The 2008 Christmas Special came shortly after it was announced that David Tennant would be leaving the show. This meant that the title seemed to peak everyones interest. Was it going to reveal the identity of the next Doctor? Of course it wasn’t but what it was going to do was answer how could someone else think they were the Doctor. This story saw the return of the Cybermen after they were last seen in the 2006 series finale. The story sees the Doctor land in London on Christmas Eve in 1851. The real Doctor comes across someone who is calling himself the Doctor travelling with someone called Rosita (Rose) and has a ‘sonic’ screwdriver and a TARDIS (which turns out to be a hot air balloon).
As well as the mystery of this guy who’s calling himself the Doctor there are the Cybermen who are working with Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan). It’s been a while since there was a female baddie in Doctor Who and the character seemed to be a classic nutter in that she wants power. However as was always going to be the case for anyone who’s like this she becomes unstuck when she is clamped into the Cyber King chair. The explanation about this guy thinking he was the Doctor was very smart. Jackson Lake (David Morrisey) had looked into one of these info stamps and took the Cybermen’s data on the Doctor. This made Jackson’s life quite tragic and it was at this point the story really stepped up a gear. The main talking point for me was the Cyber King. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but its safe to say it wasn’t what we got. A lot of people seem to rather dislike it but I actually love it. It was a brilliant creation though perhaps a little out of character for the Cybermen. What wasn’t such a good creation were the Cyber Shades which looked rubbish. They did look like someone in a costume and they were the only thing that didn’t work for me in this story.
The supporting cast did a great job. In particular, praise should go to David Morrisey who was superb as Jackson Lake. The emotional journey that his character went on made the story in between the bits with the Cybermen enjoyable. David Morrisey will probably go down as the greatest Doctor who never was. Dervla Kirwin was also very good as Miss Hartigan. She was a standard bad person before being put in the chair and showing the Cybermen that her mind is more powerful than the Cybermen thought and that is when Kirwin really shone. She really did quite sinister with those black eyes. Velile Tshabalala also put in a good performance as Rosita, Jackson’s companion. She was bordering on irritating with her voice/accent but she was still important in this story and I could believe that Rosita travelled with Jackson.
The special effects for this story were left until the end with the Cyber King. The whole thing looked beautiful and the sight of the Cyber King stomping its way through Victorian London was a visual highlight. The Next Doctor is a very good Christmas story, I think out of the four that we had at this time, this was the best. It was the one that felt most festive and had a nice story and some good direction. With only a few stories left before David Tennant handed over to Matt Smith, this was a nice festive story which is the last time there would be any real fun in the Doctor’s story.
As well as the mystery of this guy who’s calling himself the Doctor there are the Cybermen who are working with Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan). It’s been a while since there was a female baddie in Doctor Who and the character seemed to be a classic nutter in that she wants power. However as was always going to be the case for anyone who’s like this she becomes unstuck when she is clamped into the Cyber King chair. The explanation about this guy thinking he was the Doctor was very smart. Jackson Lake (David Morrisey) had looked into one of these info stamps and took the Cybermen’s data on the Doctor. This made Jackson’s life quite tragic and it was at this point the story really stepped up a gear. The main talking point for me was the Cyber King. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but its safe to say it wasn’t what we got. A lot of people seem to rather dislike it but I actually love it. It was a brilliant creation though perhaps a little out of character for the Cybermen. What wasn’t such a good creation were the Cyber Shades which looked rubbish. They did look like someone in a costume and they were the only thing that didn’t work for me in this story.
The supporting cast did a great job. In particular, praise should go to David Morrisey who was superb as Jackson Lake. The emotional journey that his character went on made the story in between the bits with the Cybermen enjoyable. David Morrisey will probably go down as the greatest Doctor who never was. Dervla Kirwin was also very good as Miss Hartigan. She was a standard bad person before being put in the chair and showing the Cybermen that her mind is more powerful than the Cybermen thought and that is when Kirwin really shone. She really did quite sinister with those black eyes. Velile Tshabalala also put in a good performance as Rosita, Jackson’s companion. She was bordering on irritating with her voice/accent but she was still important in this story and I could believe that Rosita travelled with Jackson.
The special effects for this story were left until the end with the Cyber King. The whole thing looked beautiful and the sight of the Cyber King stomping its way through Victorian London was a visual highlight. The Next Doctor is a very good Christmas story, I think out of the four that we had at this time, this was the best. It was the one that felt most festive and had a nice story and some good direction. With only a few stories left before David Tennant handed over to Matt Smith, this was a nice festive story which is the last time there would be any real fun in the Doctor’s story.
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