The Christmas Invasion

I watched series one. I even enjoyed quite a bit of it. But there was one thing increasingly disturbed me on the way to episode thirteen.

I really didnВ’t like what the Doctor had become.

ItВ’s not Christopher EcclestonВ’s fault, although he never seemed to catch the inherent oddities of the character to me. He was given a set of scripts that turned a hero into a time-travelling chauffeur, carrying the real star of the show to whatever time and place her greater common sense and interpersonal skill could be best used to save humanity.

Billie Piper was outstanding, and thatВ’s not something I expected to find myself saying when her casting was announced. But what the Hell had Mr Davies, that self-proclaimed Doctor Who fan, actually done to the Doctor?

Maybe my lowered expectations for The Christmas Invasion worked in my favour. The first forty minutes may have dragged at times (especially with Rose was wailing on her motherВ’s shoulder about the Doctor abandoning her) but boy, did it pick up when the Doctor got going!

I had my doubts when David TennantВ’s casting was announced. I knew very little of him as an actor, but I knew his age, and I knew what he looked like; and in neither respect did he fit my mental picture of the Doctor. ThatВ’s as good a call on my part as doubting Ms Piper proved to be.

From the moment he pulls the electrocuting whip thing out of the SycoraxВ’s hand with an indignant line about its more trivial danger, the Tenth Doctor absolutely owns The Christmas Invasion, amply atoning for the length of time weВ’re made to wait to see him. Darting around the highly impressive interior of the spaceship, talking at a million miles an hour, attention flitting between Rose, the Sycorax and Harriet Jones, heВ’s instantly the Doctor, and immediately in charge. ItВ’s a joyous performance, infecting even the lines which ought to make you groan. "CanВ’t get the staff," he says, deadpan, before debunking the blood control threat in the last way you could be expecting. Wonderful.

I loved the Lion King speech, with its emphasis on admiration for humanity. I loved the Doctor suddenly pulling himself up on being rude, something his last incarnation appeared to take pleasure in. Most of all, I loved the payoff to RoseВ’s sulk about tea. "The solution to everything" indeed.

Tennant is obviously at home in the role, more so in twenty minutes than Eccleston appeared in a whole series. The Doctor has his old love of being the Doctor back, and that is the best piece of news since it was first announced he was returning to our screens.

ItВ’s just as well Tennant is so good, since the first two-thirds of the episode are spent showing how much the Doctor is actually needed. So much for Rose, the equal companion. Full marks to Billie, she gives it plenty of lip-tremble, but the character has guts, and the actress is at her best when showing them. Her scared, defiant little speech to the invading hordes was her best moment of the episode, but it all pointed up the same thing. SomeoneВ’s gotta be the Doctor, as she said; pity only the Doctor can be.

Much has been made of the DoctorВ’s power, bringing down a Prime Minister with six words, but really, didnВ’t Harriet Jones destroy herself? What hope for a national leader who appears live on television admitting she canВ’t cope with a crisis? It doesnВ’t take a political correspondent to estimate the life expectancy of that kind of creature, even if she did hint at the kind of masculine genitalia her factual equivalent could do with displaying to his fellow "statesmen". The suspension of disbelief has its place in Doctor Who, but it works better for me with images of great big alien spaceships casting shadows over two great British fighting men than with an implausible PM pressing the self-destruct button on her career.

Still, Penelope Wilton is an actress who doesnВ’t know how to give a bad performance, and just when the incessant introduction was beginning to grate came the payoff. The translated "Yes, we know who you are" was one more clever Russell T Davies touch. Like the Sycorax leader (a bravura turn from Sean Gilder) suddenly spouting English, making Rose and everyone else turn to the TARDIS. Like the revelation of the Sycorax on JackieВ’s television screen. He may have difficulty constructing a coherent plot at times, but the Head Writer certainly knows how to grab his audience.

Speaking of plot, I thought The Christmas Invasion RTDВ’s best to date. I donВ’t pick through every episode; if itВ’s entertaining and it hangs reasonably, I wonВ’t mind the odd unanswered question (such as, what was the point of the pilot fish, except to add a bit of festive colour?). I could do without his obsessive interest in the Tyler domestic angle; Jackie still irritates, despite Camille Coduri getting one perfect moment in the kitchen. Just watch her look of hurt when Rose snaps at the inevitable "is he a different man?" question. IВ’ve seen that look on my own motherВ’s face, more often than I care to remember. A few seconds of real relationship adds immeasurably to any programme. More, and youВ’re watching Eastenders.

IВ’m no expert on special effects, but bashing up the Gherkin raised a cheer, and the Sycorax ship, like the Sycorax themselves, impressed. The image of still, silent figures ready to jump from great landmarks like the Coliseum was a bit grim (especially for a Christmas broadcast) but admirably effective in conveying the scale of the Sycorax threat. I couldВ’ve done without Murray GoldВ’s crescendo of music as the TARDIS doors opened up, but thatВ’s a nitpick. Otherwise, I barely noticed his work, which I mean as a compliment. Background music should remain that; itВ’s only noticeable to me if it jars.

I havenВ’t mentioned Mickey. Which means he didnВ’t make me want to put a foot through the screen. ThatВ’s an improvement on last year. Thanks, Noel Clarke.

And thank you, Russell T Davies for restoring the natural order of Doctor Who (with a bit of help from David Tennant). For the first time, I felt like I was watching my old favourite again. 8 out of 10!