Christmas with Doctor Who
Christmas comes around and so does Doctor Who.
Marking the advent of the holiday, along with a thick blanket of snow and the celebration of togetherness, the Doctor Who Christmas special also returns to the old-styled classic formula with a great nostalgia.
It is like getting a call from an old friend. Or visiting someone you have known for many a year to catch up with the glory, old days.
The episode dubbed “The Next Doctor” starts the year with the actor David Tennant winding down with his tenure in the show before he will be leaving next year. He doesn’t have many shows left to do… four and counting down before someone else will get a chance to get a hold of this famous role.
But there a sadness, in a way, knowing that Tennant will be departing from the series, but continues to invest his acting abilities one hundred percent.
The show begins with a black woman Rosita shouting for help during the Christmas cheer in the middle of Victorian London in 1851. She repeatedly calls out for “Doctor.” Tennant’s character chances on hearing this and rushes to the rescue. Only to find that there is someone else standing in for that part already. This man calls himself the Doctor, plays the part to the hilt and embraces a stage actor’s charm that makes you believe he is the Doctor. He is played by actor David Morrissey.
The real Doctor is confused.
And so is the audience for a time. This “next” Doctor is a reflection of the best of his own abilities. He is very intelligent man who knows how to work with the primitive London. He has built his own TARDIS in the form of a gas balloon which has yet to climb into the great heights above the city. He also has a companion in Rosita.
But the man also has lack of memories. He can’t remember who he is. There is a house belonging to a former man with luggage that has not been opened yet. There is a great mystery about it that needs to be solved.
So the audiences must follow this episode to find out who this man is. But it is rather interesting how it is all worked out by author Russell T. Davies who is also finishing up his writing tenure on the show.
It is learned that the Cyberman has somehow found a way through a cut in time and space when venturing in the previous episodes “Doomsday” where they have seemed to survive the void. And while avoiding total destruction of their interstellar battle, they found a way into Victorian London where they sought refuge.
However, in the process, they have come across the first person to cross paths with them. His name is Jackson Lake. He disappeared in his fight with the Cyberman. Along with his family who were all killed.
His fight with the Cyberman is successful. But there was a downside. It backfires with a electrical charge flushes out all of his memories. And his thoughts were instilled with the real Doctor’s long history.
So Jackson Lake retreats into his mind when a memory of something becomes too painful. The inner spirit of his soul becomes a sancutary for him where he finds safety. The deaths of his wife and child become too much for him. And, in essence, he becomes the Next Doctor.
Both actors Tennant and Morrissey does a nice job with their scenes of understanding each other. Learning from each other. And the bit where Tennant explains who Morrissey really is… does have a very emotional pulse. They are good actors who have been nearly upstaging one another throughout the episode. And now, they come through some sort of understanding. Morrissey really isn’t the Doctor, but someone who is pretending to be one.
There is another Christmas gift which may be nice for the fans of the series. During one of the conversations in the middle of the episode, the Doctor (the real one) does show several flashbacks of his memories. And here we see short clips of the old series in succession which makes a nice connection between the old and new. Becoming a part of the new continuity. And we are treated to several small scenes including Tom Baker from “The City of Death”
While the Cybermen seems a little weaker in this episode, still not like they were in the old series, there is still one villain worth mentioning. Miss Hartigan played by Dervlin Kerwin is a sexually powerful and very driven woman who is not happy with the man’s world she is forced to live in. She uses many of the men as merely objects to further her gains. She may be considered nothing but a living brothel to most men, but she often gets what she wants through manipulation. She wears red which is often considered a sexual color. There haven’t been many villains like this one for the series.
The Doctor brings back her humanity which helps her finally realize the damage she has done. She perishes in the final battle in the episode.
The giant, robotic design is truly a grand thing, boisterous with special effects, yet seemingly fitting for a series such as this one… the mountainous prodigy of metal crushing the city below. And it was nice to see the gas balloon in action as the Doctor takes her into the air. There are some elements of Jules Verne in here, always nice to see…
Much of the production was done in April 2008 at Glouchester Cathedral and St Woolos Cemetery in Newport, giving a rich atmosphere and beautiful scenery laden with the wintery snow, cold, icy burden, freezing like the heart of steel found in the Cybermen.
Not always a great episode, but a sure-fire return to the old days which makes this one a fine example of entertainment. Doctor Who is simply one of the best television shows to be on these days. And it’s a good thing it’s going to stick around longer.
