Thoughts on The Christmas Invasion

[kaliha]

x-posted to Adventures in Time and Space screens also from Adventures in Time and Space

Well, the excitement's been building all week, but was it worth the hype?

I'd say yes.

I can't imagine this opening working without that little Children in Need special. Rose is all accepting of the Doctor's new look and I don't think it would have worked without that little missing scene which makes the whole thing more heartbreaking.

It's Christmas so I promise to be much less nitpicky, but (and you knew it was coming) how did the Doctor get into his pyjamas? He was all unconscious so he couldn't do it and Jackie was out tracking down a stethoscope…It seems then that Rose probably is the best person to ask if he's got two of everything :D Why get him changed anyway? (Other than making him look cute and vulnerable for the fangirls?)

I am not going to comment on the regeneration energy looking like sperm, it's Christmas after all…

There were in-jokes and pop-culture references a plenty this episode. It was as bad as your average episode of Buffy. Not counting the wardrobe room (which I'll come to later) we had: Pork Pies (they formed the basis of the first conversation Billie had with Julie Gardener. She's mentioned it in interviews); a quick mention of the Cottage Hospital scheme Harriet Jones has put through Parliament, (bless her); the Doctor quoting from the Lion King, (I have to admit it made me giggle as well as cringe and we'll not mention it again – is the Doctor a closet Elton fan though?); The whole Star Wars bit with the hand (which had me going: “They chopped his hand off! How they going to hand!porn now?” I got one of those pitying looks from the other half. Cheers for that.) And of course the little nod to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy all he was missing was the towel.

Was amused on the commentary that Daniel Llwellyn was in Why Don't You? in a previous life. That programme was brilliant (when I was a kid – making phones out of a couple of cans and some string – although it did get a bit surreal towards the end – but I think that was down to a certain Mr Davies). But I'm digressing

The Santas were very sinister. I'll never be able to look at brass bands in the same way now; I'll always be worried that the trombone is hiding a flamethrower. However, they were very musical for aliens. I love the fact Rose can't even go shopping now without getting into a life or death situation and was very amused by Mickey's comment about never going shopping with her again.

It seems that RTD and me actually have something in common; we both get really annoyed when people jump into taxis and not tell the taxi driver where they're going. (I can get away with that, our taxi driver knows where we live). They may have The Knowledge, but they're not psychic. (Or are they).

And now onto the part where RTD destroys the magic of Christmas for everyone with an evil, spinning Christmas tree of death! (Yay! How many kids are going to be pointing at their Christmas trees now and crying?)

Liked the fact Mickey still doesn't like the Doctor very much (but we'll come to him later) and was all for leaving him and doing a runner out of the house. Which leads me onto the one bit I really didn't like: the bit where Rose whispers “help me” in the Doctor's ear and he sits up and blasts the tree. Just didn't like it. Sorry.

Now, the monster-of-the-week I did like. Although the Sycorax do look like a Queen tribute band.

Lookit them! They do. It's crying out for iconing (hmmmmmm). Liked the fact they looked all Christmassy in their red and white outfits and the fact they used, well - magic – rather than science; cursing the human race with their blood control – all very voodoo-y.

Where is the Prime Minister based now that Downing Street is pretty much a pile of rubble? Surely not in the Tower of London. Love that it's the base for UNIT, and that UNIT weren't totally wiped out by the Slitheen family either.

I'm so glad that Harriet was Prime Minster and not just some random actor. You know that she's going to be more open to the idea of aliens which saves a lot of faff. It's great to see that she can't let old habits die hard and introduces herself to everyone as “Harriet Jones, Prime Minister” (bless her, it made me smile) and she offers cups of coffee and she asks the minor characters their names, all referencing back to Aliens of London/World War III.

I do like Harriet, she's so down to earth and normal I think that's what makes her decision to destroy the retreating fleet all the more shocking. I think she thinks that she's trying to do the best she can. You have to bear in mind that she's met three alien races so far and two thirds of them have wanted to destroy/enslave the human race. You can't really blame her for being on the defensive. It's not the right decision to make, but on the information she's got it's probably the only decision she can make. As she points out the Doctor isn't always there to save them, this show of force will show anyone watching that the Earth isn't as undefended as it appears. Poor Harriet. She's made a very dangerous enemy in the Doctor and has had her government then fall down around her ears with the whisper of six tiny little words.

