I'm a self-confessed fan boy who has all the videos, DVDs and Big Finish stuff. I love it all, even when the plot holes are big enough to drive a fleet of Dalek ships through a script. And I did enjoy The Christmas Invasion as I sat and watched it whilst away with my mum, knowing that back home my flat mate, my partner and all my other non Dr Who friends would be watching it too.

But a classic episode The Christmas Invasion was not.

Yes, there was much to enjoy. I liked the Harriet Jones character and cheered at her line about the US president making the alien incursion into a war. Indeed some of the dialogue was as sharp as it comes, "Earth is defended", "No second chances", the Lion King gag, the Arthur Dent bit, Rose trying to mimic the Doctor when trying to negotiate with the Sycorax, and the wonderful way the Doctor has a go at the Prime Minister near the end of the episode for sinking her metaphorical Belgrano.

But the story didn't really make sense did it? What was the Blood weapon exactly? How did it work? Why were the Santas attacking Rose and Ricky? Why did they run away at the sight of the Doctor's Sonic Screw Driver? – (Indeed Ricky pointed out that that didn't add up…) I could go on, but most of all, what was stopping the Sycorax simply invading the earth irrespective of what the Doctor did?

The story had some reasonable set pieces, but the Tardis crash landing FX at the start of the episode wasn't up to the Mill's usual very high standard. And I wasn't convinced by the sword fight at the end, the direction looked a little clumsy. The fight should have been more exciting.

On the positive side the new theme tune arrangement sounded greet – pity the BBC felt that they had to talk all the way through it at the end. And the clips of the next series looked brilliant. David Tennant has made a reasonable start as a new Doctor, not easy when filling the shoes of the great Christopher Eccleston

RTD had proved that he can deliver great Doctor Who that can be enjoyed by all. This episode may have ticked all the boxes in terms of Christmas family viewing, but in Season 1 he delivered much better than this. Yes it is an enjoyable romp, but it doesn't stand up to repeated viewing. Shame that, really.

My overriding conclusion from an initial viewing of The Christmas Invasion was that Russell T Davies (as ever) got a lot more things right than wrong.

A prime-time Christmas Day slot would come with certain caveats – nothing too demanding in terms of plot, plenty of gimmicks, plenty of knockabout dialogue between the main characters and plenty of effects. And I think RTD and his merry men and women polled four from four in that count.

I was a bit concerned that too much of the Christmas angle would descend the show into high farce but, in truth, it was a lot more minimal than I expected and, as the killer Santas and Christmas trees had been trailed beforehand, I actually felt the writer only did what he had to in order to justify the title.

The Santas were genuinely menacing (rather like the Autons in Rose, I’d have liked to have seen more of them, but accept there’s only so much you can shoe-horn in) and the spinning tree was a bit of harmless flotsam. Can’t imagine it would have gone down too well with the “purist”, but gimmicks such as this do appeal to the mainstream audience, and it’s their interest which will keep this show floating at the front of the BBC flotilla.

I thought the story was a good romp (the hour flew by). As I said earlier, it had to be simple enough to keep a tiring Christmas audience awake, with a regular sprinkling of “wow, look at that” if they were starting to nod off. Obviously, there were holes in the plot if you can be bothered digging, but I can’t. Even if I could, season of goodwill and all that!

It was actually more Star Trek TNG than Doctor Who in a lot of places for me, but I greatly enjoyed the former, and had no objections to such a spectacle. And it was a spectacle. It looked like a movie – and a well-made one at that.

I liked the Sycorax (and was pleased The Doctor finished off their leader – gave the promise that the dark side remains intact) and was also pleased Harriet Jones finished off their spaceship. The Margaret Thatcher/Tony Blair analogies (the former in respect of Harriet’s physical makeover from the previous series and the latter in terms of transition from popular leader to warmongering megalomaniac – allegedly) were obvious, but worthy.

And what about the new Doctor?

