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!

Who would have dreamed that we would be getting thirteen (well fourteen) brand new episodes of 'Doctor Who' for one year only? So the next thing that we know is that two more seasons will be made and two Christmas specials! Hurray! And before I start to get in further detail I have to say some thing В– its "fГ ??Г ????" as the wonderful ninth Doctor would say.

Russell T. Davies' writing of the episode is up to the standards of Robert Holmes and Terrence Dicks (Robert and Terrence are classic' Doctor Who' writers and are two of my personal favorite writers)! He gives the script the excitement that a good story needs as well as a bit of 'glamour' humor which you can expect from Russell.

Before 'The Christmas Invasion' we only saw the tenth Doctor (played perfectly by David Tennant who is Britton's favorite actor voted by the people, for the people and of the people) in the children in need special. I have recently sent a letter of to David saying that just by the children in need special he is going to be a great Doctor. Many people have said that he is not the right choice for the Doctor. But after I played 'Attack Of The Graske' I ran onto my computer and logged into MSN messenger and a shouted to them 'IN YOU FACE'! And they admitted that they admitted that I was right about the David Tennant being great!

Billie Piper. Hum? What can I say? How about В– Billie, you play Rose Tyler like you are Rose Tyler! She carries the love that she has for the Doctor so good that she pulls you into the story and shows you the adventure from her eyes. After all, Doctor Who only takes the best!

Another aspect of the show is how Mickey and Jackie are played by Noel Clark and Camille Coduri. It is really good that the production cast keep bring Rose home because again it shows you how the Doctor has an effect of the people who he takes Rose away from. And it also has an effect on Rose and the Doctor. You can see how the Doctor falls in love with Rose in the second season. And I shouldn't really say but I cannot wait in any way for the moment were Mickey joins the Doctor and Rose in travels in time and space!

'Six Words. Six words and I can bring your government down'. That is how power full the Doctor is. "Don't you think she's looking tired'? The character Harriet Jones (not from Fly Dale North any more) is a wonderfully and brilliantly character created by Russell. From the moment when she tells Torchwood (ill talk about Torchwood in a little bit) to fire, her character goes down a level. And when I saw the new Doctor walking to awards her my heart started beating because I knew that the Doctor would say murder. And she knows that she shouldn't have done what she had done but she makes a good excuse, which would have worked if the Doctor were not there of saying 'that was defense'. But the all the Doctor really had to say was murder.

However I have seen some things, which don't really let the story down, but for me it showed that the money was starting to rum out. First off all its one sound effect that stands out. When the Doctor presses that great big button that never should be pressed it sounded like a Dalek firing its gun. And then it's the music. You can tell that the same music was used aging because if you watch 'World War Three' in the middle you will her citron bits of music if you get what I mean.

Other wise the episode is great! And my special rating for this story is ten out of ten. It is going with my personal favorite episodes along with; 'The Daleks' Master Plan', 'The Tomb Of The Cybermen', 'The Mind Robber', 'Spearhead From Space', 'The Claws Of Axos', 'Day Of The Daleks', 'The Ark In Space', 'The Caves Of Androzani' and 'Dalek'. But before I go I have to say that my favorite episode of all time is 'The Ark In Space'.

One of my own personal reservations about the Aliens of London / World War Three two-parter when it aired earlier this year was that, for an alien invasion happening slap-bang in the middle of London В– even one subsequently denied away as a hoax В– it didnВ’t feel nearly epic enough. It seemed to want to be an alien invasion version of DaviesВ’s excellent ITV return-of-Christ drama The Second Coming but couldnВ’t quite hack it.

This time, however, an epic feel is given to proceedings by the excellent direction of James Hawes, the man who so successfully helped the poll-winning The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances two-parter last year. He brings a cinematic touch to proceedings while at the same time never allowing the visuals to come at the expense of DaviesВ’ witty and well-structured script, which is also a vast improvement over his previous alien invasion effort, and one of the best stories he has so far turned in for the series he has so successfully masterminded the revival of.