Bugger, I'd be in trouble if this was real. My blood type is A positive. I'd be standing on top of a tower block somewhere. That would put a bit of a dampener on Christmas, I'd tell you. I'd have missed the Christmas Special for a start ;)

The Rose and Mickey dynamic went through more changes through this episode. Poor Mickey, still waiting for Rose. There was an interesting conversation in the commentary about how there was a scene which hinted at Mickey and Rose spending the night together. She just won't stop leading the poor boy along. I'm quite glad it got cut; it would have made me very annoyed towards Rose. Mickey realises now that Rose loves the Doctor, and in his own tactless way mentions it out loud. Makes it canon.

Meanwhile Rose is having a crisis of confidence and mourning her old Doctor. Cue lots of crying and angst (Yay!) (Perfect Christmas Day fare) At least it gets it all out of the way, but it needed to be there because Rose represents (to some extent) the fangirls (and boys) including those who were willing to hate David just because he wasn't Eccles.

Her acceptance of just giving up was chilling. Just because the Doctor wasn't there, she stopped relying on her own skills and gave up. Bad Rose.

“duff-duff duff duff duff-duff-duff-duff”

*ahem*

And a nice cup of tea

So it's true I've been saying all along, (just like Jackie – oh God we actually agree on something): a cup of tea really does solve all problems. doona_rose has even got some scientific proof that tea is a brilliantly fantastic substance. Yay for tea! Apparently, according to Russell T Davies, the first letter of each paragraph in the Doctor Who article in the Christmas Radio Times actually spells out ‘Cup of tea'. Lookit him and his little hint dropping.

It's nice to see that RTD is still amused by his own script even after about a million drafts.

Rose & Harriet's reunion was nicely touching. Harriet thinking that they're safe because the Doctor can't be far behind and Rose probably seeing her as a link to the old Doctor.

“Someone has to be the Doctor.”

Finally, she tries to take control. I loved the fact she used the Doctor's speech from Rose and the way she tried to fill in the bits she couldn't remember. It sounded good – for the most part.

“You're speaking English.”

Okay, I'm going to be a tiny bit nitpicky (sorry for that). It's been established that the TARDIS gets inside your head, but only if you've been inside the ship for it to make contact with you. So how can Harriet and her aide understand the Sycorax via the TARDIS? They've not been in the ship and surely just standing by it doesn't count? Mickey understanding, fine; Jackie too as they've both been inside the ship. But Harriet shouldn't be able to.

"Can't get the staff.”

And now we get to see the Doctor properly all regenerated and ready and raring to go. There's even a glimmer of his previous self in the bad punning. (I hope that stays ;))

“Am I ginger?”

Yup, supposed to be saving the world and he's too busy wondering how he looks, still as distracted as always. It's quite comforting to be honest. Although him tasting the blood was a bit squicky.

Hey, it's not Christmas without a nice big sword fight. Okay it's hardly Aragorn/millions of Orcs standard, but it was still quite fun. I like a good old swordfight, although this is probably the only one I've ever seen where one of the combatants is in his jim-jams. Already mentioned the Star Wars reference so I won't go into that again but I was sort of hoping when Rose threw the sword that she'd chop off his newly regenerated hand by accident – because it would have been funny. Would have ruined the pacing of the fight but it would have got a huge laugh out of me (or am I just a little too cruel?)

So Torchwood has access to some highly advanced bits of technology including a nifty little land-space anti alien invasion weapon. Bet that drains the National Grid. The Earth's now not as undefended as it looks, I'm sure all the other countries in the world will be really pleased that Britain has one of those. The President will be dead jealous.

I loved the Wardrobe Room. It matched the rest of the ship with it's grand scale, roundels and coral-like stantions, but it also had loads of cool stuff in there. It's going to be one for freeze framing. I spotted:

A Fourth Doctor Scarf

A Griffindor Scarf (no really)

Is that a costume from Casanova?

Doctor in glasses.

