92-578: The second series of British science fiction programme Doctor Who began on 25 December 2005 with the Christmas special " The Christmas Invasion ". A regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast weekly in 2006, starting with " New Earth " on 15 April and concluding with " Doomsday " on 8 July. In addition, two short special episodes were produced; a Children in Need special and an interactive episode , as well as thirteen minisodes titled Tardisodes . It
184-433: A World Cup match between Portugal and Germany by over a million viewers. The series high was " Tooth and Claw " with 9.24 million viewers, while the series low was " The Satan Pit " with 6.08 million viewers. The series finale, "Doomsday", garnered the highest Appreciation Index (AI) rating of 89, while the tenth episode in the series, "Love & Monsters", garnered the lowest AI rating, at 76, seven units lower than
276-441: A "gut-wrenching farewell" for Rose. The finale was characterised by IGN ' s Ahsan Haque as "an intense epic" still being "led by character-driven drama", and by Radio Times ' s Mark Braxton as a story where the strength of the show's two biggest foes combined is contrasted with "a poignant story about loss". In addition, IGN ' s Haque, while finding "the denouement to be the clear emotional highlight", also found
368-510: A 4-channel service received via satellite. The channels at launch were Sky Channel , Sky News , Sky Movies and Eurosport . They were initially free to receive, and Sky Movies was the first to move to a subscription early in 1990. Sky News was the UK's first dedicated news channel. The new service was the UK's first consumer satellite TV service, beating rival BSB , with which Sky would later merge to become BSkyB. Sky's satellite service grew to become
460-412: A cameo in " The End of Time ". She later explained that her decision was due to the unexpected success of the revival. Piper said that she "didn't like the responsibility of being a role model". Camille Coduri continued to guest in the series as recurring character Jackie Tyler . Shaun Dingwall returned for several episodes as Pete Tyler and Penelope Wilton reprised her role as Harriet Jones for
552-514: A day. Block six, the final block, contained only one episode, "Love & Monsters", which was directed by Zeff. Production blocks were arranged as follows: Murray Gold returned to compose the music for the second series. Parts of the soundtrack were performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and orchestrated by Ben Foster , unlike in the first series, which was purely reliant on orchestral samples. Selected pieces of score from
644-517: A few months. See List of British television series . 100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. Although not including any programmes made in 2000 or later, the list is useful as an indication of what were generally regarded as
736-607: A greater total number of regional news programmes. Ofcom sets a quota for the BBC and ITV on the amount of regional programming required. Advertising on ITV1/STV and Channel 4 is regional. Channel 4 is split into 6 advertising regions, but has no regional programming. BBC Scotland and the Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba target Scotland, and the Welsh-language channel S4C targets Wales. In Northern Ireland, channels originating in
828-636: A multiplex carrying channels from the Republic of Ireland can reach 71% of Northern Irish households from 3 transmitters. Local TV and radio is available to 54% of households from an additional multiplex via 44 transmitters, and an extra multiplex is available to 54% of households in Greater Manchester. Multiple vendors sell hybrid set-top-boxes or smart TVs which combine terrestrial channels with streamed (Internet TV) content. Internet-based TV apps such as BBC iPlayer , ITVX and Channel 4 are available via
920-561: A second series and a Christmas special on 30 March 2005. The series was the first series of Doctor Who to be preceded by a Christmas special. The success of the Christmas special led to it becoming an annual tradition . Production on the series began on 1 August 2005 and concluding on 31 March 2006. Phil Collinson produced all episodes, with Julie Gardner acting as executive producer. Russell T Davies continued to act as head writer and executive producer , contributing several episodes of
1012-784: A spin-off series titled The Sarah Jane Adventures . John Leeson also featured in this episode as the voice of K9 . Other guest stars included Adam Garcia and Daniel Evans in "The Christmas Invasion", Anna Hope and Adjoa Andoh in " New Earth ", Anthony Head in "School Reunion", Roger Lloyd-Pack in " Rise of the Cybermen " / " The Age of Steel ", Rory Jennings , Margaret John , and Maureen Lipman in " The Idiot's Lantern ", Claire Rushbrook in " The Impossible Planet " / " The Satan Pit ", Nina Sosanya in " Fear Her ", and Raji James and Barbara Windsor in " Army of Ghosts " / " Doomsday ". Freema Agyeman , who appeared briefly in "Doomsday", would later return to co-star as Martha Jones in
