The Christmas Invasion (29 Sep. 2006)

It's Christmas Eve, but this is to be a far from silent night - the cruel Sycorax have come to Earth to enslave mankind and, as ever, only The Doctor can stop them. Unfortunately, he's lying in a coma in Jackie's home...

Director:

James Hawes

Writer:

Russell T. Davies

Stars:

David Tennant, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Billie Piper	...	Rose Tyler
Camille Coduri	...	Jackie Tyler
Noel Clarke	...	Mickey Smith
Penelope Wilton	...	Harriet Jones
Daniel Evans	...	Danny Llewellyn
Adam Garcia	...	Alex
Sean Gilder	...	Sycorax Leader
Chu Omambala	...	Major Blake
Anita Briem	...	Sally
Sian McDowall	...	Sandra
Paul Anderson	...	Jason
Cathy Murphy	...	Mum
Sean Carlsen	...	Policeman
Jason Mohammed	...	Newsreader 1

Storyline

The newly regenerated Doctor travels to present day London and Rose is happy to be home. Her mother is happy to see her, her protestation to the contrary. The Doctor isn't well however suffering from what he describes as a surplus of energy. While he is in a coma-like state, the people of the Earth are threatened by the Sycorax who threaten to destroy one-third of the planet's population if they don't surrender. The Prime Minister, in the apparent absence of the Doctor, asks for assistance from Torchwood but it's slow in coming and the end is fast approaching. Rose's mum Jackie has the cure for the Doctor, however.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | christmas eve | tardis | political satire | alien invasion | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Tredegar House, Newport, Wales, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Wales, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of Rose and Mickey's shopping trip a Routemaster doubledecker bus is very briefly shown, presumably as a device to indicate that the episode is taking place in contemporary London. Most Routemasters were withdrawn from service on 9 December 2005, approximately two weeks before the show was broadcast in the UK, and at least one year before the date on which the episode is supposedly set. However a small number of these buses remain on the streets of London serving "heritage" routes aimed principally at the nostalgia market.

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Goofs

The "blood control" the Sycorax use to control the population has everyone with A+ blood walk to the rooftops or tallest building near them. How, then, are people in airplanes or those who live in generally flat areas of the world affected?

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Doctor: Jackie, Mickey, blimey! No, no, no, no, hold on. Wait there! I've got something to say. I've got something I had to tell you. Something important, what was it? No, no, no, hold on. Tch tch tch tch... Oh, I know! Merry Christmas!

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Connections

Featured in Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: Episode #9.15 (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Merry Xmas Everybody"
Performed by Slade

User Reviews

No longer "fantastic", more like "brilliant"...

The 2005 Doctor Who Christmas special was a gamble from the very beginning. Sure, Russell T. Davies had successfully resurrected Britain's most popular sci-fi show, with the aforementioned special and a second season getting confirmed after only one episode had aired, but a lot of that had to do with Christopher Eccleston's oddball but charming work as the Ninth Doctor. Therefore, the sight of him leaving the show after just one season meant whoever replaced him would have to do a brilliant job at the very least. Luckily, Scotsman David Tennant (Casanova in the eponymous Davies-written BBC miniseries) was up to the challenge, and The Christmas Invasion marks a terrific debut for his tenure as the Tenth Doctor.

So, here's the story: it's Christmas Eve 2005, and a mysterious spaceship is in orbit right above Earth for a change. Newly elected Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) wishes to take matters into her own hands (something about an organization called Torchwood), but it becomes pretty clear the planet is going to need a miracle. Of course, the TARDIS happens to have landed in London, but unfortunately the Doctor is suffering from regeneration side effects, slipping in and out of consciousness as time starts to run out, leaving it to Rose, Jackie and Mickey to deal with the alien threat.

With no time to mourn Eccleston, The Christmas Invasion jumps straight back into the action, delivering an exciting threat, good guest work (Wilton never disappoints) and the usual good team effort from Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri and Billie Piper, showing they may have lost their Doctor but not their passion and will to have fun with the material. And a lot of fun there is, mostly in relation to the new Doctor: in particular, Coduri has the privilege of getting away with a naughty joke about Time Lords having two hearts ("Anything else he's got two of?") and a fun "Doctor who?" gag when confronted with the Doc's new face.

Which begs the question: what about Tennant taking over from Eccleston? Well, he pulls off the job with the expected mixture of quirkiness, giddiness and plain Britishness, ditching his own Scottish accent (and Eccleston's Northern tones) for a London voice that indicates he's not afraid to make the role his own. No more "fantastic" then (the scene explaining why he dropped the catchphrase was deleted from the TV broadcast, but is available on the DVD), but it's still, rather unmistakably, the Doctor. Not only is the character's chemistry with Rose intact, he also deserves kudos for not only saving the world while trying not to lapse into a coma, but also for spending 90% of the episode in his PJs and making it look cool in that unique Doctor Who way.

In a nutshell, The Christmas Invasion is proof that RTD's formula for the Doctor still works, and with Tennant on board, the possibilities appear endless. Quite fitting for a time-and-space-traveling alien, don't you think?