Watching David Tennant on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on Friday night (funnily enough) I thought he looked pretty weary, even allowing for having to put up with Ross at his oafish worst.

I didn’t get the vibe from any of Tennant’s soundbites that he relished the prospect of hanging around in the role beyond a third season. Of course, he may have been genuinely concerned at the reaction to his first episode. If the latter was the case, then he should only leaf through this Forum (and I’m sure others) for reassurance.

David Tennant IS The Doctor.

A terrific performance. Stole every scene he was in and, while I was a huge fan of Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor and felt he was an impossible act to follow, Tennant shows every indication of being capable of achieving the impossible.

He doesn’t have the physical presence of his predecessor, but the role will be written to take that into account. And, anyway, you get the impression he can take any line in any script and make it his.

This really was a remarkable start to his tenure. Energetic, funny, charming, chuck in any adjectives you wish. In terms of screen time, he had less than might normally be expected for the lead role, but almost all the lines I scene I recall instantly had Tennant in them. I always thought he was going to be brilliant, now I know for sure.

And the episode-closing little segue of treats to come “in the spring” has me genuinely thirsting for the start of what I believe will be the finest-ever Doctor Who season.

On the first day of Christmas
my true Beeb gave to me
a Doctor in his Pee Jays.

On the second day of Christmas
Auntie explained to me
two beating hearts,
Of a Doctor with a new face.

On the third day of Christmas
My dear Beeb scared me with
Three evil Santas
Controlling death,
And a Micky with a fierce tree!

On the fourth day of Christmas
My Dav-ies gave to me
Four leading males
All very good,
Two helping birds,
One a-lien and one slept through.

On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
five d..e..c—ades,
Forty long years
Since Hartnell
To cam'ra said
'Happy Christmas,' to you and me.


On the sixth day of Christmas
dear Doc said evily
six words, a-laying
Fear and doubt
For falling Prime
Ministers
To take a drop
Into mediocrity!

On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love wrote for me
seven hams an acting,
Six foot Sycorax,
Fine wri-ting,
Right royal jibes,
Three leading hens,
Two space-ships,
And an alien up a gum tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas
My Russell made me think,
Eight thoughts a – chilling;
Billions a - walking,
Families di-vided-
Will they jump?
Earth's Torchwood fear!
Whose watch-ing?
Two cracking whips
And a Doctor with a new hand.

On the ninth day of Christmas
My Davies gave to me
Neat lines a-dancing
With grace and purpose,
Poking fun at Royals-
'Oh-they're on Buck roof.
Fine Bush wit!
This England strong
Can have strength
To alone act
To save our world from misery.

On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Ten lordly effects;
Fine fir Tree dancing,
Hard Santas fighting,
Sycorax so jungly,
Torchwood a beaming,
Gold new breath,
Fine tardis bouncing,
Good Unit set,
Earth's opening shot
And an ashfall on an estate.

On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A confused Piper piping
Ten-tav'ly holding
The plot line steering
Through invasion and
Strong explanation
Of Doctor's new form.
Face so new!
With Lion King quotes,
Smell of change
And power shown
To those against his authority.

On the twelfth day of Christmas
We give to Russell T
Twelve drummers sounding
Applause piping from us,
Tenant a –leaping -
His role for keeping,
Our minds a-waiting
Stories to delight,
Monsters a-fright'nin',
Few more years!
For this Time Lord
To bring us
Through stories new….
A fine Tenant at Num-ber Ten!

(Heavily borrowed from a certain song… try to sing it through, it nearly scans!)

It's colours to the mast time . . .

Highly enjoyable to watch. It was good Christmas Day television in the spirit of recent Christmases, fairly Indiana Jonesish at points, with a fun sword-fight.