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#17328867196771104-427: A subscription platform through which Sky offer their own channels, pay-per-view services and channels from other broadcasters. Sky's digital platform launched in 1998, with the original analogue service closing in 2001. Sky was acquired by Comcast in 2018. Since 2012, Sky operate Now , an Internet TV streaming service offering subscriptions without a fixed-term contract. Sky's channel portfolio has grown greatly since
1196-463: A variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed. There are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year, at a cost of £2.6 billion. Since 24 October 2012, all television broadcasts in the United Kingdom have been in a digital format, following
1288-438: A whole new generation, Davies' prime objective for these Cybermen was to erase the word "silver" and to instead choose to stress the terms "metal" and "steel", emphasising the loss of their humanity as a source of their monstrosity. The mythology of Torchwood is built across the series, though it did not feature in any of the early outlines or drafts for series 2 until its reveal in the finale even though it had first appeared in
1380-500: Is a state-owned national broadcaster which is funded by its commercial activities (including advertising). Channel 4 has expanded greatly after gaining greater independence from the IBA , especially in the multi-channel digital world launching E4 , Film4 , More4 , 4Music , 4seven and various timeshift services . Since 2005, it has been a member of the Freeview consortium, and operates one of
1472-406: Is a subscription service operated by Sky Ltd , owned by Comcast , which launched in 1998 as SkyDigital. Compared to the previous analogue service which had launched in 1989, it provided more channels, widescreen, interactive TV and a near video-on-demand service using staggered start times for pay-per-view content. Innovations since have included high definition, 3D TV, a digital video recorder ,
1564-413: Is connected by a loose story arc consisting of the recurring word "Torchwood". This is also the first series to be preceded by a Christmas special, the success of "The Christmas Invasion" led to the Christmas special becoming an annual tradition. Russell T Davies returned as head writer of the series. Phil Collinson produced all episodes, with Julie Gardner serving as executive producer. Music for
1656-581: Is distributed as radio waves via terrestrial or satellite transmissions, or as electrical or light signals through ground-based cables. In the UK, these use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard. Most TVs sold in the UK (as well as much of the rest of Europe) come with a DVB-T (terrestrial) tuner. Set-top boxes are generally used to receive channels from other providers. All of the traditional services have integrated their broadcast TV with streamed channels or on-demand programmes when connected to
1748-615: Is finally visited by the Doctor and Rose in " Army of Ghosts " / " Doomsday ", at which point it is situated within London 's Canary Wharf and accidentally allows the invasion of the Cybermen and, subsequently, the Daleks . The series was directed by James Hawes , Euros Lyn , James Strong , Dan Zeff , and Graeme Harper . Harper had previously worked on the show's original run, which included directing The Caves of Androzani (1984) and Revelation of
1840-436: Is free-of-charge to view. It replaced the subscription service named ONdigital or ITV Digital, which ran from 1998 to 2002. Digital terrestrial television was itself the replacement for analogue terrestrial TV , which ran from 1936 to 2012. As of March 2021 , Freeview provides over seventy TV and radio channels, which are received via an aerial. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd., joint ventures between
1932-419: Is the name Ofcom uses. ITV plc or its predecessor companies created additional free or subscription channels, of which the oldest still running is ITV2 , having launched in 1998. Several older channels have since stopped broadcasting; the oldest of these is Super Channel which was launched by a consortium of ITV regional companies in 1987, was sold and eventually closed in 1998. Launched in 1982, Channel 4
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#17328867196772024-498: Is the oldest television society in the world. Free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription providers operate, with differences in the number of channels, capabilities such as the programme guide (EPG), video on demand (VOD), high-definition (HD), interactive television via the red button , and coverage across the UK. All providers make available the UK's five most-watched channels: BBC One , BBC Two , ITV ( ITV1 / STV ), Channel 4 and Channel 5 . Broadcast television
2116-580: Is the second series of the revival of the show, and the twenty-eighth season overall. It is the first series to feature David Tennant as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor , an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS , which appears to be a British police box on the outside. The Doctor continues to travel with his companion Rose Tyler ( Billie Piper ), with whom he has grown increasingly attached. They also briefly travel with Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith ( Noel Clarke ), and Rose's mother Jackie ( Camille Coduri ). The series
