Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Greg]

Discussion thread for the 2007 Christmas special, which I haven't seen yet (so my comments later!).

[SharazJek]

some great moments as always, but it's a bit of a death fest compared to anything we've seen since the series was revived. And Kylie seemed somewhat remote. Hard to explain.

The Torchwood trailer AND the series 4 trailer looked great!!!

[Sec]

[meglos]

Very good as always. David Tennant did a fantastic job and Kylie was OK. The heavenly hosts certainly sounded like the robots from Robots Of Death.
The trailers at the end always get me excited

[Tegan]

Pleasantly surprised is how I'd rate the show. There were a couple of slow periods, but when Kylie was on screen, (there's another Australian who could do a return, hint, hint) especially when she was with DT it sparkled.

I don't think Kylie was at all remote.

I think David rather enjoyed Kylie being there anyway.

I loved all the little jokes along the way. Priority Override 42. Kylie stepping on a box to kiss DT.

Certainly the best thing I've seen this Christmas. Not that that would be too hard.

The show got 12.2 million viewers and rated 50!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/12/26/51751.shtml

[Panecea]

As I said in another thread this episode did seem a whole lot more mature. I like the dedication to Verity Lambert, very fitting. Yes, the trailers for both Torchwood and Doctor do look brilliant.

[SharazJek]

When I say Kylie seemed 'remote', I didn't sense much in the way of personality to her. She seemed very reserved and ill at ease in front of the camera. I'm not going to look through rose coloured glasses just because she's an Aussie or a mega-star. I'm not saying she was awful. Just unsatisfying. I can't believe I'm saying this but I found Catherine Tate much more entertaining last year, as annoying as she was.

There were a few 'been there, done that's' in this story. The obvious one was the robots and their murderous intent (Robots of Death). There was also the exposition of Astrid, very similar to that of Ace (Dragonfire). And most recently we've had the Doctor dealing with deaths by way of just getting on almost as if nothing had happened in the last couple of Big Finish plays (Absolution and The Girl Who Never Was).

I was disappointed with how little Geoffrey Palmer had to do with the plot before he was killed.

No, I still maintain that this was the worst of the Christmas specials to date. Visually stunning, but seriously lacking in satisfying drama. RTD could have and has done much better.

[Greg]

Much improved on last year's special - but a bit too Poseidon Adventure for my personal tastes.

The intent of a Christmas Special isn't to produce the best Doctor Who story, but rather to produce something moderately light for people to watch on Christmas day - even if all of us in Australia will never see a particular year's special on the day it was intended to be seen.

Compared to last year's frothy nonsense, this one had a more substantial story to tell and (hoorah!) didn't have those bloody annoying Santa robots (who didn't even warrant one appearance, let alone two).

Kylie was a far better choice for a co-star than Catherine Tate, something reconfirmed for me by the trailer for series 4. Perhaps a little too much of a traditional companion (in the Jo Grant mould), she was however a useful audience point-of-view character for potential new viewers. Had the character been continued (something that Kylie's actual work seems likely to have precluded), it may have been interesting to watch her grow.

However, I have to ask - is it a rule that every time Kylie appears as a guest star, someone has to say 'Look at me' to her?

Overall, the story progressed much in the way a science fiction version of a disaster movie would, with supporting cast established early on and then killed off one by one. The only twist is the prevention of a greater disaster at the end, but there we're back solidly in Doctor Who territory.

Bit odd that there seemed only to be one distinctly non-human alien on board, though - almost like they felt obligated to have one!

A satisfying episode, though not inspiring.

Trivia: Astrid's fate seems ordained from the start. Her name means 'star' (from the ancient Greek - it also means 'beautiful goddess' from the Scandinavian, and 'impulsive in love' from the German.) Observant fans may notice it is an anagram of 'TARDIS'!

[Panecea]

I will have to disagree with you on this matter Sharaz Jek. In comparison to the other Christmas episodes this one certainly cut down on whimsy and we got to see a more serious piece of drama. However, I do agree with your assesment of Kylie but I do think it would have taken away from the episode if she was too noticeable. I do wish the Doctor would stop kissing and or falling in love with his companions. As for the script being original, can you honestly tell me that there are any original ideas on this planet.

[KnottyEmily]

Visually awesome, as usual.

As I was watching it, I was thinking 'average' and very, very Poseidon. There were a few awesome moments, and some slow parts, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the Host/Angels lifting the Doctor up through the floor of the bridge.

I agree that it shouldn't have been so emotionally heavy for the Doctor. It will eventually get to the point where the emotional parts just wont have the intended effect on the audience anymore (for some people it might have gotten to that point already).

[Tegan]

Technically Greg everyone on the Titanic was non-human, mostly from the planet Stowe, and the only humans in the show were the newspaper seller, the news reader, the Queen and the palace guards (and I'm still not convinced about the Queen) .

I can think of only a very few Dr Who episodes where that was true.

Apart from that, there was Max as well as Bannakaffalatta.

PS. I only replied to your post so I could do the Queen gag. I couldn't resist it.

[Greg]

Well, the Queen is probably a werewolf, though I'm not sure that makes her non-human.

But the passengers on the Titanic looked about as alien as the all non-human TARDIS crew from The Ribos Operation to The Keeper of Traken! (K9 excepted, of course.)

Or, in fact, the majority of aliens in the original run of Star Trek!

[KnottyEmily]

What does everyone think of the new version of the title theme? To me it sounds like there's a bit too much going on, it's too 'big'. I don't know why they felt the need to change it.

The other thing I just realised is that the Doctor says "What?...What? What?!" before the opening credits in both Voyage of the Damned and The Runaway Bride.

I think that The Christmas Invasion has to be the best of the three.

[Greg]

[meglos]

[Tegan]

In general, Dr Who does more to distinguish aliens from humans than most other SF shows. Star Trek only went as far as a new set of ears or eyebrows (other than tribbles and energy beings) and many shows only use the clothes they are wearing to distinguish non human beings.

Babylon 5 did a bit, but usually you have to go for a big budget movie to get a decent alien. Or a cartoon like Futurerama.

The Boston Globe have published a "Top 50" SF shows on TV http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/gallery/topscifishows/ that lists a whole lot of shows. I don't think much of their list, but when you go through it, there just aren't that many with a good alien creation.

Overall, Dr Who spoils us with choice and creativity. Looking at the list makes me realise just how good the show is. Even when it's a little down on past performances.

[Tegan]

Oh, and I forgot to add. I like the new theme too. After all, it's changed a hell of a lot in 44 years, there's no reason why it can't change again.

[SharazJek]

The new theme arrangement was nice for a change. I wonder if it will continue into series 4?

Nice comments from everyone.

Looking forward to Torchwood (gee would I have said that 12 months ago??). Does anyone know when it begins?

[Greg]

Series 2 of Torchwood will commence broadcast in the UK on a still-to-be announced date in January - the most definitive statement I'bve seen has been 'mid-January'.

[Tegan]