David Tennant becomes the 10th "Doctor' in "Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series," now available on DVD.
The Doctor dates to 1963, but since the 2005 revival, the series has avoided the somewhat dodgy special effects that hampered previous episodes.
The Doctor travels through time and space in the TARDIS, a time-travel machine that looks like a 1950s police call box. Former pop star Billie Piper stars as the Doctor's companion, Rose, an ex-shop-girl.
Tennant's Doctor is more verbal than predecessor Christopher Eccleston's but doesn't suffer fools gladly, as he shows in the first episode. When an invading alien attempts to attack the Doctor, thus breaking an agreement, the Doctor doesn't hesitate to let the alien fall to his death.
While the second series is more uneven than the first — two episodes are perfectly skippable — the quality episodes mark top-notch science fiction, many dealing with repercussions of the Doctor and Rose's jaunts through time.
The finale, involving two classic "Doctor Who" villains, reiterates that while the Doctor is capable of most anything, human relationships remain fraught with potential pain — even if the Doctor himself doesn't often show it.
Extras: Commentaries on all 15 episodes, deleted scenes, featurettes.
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