2208-426: Is the world's oldest and largest broadcaster, and is the country's principal public service broadcaster of radio and television. BBC Television is funded primarily by a television licence and from sales of its programming to overseas markets. It does not carry advertising . The licence fee is levied on all households that watch or record TV as it is broadcast and the fee is determined by periodic negotiation between
2300-494: The Channel 4 sitcom Big Boys (2022–). Her films include Nuns on the Run (1990), King Ralph (1991), and The Firm (2009). Coduri was born in south London. She studied drama at Kingsway Princeton College . She pursued higher education for only four months to resit her O Levels , and left to go into theatre. Coduri featured in the film comedies Hawks (1988), Nuns on
2392-632: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . TV via the Internet can be streamed or downloaded, and consist of amateur or professionally produced content. In the UK, most broadcasters provide catch-up TV services which allow viewing of TV for a window after it was broadcast. Online video can be viewed via mobile devices, computers, TVs equipped with a built in Internet connection, or TVs connected to an external set-top-box, streaming stick or games console. Most of
2484-625: The Doctor Who Big Finish Productions audio Infamy of the Zaross , which was released on 23 November 2017. She also reprised her role as Jackie Tyler in the Big Finish audios Wednesdays For Beginners (part of The Lives of Captain Jack , 2017), Retail Therapy (part of The Ninth Doctor Chronicles , 2017), The Siege of Big Ben and Flight into Hull (part of Short Trips , 2018). She
2576-581: The Internet . Since 2022, broadcast-like TV services can be wholly-received via Internet-connected devices, which don't require an aerial, satellite or a traditional cable TV connection. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board publish quarterly statistics of the number of UK households per broadcast TV platform. Aggregating the statistics for Q1 2020 show that 56% subscribe to one or more broadcast TV services, vs 44% who receive free TV. The primary digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview , launched in 2002 and
2668-495: The Pluto TV and Paramount+ Internet streaming services. Since 2012, additional local TV channels are available via Freeview channel 7 or 8. The channels are licensed by Ofcom, with 34 local TV channels licensed as of 2 July 2020. Nineteen of the licenses are held by That's TV, and eight are held by Made Television. The remainder are held independently. Each license contains the amount of local TV programming required. As an example,
2760-570: The Tardisodes to mobile telephones were less popular than expected: around 40,000 downloads, averaging 3,000 per episode. Downloads to personal computers were much more common, with 2.6 million downloads. Iain Tweedale, new media editor for BBC Wales, suggested two reasons for the low number of telephone downloads: although the BBC provided the episodes free, most users had to pay a fee to their mobile network, and many telephones were not compatible with
2852-479: The first series , second series, and " The Runaway Bride ", as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 4 December 2006 by Silva Screen Records. The cues from the first series were re-recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales , the original music having been created using orchestral samples. Gold's arrangement of the main theme featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added: an orchestral sound of low horns, strings and percussion and part of
Doctor Who series 2 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2944-549: The following series . Andoh returned for Series 3 but was recast as Martha's mother. Pauline Collins , who appeared in " Tooth and Claw " as Queen Victoria , had previously appeared in The Faceless Ones (1967) as Samantha Briggs. Nicholas Hoult was considered for the role that went to Jennings. Following the success of the opening episode of the first series , the BBC announced that Doctor Who had been recommissioned for both
3036-542: The 2005 episode " Bad Wolf ". In " The Christmas Invasion ", it is revealed to be a secret organisation which possesses alien technology, and its establishment is shown in " Tooth and Claw ", whose late addition to the series allowed Davies to fix it in British history by associating it with Queen Victoria . References then gradually started appearing in the script of every episode: blocked websites, mentions of buildings and archives owned by Torchwood and so on. Contemporary Torchwood
3128-505: The BBC's commercial units. Originating in 1992 with UK Gold , UKTV expanded its channels from 1997 onwards, with the BBC taking full ownership in June 2019. Unlike the BBC's public service channels, the UKTV channels contain advertising. ITV, branded as ITV1 or STV, is the network of fourteen regional and one national commercial television franchise, founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV
