The Christmas Invasion

"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!"

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25th December 2005

Series: 2005 Christmas Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

It's Christmas Eve and high above London the alien Sycorax are holding Earth for ransom. The Tenth Doctor must recover from his regeneration in time to save the human race from slavery. 

Verdict 

The Christmas Invasion is a very good Christmas Special episode of Doctor Who and does a great job in continuing where Born Again left off in introducing David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. This was another watch with my cousin who is fast approaching eight years old now and this was one of the very few modern episodes he was yet to see and judging by what he was saying, it was the one he was most eager to watch. He has made it no secret that the Tenth Doctor is his favourite Doctor so I can understand him wanting to see his first adventure. I've watched this episode many times in the past but seeing things through his eyes was excellent. I don't really think of the episode as being quite humorous but with the Christmas tree attack, post-regenerative effects of the Doctor and his attire, there's a good amount of comedy which is always welcomed in my book. When I thought of this episode prior to watching earlier today I did think the robot Santas, or Pilot Fish, featured more heavily but I guess that was more so the case in the following year's special. The Doctor doesn't appear a great deal in the story but he doesn't need to really. All the Sycorax have with the blood control is threats. The Doctor soon calls their bluff on that by pushing the big dangerous red button. But the points that lead up to that moment were terrific. The idea of blood control is excellent and I liked that the Sycorax supply came from a Mars probe. I thought the return of Harriet Jones was good and seeing my cousin laugh at her constant introductions made me realise how simple but good that is. There was the obvious reference to Aliens of London/World War Three but as well as that we had nice mentions or references to The Unquiet Dead, Dalek, The Long Game, Boom Town and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways with the latter actually receiving numerous mentions as one might expect. The return of UNIT in a major role to the series in the modern era was fantastic to see and it would go on to play an important role in the show's future. Jackie and Mickey were as good as usual at this point in the series with it still having a very first series feel despite the change of Doctor. They quickly accepted that he could change his face but they were helpless to do anything really as he just lay in bed dealing with his regeneration. I found it hilarious that Jason Mohammed appeared in the episode as a news reporter as he's someone I really dislike. He's a very pro-English but Welsh football presenter and that's something that can't be allowed. I follow my nation in every game and he is someone I just have no time for. The use of the TARDIS translation circuits to indicate the 'fixing' of the Doctor was decent but I did enjoy the translations that came whilst it was out of operation. The Sycorax ship was a little bland but I did very much love the interior with the hoards of Sycorax overlooking events. The Doctor trying to work out what kind of man he was during the episode was brilliant and the moment he discovered he was a no second chances man was superb. He had defeated the Sycorax Leader in combat and had spared his life but still he wanted to kill the Doctor. The TARDIS wardrobe being seen was great and I liked how Rose still very much wanted to travel with the Doctor, even with the freaky new hand. The Doctor though was disgusted with PM Jones after she gave the order for Torchwood to bring down the Sycorax ship despite them leaving and he soon had questions raised about her health. Overall, a very good episode!

Rating: 8/10