Undecided if I like the look or not. I don't think the lovely cracker hat helped much. He could have regenerated better eyesight though. Nice to see him ‘doing domestic', a few months back he wouldn't be caught dead having Christmas Dinner with Rose's family. He's a lot more tolerant of Jackie this time round. And how sweet was he giving the cracker prize to Rose (awwwwwww.)

And it wouldn't be a Christmas Special without a snowy ending. Only this is Doctor Who so it's not actually snow but the ashy remains of the alien race (pleasant…) The little scene between the Doctor and Rose about them still travelling together was really sweet, he really wants Rose to continue travelling with him, that's nice. Mickey ruining the mood the only way he knows how by whinging about her not staying.

And now we have to wait, ooh, ages for another new episode. How far away does March seem now?

Torchwood watch: So Torchwood is top, top secret. So much so that even the Prime Minister isn't supposed to know about it. But Harriet, being Harriet does. According to the commentary Jack is going to be head of the Welsh branch (Torchwood Cardiff) which seems to indicate that there are more offices scattered about the country.

That seems to indicate that the Welsh Torchwood weren't involved in setting off the weapon over London. (Possibly a local office in London – makes sense to have one in the capital). It is also mentioned in the commentary that we'll see the creation of Torchwood. (ooooh and aahhhhh!)

There is also the distinct impression that UNIT and Torchwood don't get on. I'm guessing that there's more to it than just Torchwood using alien technology, How intriguing.

Final score 8/10

And even Elbow agree that tea is the drink of choice when saving the world.

Comments

[hobbit-hunter.livejournal.com]

A Griffindor Scarf (no really)

I'm not the only one that thought it was from Harry Potter! :D I grabbed my friend and pointed "Look! LOOK! HOGWARTS!!!"

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

see, he has visited Hogwarts, your fic is canon ;)

[trav28.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that about the Radio Times article - well spotted!

[thegreatesthits.livejournal.com]

Ooh, visual aids! A+! *g*

I do love Russell T Davies. I really hadn't noticed that being in the RT article. Congratulations, you got me up on my feet and running to find it and see... :p

Goddd, we have to wait until March. And even longer for Torchwood! There needs to be lots of fic about to make the wait seem shorter. Er, because I say so, yes.

[jeanne-dark.livejournal.com]

Poor Mickey, still waiting for Rose.,/i>

You know, I really wish they'd have Mickey move on for real. Because there's a thin line between romantic and pathetic, and he crossed that a long time ago, and it just makes me sad for Mickey.

He's a lot more tolerant of Jackie this time round.

I am in love, absolute LOVE with the Doctor's new relationship with Jackie. The hug near the end between the four just really drove home the point that this is a totally new Doctor. God, I need to icon that hug. Or the Christmas dinner scene. Possibly with the tag "My Doctor does domestic."

How far away does March seem now?

Much too far away, dammit.

[jeanne-dark.livejournal.com]

>_< My html skills obviously suck, sorry.

[the-barlow.livejournal.com]

I am not going to comment on the regeneration energy looking like sperm,

Oh thank goodness I'm not the only person who thought that...

E
x

[stori-lundi.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine called them "vortex-shrooms". *snicker*

[the-10thdoctor.livejournal.com]

"it would have made me very annoyed towards Rose. Mickey realises now that Rose loves the Doctor, and in his own tactless way mentions it out loud. Makes it canon."

Yea, and I don't know why people get so grossed out by the ship, after all, Rose is - like all other companions has been - an audience surrogate, and don't *we* all love the Doctor?

[indigo-blind.livejournal.com]

I was going 'oooohhhh tea, really does save the world' made me laugh to much. I love RTD. I think it was great Christmas entertainment, the neice (all of 2 years) stopped playing with her new toys and sat and watched it with me.

I live the new Doctor, and smiled everytime they mentioned Torchwood, even my dad asked where Captain Jack was.

[lovepollution.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine this opening working without that little Children in Need special. Rose is all accepting of the Doctor's new look and I don't think it would have worked without that little missing scene which makes the whole thing more heartbreaking

So true. I'd love it if and when it's released on DVD somehow we could have a version where the CIN special is tacked onto the begining.