Marking the advent of the holiday, along with a thick blanket of snow and the celebration of togetherness, the Doctor Who Christmas special also returns to the old-styled classic formula with a great nostalgia.
It is like getting a call from an old friend. Or visiting someone you have known for many a year to catch up with the glory, old days.
The episode dubbed “The Next Doctor” starts the year with the actor David Tennant winding down with his tenure in the show before he will be leaving next year. He doesn’t have many shows left to do… four and counting down before someone else will get a chance to get a hold of this famous role.
But there a sadness, in a way, knowing that Tennant will be departing from the series, but continues to invest his acting abilities one hundred percent.
The show begins with a black woman Rosita shouting for help during the Christmas cheer in the middle of Victorian London in 1851. She repeatedly calls out for “Doctor.” Tennant’s character chances on hearing this and rushes to the rescue. Only to find that there is someone else standing in for that part already. This man calls himself the Doctor, plays the part to the hilt and embraces a stage actor’s charm that makes you believe he is the Doctor. He is played by actor David Morrissey.
The real Doctor is confused.
And so is the audience for a time. This “next” Doctor is a reflection of the best of his own abilities. He is very intelligent man who knows how to work with the primitive London. He has built his own TARDIS in the form of a gas balloon which has yet to climb into the great heights above the city. He also has a companion in Rosita.
But the man also has lack of memories. He can’t remember who he is. There is a house belonging to a former man with luggage that has not been opened yet. There is a great mystery about it that needs to be solved.
So the audiences must follow this episode to find out who this man is. But it is rather interesting how it is all worked out by author Russell T. Davies who is also finishing up his writing tenure on the show.
It is learned that the Cyberman has somehow found a way through a cut in time and space when venturing in the previous episodes “Doomsday” where they have seemed to survive the void. And while avoiding total destruction of their interstellar battle, they found a way into Victorian London where they sought refuge.
However, in the process, they have come across the first person to cross paths with them. His name is Jackson Lake. He disappeared in his fight with the Cyberman. Along with his family who were all killed.
His fight with the Cyberman is successful. But there was a downside. It backfires with a electrical charge flushes out all of his memories. And his thoughts were instilled with the real Doctor’s long history.
So Jackson Lake retreats into his mind when a memory of something becomes too painful. The inner spirit of his soul becomes a sancutary for him where he finds safety. The deaths of his wife and child become too much for him. And, in essence, he becomes the Next Doctor.
Both actors Tennant and Morrissey does a nice job with their scenes of understanding each other. Learning from each other. And the bit where Tennant explains who Morrissey really is… does have a very emotional pulse. They are good actors who have been nearly upstaging one another throughout the episode. And now, they come through some sort of understanding. Morrissey really isn’t the Doctor, but someone who is pretending to be one.
There is another Christmas gift which may be nice for the fans of the series. During one of the conversations in the middle of the episode, the Doctor (the real one) does show several flashbacks of his memories. And here we see short clips of the old series in succession which makes a nice connection between the old and new. Becoming a part of the new continuity. And we are treated to several small scenes including Tom Baker from “The City of Death”
While the Cybermen seems a little weaker in this episode, still not like they were in the old series, there is still one villain worth mentioning. Miss Hartigan played by Dervlin Kerwin is a sexually powerful and very driven woman who is not happy with the man’s world she is forced to live in. She uses many of the men as merely objects to further her gains. She may be considered nothing but a living brothel to most men, but she often gets what she wants through manipulation. She wears red which is often considered a sexual color. There haven’t been many villains like this one for the series.
The Doctor brings back her humanity which helps her finally realize the damage she has done. She perishes in the final battle in the episode.
The giant, robotic design is truly a grand thing, boisterous with special effects, yet seemingly fitting for a series such as this one… the mountainous prodigy of metal crushing the city below. And it was nice to see the gas balloon in action as the Doctor takes her into the air. There are some elements of Jules Verne in here, always nice to see…
Much of the production was done in April 2008 at Glouchester Cathedral and St Woolos Cemetery in Newport, giving a rich atmosphere and beautiful scenery laden with the wintery snow, cold, icy burden, freezing like the heart of steel found in the Cybermen.
Not always a great episode, but a sure-fire return to the old days which makes this one a fine example of entertainment. Doctor Who is simply one of the best television shows to be on these days. And it’s a good thing it’s going to stick around longer.
posted by K.M. Paters at 12:14 PM
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