3220-457: The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The transmitter network is predominately operated by Arqiva . The TV channels are transmitted in bundles, called multiplexes , and the available channels are dependent on how many multiplexes are transmitted in each area. The six national multiplexes are available to 90% of households from 92 transmitters; and three multiplexes are available to 9% of households from 1,067 transmitters. In Northern Ireland,
3312-449: The Christmas special. Noel Clarke 's character Mickey Smith , a recurring guest character during the first series, featured in several episodes as a companion of the Doctor. Elisabeth Sladen featured in the episode " School Reunion ", returning to the character of Sarah Jane Smith , companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors. Following this episode, Sladen was asked to reprise her role in
3404-471: The Dalek ray-gun and TARDIS materialisation sound effects. Included on the album are two versions of the theme: the 44-second opening version, as arranged by Gold, and a longer arrangement that includes the "middle eight" (a name given to one of the sections of the melody), after Gold omitted it from both the opening and closing credits. Gold has said that his interpretation was driven by the title visual sequence he
3496-730: The Daleks (1985) in the show's original run. Recording for the Christmas special began on 23 July 2005. The Clearwell Caves were used twice: the interior of the Sycorax ship, and the Beast's Pit in " The Satan Pit ". Production blocks were scheduled around the directors. The majority of filming took place in Wales, particularly in Cardiff . Parts of "New Earth" were shot at the Wales Millennium Centre , which
3588-469: The Doctor in a morally ambiguous situation". Though finding the episode "dramatic" and "soulful", they both concluded that, for a Doctor Who story, humans are mere supporting characters, with a narrative that Wilkins found "requires the Doctor to be the hero". However, they both still found the finale enjoyable: Wilkins calling it "supremely entertaining television", and Ruediger stating "it makes no attempts to play by any rules other than its own" and provides
3680-480: The Internet. In the article, Ofcom responded that the licensing scheme was inherited from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport . In April 2018, BBC News reported that "many of the stations have been ridiculed for the poor quality of their output or have been reported to Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules". The local TV companies receive a subsidy from the BBC of £147.50 per local news story, funded by
3772-461: The Region 2 release. The entire series was subsequently released in a boxset on 20 November 2006 in Region 2. All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated: "The Christmas Invasion" was adapted into a novel by Jenny Colgan . The novel was subsequently produced as an audio book, narrated by Camille Coduri . The second series of Doctor Who was watched by an average of 7.5 million viewers, which
Doctor Who series 2 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-569: The Republic of Ireland are available, including RTÉ One , RTÉ2 and the Irish-language TG4 . British television differs from other countries, such as the United States , in as much that programmes produced in the United Kingdom do not generally have a long season run of around 20 weeks. Instead, they are produced in a series, a set of episodes varying in length, usually aired over a period of
3956-561: The Run (1990) and King Ralph (1991). She has also appeared extensively on British television , appearing in guest roles in episodes of series such as Rumpole of the Bailey , A Bit of Fry & Laurie , Boon , A Touch of Frost and in the BBC 's 1997 adaptation of Henry Fielding 's novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling . She appeared in BBC Three 's six-part drama series Sinchronicity (2006). Coduri recurred regularly in
4048-775: The UK, offering a combination of subscription, rental and purchase options for viewing online TV. Most are available via any Internet connection, however some require a specific broadband connection. Some services sell 3rd party services, such as Amazon's Prime Video. BARB tracks the number of households subscribing to Netflix, Prime Video and Now, referred to as SVOD households. Their statistics for Q1 2020 show that 53% of households subscribe to at least one of these, and 24% to at least two. Netflix has 13.01 million subscribers, Prime Video (Amazon) has 7.86 million, and Now has 1.62 million, according to BARB's figures for Q1 2020. BARB's equivalent figures for broadcast TV show that 56% of households subscribe. The table following summarises some of
4140-472: The UK. As of 2 January 2022, the average daily viewing time per home was 3 hours 8 minutes (of BARB-reported channels, includes broadcast and Internet viewings). 15 channels have a 4-week share of ≥ 1.0%. As of 2 January 2022 , there are 10 broadcaster groups with a four week share of ≥ 1.0% (although BARB reports sub-groups of BBC and Paramount individually, and it's unclear what the 'ITV' group refers to). The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC )
