The Doctor barely has had time to get over Rose before he finds himself with another woman in his Tardis this time a bride on her wedding day. The Doctor cannot figure out how she got there but a quick return to earth later reveals robots disguised as Santa who are after Donna and, whatever the reason, it probably isn't a good one. On the run from her would-be captors, the Doctor starts to piece together a reason for alien interest in his new (unwilling) companion involving a former Torchwood facility.
Everybody sat to watch this and I'm sure it will have been one of the biggest ratings winners across the Christmas period, which I imagine leaves the makers with the problem of trying to tailor the special to meet this diverse audience. With the normal series it can bring out certain aspects (the silliness, the darkness, the relationship etc) across different episodes and accept that some viewers will like some episodes but not others, but with these one-off things you only get one shot. Hence here then we a mix of comedy, special effects, action, monsters, dark character traits and hints at an inner pain in the Doctor. Needless to say no one aspect gets done really well but none gets left completely out and it more of less manages to stay on the fine line between giving everyone something as opposed to annoying everyone!
However depending on your point of view there will be parts that don't work. Personally I really enjoyed the hints at the darker nature of the Doctor (eg his single-mindedness in wiping out the creatures) and his feelings of loss regarding Rose and I would have liked more of that. However I knew this was never going to slow down and be about that so I accepted that we would have lots of Santa robots, exploding baubles and so on. This all works reasonably well and produces a solid enough piece of family entertainment that should please fans of the series even if everyone will have some reservations about some of the aspects of it. For me one of these things was the casting of Tate. I think towards the end she got better but for the first half her "Eastender's reject" act just grated on me and I didn't find it funny (which I think was the plan) and I thought she clashed heavily with some of the quiet moments attempted early on. Which was a shame because I though Tennant was best in these moments moments where he was allowed to be a character rather than a panto-hero-come-action-figure. Of course he does the latter well enough as well but as usual I did wish that he didn't greet everything that happens with a big "oh, of COURSE" burst of recognition and instant understanding. Parish hams it up a bit too much as the Empress of the Rachnos; I didn't mind her accent so much but her "jokes" didn't fit her character and I would have liked her to have been more ambiguous (after all if they did create the earth as a rock to "hibernate" then the humans are not really their fault). The writers do bring a touch of this out at the end but it is too little to really justify as anything. Gilet is solid enough in a minor role but nobody really steps up to adequately fill the hole left by Piper for that we have a very fast pace that never really lets up for longer than a minute or two.
Overall then, a lively and enjoyable Christmas special that has lots of energy and something for everyone in the delivery. The lack of quiet moments and character exploration was a bit of a disappointment to me (particularly as they hinted at doing it) but it was still quite enjoyable. That said, the presence of Tate's mostly annoying performance did distract me but also made me realise what a job Agyeman has ahead of her in the new series because the "partner" role is an important one to get right.
Everybody sat to watch this and I'm sure it will have been one of the biggest ratings winners across the Christmas period, which I imagine leaves the makers with the problem of trying to tailor the special to meet this diverse audience. With the normal series it can bring out certain aspects (the silliness, the darkness, the relationship etc) across different episodes and accept that some viewers will like some episodes but not others, but with these one-off things you only get one shot. Hence here then we a mix of comedy, special effects, action, monsters, dark character traits and hints at an inner pain in the Doctor. Needless to say no one aspect gets done really well but none gets left completely out and it more of less manages to stay on the fine line between giving everyone something as opposed to annoying everyone!
However depending on your point of view there will be parts that don't work. Personally I really enjoyed the hints at the darker nature of the Doctor (eg his single-mindedness in wiping out the creatures) and his feelings of loss regarding Rose and I would have liked more of that. However I knew this was never going to slow down and be about that so I accepted that we would have lots of Santa robots, exploding baubles and so on. This all works reasonably well and produces a solid enough piece of family entertainment that should please fans of the series even if everyone will have some reservations about some of the aspects of it. For me one of these things was the casting of Tate. I think towards the end she got better but for the first half her "Eastender's reject" act just grated on me and I didn't find it funny (which I think was the plan) and I thought she clashed heavily with some of the quiet moments attempted early on. Which was a shame because I though Tennant was best in these moments moments where he was allowed to be a character rather than a panto-hero-come-action-figure. Of course he does the latter well enough as well but as usual I did wish that he didn't greet everything that happens with a big "oh, of COURSE" burst of recognition and instant understanding. Parish hams it up a bit too much as the Empress of the Rachnos; I didn't mind her accent so much but her "jokes" didn't fit her character and I would have liked her to have been more ambiguous (after all if they did create the earth as a rock to "hibernate" then the humans are not really their fault). The writers do bring a touch of this out at the end but it is too little to really justify as anything. Gilet is solid enough in a minor role but nobody really steps up to adequately fill the hole left by Piper for that we have a very fast pace that never really lets up for longer than a minute or two.
Overall then, a lively and enjoyable Christmas special that has lots of energy and something for everyone in the delivery. The lack of quiet moments and character exploration was a bit of a disappointment to me (particularly as they hinted at doing it) but it was still quite enjoyable. That said, the presence of Tate's mostly annoying performance did distract me but also made me realise what a job Agyeman has ahead of her in the new series because the "partner" role is an important one to get right.