The Christmas Inversion

"Murderous mistletoe!"

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Short Story 

Released: October 2016

Printed in: Twelve Doctors of Christmas 03

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis

The Prime Minister is in desperate need of the Doctor. The world is in turmoil on Christmas Day. A giant black asteroid has parked itself above London and far too many of the population are hypnotised and on the edge of death. The Doctor answers the call, but finds that he's a little early.

Verdict

The Christmas Inversion was an absolutely wonderful story! It continued the Twelve Doctors of Christmas collection in superb style and I'll honestly be very surprised if I find any of the next nine stories better than this gem. It really was magnificent and right up my street when it comes to what I like. I love a clash of eras and having Jackie Tyler meet the Third Doctor, Jo and Mike Yates was just superb. I absolutely loved it. I thought the title was just going to be a little play on The Christmas Invasion, but I never suspected it would take place concurrently with it! A wonderful idea. I really liked how Harriet Jones and her plea found her way to the Third Doctor some three decades or so earlier and he had no hesitation in answering it. As well as the clash of differing Doctor Who eras, taking Jo and Mike into the 21st century worked very well indeed and the latter's failure to know what was considered a computer, in the form of a laptop, was very good. A nice little moment. Jackie was certainly the highlight in this story and her reaction when she barged into the TARDIS only to find unfamiliar faces was just marvellous! She not only thought that the Doctor had regenerated, but that Rose and Mickey had too. That was most unexpected but a delightful surprise. She even seemed to prefer Jo's hair to that of her own daughter and she quickly accepted that regeneration was what had happened to Rose and Mickey. Her dismissing of Mike trying to make her realise that he wasn't who she thought he was made me chuckle. She was very funny and it was a smart choice with the name being similar in having Mike stumble into the TARDIS instead of Benton or the Brigadier, for example. Whilst Jackie was absolutely great throughout, I think the highlight of this adventure for me was Jo and her continuous mentions of the Master. It was simply sublime humour as she was absolutely convinced that he'd be showing up once again and be behind all the ongoings. It really was fantastic. I was certainly not expecting the Master to show up though in a terrific little cameo. The prospect of an alliance between the Delgado incarnation and the Sycorax was a fantastic little thought and I liked how the Tenth Doctor's circumstances aided his third incarnation here as the Master was a Time Lord and that's what was wanted with the hunt for the Doctor's regeneration energy. The Third Doctor aiding his future self by siphoning off some energy was an intriguing moment and I just loved all of the links between past and future. Jackie seeing where Rose was and going off to find her as we would see in the Christmas Special was a nice way to leave her story, but she certainly caused an impact as she wanted to know what happened to those travelling with the Doctor if Jo wasn't around in her timeline with the Doctor. That was quite the provoking question but I thought the Doctor answered it well. The references to Aliens of London/World War Three and Father's Day were nice additions and I also liked the mentioning of the UNIT name change and their relocation to the Tower of London. Overall, a simply splendid adventure! I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Rating: 10/10