[un4scene.livejournal.com]

Nice review! Had no idea of the Torchwood and Jack connection, that's quite intriguing. Something to ponder for these many weeks waiting for the episodes.

I *do* believe that outfit is from Casanova, how neat! And the only thing I could add to your review is getting our first 'fantastic!' out of 10. Brilliant.

[dimlondeiel.livejournal.com]

"I *do* believe that outfit is from Casanova, how neat!"

I thought that too, I mentioned it to the family when we were watching it. My dad thought it looked like something from the Beatles Sgt. Pepper though.

[hemlock013.livejournal.com]

Well, I finally got to see TCI last night. I wasent at all sure what to think, before I watched it. I mean, I loved the 9th, and I had no idea what to expect! But I have to admit, I was very pleasantly surprised. Just the right level of same and different, and in a very cute package to boot =)
I havent seen the Children In Need, but I think Im going to have to look it up. Oh how I hate having to do everything Whovian online!

[ginnystar.livejournal.com]

I like your review, it has visual aids. :D

Forgive me for asking, but where was it you found out that you hd to have been inside the TARDIS for the translating to work? I can't recall it in the episodes... unless it was in the first three which I missed...?

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

It was in The End of the World:

Rose: They all speak English.
The Doctor: No - you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain - translates.
Rose: It's inside my brain?
The Doctor: Well, in a good way.
Rose: Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?
The Doctor: I didn't think about it like that.

[neth-dugan.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I am so lucky cause that blood control would never work on me. My blood type is so rare (AB+, second rarest of them all after AB-) that nobody would send it up to space! A, I think, is probably the most common which is why the sent that type, and thus it being a third of the world going nuts due to being A+.


And, Oh, didn't spot the Gryffindor scarf! *goes back and watches entier thing just for that*

And, is it just me, or did the dust as snow remind you of what happened near Auschwitz?

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

Although the Sycorax do look like a Queen tribute band.

My thoughts exactly when I saw that

[koonelli.livejournal.com]

They've not been in the ship and surely just standing by it doesn't count? Mickey understanding, fine; Jackie too as they've both been inside the ship. But Harriet shouldn't be able to.

Yeah, I started off thinking that it didn't make sense either, but something clicked just now in my head as I was reading the comments.

You know this bit in The End of the World:
The Doctor: No - you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain - translates.

This telepathic field could be the same as the one shown here:



In which case, you'd only have to be standing reasonably near the TARDIS to be affected by it.

I know, and I agree with you that the whole thing is a long shot and it would have been better if it was only Rose that could hear English in TCI, but I thought that this reasoning might go some way in explaining it.

Well, maybe this is the same telepathic field

[eruvadhril.livejournal.com]

That was the force field generated by the extrapolator that they got in Boom Town. Jack hooked it up with his super-l33t techie skillz so that they didn't get blown up by the Dalek missiles.

But I agree with the field thing- people standing near the TARDIS may get alien languages translated for them.

[lanaya1980.livejournal.com]

Um, can I be annoying and ask a question? What did the whole "Don't you think she looks ill?" comment mean towards the end of the episode? I missed quite a bit of the last series, yer see...

[bamfer.livejournal.com]

Those were the "six words" with which he promised Harriet he'd bring down her government with. At the end of the episode, you see Harriet on TV at a press conference where the reporters are all inquiriing about her health and asking if she'll resign after a vote of no confidence. Kind of a cool "words mightier than the sword" sort of thing.

Nice review, kali, loved the pictures.

[pontisbright.livejournal.com]

Am being slow and crap as have only just got home (yay!) from being at my parents' (boo - they are ancient and therefore their screen is set to GIGANTIC, meaning all of LJ looks bonkers and all my icons look like crapola more than usual).

Anyway, enough of me: lovely review. Glad to hear that 'Sperm!' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody!' were shared experiences not just me: bet they knew damn well we'd all do that. And I pretty much universally concur. I liked the 'help me' moment, myself (though was less keen on the weird speeded-up effect: liked the idea of Rose being the one thing that could revive him, though - did make me wonder why she didn't do it later when everything went kerplooey, but then I loved how much she fell to bits for a bit then pulled off the Big Wonky Speech).

