The Christmas Invasion
Story 167, Episode 710, 2005 Christmas Special
Doctor: The Tenth Doctor
Companions: Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler
In an absolute classic, David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor makes his appearance worth the wait in a story largely driven by Rose.
The Review
As with all the stories in the RTD era, there is an element of cheesiness to the whole thing. It starts out with robotic santas with flamethrowers controlling a Christmas tree that whirrs to life as a rotating machine of death. The Sycorax, who arrive after intercepting a British space probe, say that they rock. Yes, in the modern sense. It’s all silly, but it’s balanced with a deadly reality: the aliens are here and a 1/3 of the population is on the roof looking like they could jump at any moment, under the Sycorax’s spell. The mix of comedy and terror is perfectly channeled by Penelope Wilton’s now Prime Minister Harriet Jones, who has the best running gag ever. Her character is outwardly comedic but acts with deadly seriousness at the situation. Jackie also provides some comedy on the Doctor’s side of events, while Mickey tends to be more serious. Come a long way from ‘pizza’.
The first 2/3 of the story is driven by Rose, who is fearful about losing her beloved Doctor and having him replaced by this new man. As Rose/Ten has become the ur-Doctor Who pairing, seeing her so devastated over Eccelston’s departure is a great reminder that he mattered damn it. Her being able to carry a story shows how well developed her character is (almost all the classic companions could never!). When Tennant first bursts on screen, he’s got it just right, through wondering about who he is, we see who he is: a stylish charismatic Doctor who is going to propel us on a wonderful series of adventures. His sword fight with the Sycorax champion is silly, but still plenty fun. We get a lot of senses of just the new energy Tennant is going to bring to the role, the Tenth Doctor who is far more comfortable in his own skin than his predecessor ever was. He will become too comfortable, but now, he’s thrilled.
It would have been easy for the Doctor to scare away the Sycorax and leave it at that, but the true climax of the story is an unexpected one. Understandably, Harriet calls upon Torchwood to destroy the Sycorax, worried they will not uphold the Doctor’s bargain. The Doctor quickly turns on her, outraged at what he sees as murder. From the Doctor’s viewpoint it is, killing all his foes as a precautionary measure is a decidedly un-Doctor act. After having loved and adored the character of Harriet for three whole episodes, it is uncomfortable to see the Doctor take her down with those infamous six words “don’t you think she looks tired”. It’s a devastating decision that leaves the viewer wondering who was right, and one that will have massive ripple effects throughout the RTD era. As the Doctor takes off to the stars with Rose again, Earth is anything but alright.
Faced with the rapid departure of Eccelston, this was an incredibly important episode for Doctor Who to nail down, and thankfully nail it down they do. It’s one of the best ever.
10/10. You know it, I know it, it’s a true holiday romp. I wish we were getting a Christmas special again…
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