Can't wait for the christmas episode

[Vicky]

this christmas episode seems to be set on the titanic, with kylie minouge playing the doctors assistant. i can't wait, and i am looking forward to the next series as well with Catherine Tate coming back.

this thread is just to discuss our hope and excpectations of the christmas episode and the up coming season and sloa to to just help us get excited and in gear for it.

i haven't yet but i am planning to check out the BBC site soon and see if it has any more information on about the episode.

[tangent]

I actually just saw a trailer for it on bbc3 after an ap of the season 3 they are currently reshowing.

It didn't have too mny spoilers, mainly shots of DT and Kylie (yum). The biggest thing was a shot of 'The Titanic' floating in space. I'm thinking either it's an actual spaceship designed to look like the titanic for some reason or we're looking at a 'Smith & Jones type scenario where the real Titanic gets shipnapped for some reason.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

My hope is the much-discussed (elsewhere probably more than here) theory that Kylie will be playing an embodiment of the TARDIS, either because the Doctor's losing his shit or the TARDIS is. Or a symbiotic combination of both.

But other than that...I'm ready to be thrilled, surprised and generally romped through Christmas day

[Rosamunde]

I'm really excited about the Astrid / Tardis thing too. I'd love it if that were the case. It would be such a good twist & I'd love to see what kind of personality the Tardis has!

[TheCharmed1]

As you can probilies tell from my banner set I can't wait either. I can't wait to see kylie, I think she will be really good.
To me it really doesn't feel like that long ago since we were all talking about how we can't wait until christmas after the last series ended, this year has really flown!
Don't get me wrong i did like the last series but i don't think it was the best, lets hope this ones better. And don't get me satrted talking about Torchwood.

[Vicky]

sorry for going way off topic!

i saw a advertisement for torchwood on BBc 3 and it's coming in the new year. i didn't think i was going to watch it becuase i memories as last series of a whole weren't that good. but i watched one. i think it was the penultimate one and really enjoyed it. so i will give it another go. plus james marsters is going to be in it.

any way back on to doctor who. i really have tried my best to keep away form any spoilers all i know is kylie is in it, she is called astrid (anagram for tardis) and the titanic somehow ends up floating around space.

like i was saying i can't wait their is 8 days to christmas and i think Dr Who i the perfect highlight to chirstmas in my house. Merry Crimbo Everyone.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

So...I wasn't very impressed with the Xmas ep, what about you guys? Kylie was a bit wet. And totally wasn't anything to do with the TARDIS despite all the exciting possibilities of the anagram name. Boo!

A few very cool moments (the continuity gag about everyone leaving town because something awful keeps happening at xmas, the Doctor being carried aloft by the angels). But the villain was just silly. And Kylie was playing a poor man's Halo Jones (who I love, but, this was a lame version of HJ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Halo_Jones

When the Doc was walking in slow mo with the fire behind him, was anyone else thinking he was looking a bit like he'd walked out of Ats? Anyone want to bet how long it'll take for someone to make a ihasatardis macro with him saying "I iz Angel" and then one of the robots saying "Noes! I iz angel!"

Trailer for next season looked awesome though.

Spoiler:

Catherine tate saying "when I'm with you I start not knowing the difference between right and wrong", or words to that effect.

[sueworld]

Oh god Who was awful!

A mawkish over sentimentalized load of pants would be nearer the mark.

The trailer for Torchwood after it looked like fun. Loved Captain John and his Poodles comment.

[Nikole]

I'm dying waiting for my download to finish. I don't care how crap it is I just really need New Who. It could be the Doctor floating around and glowing for 40 minutes like in LotTL and I'll still be happy. *cries for dl to finish*

[Rosamunde]

SO SO BAD.

Someone on livejournal described it as "cheesier than a Tinkerbell Jesus" and that seems to sum it up. How can an episode where most of the cast dies totally lack any excitement or intrigue?

Just ... ARRRGH. I feel like teeth that have been put in coke and left to rot. It was just awful. I wasn't even expecting anything great, but I was expecting a check-your-brain-at-the-door exciting adventure, not hours of cheese and sentiment and gagging.

WHY DOES EVERYONE EVEN KYLIE HAVE TO FALL FOR THE DOCTOR? WHY? WHY? WHY?

It was just everything that is bad about Who distilled into one episode. Damn. And it's made me all incoherent, but not in a good way.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

SO SO BAD.

Someone on livejournal described it as "cheesier than a Tinkerbell Jesus" and that seems to sum it up.

