DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE THIRD SERIES
(not rated)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5)
STARRING
David Tennant as THE DOCTOR
Freema Agyeman as MARTHA JONES
Studio: BBC
BY KEVIN CARR
Last year, I was fortunate enough to have the new BBC America series “Doctor Who” come across my desk. It brought me back to my childhood with the Doctor, his companions and the TARDIS. Now, the third season of the revival has been released on DVD, and the show just keeps getting better.
Reinvisioned in 2005, this new “Doctor Who” retains the same free-spirited fun of the original BBC series. David Tennent (arguably the best Doctor since Tom Baker took the role in the 1970s) shines in his second season as the Time Lord. His latest companion is Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), a young medical student, along for the ride.
Like previous seasons, the third year opens with the Doctor flying solo for a Christmas special. He teams up with an unfortunate betrothed in “The Runaway Bride,” a story that features a monster hiding under the streets of England. Soon, the Doctor teams up with Martha, who proves to be an excellent replacement to Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), who was left in another dimension at the end of season two.
Over the 13-episode regular season, the Doctor and Martha travel to Shakespearean times, the distant future, Depression-era Manhattan and the far reaches of space to battle everything from bug-eyed monsters and our own forgotten evolution to the Daleks and a renegade Time Lord.
There is no doubt that this new series has successfully revived the old television show, and it is still going strong. Hopefully, we’ll have another twenty-plus years of the last of the Time Lords traveling through time.
While David Tennant is perfect as the Doctor, he is equaled in the show by the lovely Agyeman as Martha Jones. She gives a little more maturity to the companion role than Billie Piper gave as Rose. Agyeman matches wits better with the Doctor and, like Rose in the first season, Martha has a critically crucial role in the season finale.
The season also contains obvious cross-pollination to the “Doctor Who” spin-off “Torchwood” (an anagram for “Doctor Who,” by the way), which is currently playing on BBC America and coming soon to your DVD player.
The six-disc DVD set includes several features scattered over the discs, including David Tennent’s video diaries, audio commentaries on select episodes, a studio tour with Freema Agyeman, outtakes and a feature-length “Doctor Who Confidential” on the sixth disc.