‘Doctor Who’ Series 2 Review: Bye Bye Gatwa, Hello Piper

Doctor Who is back for another season under Disney, with rights holder BBC collaborating with Disney to produce two seasons for Disney+. The first season, an intriguingly refreshing take on the character, was fairly solid, heavily due to the strong performance from series lead Ncuti Gatwa, who played the 15th incarnation of The Doctor following David Tennant (again). That season saw The Doctor pair up with Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), leaving her behind in the explosive but poorly received finale. I was definitely sad to see Ruby go, but her replacement was more than enough to help elevate the series again. Read our Doctor Who Series 2 review. 

Doctor Who follows the last of the Time Lords as he travels through time and space, helping those in need. Series 2 sees The Doctor team up with Belinda Chandra, played by Andor’s Varada Sethu, but when he’s unable to return Belinda back to her originating time period, the duo must go on a journey to save the world. 

Overall, I found this season to be a significant downgrade from its predecessor, with only one truly great episode and a handful of mediocre to poor ones. “The Well” is an episode that serves as a sequel to the 2008 episode “Midnight”, which stars David Tennant and Billie Piper. It’s by far the best episode of the season, and despite me not seeing that Tennant episode, this new instalment was incredible even on its own. 

I wish that other episodes could reach this high, but many don’t even touch half of what “The Well” is. For example, episodes would feature cool concepts, as expected with Doctor Who, but would fail in the execution, focusing on poor characters, weak dialogue and other aspects that brought down the series as a whole. The whole thing culminated in a two-part finale that felt rushed, all over the place, and frankly fitting for the season until that point, which just speaks to the quality of the season, or lack thereof.

In a highly publicised final moment of the finale, Billie Piper regenerates into The Doctor, replacing Gatwa and becoming the second female Doctor. She also becomes the first companion turned Doctor, following her bout as Christopher Eccleston’s and David Tennant’s companion Rose Tyler. As a decision, it’s a little dumbfounding, especially with so much new talent floating around recently, especially out of the United Kingdom, but I will certainly continue tuning in to see Piper’s take on the timeless character. It’s sad seeing Gatwa go, but given the declining quality of the series, maybe it was for the better. 

Doctor Who Series 2 fails to captivate audiences with its storytelling, instead captivating with an electric leading duo. It’s a method that doesn’t really make for a good viewing, and it became a chore to sit through during its later weeks on air. Perhaps this will finally be a wake-up call to the show’s showrunner, Russell T Davies, to focus more on the anthological elements that make this show so unique.

Doctor Who Series 2 stars Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Millie Gibson, and Billie Piper. The season is now streaming in full on Disney+. 

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