Swordfights in jim-jams are the next big thing, you know (though - whisper it - I sort of hope James Hawes doesn't direct them). And yes, I think Rose should totally have chopped off his new hand. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if that didn't show up in an earlier draft, and they cut it for those funny things like tension and pace;)

Just wanted to say woo! and yay! and hurrah for your caps. More torchwood blethering doubtless to come;)

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

All the little Torchwood tidbits have intrigued me like an intrigued-weasel and now I need more. It's like a spoiler!crack habit.

[sanda56.livejournal.com]

Bugger, I'd be in trouble if this was real. My blood type is A positive.

Yes, Laura was quite shocked as she's A rhesus +, so am I and even baby Isis. Fortunately her partner, Ian is of Orc decent, so he'd save us all... ;)

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

He'd have to lock the lot of you in a cupboard to stop you heading off into peril.

[thinkzinc.livejournal.com]

Wireless????
*is oh so jealous*
Mind you, considering I don't own a laptop, wireless would be pretty pointless for me *imagines lugging huge reconditioned PC around the house just for the sake of luxuriating in wirelessness*
I digress.
Yes, the whole pyjama debacle was a little bit mad. 'Hmmmm, I could either leave the ill doctor in bed in the nice safe Tardis, OR! I could drag him into bed and stick him in a pair of stripy pyjamas. Okay! The stripy pyjamas have it!' Lol!
I agree with your 8/10 rating.
I also have a feeling DT will not topple CE's greatness... :s I love DT, and he is so much cuter than CE, but I'm not sure he's as good a Doctor, eek! Time will tell :D
And I also agree that bad puns are a must! Long may they contenue....
When you talk about the commentary - is that from the box set?

Oh no, bad tags spoil my pun :(

[thinkzinc.livejournal.com]

And I also agree that bad puns are a must! Long may they contenue....
Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!
Do you get it?????
*laughs too hard*

Lameness is the new rock and roll

[the-10thdoctor.livejournal.com]

*climbs down off the roof*

Woot! I love reviews with piccies! :D

[bigtitch.livejournal.com]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I missed Jack.
But yayy for the Torchwood references.
And I didn't think I would, but I kept wondering how Nine would react in the same situations...

And you're not the only one who thought that the Sycorax looked like a Queen tribute band. *Ahem*

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

*laughs at icon*

I just hope we don't see the Sycorax doing a tribute to Queen's "I Want To Break Free" because that would just be frightening (and for all the wrong reasons).

[hethatishere.livejournal.com]

Great review, I watched it but felt a little more mixed than you on the whole affair. But thanks for posting it for those who might not be able to get it yet.

When is the next season Debuting in March? Does anyone know?

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

I think I may be a bit more forgiving than most people because I'm still of the mindset "it's Doctor Who on proper telly agan!"

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

Also its worth pointing out that the hitchhikers reference also references back to Doctor Who via Douglas Adams involvement with the series back in the day...

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

It's so meta it's enough to make your ears bleed.

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

I have to say David Tennants entrance to the part was a lot stronger in my mind than ecclestones. I think Tennant will be a better Dr and also a longer running one (which is a bonus as they are potential very near the end of teh season if Tennant only does one series...)

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

But with the popularity of the show I'm sure they'd find some way round the 12-regenerations rule.

[juliejordan.livejournal.com]

Fantastic review, Kali, I loved reading that.

I can't wait for Torchwood. I have a feeling that after how they were referenced in TCI that they are going to be very cool. Shame that we've still got such a long, long wait before it hits our screens though, and that non-digital TV people will be missing out.

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

They won't miss out. I wouldn't be surprised if the Beeb don't use it as part of their pay-to-download trial they're doing next year.

[juliejordan.livejournal.com]

Oh, and it's so true what you say about the CIN special. I don't think TCI would've worked quite so well without it, it was the perfect link between the end of TPOTW and TCI. I wonder if those who didn't see the CIN special felt like something was missing because I would have.

I actually made a tape and put the CIN special on right before TCI, so I have the episodes linking together and it works really well.

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

Hopefully they'll have the CiN special on the Series 2 DVD