1 episode. Approx. 60 minutes. Written by: Russell T. Davies. Directed by: James Hawes. Produced by: Phil Collinson.
THE PLOT
The TARDIS comes literally crashing down to Earth in the middle of Rose's Council Estate, where her mother and boyfriend are startled to see the doors fling open and a stranger emerge, babble excitedly at them, and then collapse. They are even more surprised when Rose tells them that this stranger is the Doctor, having undergone a transformation.
The Doctor is unconscious, recovering in Jackie's flat. This would be no particular problem... but as ever, the timing is as bad as could be. The Sycorax are coming to Earth, and they are using a blood sample from an unmanned Mars probe to control 1/3 of the Earth's population. Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) is given an unthinkable ultimatum: Surrender half of the Earth's population to slavery, or the blood-controlled third of the populace will die!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: David Tennant's debut... sort of. There was a five-minute, one-scene Children in Need special, which basically acted as a supplement to the ending of The Parting of the Ways. But this is his first full story... and he spends most of it unconscious.
Which actually works rather well, because it makes his return at the end hugely dynamic. Up to that point, the characters are wondering who this new Doctor is... and when he emerges from the TARDIS, a hyper ball of energy ready for action, it turns out that he doesn't know who he is yet, either. Tennant is terrific, particularly when he turns from glib and hyperkinetic into suddenly grim and a little ruthless, as in his elimination of the Sycorax or in his final dealings with Harriet Jones. A very promising start, that takes limited screentime and turns it into a virtue.
Rose: Berates herself as "useless" without the Doctor, but she actually doesn't do half-badly. Given the resources at her disposal, her prioritizing getting her people (Mickey and Jackie) to the safety of the TARDIS is really the only option and a perfectly sensible one. Once confronted with the Sycorax directly, she has the presence of mind to yell for Mickey to close the TARDIS door, knowing that it is vital that the Doctor and his time machine don't fall into their hands. She makes an attempt to deal with the Sycorax, bluffing by using the names of races she has encountered in her travels with the Doctor. The attempt fails, and only the Doctor's sudden recovery saves her, but she makes a valid effort and keeps her head while doing so. Not a bad showing at all.
Mickey/Jackie: Very much in the background, basically presented as the "normal people" that Rose feels she has to protect. Jackie gets a nice character beat, as her shrill comedy overtones drop away briefly for a well-done scene in which she cares for the unconscious Doctor. Mickey gets to further realize that Rose has already drifted away from him, a realization he voices at the end when he says, "You're never going to stay, are you?" Both actors have long since found their footing in the roles by this point, and their cartoonish portrayals in Rose are happily a distant memory.
THOUGHTS
If Spearhead from Space was the classic series' "second pilot," then The Christmas Invasion fills the same role for the new series. Many of the same trapping as Rose are here: the recognizably modern-day setting, the alien intruding on the mundane world and turning it upside down, the story seen entirely through the eyes of 21st century characters (mostly Rose and Harriet).
With Christopher Eccleston's rapid departure, care is taken with the introduction of the new Doctor, and the entire concept of regeneration. Eccleston's huge popularity in the role (and yes, in 2005 Eccleston was hugely popular) leaves the production team taking care to overcome audience resistance to the recasting. Rose dismisses him as not being "the proper Doctor" just as some members of the audience might. And then, after a brief action scene near the beginning, the story withholds the Doctor, allowing the situation to become increasingly dire in his absence.
Only at the end does he come back awake and in charge of his own wits. By then, as he beams energetically at us as much as the characters and asks, "Did you miss me?" Well, the answer is already a firm "Yes," and that last ten minutes belongs to Tennant, with every aspect of the script and direction designed to make him utterly dominant.
Almost everything about the Sycorax plot works. The gradual build of the threat, leading up to the moment at which people around the world stand at the edge of rooftops thanks to the Sycorax blood control, is beautifully executed. The Sycorax craft is a superb piece of design, organic and malignant all at once. When it enters the atmosphere, it looms above the London skyline like a malignant tumor.
Not everything works, though. Early in the episode, there's a sequence involving evil Santas and a killer Christmas tree. This serves no purpose whatever, is never really linked to the main plot, and seems to be there just because Russell T. Davies thought it would be cool, regardless of lack of context. This five minutes could have been cut from the episode without affecting any of the rest of the show... and in my opinion, that's exactly what should have happened.