There were some nice references to similar adventures. The Hitchhiker's Guide Arthur Dent comparison was made explicit, without going beyond the Dr. Who boundaries, because both Pertwee and Baker spent parts of their first stories in pyjamas. There was also the Star Wars moment when the Doctor's hand was cut off. I liked this moment, which presented a typical problem, but solved it in an unusual way, that was not out of keeping with Dr. Who's particular mythology. It has added an element to the regeneration lore, which I feel is likely to reappear in the future. It has also left a situation with the Doctor's severed hand having fallen to earth. I suspect this will be forgotten; but it does raise some questions about what might happen if it falls into the wrong hands - what if 'Torchwood' get hold of it. How much could the hand regenerate itself - along the lines of Eldrad? The 'Torchwood' moment, with the energy weapon being fired was also There was even something self-referential, with the scene where the new costume is being chosen, being very like the one in Castrovalva, with a similar angle on the Doctor looking in the mirror shot.

I particularly liked Tennant's take on the Doctor, primarily because he seemed to so enjoy taking on the role. One of my biggest complaints about Eccles was that he seemed to be deigning to play a role that he felt was beneath him. Tennant threw himself into it with gusto. Personally I enjoyed what he did and felt that he brought something fresh to the role. I enjoyed the whole concept of the Doctor finding out who he was in his reaction to what was going on around him. How he would react to the big red button, etc. And I felt that he carried off potentially naff lines such as 'This new hand's a fighting hand' and 'No second chances, I'm that kind of man' with great panache.

As for the aliens. The evil santas and deadly tree seemed amusing and memorable and quite appropriate for the transmission slot and the 'pilot-fish' 'explanation' seemed just about acceptable. The Sycorax, or Sickbags, or whatever they were called also seemed fine, but I liked their 'helmets' (which seemed typically Whoish) more than the faces underneath (which seemed a little Deep Space 9ish). What was missing was any background as to their motivation, which seems to be a more deep-seated problem of the 45-60 minute format, which doesn't give as much time for character development as the old 4 episodes used to allow. I liked the design of their spaceship, inside and out, and although I desperately dislike the present TARDIS interior, I was pleased to see some variation on it, with the spiral staircase and the wardrobe room.

Penelope Wilton was excellent, and watching the episode through a second time showed how her final decision to do a General Belgrano on the Sickbags was fully consistent with her actions leading up to that point and was quite justified, despite what the Doctor had to say: he isn't always around to save the day and the Earth must be prepared to defend itself. I was quite pleased with the balance that was left, because the Doctor was in danger of doing a Bob Geldof and snuggling up to the Prime Minister; instead he was left as an anti-establishment figure. The whole situation was very 'Silurians', where the Brigadier blows the monsters up at the end, so it was in keeping with the history of the show.

Personally I enjoyed having UNIT brought back into play, but it was a shame that there has been no significant characters developed within UNIT - a problem due again, I suspect, to the much shorter story lengths. The added issue of introducing the Torchwood format left even less time for UNIT, but did intrigue me - why has Torchwood's staff been cut by a third just recently?

Billie seemed to do what she was required to do fairly well, which seemed principally to accept the change between Doctors. The main problem with her is that she is fairly wet as a companion. Faced with a regenerating Doctor and an alien invasion she decides to hide in the TARDIS with her mummy. Perhaps Polly would have done the same, but I can't imagine Jo Grant or Sarah Jane Smith or Leela or Ace, or virtually any of the others doing that. We have had much more positive female role-models in the past.

As for Mummy Tyler and the wet boyfriend, I find them very tedious. I suppose if they were not there we would simply end up with a succession of wet background characters brought in to do not very much, so they are useful in that they soak up these duties. But I am not in the least bit interested in what happens to them.

Overall I felt that it was 60 minutes well-spent in the company of the Doctor. The general tenor was right, with the Tom Baker Wind-in-the-Willows format, where a spilt cup-of-tea helps to save the day (or at least paves the way for courage and humour to save the day). And there were some interesting visual moments, such as the murderous spinning Christmas tree, and the eerie sight of people standing on the edge of high buildings, which had a very 1970s feel to it.

I am looking forward eagerly to seeing Tennant take a proper stab at the role in his first season. After a year of being very much at the fringes, when so many people we happy about the return of the series, I feel that there is now something for me to celebrate too.