4232-594: The Ways " he was next seen in the Children in Need special , broadcast on 18 November 2005. " The Christmas Invasion ", broadcast one month later, marked his first episode. In 2005, Tennant had starred in Casanova , written by Russell T Davies and produced by Julie Gardner , when he was offered an audition as the Doctor, which surprised him as it had not yet been publicly announced that Christopher Eccleston would not be returning to
4324-534: The ability to view recordings on other devices, remote operation via the Internet to add recordings, and on-demand content via the satellite-receiver's broadband connection of both Sky and third-party TV. The Sky subscription also includes access to Sky Go , which allows mobile devices and computers to access subscription content via the Internet. Freesat is a free satellite service operated by Everyone TV, who also operate Freeview. Like Sky, it provides high-definition content, digital recording and video-on-demand via
4416-409: The associated episodes, the real website saw the release of mini-episodes of 2-3 mins, called Tardisodes, as prologues for every episode, along with the rare banner using in-universe references to ask viewers to check out the current episode. The major promoter for the series, aside from the BBC, was Radio Times: they released their first programme-specific Christmas double issue in 16 years, instead of
4508-821: The available Internet TV services in the UK. For brevity, it does not include catch-up-only or amateur-only services, individual channels, distributors of illegal or adult content, services which solely redistribute free broadcast channels, portals, or services which don't target the UK. 'Free' refers to free at the point of consumption, not including fees for Internet connectivity or a TV licence. Other international streaming services with pricing in GBP include: Acorn TV, Arrow, BKTV, Crunchyroll, Dekkoo, Demand Africa, Docsville, Funimation Now, GuideDoc, Hayu, Hoichoi, Hotstar, iQiyi, iWantTFC, Mubi, NewsPlayer+, Revry, Shudder, Starz, True Story, WOW Presents Plus and ZEE5. The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) measures television ratings in
4600-485: The average viewership achieved by each broadcast during its run-time and do not include peak viewership. Notes : Camille Coduri Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her role as Jackie Tyler , the mother of Rose Tyler , in Doctor Who (2005–2006, 2010). She has since appeared in the BBC comedies Him & Her (2010–2013) and King Gary (2018–2021), and
4692-513: The broadband connection of Freeview Play and Netgem devices. These also support optional subscription services such as Netflix and Prime Video. EE TV and TalkTalk TV offer additional subscription services for their respective broadband customers using Netgem or YouView devices. Saorview , the terrestrial TV service in the Republic of Ireland which launched in 2011, can be received in parts of Northern Ireland via overspill transmissions. Many regional companies developed cable-television services in
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#17328867196774784-460: The broadband connection. Freesat and Sky TV transmit from SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east ( Astra 2E / 2F / 2G ). As the satellites are in geostationary orbit , they are positioned above the earth 's equator ( 0°00′N 28°12′E / 0°N 28.2°E / 0; 28.2 ( Satellites transmitting Sky TV and Freesat to the UK and Ireland ) ) approximately 35,786 km above sea level ; this places them above
4876-425: The broadcast TV providers have integrated their set-top-boxes with Internet video to provide a hybrid broadcast and online service. Since 2006, UK channel owners and content producers have been creating Internet services to access their programmes. Often, these are available for a window after the broadcast schedule. These services generally block users outside of the UK. There are numerous online services targeting
4968-409: The broadcast of "The Christmas Invasion". Thirteen Tardisodes , ranging from lengths of 40–55 seconds, were produced to serve as prequels to each episode. All episodes were filmed as part of the second series' production cycle. Series 2 was Tennant's first in the role of the Doctor ; his casting was announced on 16 April 2005. Following his brief appearance in the closing moments of " The Parting of
5060-567: The broadcasts. In the United States , the second series aired on The Sci Fi Channel (now known as SyFy). In Canada, the series aired through the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . The corporation won a Constellation Award for their assistance and contributions to the series. In France, the series aired on France 4 . The press launch for the series began on 27 March at the Wales Millennium Centre . A special trailer for
5152-529: The channel name of STV for its two franchises in Scotland. ITV plc names the channel UTV in Northern Ireland, and ITV1 for the remaining regions, although UTV has used ITV or ITV1 branding since April 2020. The national breakfast-time franchise is held by ITV plc, which appears as an indistinguishable programming block across the network. Legally, the network has been known as Channel 3 since 1990, which
