The Christmas Invasion [TV/2005.12.25]

★★★☆☆

  There's something so hilarious, in hindsight, about the sight of Rose Tyler being distraught -- close to tears, she is -- that the Doctor suddenly starts looking like David Tennant. That's the charm, though, with rewatching these episodes, isn't it? It takes you back to when Dr. Who was still riding high from its first modern series' breakout success, and people weere unsure on whether or not this Tennant fellow would make a good Doctor at all. 2005 really was a different year; I remember it so vividly.

  Well, it's been ages since I last turned on The Christmas Invasion, and honestly, it's still quite fun. There's a reason this Christmas special trend caught on with the show and made it a mainstay; there's a sense of Russell T Davies giggling like a schoolboy as he writes in these daft ideas, the killer Santa robots and the spinning Christmas tree of death. As a whole episode, it's not the most Christmas-y it could've been, I suppose, but then again... Sycorax blood rituals and inbred royal families, they're hardly the most festive ideas in the first place. No, I decided to sit back and enjoy what the episode had for me after all these years... and like I said before, I was pleasantly surprised with how enjoyable it was. The Sycorax ought to return on telly, really, such creepy and amazing villains -- almost like a fantasy race or something! Billie Piper does most of the heavy lifting with her co-star bedridden for most of the runtime, and she's great. It feels like RTD had the idea of 'she feels betrayed and abandoned by the Ninth Doctor' and ran with that a bit too thinly, though. Maybe he should've given her something more interesting to do -- get herself involved with UNIT quicker, perhaps? David Tennant would go on to deliver some definitive performances as the Doctor; in here, he's a fine addition to the cast. The confrontation sequence with the Sycorax leader is basically Tennant finding his feet as the Doctor and how he's going to portray him, and although hindsight has already told me he would take a bit more time to truly home his incarnation, this silly, charming and ruthless Tenth Doctor is more than good enough for this post-regeneration story. Fun stuff... and an enticing enough beginning of the Christmas specials.