Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion (2005)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

disgusting, overrated, pointless

A Brilliant Conflict

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

It is hard to believe now but there was a time when, if you were a 'Dr.Who' fan, you kept quiet about it. Mention its name in the pub on a Saturday night and you would be certain to attract laughter. All that changed in 2005. Thanks to Russell T.Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young, the long-dead show became a pop culture phenomenon all over again.Following the departure of the 'fantastic' Christopher Eccleston, a replacement had to be found. Luckily the producers did not have to look too far. Davies had just written the B.B.C. series 'Casanova', starring a charismatic young Scottish actor by the name of David Tennant. He made his debut as the Time Lord in the closing moments of 'The Parting Of The Ways', then appeared in a short sketch for 'Children In Need' in November, but his first full episode was this special, the first Christmas 'Who' since 1965's 'The Feast Of Steven' with William Hartnell.'The Christmas Invasion' begins with the Tardis executing a rough landing on the Powell housing estate in London. As Jackie ( Camille Coduri ) and Mickey ( Noel Clarke ) look on in bafflement, a stranger wearing the Doctor's clothes steps out, wishes them a Merry Christmas, and collapses. While the new Doctor lies in a coma in Rose's bed, out in space the British probe 'Guinevere' is taken aboard an alien craft that resembles a huge chunk of coal. The warlike Sycorax use the information aboard to locate Earth, with the intention of taking over.Rose and Mickey are out Christmas shopping when a brass band wearing Santa Claus suits suddenly goes berserk, attacking the crowd with weaponry disguised as musical instruments. Back at the Tyler flat, a Christmas tree comes to life, spinning madly like a carousel.Using mind control, the Sycorax have forced entire families onto rooftops the world over. Only the Doctor can put things right, but he is still out cold...Tennant spends most of the programme asleep, but as soon as he wakes up, assumes control of the situation. It is a masterful performance, switching from funny to angry and back again in the blink of an eye. Not only does he defeat the Sycorax leader in a well-staged sword fight, but also brings down a British Prime Minister ( Penelope Wilton ) who has had the aliens killed as they retreated from Earth ( an effective if none-too subtle dig at Margaret Thatcher's sinking of the Belgrano in the Falklands War ). The Doctor is furious, and undermines her authority with a mere six words - "Do you think she looks tired?". If only he had been here in the '80's when we needed him! At the end, when he selects his new clothes and sits down to turkey dinner with the Tylers, its as if he had always been there. No-one is in any doubt that this is the Doctor. With him incapacitated for most of the action, Billie Tyler's 'Rose' gets to dominate the proceedings, and does so splendidly. 'Torchwood', the mysterious organisation set up to conquer alien threats using alien technology, is mentioned here for the first time. The Sycorax, while hardly the most terrifying aliens to ever appear in the show, make for a suitable opponent, certainly more so than the Slitheen and the Adipose. Over the years, comedians have tried to guy the show, but come away looking rather foolish because they made the mistake of sending up what they think the show is. Witness Ricky Gervais' blinkered and astonishingly narrow-minded 'spoof' in 2007's 'Extras' Christmas special. "I do not want to appear in 'Dr.Who'!", he stormed. I do not want you in it, mate! Talking slugs out to rule the cosmos went out with Colin Baker. Not even the presence of Tennant could convince me I was watching even a vague approximation of the real thing. Russell T.Davies has attracted odium from some of the more obsessive fans, mainly of his penchant for subversive humour which seems to suggest he does not take 'Dr.Who' seriously as they would wish him to. It will be interesting to see in 2010 whether Steven Moffat, his successor, can come up with anything as remotely entertaining as this. It proved so popular that two more Christmas shows were made, and a new one - 'The Next Doctor' - is lined up for this year.The hilarious image of the Royal Family teetering on the brink of the roof of Buckingham Palace made Christmas Day 2005 a particularly joyous one for me!