The major success of DaviesВ’s scripting of The Christmas Invasion comes in the balance of the dark and the humorous, a balance he strikes just about perfectly here. ItВ’s not a completely lightweight romp, but it has more than enough humour and lighter material for both the timeslot and the transmission date В– slap bang in the middle of Christmas Day prime time В– but also enough of a dark and sinister side to give it that good old-fashioned menacing Doctor Who feel. The Sycorax really feel like a credible threat, albeit somewhat in the tried and tested old-fashioned Doctor Who mould В– a race of aliens who all look the same with one evil leader who speaks for them all. Mind you, when the leader is being played with as much relish as Sean Gilder seizes the part with, itВ’s pretty difficult to complain about that!

The style of the aliens is not, of course, the only kiss to the pass included here. There are all sorts of loving touches В– the return of UNIT once more, who look like a credible organisation with a bit of budget behind them, just for a change; the brief appearance of a season eighteen-style Fourth Doctor scarf near the end, and even nods to The Hitch-HikerВ’s Guide to the Galaxy and В– one admittedly appreciated fully only via the website, you canВ’t see the logo on screen doubtless for fear of giving poor old Nigel Kneale a heart attack В– the British Rocket Group.

More importantly for the current incarnation of the series, however, familiar elements from the previous season are on hand to reassure viewers that despite the change of lead actor this is still the same programme. Rose, of course, struggling to accept that this is the same man before finally joyously realising that this really is her friend В– В“No argument from me!В” Mickey and Jackie, who continue to improve and become more familiar and friendly as characters, with Jackie in particular looking as if she gets on far better with the Tenth Doctor than she did with the Ninth. And of course Harriet Jones.

Jones was one of the hits of Aliens of London / World War Three, no doubt almost entirely because of the performance of the actress the part was specifically written for, Penelope Wilton. Wilton is excellent again here, as the audience is taken on a somewhat surprising journey, being made at the end of the programme someone weВ’re supposed to dislike. ItВ’s actually fairly heartbreaking in a way, Jones having been such a likeable and friendly character В– IВ’m always reminded of Shaun LyonВ’s memorable line about wanting to go home and eat cake with her when I think of her. Yet here she is destroying a retreating alien vessel and finding herself the target of the new DoctorВ’s venom.

Ah yes, the new Doctor. What kind of a man is he? Well, if The Christmas Invasion is anything to go by, a pretty amazing one. ItВ’s a surprise looking back to find just how much of the hour he is absent from, as when he does appear on the scene fully-working and raring to go, he absolutely steals the show. Christopher Eccleston is one of my favourite actors and has been for years, but I have to say that even in just the time he had here, David Tennant shows the makings of a far more memorable incarnation of the Doctor. Witty, charismatic and charming, he also has the slightly sinister edge many of the truly great Doctors have had, the desire to do what is right and proper and a firm sense of morality. Tennant is excellent at both sides to the character, when delivering funny lines В– В“canВ’t get the staff!В” В– or when dressing down Harriet Jones or doing the В“no second chancesВ” bit.

ThereВ’s a wonderfully uplifting sense to the character as well В– the idea of a new beginning, a new man and someone you really want to be with at that. His costume selection in the TARDIS wardrobe В– another new room at last! В– accompanied by that happy song is a great bit, as is the somewhat surreal sight of the Doctor sitting down to Christmas dinner, complete with crackers and silly paper hat. The Ninth Doctor very firmly didnВ’t В“do domesticВ”, but the Tenth seems to be rather more amenable about fitting in with local customs.

And then we even get snow! Undercut in typical Doctor Who fashion with the dark revelation of what the substance falling from the sky actually is. The В‘snowВ’ looks fantastic anyway, but that probably doesnВ’t need saying as the entire episode looks absolutely wonderful. So many triumphs from the director, the designers and The Mill В– the Sycorax ship, the use of the Tower of London as the UNIT headquarters, and destruction of the GherkinВ… It all looks superb, suitably epic and brings a real feeling of glossiness and expense to the show.