5244-473: The dialogue "funny and witty" and adding to "the memorability of the finale". Together with "the great writing and beautiful acting", he called it more entertaining than entire seasons of many shows and "sci-fi television at its finest". Similarly, Radio Times ' s Braxton praised the show for finding "ways to think big" since its revival while also sometimes delivering on this scale "with such devastating intimacy". Screen Rant ' s Edward Cleary ranked
5336-423: The end of analogue transmissions in Northern Ireland. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable, as well as over IP. As of 2003, 53.2% of households watch through terrestrial, 31.3% through satellite, and 15.6% through cable. The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It
5428-498: The episode " Love & Monsters ", the Abzorbaloff, was designed by the winner of a Blue Peter contest. " The Runaway Bride ", which was supposed to be the midway point of the original line-up, was moved early on to be the Christmas special for the next series, and was replaced by " Tooth and Claw ", which had its roots in a story about "Queen Victoria and a werewolf", something Davies had been contemplating since 2004. The order of
5520-455: The first few episodes moved around a bit while being written, and were only finalised after the early scripts were partially done, in order to find the best way to develop Tennant's Doctor, especially for those viewers confused by the regeneration. The series is primarily set on Earth (though not as much as the first series was) due to the cost involved in creating another planet, Davies stated; only two stories were set on another planet. However,
5612-412: The first part intense with "a great cliffhanger", with Wilkins additionally stating it was not afraid of dealing with "some large thematic questions". However, Ruediger characterised the second part as being "full of fanboy silliness", and Wilkins criticised it for how fast the situation changes with the arrival of the foes, a direct results of human interference, stating the show seems "incapable of placing
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#17328867196775704-453: The first two series of the revived Doctor Who as Jackie Tyler and reprised her role in the Series 4 episode " Journey's End " (2008) and David Tennant 's final episode, " The End of Time " (2010). She also participated in a Doctor Who -themed episode of The Weakest Link , first broadcast on 30 March 2007. She won the game, beating Noel Clarke ( Mickey Smith ) in the final round, splitting
5796-535: The first, not having to present every single detail to the BBC: discussions and plot changes happened as much in coffeehouses and on phone as it did in writing, and therefore the first outline had much more detail than the first series, allowing for a more connected series. Just like the first series, the second series saw the return of another classic enemy, the Cybermen . Presented with the opportunity to re-introduce Cybermen to
5888-424: The fourth . Delgado praised "Doomsday" as "heart wrenching" and "tragic". Digital Spy ' s Morgan Jeffery and Rebecca Cook ranked the series fourth, praising Tennant's performance; they believed the series brought new levels of success by increasing the show's popularity and securing its future. Den of Geek ' s Andrew Blair placed the series nineteenth overall, the lowest of Tennant's run, and believed it
5980-448: The frequency used by Channel 5's new broadcasts. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial channel to also broadcast via satellite. From 2006 onwards, Channel 5 launched new digital channels and an Internet on-demand service. After changing ownership several times, in May 2014 Channel 5 and its sister channels were acquired by Viacom, an American media conglomerate , known as Paramount since 2022. By
6072-504: The government and the BBC. Its first analogue terrestrial channel was launched by the BBC Television Service in 1936. It rebranded to BBC1 in 1964 following the launch of BBC2 , the UK's third analogue terrestrial channel after ITV. BBC News 24 launched as an analogue cable channel in 1997, later rebranding to BBC News in 2008. BBC Parliament , which was originally an analogue cable channel known as The Parliamentary Channel,
6164-668: The late 1980s and 1990s as licences for cable television were awarded on a city-by-city basis. The mid-1990s saw the companies start to merge and the turn of the century only three big companies remained. In 2007 Telewest and NTL merged, resulting in the formation of Virgin Media , which is available to 55% of households. Cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line and broadband. There are two distinctly-marketed direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services (also known as direct-to-home (DTH), to be distinguished from satellite signals intended for non-consumer reception). Sky TV
6256-448: The launch of digital TV. Sky make their channels available via rival cable and Internet services as well as their own satellite service and Now. Channel 5 was the fifth analogue terrestrial channel to launch, in March 1997. Due to constraints with the available UHF frequencies at the time, many households had to retune their video recorders , which shared the frequency on their RF output with