Yeah - after season 3's finale, I honestly didn't think it could get any cheesier. But at least that episode had the emotional impact of it being the Master and the Doctor doing the glowy cheesy business. With it being a new character, and one who seems just another rent-a-peppy-heroine type, with her wide-eyed innocence (which, somehow doesn't work so well on someone who's nearly 40! Though all the botox helps with the wide eyes...) and the instant crush on the Doctor. I mean, I know David Tennant's a hottie and everything, but surely there are SOME women who don't instantly want to have his babies???

Bring on Donna, please!

How can an episode where most of the cast dies totally lack any excitement or intrigue?

It is a mystery indeed.

Just ... ARRRGH. I feel like teeth that have been put in coke and left to rot. It was just awful. I wasn't even expecting anything great, but I was expecting a check-your-brain-at-the-door exciting adventure, not hours of cheese and sentiment and gagging.

Yeah, I wanted fun and swashbuckling, like the xmas special when Ten got his hand cut off. Or at least a cool spider thing and some snappy one liners like we got with Donna.

WHY DOES EVERYONE EVEN KYLIE HAVE TO FALL FOR THE DOCTOR? WHY? WHY? WHY?

I think it must be the suit. Maybe it's like RJ's jacket in Him?

It was just everything that is bad about Who distilled into one episode. Damn. And it's made me all incoherent, but not in a good way.

I'm still hopeful for the next season, but I think that it is RTD at his worst - lots of ideas of the "wouldn't that be cool" nature (wouldn't it be cool if the titanic was a doomed spaceship, not a ship, wouldn't it be cool if Kylie was in it, wouldn't it be cool if etc). But no actual point to the whole exercise.

[Rosamunde]

Yeah - after season 3's finale, I honestly didn't think it could get any cheesier. But at least that episode had the emotional impact of it being the Master and the Doctor doing the glowy cheesy business. With it being a new character, and one who seems just another rent-a-peppy-heroine type, with her wide-eyed innocence (which, somehow doesn't work so well on someone who's nearly 40! Though all the botox helps with the wide eyes...) and the instant crush on the Doctor. I mean, I know David Tennant's a hottie and everything, but surely there are SOME women who don't instantly want to have his babies???

Bring on Donna, please!

I'm afraid Donna will fall for him too. Possibly in a less annoying way than some of them, but I'm afraid they'll make her sell out too. It's like someone's decided the whole thing just doesn't work unless the Doctor's companion is in love with him. It was ok with Rose because it felt fresh and it all made sense in a doomed sort of way, but since then it just makes me head hurt.

Astrid didn't really have any personality whatsoever. She was just like ... was it Becky? From the Big Brother episode in series one. Too bland to be likeable. And then they turned her into fairy dust too. It's just bad writing. Surely they know that they have to make a character interesting and half her around for awhile before her death has even a mild emotional impact?

Yeah, I wanted fun and swashbuckling, like the xmas special when Ten got his hand cut off. Or at least a cool spider thing and some snappy one liners like we got with Donna.

Exactly. It didn't have to be GOOD or meaningful or anything, it just had to be fun. Unfortunately, this episode tried to be both good and meaningful and completely missed the mark on being anything that didn't make you gag.

I think it must be the suit. Maybe it's like RJ's jacket in Him?

I think it's the trainers. Or the hair. But yeah, there's got to be some mojo in action.

I'm still hopeful for the next season, but I think that it is RTD at his worst - lots of ideas of the "wouldn't that be cool" nature (wouldn't it be cool if the titanic was a doomed spaceship, not a ship, wouldn't it be cool if Kylie was in it, wouldn't it be cool if etc). But no actual point to the whole exercise.

It was like bad fanfic, really.

The titbits for the next series looked promising, although I was still gagging when I watched them. But there were ood! All is not lost, I hope.

[tangent]

Was a tad dissapointing wasn't it?

I actually thought Astrid was okay, more... instantly useful than a lot of other assitant types and it might have been fun for her to be around for a bit longer really.

The whole titanic thing though was a bit seen it, done it sort of thing; the Host was another faceless automaton in the vein of the santas and other such creatures and any possible suspense regarding the big reveal of whodunnit was spoilt by the fact that i didn't really care. If it had been a Who icon behind it all then it might have had more impact but as a big reveal it just didn't do it for me.

I did like the little in jokes though. The empty london and the fake snow were very good. the fact that it wasn't set on earth for once was nice as well.

So overall i would have liked more suspense with a bigger pay off, less sentimentality and more angry, veangeful Doctoryness, a bigger stress on the story rather than the effects and finally scarier bad guys, not scary in a faceless lack of emotion way but a bite your head off angry sort of way.