Finally, no discussion of The Christmas Invasion could be complete without addressing...
HARRIET JONES AND THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Harriet's decision at the end, and the Doctor's reaction to it. If you somehow haven't seen the episode yet, and have somehow missed all the reams of discussion about this ending, then this would be a good place to stop reading.
I can't help but wonder what alternate reality this show is set in, wherein Harriet's action against the Sycorax would have destroyed her political future. Remember the context of the episode. The Sycorax planted a full third of humanity on rooftops, threatening to make them jump. This means very, very, very few people would not have known somebody on one of those rooftops, and many of them would have directly witnessed the chilling sight of a friend or loved one suddenly under complete alien control, thrust directly into harm's way. That's not even addressing the third of the population actually under that control, or the question of how aware they were of losing control of their own bodies.
Whether it was right or wrong, Harriet's decision to destroy the Sycorax ship and all aboard would almost certainly have been a popular one, rather than one greeted with a response of "Cold-Blooded Murder," as one of the news crawls at the bottom of a television screen declares it to have been. Rather than being villified for having "blood on her hands" (another news crawl glimpsed at the end), she would have been largely applauded by the public at that time in that situation. Her decision would only have been second-guessed after the fact. A long time after the fact.
Finally, no discussion of The Christmas Invasion could be complete without addressing...
HARRIET JONES AND THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Harriet's decision at the end, and the Doctor's reaction to it. If you somehow haven't seen the episode yet, and have somehow missed all the reams of discussion about this ending, then this would be a good place to stop reading.
I can't help but wonder what alternate reality this show is set in, wherein Harriet's action against the Sycorax would have destroyed her political future. Remember the context of the episode. The Sycorax planted a full third of humanity on rooftops, threatening to make them jump. This means very, very, very few people would not have known somebody on one of those rooftops, and many of them would have directly witnessed the chilling sight of a friend or loved one suddenly under complete alien control, thrust directly into harm's way. That's not even addressing the third of the population actually under that control, or the question of how aware they were of losing control of their own bodies.
Whether it was right or wrong, Harriet's decision to destroy the Sycorax ship and all aboard would almost certainly have been a popular one, rather than one greeted with a response of "Cold-Blooded Murder," as one of the news crawls at the bottom of a television screen declares it to have been. Rather than being villified for having "blood on her hands" (another news crawl glimpsed at the end), she would have been largely applauded by the public at that time in that situation. Her decision would only have been second-guessed after the fact. A long time after the fact.
(And yes, I'm aware this was meant as a close parallel to the sinking of the General Belgrano at the start of the Falklands War. To which I would point out: (a) That incident did not destroy Margaret Thatcher's career, and the subsequent war did quite the opposite; and (b) That incident did not involve a foe that had directly placed 1/3 of the population in jeopardy.)
The way the ending plays out also means that the Doctor's furious response to a possibly misguided, but highly understandable, human action directly paves the way for the next couple of Prime Ministers (see The Sound of Drums, Last of the Timelords, and Torchwood: Children of Earth). But let's not dwell on that point, either, given that the show itself never will...
Rant aside, this is a strong hour of television. The pacing of the Sycorax story is tightly controlled and well-executed, the acting of the regulars is terrific across the board, and Tennant's entrance simply could not have been handled better. A minor niggle about the "pilot fish" moment and some difficulties with the ending don't really get in the way of this being a very good episode. Easily the best first story for a new Doctor since Castrovalva, a full quarter-century earlier.
Rating: 8/10.
The way the ending plays out also means that the Doctor's furious response to a possibly misguided, but highly understandable, human action directly paves the way for the next couple of Prime Ministers (see The Sound of Drums, Last of the Timelords, and Torchwood: Children of Earth). But let's not dwell on that point, either, given that the show itself never will...
Rant aside, this is a strong hour of television. The pacing of the Sycorax story is tightly controlled and well-executed, the acting of the regulars is terrific across the board, and Tennant's entrance simply could not have been handled better. A minor niggle about the "pilot fish" moment and some difficulties with the ending don't really get in the way of this being a very good episode. Easily the best first story for a new Doctor since Castrovalva, a full quarter-century earlier.
Rating: 8/10.
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