6348-546: The license fee, paid whether the BBC uses the content or not. A June 2018 article on BuzzFeed claimed that That's TV was created "primarily to extract money from the BBC whilst delivering little content of useful value". BBC One, BBC Two and the ITV network (comprising ITV1 and STV) are split into regions in which regional news and other programming is broadcast. ITV1/STV is split into fourteen geographic licencees , with several of these split into two or three sub-regions, resulting in
6440-460: The license for Scarborough, which is held by That's TV, requires seven hours of local programming per week (one hour per day on average). Thirteen additional licenses were originally intended, but Ofcom decided not to advertise these in June 2018. The way Ofcom structured local television – being dependent on terrestrial transmission – was criticised in a Guardian article in 2015 for being "years behind in its thinking", as it does not account for
6532-458: The most successful British programmes of the 20th century. The top 10 programmes are: 100 Greatest TV Moments was a list compiled by Channel 4 in 1999. The top 10 entries are: The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most-watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne , shown only on BBC1. The figures in these tables represent
6624-480: The occasional interview in tabloids and newspapers such as The Independent, The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Herald and so on; discussions about the series, sometimes with the crew, on Radio 1, Virgin Radio, Radio 4, and Radio Wales. The BBC promoted the series using their various holdings: CBBC used the theme with the broadcast of their programme, fictional websites, such as those of Mickey and UNIT, were updated before
6716-563: The previous series. A Children in Need special and an interactive episode, entitled " Attack of the Graske ", were both released alongside the series. A series of thirteen Tardisode s were also produced. These mini-episodes (approximately 60 seconds in length) served as prequels to each forthcoming episode, and were available for download to mobile phones and viewable at the official Doctor Who website. The Tardisodes were recorded intermittently from 31 January to 8 April 2006. Downloads of
6808-414: The prize money of £ 16,550 evenly between multiple sclerosis and children who are carers . In an episode of Ashes to Ashes (April 2010), Coduri played a woman who helps DCI Gene Hunt and DI Alex Drake during an investigation. In September 2010, she joined BBC Three comedy Him & Her , playing Shelly. On 15 May 2017, it was announced that Coduri would reprise her role as Jackie Tyler in
6900-405: The role. He was offered the role at Davies's home, and was initially concerned that if the series was not recommissioned he would become known as "the person who played the Doctor for 35 seconds". Billie Piper continued her role as companion Rose Tyler , for her second and final series. Piper departed as a regular following "Doomsday". She would return as a regular in the 2008 series , and in
6992-430: The second-lowest AI rating. The US release of the series averaged a household rating of 1.05 million viewers. Doctor Who ' s second series received positive reviews from critics. Series 2 holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 9/10, based on eight critic reviews. Many considered the finale "Doomsday" one of the best episodes and "Fear Her" one of the worst, with one reviewer calling
7084-561: The series full of intense highs and lows for both the characters and the plot. Critics praised the Tennant and Piper's performance and romantic tension. The series' CGI, the Torchwood reveal, and use of cliffhangers also received praise, as did Murray Gold's soundtrack, the series' dynamic nature, and the varying settings. Reviewing the two-part finale, Slant Magazine ' s Ross Ruediger and The A.V. Club ' s Alasdair Wilkins both found
7176-400: The series sixth of thirteen, and felt the chemistry between Tennant and Piper—one of Doctor Who ' s best duos—overshadowed any problems; he described "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" as one of the "best two-parters ever". In 2021, Comic Book Resources ' s Gabriela Delgado noted the series was the second-highest rated on IMDb of Doctor Who ' s modern run, behind only
7268-481: The series was composed by Murray Gold . A majority of filming took place in Cardiff, Wales . The series was acclaimed by critics and won multiple awards, including five at the BAFTA Cymru Awards . Two mini-episodes were also recorded: " Doctor Who : Children in Need" was produced for the 2005 Children in Need appeal, and interactive episode "Attack of the Graske" was recorded for digital television following
7360-471: The series was produced by Red Bee Media . The trailer included both clips from the series and special footage shot for it. Various episodes received screening prior to their official release, including a Glasgow -based screening for "Tooth and Claw" and a Cardiff -based one for "The Christmas Invasion". The promotion of the second series also took other forms: interviews with cast and crew on such prestigious channels like BBC1 and ITV1; rumours and reports and