Murray GoldВ’s music is also turned up a notch in quality, or at least given a different feeling and texture by the use of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for a fully-orchestrated incidental score and a new rendition of the closing theme. It sounds wonderful, and fully justifies the expense. You have the feeling В– as happened so often with the last season В– that everyone has come together to put in their all and bring to the screen the very best episode of Doctor Who they could possibly make.

And whatВ’s even better is that this is just the start of the Tenth DoctorВ’s era! ThereВ’s so much more to come, and I doubt I was alone in wanting to follow the Doctor and RoseВ’s journey to those stars they were pointing up at right away. Instead we have to wait until the spring, but kindly the BBC did at least allow us a sneaky glance at the future adventures in store with the В“Coming Soon!В” trailer at the end of the show. And didnВ’t that look absolutely marvellous? The Face of Boe! Sarah Jane Smith! K9! Queen Victoria! Cybermen! Oh my giddy aunt!

I absolutely cannot wait for the second season, but before that weВ’ve been given a truly spectacular Christmas gift in The Christmas Invasion. This is a truly wonderful episode, perfectly judged for the festive season and fully deserving of its pride of place in the BBC schedules.

And we even know already weВ’re getting another Christmas special next year! Hurrah! Roll on 2006 В– itВ’s going to be amazing.

After the critical and ratings acclaim of the first series this hour-long festive special certainly had a lot to life up to. Not only did it successfully have to fully introduce the new Doctor but it also had to reassure viewers the show was going to be just as good. The trailers for the episode showed it was certainly going to pull out all the stops to try and make it a memorable episode packed full with special effects and creepy aliens.

You could argue that the special paid tribute or ripped of Star Trek, for the teleportation sequences which coincidentally looked exactly like the Star Trek effects, Independence Day for the huge Space Ship hovering over a city and Star Wars for the fight scenes between the Doctor and the alien leader. There were probably plenty more movies paid tribute to throughout the episode but they were the ones I picked up while watching. So even though it was a mesh, or tribute, to the science fiction genre it still felt like a good Doctor Who episode.

I never really warmed to Christopher Eccelston as the Doctor and felt he wasn’t right for the role. Had he stayed for more than one season that might have changed. However, I have instantly warmed to David Tennant and feel he’ll be a brilliant Doctor and a great addition to the show. He might have spent most of the episode sleeping but once he woke up you knew it. He had nearly everything right and the costume he picked at the end looks brilliant.

Once again Billie Piper proved her worth as Rose. Billie was one of the best things about the first series and she looks set to continue her impressive portrayal of Rose. Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri improved on their performances from the first series and their characters weren’t as irritating either. Penelope Wilton was brilliant as Harriet Jones and the writing and the acting behind the character was spot on. I loved the way she still introduced herself to everyone, a nice characterisation carried over, and liked the way she was essentially still the same woman.

This leads me to my only real problem with the piece. It’s supposed anti-war message. I didn’t really detect any real anti-war message in here at all until the end where Harriet Jones ordered the alien weapons to be fired on the retreating ship. This was of course a reference to the Falklands War and Maggie Thatcher’s bombing of retreating ships. However, in the Falklands War the enemy forces were no threat to us and it was a totally outrageous attack. In this instance however, the Sycorax, were a credible threat. They had already killed two people, right in front of Harriet Jones, and had forced millions of others to the roofs of buildings with the intention of making them jump, if Earth didn’t surrender. The firing and destruction of the ship was more of a sign that Earth is defended than the Sycorax simply telling other species of the fact. I didn’t like the Doctors reaction to Harriet at this point at all and felt it was slightly hypocritical. Had it been a Dalek ship the Doctor would have had no qualms about destroying it.

Over all this episode was much better than most of the previous season and had an excellent script, brilliant acting from the regulars and guest cast and for the most part impressive special effects. I can’t wait for the next series to begin.