The Christmas Invasion marked the first proper story for David Tennant. I say proper because there was the Children in Need special which depends on your point of view as to whether you think its cannon or not. This story marked the first time since 1965 that Doctor Who had transmitted on December 25th. It was a tremendous show of support by the BBC that they had faith to put an episode of Doctor Who slap bang in the middle of their Christmas Day schedule. This was a big milestone in Doctor Who, not just because of the faith the BBC had shown but whether a 21st Century audience would accept someone else playing the role that they had got use to being played by someone else.
David Tennant spends a lot of time in bed. It enables for two things to happen. The first being for Billie Piper’s Rose to drive the narrative along and secondly allow Tennant to come in at the closing stages of the story and save the day. A lot has happened on earth since the events of Bad Wolf and Parting of the Ways. First of all Harriet Jones (Aliens of London/World War Three) is now Prime Minister. It’s great how she goes from being on the good side to being the baddie in the space of an hour. You’re meant to disapprove of her destroying the Sycorax but when she makes the argument about aliens attacking and the Doctor not being there you know she’s making a good point and that’s why I found the Doctor’s actions of effectively bringing down her premiership a bit out of character.
The thing that stood out for me was how much of a character piece this was. With the Doctor out of action it means that Rose’s ability to understand alien languages is not working. It’s another sign that the TARDIS is more than a space/time machine. It’s also a sign of when the Doctor is back to his old self. It leads to a great showdown between the Doctor and the Sycorax leader. My opinion of Jackie greatly improved in this story. There was none of the irritation that I felt during the first season and feel that when she’s on screen she actually helps the story instead of hinders it. Likewise to Mickey, I thought that he was a bit of a dope and really couldn’t care about him but with the evolution of the series I think that the character has grown stronger.
For the bits that he was in it, I thought David Tennant was great. He was likeable from throughout this story and quite like Matt Smith’s opening story. By the end of The Christmas Invasion, I thought that David Tennant was the right man to play the Doctor. Penelope Wilton was also very good as Harriet Jones. Whether you support what she did or not, it doesn’t change that Penelope Wilton was charming as the Prime Minister. Even when she was telling some journalist off in her first scene of the story she managed to see funny and warm. Being a big fan of heir’s since I saw playing Shaun’s mom in the Shaun of the Dead film, I think that Wilton has great screen presence whilst giving the most menial role some meat and style.
It was great having Harriet Jones back in this story. The running gag being the “Yes I know who you are thing!” is still funny even after the 10th time of hearing it. It was also a proper return of UNIT. Despite their weak appearance in Aliens of London, I felt that this was the first proper story for them. We also get a first mention of Torchwood, this is setting up the story arc for the following season. There had been some mention that this was going to be the arc for the following season so when the name was mentioned it generated some excitement in my mind. We know that they are mysterious and they are ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Sycorax spaceship.
There were some impressive special effects. The Sycorax ship was very well realised as was the killer Christmas tree. It does feel that in the short time since the series was completed (just before the first episode went out in March) the special effects have improved by miles. Not they were terrible before but there is a noticeable difference. The effect with the Sycorax ship hovering over London as well as the shot of the Sycorax on the floor of the ship with the painted ground of London behind him was very good.
The Sycorax are great monsters. They look nasty and also look very tough. What didn’t quite work were the killer Santa’s. I just didn’t believe them and when you could clearly see their human hands it sort of ruin the mystique. When they return 12 months later I had the same emotion to them.
The closing scene was very Christmassy. With snow that wasn’t actually snow but the debris from the Sycorax spaceship acting as a reminder someone died unnecessarily. This is the moment when the Tenth Doctor is effectively saying ‘I’m back’. The Christmas Invasion is everything I was hoping it would be. Tennant’s Doctor was brilliant when he was in it and Billie Piper, Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri were splendid in stepping up and moving the story along. The story got the Tenth Doctor era off to a flying start and showed that the next five years would be fun.
David Tennant spends a lot of time in bed. It enables for two things to happen. The first being for Billie Piper’s Rose to drive the narrative along and secondly allow Tennant to come in at the closing stages of the story and save the day. A lot has happened on earth since the events of Bad Wolf and Parting of the Ways. First of all Harriet Jones (Aliens of London/World War Three) is now Prime Minister. It’s great how she goes from being on the good side to being the baddie in the space of an hour. You’re meant to disapprove of her destroying the Sycorax but when she makes the argument about aliens attacking and the Doctor not being there you know she’s making a good point and that’s why I found the Doctor’s actions of effectively bringing down her premiership a bit out of character.
The thing that stood out for me was how much of a character piece this was. With the Doctor out of action it means that Rose’s ability to understand alien languages is not working. It’s another sign that the TARDIS is more than a space/time machine. It’s also a sign of when the Doctor is back to his old self. It leads to a great showdown between the Doctor and the Sycorax leader. My opinion of Jackie greatly improved in this story. There was none of the irritation that I felt during the first season and feel that when she’s on screen she actually helps the story instead of hinders it. Likewise to Mickey, I thought that he was a bit of a dope and really couldn’t care about him but with the evolution of the series I think that the character has grown stronger.
For the bits that he was in it, I thought David Tennant was great. He was likeable from throughout this story and quite like Matt Smith’s opening story. By the end of The Christmas Invasion, I thought that David Tennant was the right man to play the Doctor. Penelope Wilton was also very good as Harriet Jones. Whether you support what she did or not, it doesn’t change that Penelope Wilton was charming as the Prime Minister. Even when she was telling some journalist off in her first scene of the story she managed to see funny and warm. Being a big fan of heir’s since I saw playing Shaun’s mom in the Shaun of the Dead film, I think that Wilton has great screen presence whilst giving the most menial role some meat and style.
It was great having Harriet Jones back in this story. The running gag being the “Yes I know who you are thing!” is still funny even after the 10th time of hearing it. It was also a proper return of UNIT. Despite their weak appearance in Aliens of London, I felt that this was the first proper story for them. We also get a first mention of Torchwood, this is setting up the story arc for the following season. There had been some mention that this was going to be the arc for the following season so when the name was mentioned it generated some excitement in my mind. We know that they are mysterious and they are ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Sycorax spaceship.
There were some impressive special effects. The Sycorax ship was very well realised as was the killer Christmas tree. It does feel that in the short time since the series was completed (just before the first episode went out in March) the special effects have improved by miles. Not they were terrible before but there is a noticeable difference. The effect with the Sycorax ship hovering over London as well as the shot of the Sycorax on the floor of the ship with the painted ground of London behind him was very good.
The Sycorax are great monsters. They look nasty and also look very tough. What didn’t quite work were the killer Santa’s. I just didn’t believe them and when you could clearly see their human hands it sort of ruin the mystique. When they return 12 months later I had the same emotion to them.
The closing scene was very Christmassy. With snow that wasn’t actually snow but the debris from the Sycorax spaceship acting as a reminder someone died unnecessarily. This is the moment when the Tenth Doctor is effectively saying ‘I’m back’. The Christmas Invasion is everything I was hoping it would be. Tennant’s Doctor was brilliant when he was in it and Billie Piper, Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri were splendid in stepping up and moving the story along. The story got the Tenth Doctor era off to a flying start and showed that the next five years would be fun.
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