The Christmas Invasion

What do you get if you cross Independence Day with Time And The Rani?

To be fair, it would do The Christmas Invasion a great disservice to compare it to either of the above, although there are certainly elements of both present. However, this episode is far more coherent, intelligent and entertaining than either.

The Christmas Invasion has to satisfy several requirements, not least of which is convincing nine million people that it is still part of the same show which starred Christopher Eccleston a mere nine months ago. Repeating the opening shot from his first episode, and then focussing most of the first half on the characters we already know and love (Rose, Mickey, Jackie and Harriet) is therefore a wise move and works very effectively. Less effective, though, is the danger they are quickly put in, with the attack of the Santas and the Christmas Tree. There are no explanations as to why or how these "pilotfish" (what a gorgeously bizarre term that is) take these forms, or how they arrive on Earth in advance of the main threat, or how they are so easily disposed of. The Santas are very sinister, however, and Murray Gold's hyperactive Jingle Bells music plays an immense part in making the tree so scary. More chilling than either of these is the instant hold the Sycorax have on a third of the population, and the idea that they could kill them with the touch of a button.

The arrival of the beautifully designed Sycorax spaceship allows for some of the best effects yet seen in Doctor Who, as both the Powell Estate and yet another prominent London landmark are extensively trashed. The effects triumph extends to the Sycorax themselves, who are one of the most impressive looking (if very slightly rubbery) aliens to appear in the show for a very long time.

The new Doctor finally appears for his first confrontation, and here's where things start to go runny. The tension of the moment is utterly spoiled by the lengthy and all-too-self-aware dialogue he spouts whilst the evil alien menace simply stands and watches him reintroduce himself to everybody before he bounds about their ship like Bugs Bunny. We then suddenly learn that the Sycorax's plan to kill a third of humanity won't actually work, which makes you wonder why exactly they bothered.

Nevertheless, the Star Wars-esque sword fight which follows soon puts the show back on track, and allows Tennant to show a tougher side to his Doctor, as he defeats the leader and delivers some truly wonderful dialogue. This combination of dark ruthlessness ("No second chances") and manic comedy ("Not bad for a man in his jim-jams") make him more comparable to the Seventh Doctor than any of his other predecessors, although Tennant seems to have slipped into the part far more effortlessly than McCoy, or indeed most of the others, did.

There's a sting in the tail for The Christmas Invasion, however, as our Brigadier-replacement Harriet Jones orders the destruction of the defeated Sycorax, just as Lethbridge-Stewart did with the Silurians. It's done in a somewhat unconvincing way (and once again, Star Wars comes to mind, as the laser effects are strongly reminiscent of the Death Star in that franchise), but it allows Tennant to show his dark side again. Shaky though her position appears to be at the end of the show, we know from World War Three that Harriet Jones wins the next two elections anyway, so I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her. Penelope Wilton is such a superb actress that I'm looking forward to her next appearance already.

There's many, many wonderful touches in this episode (the TARDIS crash landing; the wardrobe room moment; the final scene) that help to make this the most impressive debut for a Doctor since at least Castrovalva (and arguably since The Power Of The Daleks). Tennant seems to have a good grasp of the role (although he does need to calm it down a bit to keep it believable) and the 2006 series looks incredibly promising.

8/10. Here's to the future...