Doctor Who – The Complete Fifth Series

With the departure of David Tennant in "The End of Time Part 2" a new Doctor (Matt Smith) takes control of the series.

The season starts strong with "Eleventh Hour" which introduces us to the Doctor's new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and ends with a great two-parter ("The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang") involving the end of the universe, but it does have some ups ("Amy's Choice," "Vincent and the Doctor") and downs ("Victory of the Daleks") over the course of the season. I also thought the other two-parters from this season (apart from the finale) with the Silurians and the return of the Weeping Angels weren't as strong as the episodes which introduced the characters.

Although it's not the best season of the rebooted Doctor Who, it's not a bad place to start for those unfamiliar with the show, and there's plenty to enjoy here. Matt Smith makes a fine Doctor (especially when wearing a Fez) and Amy, especially after she's reunited with Rory (Arthur Darvill) is good companion. It's also nice to get a fresh start - the only character from the previous seasons to make an appearance is River Song (Alex Kingston).

Both the DVD and Blu-ray sets include all 13 episodes of the season as well as video commentary for a couple handpicked episodes, monster files, deleted scenes and the short "Doctor Who Confidential" featurettes. Both sets are six discs (odd, seeing how this should all fit on three Blu-rays), and you aren't getting any extra material by shelling out for the Blu-ray set.