What's your name? I'm the Doctor. Doctor who?

One of the main reasons that kept me from this newest Doctor was that I had heard that this one would have romantic interests. The Doctor previous to this had always been asexual and his companions were platonic. I thought doing this was a needless concession to modern culture which cannot seem to conceive of a man and woman who can travel together just as mates. I guess this would make me a purist in Doctor Who circles. The Doctor has traveled with many companions over the years and only one prior could it even seem hinted that he had more than friendship with and that was Romana II. But he was very close with some of the others most noticeably Sarah Jane Smith, Liz Shaw, and Ace who he became very like a mentor and father figure. Of all the Doctors, up until the supremely dishy Tennant, Peter Davison had been the youngest and most attractive Doctor. And still for the most part the show managed to be snog free. Rose changed all that. The beginning of series 2 saw how Rose reacted to the regeneration and her initial distrust of this new face of the Doctor. I really enjoyed the season but some episodes were stand outs. Including School Reunion where we meet Sarah Jane again and Rose see's the ghost of companions future.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Rose: I thought you and me were— Well, I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year 5 billion, right, but this... Now, this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're gonna do to me?

The Doctor: No. Not to you.

Rose: But Sarah Jane. You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?

The Doctor: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay; you wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone that you— [The Doctor breaks off]

Rose: What, Doctor?

The Doctor: You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     For sheer comic relief, New Earth was great. The possession of both Rose and the Doctor by flat Cassandra was extremely funny. This is also the first episode that intimates that Rose feels more than friendship for The Doctor. Gradually throughout this season the Doctor and his companion grow closer than we have ever seen happen in the past. There is barely suppressed jealousy on the part of Rose and the Doctor towards supposed rivals in several episodes, but especially in The Girl in the Fireplace. Reinette seemed more than a match for The Doctor and he seemed to genuinely fall for her. It is never made really clear what made Rose so different from all of his past companions that when she was separated from him at the end of series two in the 2-parter Army of Ghosts/Doomsday that she would come to haunt his dreams and she was mentioned often much to his next companions consternation. Rose didn't hide her feelings for him and her parting from him was extremely painful for her and hard to watch. Especially moving was her tearful confession that she loved him and her mother running to comfort her when contact was abruptly discontinued. So at the end of season two, we find the Doctor alone again without his Rose. She seemed to have an effect on him that no other companion could match, which I still find strange because he hooks up with some pretty extraordinary women in the next two seasons in the form of Martha Jones and Donna Noble (whose season I have just started). I will move into season three in an additional post because there is one two-parter that just absolutely floored me and has inspired this series of posts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               **I had nothing to do with the beautiful picture at the top of this post (except for having the good taste to use it) and I would like to credit the maker but cannot remember where I got it from. So please forgive me.**