First off, I want to thank Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for getting the rights to broadcast Doctor Who in Canada. Watching episodes of Doctor Who when I was younger on TV Ontario in the early 1990s got me interested when CBC announced the new series. I think if I didn't watch it when I was a child, I would not find Doctor Who as exhilarating as it is.

I must admit, this was a fantastic episode, partly because of the great acting, the production value, and especially because it gave us a taste of what the next Doctor is going to be like. The introduction of David Tennant is incredible, although at the beginning is a little overboard as he seems irrational and spotty. Fortunately, you quickly adapt and his speech in the spaceship is brilliant. Tennant is going to be a wonderful Doctor and looks to be most promising for the series as a whole. As long as the stories and dialogue are well written, Tennant can do anything.

The special effects and costumes are wonderful in Christmas Invasion. The Sycorax look especially menacing. The ship looks massive and the TARDIS showing up on earth was wild. I find the greatest advantage the new series has is it computer graphics. It gives a stronger sense of realism and brings out the best of Doctor Who.

Supporting characters do fine jobs with the script, not making them seem pointless and expendable. I really thought that UNIT soldier on the Sycorax spaceship was going to live. I did find Jackie as a more supporting character in this episode than in the previous ones and she always seems a little out of it making everything fit into place. I do wish they explained the evil Christmas tree and the Santas.

My biggest complaints are the some of the under copies from other movies such as the hand cutting off scene, and some of the dialogue. However, it adds Doctor Who style to it, and actually makes it somewhat better. I know the writers can be original and hopefully will improve in the next season. I find it hard to find many faults in this episode mostly due to the fact there are so many positives.

The action sequences were very well done and although Tennant does not seem like the brute that would swing a sword that well, but remember that Peter Davison was not very tough looking either and he did fine against the Master in The King's Demons. The best part and most defining moment with the Doctor is when he threw the orange at the release switch when the Sycorax leader tried running after him. His quote "No second chances, I'm that sort of a man." sets him apart from the rest of the Doctors. Tennant does a great job balancing the seriousness and humorous parts of the character.

The end sequence with Harriet Jones and the Doctor is most powerful. His comment to her was strong and showed his anger very well. I think the darker side of the Doctor might come out in the second season. Jones' reply "I'm sorry." under her breath was the realization to herself that the Doctor is more powerful than anything she could imagine.

All in all, it was an amazing episode and the preview for 2006 is looking even better. The return of old characters is the main reason everyone including myself should be interested in. Too bad it will be at least three months until the first episode of the new season. At least BBC Kids has the older series on at night.

Yeah, well. Tennant didn't really actually DO much of anything did he? Well, not til the end, anyway. But still.

I mean, I LIKED him and all, but dammit....I still miss Chris. He's still "my" Doctor til Tennant wins me over. He was the perfect, post-modern, post-Watchmen sort of Doctor we were all looking for, and on many levels the deepest we saw on TV ever. They seemed to be hinting that the 10th is gonna be a bit more bouncy, and the way that fandom collectively squee'd over his casting just, you know, put me off a bit. That said, I still have high hopes, but I really kinda hoped we'd see a bit more drama with Rose, as, well, let's face it, despite saving the day, he's still not the Doctor she fell in lust withERRRRRR! knew. We'll see. As always.

Also...Sycorax my ass, that's GWAR they was fighting! That leader dude looked ready to bust into "The Salaminizer" at ANY moment.

OK, on a more serious note, kinda sad that they had to undo Harriet Jones like that. On some levels, I can't fault her logic, but at the same time, YOU DON'T SHOOT A RETREATING ENEMY IN THE BACK. PERIOD. But...you know, it's true. Earth does need defense beyond the Doctor. But that wasn't "defense" tho, was it....

As regeneration type episodes go, it was "Okay." As a nice holiday pantomine special thing, it was joyous, and worth the wait. Roll on Season 2!