I know many , many people were looking forward to seeing this . The British TV audience had just been treated to a story featuring Christopher Eccleston regenerating into David Tennant at the end of Parting Of The Ways , one of the most beautiful , heart touching scenes the programme has ever or will ever succeeded in doing . Would Russell T Davies be able to keep up the momentum ? Yes is the answer but I shouldqualify this by saying The Christmas Invasion is wonderful in someplaces and rather mediocre in other places Without doubt RTD knows what makes the show work - imagery . If you're my age you'll remember peers discussing the show with phrases like " I remember the one with the giant maggots ...the giant spiders ...the monsters that came out of the sea " In years to come this story will be remembered as " The one where the Christmas tree comes to life and tries to kill Rose , Jackie and Mickey " . This is a great and amusing scene and as Jackie screams " I'm gonna be killed by a Christmas tree " you'll be totally amused . Almost as good is the scene where Rose and Mickey dodge the killer Santas with their ray guns . If you find all this bizarre and far fetched then I'm afraid you just don't understand the spell DOCTOR WHO has cast over generations of audiences for decades and I pity you There are problems and like the successes they're down to RTD . Why is it he has to give a ridiculous name for an alien race ? In this case it's the Sycorax who come across as bad pantomime pirates . Another point is the continuity where the Doctor gets his hand sliced off but is able to grow a new one because several hours after a regeneration a time lord can do this which sounds like cheating and I don't believe for a moment RTD envisaged the severed hand as a plot point for season three of the show . Tennant spends most of his debut in bed which in hind sight is something I'd wished he'd do in all of his stories . I certainly didn't take to him as he falls out of the TARDIS bellowing " I dunnit " in his irritating mockney geezer accent but while being better in latter stories he is often quite worse so The Christmas Invasion deserves at least seven out of ten

Fresh from a transformation, the Doctor and Rose return to Earth to spend Christmas with her family. However when trees and Santa's start playing up it is apparent that this is no ordinary Christmas and some sinister force is at work. Still in a weakened state, the Doctor loses consciousness and cannot be revived by Rose. Meanwhile a spaceship positions itself above London and uses some power to control a large section of the population and make them stand on high buildings, ready to jump. The Prime Minister is desperate but seems left with no option but to make a deal with the powerful Sycorax.I watched this special again last week on UK Gold, away from the hype and worry that came with it the first time round. This was the bridge between the "first" "new" series and the second or, more importantly, the bridge between Eccleston being the Doctor and David Tennant taking over the reins. As such there was always going to be an element of making that leap and then also the emphasis on Tennant making the role his own so that the new series could just start with the majority of the fuss over and done with. The first half of the special keeps the Doctor tucked away and builds the plot while also using this as a way of emphasising his entrance when it comes. The story is a good one which does more or less manage to bring in all the elements that the family audience (and big audience at that time of the year) requires. Although it is obviously restricted by the child element of the audience, the tension is built well and the aliens have a genuine threat. The spinning trees etc were all a bit silly but I suppose that does seem to come with the territory now.Of course the big thing in the special was Tennant and I have to say that this didn't win me over to him. As his seasons at the helm continue I have come to like him more but I suspect that has an element of me accepting him rather than him being brilliant. Here I felt he was too over-the-top and I wanted someone to tell him that just because it was Christmas it didn't mean he had to go over the top as if he was in panto at Blackpool. This is maybe a bit harsh but in the series he tends to get a mix of this and quieter stuff to work with to act as balance – for most of his short time here he does rather overplay it somewhat. Of course it works for the type of thing this special is aiming for but viewers who like their sci-fi to be a little darker will have been worried by his appearance in this manner – particularly coming after the slightly grittier turn from Eccleston. Piper continues to be as good as she was in her first season and it is to her credit that she does pick up well with her new co-star. Wilton Jones was good as the PM but Clarke's Mickey continues to grate somewhat.Overall then an good special that does the two things it sets out to do (entertain the family and get the new Doctor in the door and settled before the new season starts) and does it in a reasonable good way even if no one part of it is done really well. Fits well with the tone of the season that followed it though.

I wonder if the character of Danny Llewellyn is in reference to Robert Llewellyn who played the android "Kryten" on "Red Dwarf"? And major Blake of U.N.I.T. reference to "Blake" from 'Blake's Seven"? Just a thought. I will look for other references as time goes on.I really liked this episode. One it brought back U.N.I.T. and mentioned the spin off show, Capt Jack will be part of "Torchwood". I hope U.N.I.T. will be part of the show more often as they were with the second and fourth doctors. It will be good to see Capt Jack back as part of his own spin-off show. A very different character type that you don't see in any "Dr. Who" episodes. Trekkstr