I'm watching modern era Doctor Who (2005-present) for the second time. Doctor Who is a TV series that is dear to me but at the same time somewhat uneven so for the benefit of future me and hopefully others I'm writing a short episode guide this rewatch.

I try to avoid spoilers as far as possible except when needed to justify my verdict or when spoiler warnings are well past their due date, such which episodes have the Doctor reincarnate. Double episodes are combined into one review.

S02E00 The Christmas Invasion - Ok

It's the first Christmas episode in the 2005 series but not a very good one. Long-winded monologues and uninteresting main story. The reason for watching it is primarily the story arc about Harriet Jones (who was introduced in the skippable episodes Aliens of London & World War Three of series 1).

S02E01 New Earth - Watch

We see cool Rose in this episode, both when she is herself and when she is not. The episode was reportedly made to give Billie Piper a funny role, and she was. It follows up on S01E02 The End of the World. The episode features great costumes, a classic Doctor Who moral dilemma, and the return of the memorable side character The Face of Boe.

I disliked the body jumping mechanic in this episode however. I think it breaks the lore to have such a powerful adversarial ability without the Doctor balancing it with a mitigation. Even though similar concepts reoccur in the series it is not a Doctor Who style that I approve of.

S02E02 Tooth and Claw - OK

Entertaining short story but not spectacular. A bit clumsy storytelling with a lot of babbling explanations. Rose was being slightly damsel in distress at some points but her dialog was funny also.

S02E03 School Reunion - N/A

I remember it as being uninteresting and irrelevant to the series so I skipped it this time.

S02E04 The Girl in the Fireplace - Watch

Steven Moffat is back with a classic sob story. It's a mix of history and futurism that Doctor Who does so well. This is a touching story about love and loss involving the Doctor himself and how he cannot always fix everything.

S02E05-06 Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel - N/A

I remember these as quite terrible so I skipped them this time. They introduce the Cybermen, my least favorite Doctor Who antagonist, to the series but there will be more opportunities for that.

S02E07 The Idiot's Lantern - N/A

I remember it as being uninteresting and irrelevant to the series so I skipped it this time.

S02E08-09 The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit - Watch

A space station mystery. This was very creepy stuff and one of those times that I felt afterward that, wow, they were lucky to make it out alive and fix everything in the end.

S02E10 Love and Monsters - Skip

It's watchable but not great. I like Jackie's performance the most as it is just the right amount of over the top. I'm opting to believe that Elton was an unreliable narrator and made much of the story up, like the part about the pavement stone in the end, because that is not going into the lore.

S02E11 Fear Her - Watch

A beautiful Doctor Who story about human love. It is a bit scary but not that mysterious. Lovely interaction between Rose and the Doctor in this episode.

S02E12-13 Army of Ghosts & Doomsday - Watch

Bring napkins because, as stated in the first minutes of these episodes, this is the story of how Rose died.

It does build on the story in S02E05-06 Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel so there is some context missing if those were skipped.