars in this two-parter were High Quarshie, who was Captain Panaka in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and Andrew Garfield, who is still my personal favorite actor to have portrayed Spider-Man. I also enjoyed episodes like "Blink," which saw the Doctor and Martha trapped in 1967, and they leave a recorded message as an Easter Egg on a set of DVDs, which is deciphered as a call for help in the present time by Sally Sparrow, who sends the TARDIS back in time, returning it to the Doctor, and preventing the Weeping Angels from getting ahold of it. And, yes, Carey Mulligan gave a damn excellent performance in this episode. 

        But, what was neat about the Tenth Doctor era was several spin-offs produced by Russell T. Davies. First was a kid-friendly series called The Sarah Jane Adventures, which saw the return of the legendary Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, and the many encounters with various aliens that arrived on Earth. Also featured in the series is her adopted son Luke, the advanced alien A.I. Mr. Smith, and the robotic dog K9. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a more adult oriented spin-off called Torchwood. Torchwood would star John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, as he leads a team out of the Torchwood hub in Cardiff, Wales. On his team are Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, and Toshiko Sato. And, of course, as mentioned last year during my review of "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" two-parter, both spin-offs would cross over with the main series in an epic two-part event. 

        Overall, I loved the Tenth Doctor era, and David Tennant is still one of my favorite actors to have portrayed the Doctor, having three seasons and seven specials under his belt. So, how would his successor measure up? 

        Under the creative eye of Steven Moffat, the Eleventh Doctor was a ton of fun as well, coming off as goofy and quirky, but just barely venturing into becoming a complete cartoon character. Matt Smith was an absolute joy to watch as the Doctor. And, of course, we can't forget his Companions. For most of the Eleventh Doctor era, the Companions were Amy Pond and Rory Williams, who got married in the final episode of season five. Also, on occasion, River Song would be along for the ride. Yeah, after her fan-favorite introduction in the two-parter "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead," Moffat really expanded on her character, and showed the full story of her connection with the Doctor, as we see the two get married. Yep, River Song is the Doctor's wife, but that's all I'm going to say about her because to go further would ruin a fantastic plot line. Also, much more so than during the Tenth Doctor era, U.N.I.T. plays a major role in this era of Doctor Who, with the introduction of Kate Stewart, who is the daughter of original series character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. 

       Unfortunately, after two and a half seasons together, both Rory and Amy had to say goodbye to the TARDIS, and in the Christmas episode "The Snowmen," we met the Doctor's new Companion Clara Oswald, played by the lovely Jenna Coleman. I loved the introduction of Clara, who was an anomaly in her own right. Clara would stick around a little while longer, joining the Twelfth Doctor for a good amount of his own journey. But, we'll get to that next time. Also, the Doctor would assemble a trio of allies in the form of the Paternoster Gang. This trio would consist of a Silurian named Madame Vastra, her human wife Jenny Flint, and the Sontaran Strax. And, I gotta say, these three are awesome, with Strax being a fantastic source of humor whenever we see these three. As for enemies, I'm not sure if there were many new additions, with the exception of the Silence, the Great Intelligence, and the Whispermen. However, we would see the returns of the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Judoon, the Ice Warriors, the Silurians, and the Zygons. 

         The writing throughout this era was fantastic, with some of my favorite episodes including "The Doctor's Wife," which saw the soul of the TARDIS placed in the body of a woman named Idris, and the two must team up to restore the TARDIS back to normal, "Nightmare in Silver," which sees the Doctor nearly converted by the Cybermen, and "The Name of the Doctor," where the Doctor, the Paternoster Gang, and Clara must travel to the ravaged world of Trenzalore, which is where the Doctor fell battle years in the future. 

        Overall, I loved the eras of the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who. Russell T. Davies really got the ball rolling for new Who, and Steven Moffat really kept the momentum going for a long time. I highly recommend checking both of these eras out especially if you've enjoyed both David Tennant and Matt Smith in performances outside of Doctor Who. And, of it wasn't obvious, I am so excited to see David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor in November. 

        But, before we get to that, I want to talk about the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctor eras of Doctor Who, which will come next Monday. Until then, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.