9th Doctor

When the BBC finally decided to bring back Doctor Who in 2005, they did it right. If movies are a director’s medium, then TV is the realm of writers. The writing of Russell T. Davies is tremendous. Seemingly by design, he eased audiences back into the world of Doctor Who by making the first season more about the companion than the Doctor. Audiences identified with Rose and went on “the Journey of a Lifetime.”
The Ninth Doctor is decidedly non-human, and even a little bit grumpy. Rose’s influence throughout the season serve to humanize him again so that by the time the Parting of the Ways arrives, we have a brand new, lovable Doctor for the new millennium.

Rose (1)/The End of the World (2)/The Unquiet Dead (3)
In the first three episodes of the new series, the viewers get to know the Doctor through Rose. They then go on one trip into the future in space with aliens, and one into the past with historical atmosphere and… aliens. This is the stuff of classic Doctor Who only with a better budget.

Aliens of London (4)/World War Three (5)/Boom Town (11)
In the next episodes, Davies introduces some of his “new” alien threats, the Slitheen; but perhaps more importantly a brand new concept for Doctor Who. In the old show we were used to the Doctor operating in the past without changing history and operating in the near future where fantastic events would occur. When the show occurred in “present” day it was always plausible or things happened unnoticed by the world at large. In the new series “present” day events include alien invasions and a world where humanity at large becomes aware of an extra terrestrial threat.

Father’s Day (8)
Here the show takes a direct look at what changing historic events will do, at least now that there are no more Time Lords maintaining universal stability. Rose tries to change the fact that her father died when she was a baby. Not only is there a lot of science fiction in this show, but serious life issues are addressed.

The Empty Child (9)/ The Doctor Dances (10)
Here we get our first taste of Steven Moffat. (The only writer other than Davies to contribute to every new season and the new lead writer now that Davies has left.) His are consistently among the best episodes each year and they are often the creepiest.

Dalek (6)/The Long Game (7)/Bad Wolf (12)/ The Parting of the Ways (13)
Every season of the new show has seen the return of at least one of the classic adversaries of the Doctor. The first had to be the Daleks, and they always provide for serious looks at the nature of evil. True to the 2000’s mindset, this series also looks at how little often separates our attitudes towards those who do evil and the evil itself.