[Llywela]

*shrugs*

I actually kind of enjoyed it. But then again, I watched with the entire family, and we sat giggling all the way through, so...probably not what RTD actually intended. Loads of in-jokes, lots of Doctor Who running around and things going bang, and myriad deaths - there always were lots of deaths in Who. Astrid was blatantly toast from the moment the Doc agreed to let her go with him for a ride, given that the Beeb were never going to shell out for Kylie as a permanent companion But she was useful enough as a one-off guest character, and exactly the type that the Doctor does tend to take a shine to. I did appreciate that so many of the 'good' characters fell by the wayside while the more loathesome survived.

Avoided getting squished by all the cheese by anticipating that it was on its way and donning protective clothing in advance. Plus, the aforementioned giggling all the way through.

Main problem? RTD does struggle to maintain a strong plot for more than one act - he tends to get a bit carried away with tossing in stuff that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, and doesn't seem to have anyone sensible sitting at his right hand to talk him down from his excesses. The show would be so much stronger if he did!

Still, for the target audience? Perfect cheese on toast for Christmas

[Nikole]

Didn't hate it as much as you guys. I admit some things were so cheesy I couldn't handle it (Yes the flying Doctor) but some parts were okay. Like Mr. Copper's stories of Earth were cute. And I though Astrid's standing on the box to kiss him was adorable. And honestly I'm glad it wasn't a fun episode. After the events of LotTL it would've been a bit weird if everything turned happy go lucky.

The scenes that I thought kind of redeemed the episode from being a complete loss are the one where The Doctor is fiddling with the teleporter thing yelling manically "I can do it!" and then realizing he can't. And he kicks the thing and yells in this devasted voice "I can do anything!" Tear my heart out, why don't you?

And then I liked the scene where The Doctor is looking at that rich jerk like he wants to kill him and Mr. Copper says the thing about how if you could choose who lived and died you'd be a monster. But The Doctor has chosen who lived and died numerous times. Made me incredibly sad.

Previews for next season showed Donna kissing the Doctor and them looking lovingly at eachother. UH. NO. I soooo wanted Donna to be the one New Who companion who didn't fall for him and kinda slapped him around a bit and told him off and is "the one to stop him." Come on writers!

[tangent]

A point has been made to me that as this was the Xmas special it might have more appeal to new viewers than existing fans and serve as a vehicle to get new viewers. I thimnk part of my disappointment stems from the fact tha after such eps as blink, utopia and The Sound of Drums the ep felt lighweight and far too jokey/mushy rather than having any real gravitas and oomph to it.

Of course if you take it as a piece of relatively brain free Xmas day fodder then i do feel that it kind of measures up and is far more accessible than some of the more intense eps. I'm also going to give it the benefit of the doubt and rewatchit on new years day (bbc1 about lunchtime i think.)

As it's not been mentioned yet what do we think to the remixed theme tune?

[ferdy-m]

As it's not been mentioned yet what do we think to the remixed theme tune?

They remixed it? They didn't, oh noooooo ... as for the Christmas eppy, enjoyed it, like Jo, for the giggly, but a bit like a "dose of Who," left me lightheaded instead of connected, and definitely needed some more core-who to give - OK as a generic Christmas Special, not not so much a Who Special.

The "love story" would have worked better for this GV, reversed, with our Kyl as some remote glamour queen type steeling his heart instead of the domestic-with-a-feisty-heart-of-gold that emphasized her age and didn't really use a pop icon to best effect. A bit too radical for a C-Special perhaps, but to have the Doctor languishing after the unattainable (and not interested?) epitome of Gorgeous Glamour in a weak-minded but human way?

[Fehmina]

loved the episode!
kylie was fantastic and i think they dealt with the continuation well -nods-

they're reshowing it on bbc one on new years day i think...

x

[Yosso]

A record 12.2 million people in the UK tuned into what is being hailed as the greatest Dr Who episode of all time.

From news.com.au

Guh.

The plot was alright-ish. No actually it wasn't. It was below standard. The writer just seemed to jump from one drama to another with little thought as to how it can all fit together. Despite that, it was simple and it just worked. Though not exactly my cup of tea, the episode as a whole just felt a little bland. Really, the aspect that drove the episode were the characters and the lovely snippets of humour slotted in here and there which I enjoyed. Though pretty typical of disaster movies, the eclectic group that seemed to form in the episode worked well, I liked how we got a few brief insights into their characters.