7452-452: The series. New writers for the show included Toby Whithouse , Tom MacRae , Matt Jones , and Matthew Graham . Returning writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat also contributed episodes to the series. Stephen Fry was due to write the eleventh episode, but was forced to withdraw as he could not complete the script in time. Davies consequently hired Graham, who he had been trying to hire for series three, to write " Fear Her ". The villain of
7544-500: The six digital terrestrial multiplexes with ITV as Digital 3&4 . Since the advent of digital television, Channel 4 is now also broadcast in Wales across all digital platforms. Channel 4 was the first British channel not to carry regional variations for programming, however it does have six set advertising regions. Sky is a European broadcaster owned by global American media conglomerate Comcast . Sky Television launched in 1989, with
7636-431: The team had learnt from the first series about the specific challenges faced by a sci-fi series; instead of last-minute changes to reduce CGI, plots were written in mind to use shots needing less CGI: gardens and concrete plazas, such as those employed in the then-recently released Battlestar Galactica show, which allowed an equitable budgetary distribution between stories. The second series came about quite differently from
7728-485: The time it acquired Channel 5, Paramount already operated a large number of subscription channels in the UK, including the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central channels, which are available via Sky TV, Virgin Media and Now. In terms of viewing share, the combined viewing across Paramount's channels make the group the UK's fifth largest broadcaster, according to BARB's viewing figures for 1 March 2020. Paramount additionally operates
7820-505: The usual generic issue, for the release of The Christmas Invasion , a special section called "Doctor Who Watch", and covers and interviews with cast and crew throughout the run of the series. The second series of Doctor Who was first released on DVD in five volumes, with the first volume being released in Region 2 on 1 May 2006 and the final volume on 25 September 2006. The five volumes were also released in Region 4, invariably two months after
7912-524: Was a "comedown" in quality from its predecessor. British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air , free-to-view and subscription services over
8004-447: Was acquired by the BBC in 1998. From 1998 onwards the BBC started digital TV transmissions, launching new channels and broadcasting via satellite in addition to terrestrial and cable. The BBC's Internet-based service iPlayer contains content from the BBC's TV channels, the Welsh-language public-service broadcaster S4C, as well as videos created from BBC radio programmes. UKTV is a commercial broadcaster owned by BBC Studios , one of
8096-399: Was given to work around. Often erroneously cited as being the same as the end credits version, this second version is in fact a new arrangement and recording. The second series premiered on 15 April 2006 with " New Earth ", and concluded after thirteen episodes on 8 July 2006 with " Doomsday ". Doctor Who Confidential also aired alongside each episode of the series, continuing on from
8188-413: Was slightly down from the previous series, which was watched by 7.9 million viewers. Doctor Who 's first Christmas special, "The Christmas Invasion", was watched by 9.84 million viewers upon its premiere on 25 December 2005, and, as of 2010, was the ninth-highest figure for an episode of Doctor Who since its 2005 revival. The series' finale "Doomsday" was watched by 8.2 million total viewers, beating
8280-437: Was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements . Each region was originally independent and used its own on-air identity . Through a series of mergers following relaxation of regulation in 1990, thirteen of the franchises are now held by ITV plc , and the remaining two by STV Group . Since 2012, ITV plc produces the network nationally, with STV Group acting as an affiliate . STV Group uses
8372-702: Was used during promotion of the series. "Tooth and Claw" was originally part of block one, but production issues pushed it to block two. The episode was shot in Llansannor Court . The building was later reused for " The Unicorn and the Wasp ". " The Girl in the Fireplace " used the Dyffryn Gardens for both the gardens and palace of Louis XV . The gardens were used for various other episodes, including " Deep Breath " and " The Wedding of River Song ". A Stella Artois brewery
8464-642: Was used for the upgrading chamber in "Army of Ghosts". The Coedarhydyglyn House was used for Jackie and Pete's mansion in the episode. The house was later used in " The Angels Take Manhattan ". Southerndown Beach was used for the beach where the Doctor and Rose say goodbye in "Doomsday". The beach was later reused in " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ". The first two weeks of filming on block four were spent entirely on "Fear Her". Maureen Lipman appeared in "The Idiot's Lantern", but due to scheduling conflicts, recorded her scenes remotely in London. Lipman finished her recording in under
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