Morphine (what a name!) and Foon were adorable. Balaclava? Bananarama? Bavacadalada or is it Battacattalatta? Anyway, the name alone just brought up giggles ? but that's really the only thing I really enjoyed about him, excluding his imaginative appearance. His apparent infatuation for Kylie was so unconvincing. That's an area where this episode fell in my books, it just didn't connect with me or convince me in any way. Many moments in the episode just made me roll my eyes and cringe a lot of the time, rather than feel for the characters. Mr. Earthonomics was great humour, I enjoyed Russel T's light-hearted interpretation of Christmas, definitely one of the few highlights. Adding to that list ? the fact that Londonders fled for Christmas, and The Queen's laugh out loud cameo appearance was fun! As for the rest of the guest characters, I didn't care for them at all ? the grumpy guy, cute captain guy and Astrid were just plain. One thing I didn't like about the characters as a whole ? in the end most of them all boiled down to having a cheesy die-hard bravery characteristic in them, which was just poor writing.

I have to say, I was expecting better things from Kylie. Not exactly sure why, I just was. Astrid was a nice girl, but there was just no depth and I just simply didn't care. Kylie did a poor job I have to say and the writing of her character overall was just badly executed. It was like they didn't exactly know who she was, they just wrote down some random response lines whenever she had a scene with Ten (which was most of the time) and hoped for the best. Astrid's death was obvious. Kylie's too famous to have a real companion spot in the show and I'm glad for that to be frank. One thing that I just really don't feel worked was when The Doctor said "You should see me in the mornings," then Astrid replied with a quick "Ok." It was an odd line watching the advert for the episode, but I hoped in context it would seem less odd ? but no. It was clear what Astrid was trying to get at, but couldn't she have said "I'd like that," or something along those lines. Ok, it's nothing big, it just irritated me. So in the end Astrid decided to attack the appalling baddie of the episode with? a forklift truck. Yeah? Couldn't Russel T have come up with a more inspired way to do it? Couldn't Astrid have used Bannakaffalatta's metal thing to somehow force him back into that firey pit and somehow get dragged down with him? C'mon it's sci-fi you can pretty much do anything and having Kylie ram the baddie with a forklife truck was the best you could do? Anything else would have been classier. It just looked like a stupid crossover with Robot Wars. Instead of being dramatic, Astrid's death was just a joke and I actually laughed. That's clearly not what Russel T was intending. Poor effort.

This thing about Ten having to have some kiss in the first episode with any vaguely attractive companion? no no no. It was just not needed. It felt so forced and pointless. I didn't see any bond whatsoever between the two ? Russel T. please stop this incessantly stupid tradition. My eyes were seriously raised as to Ten's reasoning behind not accepting Mr. Earthonomics request to go with him ? is it because he's not a pretty girl? Ten, you're such a perv .

The worst Christmas episode by a long shot I have to say and completely below par when compared to regular episodes. I was disappointed, expecting something of a much higher standard, the Christmas specials are usually of a reasonably good standard. It's really the poor plot and Astrid that let it down, making the episode bland, as well as all the horribly cringe-worthy moments like that Disney-rip off sparkling thing at the end. Couldn't we have gone without that? I was not impressed.

The rest of season 4 looks great however, I'm quite pleased Catherine Tate is returning, I enjoyed Catherine Tate in last year's Christmas special and she'd make a good companion. I've also heard Billie Piper is going to be in the next series. I doubt for long, but still any chance of seeing Rose again is something I can't miss! Though, I hope it doesn't completely nullify the events of the S2 finale.

Torchwood season 2 looks great as well ? I'm so pleased that Martha looks like she's going to be able to go out on her own and not have to rely on The Doctor who have her own identity. James Marsters and Alan Dale are enticing bonuses as well!

I'm afraid Donna will fall for him too. Possibly in a less annoying way than some of them, but I'm afraid they'll make her sell out too.

Oh please, no. One of the reasons I enjoyed Donna was that she wasn't instantly fascinated by Ten and didn't instantly fall for him, which Martha seemed to succumb to as well as this Astrid character.

[TheCharmed1]

I really enjoyed the Christmas special, kylie was great and i loved that bit where she had to get the box to stand on so she could kiss the doctor, that was classic.

Another bit, which I though was really funny, was when the queen was standing out side in her jammys and waving that was funny also.

It was on for a long time as well, I think about an hour and a half but I was enjoying it so much I didn't realise until afterwards.

Yeah I would say that was definitely the best doctor who episode yet, and lets hope there are many more to come. I think there will be the trailer at the end looked really good.

I can't wait till series 4 starts it looks really good. I thought series 3 was a bit disappointing but this series looks like it will make up for it.