Doctor Who Season 2 (28) Rewatch: The Christmas Invasion

[Straha]

Inspired by the stunning mediocrity of Season 4 of the new Doctor Who and this thread here we begin an arduous project today. Rewatching the second season of Doctor Who from beginning to end and rating it.

So let us begin, as they say, at the beginning. The beginning of a season and the beginning of a Doctor. Starting with David Tennant's first role as the Doctor in The Christmas Invasion where we see such important things as Tennant's introduction to the character, the source of the hand that would stick around in Torchwood Tower, the TARDIS and then become a new doctor, and the downfall of Harriet Jones, Prime Minister. So go to your DVD Rental store, your DVD collection or (if you are, in fact, a pirate who likes nothing more than to steal from television networks) to one of those many nefarious websites online that host television shows, select the Christmas Invasion, watch it and then come here and tell us what you think.

We'll keep doing one episode every week until we get all the way through the second season.

P.S. Part of the purpose of having the rewatch is to help establish a baseline to compare our ratings of season 4 to. So when you are watching please don't give it a four or a five on the basis of "Rose is a better companion than either of the two girls who followed her. I miss her. 5/5" just watch and say how much you liked it.

[Stark]

I quite liked it. It was actually Christmas themed, UNIT was awesome, Tennant was all over the place, Mickey is always fun, and Torchwood's first mention makes it seem interesting and shadowy and all that stuff. Cast chemistry is awesome and sells some pretty ropey ideas. I personally enjoy all the passive-aggressive shit Mickey puts up with from the Worst Girlfriend ever, but I know teenagers so I find it personally amusing. We get the impression that now the whole world knows about aliens, which transforms the premise of the show into something more interesting than invasion-of-the-week.

Retrospectively, we have shit never referred to again, the first real display of 'guns r bad kk' and some regen-related drama largely invalidated by the S4 finale. In the hands of a braver writer (some would say 'more talented'), the death star laser could have been an interesting display of the Doctor's state of mind, rather than a polemic on how guns r bad - a few hours ago the Doctor would rather die than commit genocide again, and thus his reaction is understandable from a character perspective. Instead it was hijacked into 'fighting is bad let's just commit suicide'. Torchwood became a pile of emotional retards more intent on being sadcases than rebuilding an actual Earth defence system and UNIT became a bunch of ignorant squaddies.

AND we never get to see the Tower base again! Bah.

[Minischoles]

Gave it a 2, more retrospectively from seeing the rest of the season than anything else, it was an enjoyable epsiode, but looking back at it when I wasn't looking at it through rose tinted glasses its not as good as I remembered.
Basically most of what Stark says applies here, its mainly being downrated as the fact it had the potential to be a lot more, and it was kinda wasted in the first episode.

[Crazedwraith]

I don't think it was so much, 'Guns R Bad', in this case, as you shot a bunch of retreating, defeated people who were never going to come back in the back.

Still this is a pretty fun lark, not deeply emotional or possessed of great meaning, but fun and tightly scripted and it ends in a sword fight, what more could you want? It even shows a second room to the TARDIS, finally.

The humour ranges from amusing: "aww! I wanted to be ginger!" to just plain cheesy: "This new hand... its a FIGHTING hand" but Tennant's obviously having so much you can hardly begrudge it to him.

Rating this out of 4/5, not deep or anything but fun. The only real suggestion I would have to improve it would be to have the comic relief scene on the front, which really set the whole thing up nicely. (showing Rose's fear and the fouled up regeneration.)

A random thought: Rose and co bring food to live from in the TARDIS, does this mean she doesn't have food/ a kitchen of her own? Does the Doctor/Companions just eat at their destinations?

[Thanas]

A random thought: Rose and co bring food to live from in the TARDIS, does this mean she doesn't have food/ a kitchen of her own? Does the Doctor/Companions just eat at their destinations?

Nah. This is more likely a case of "We do not know how long we are going to be in hiding".

As for the episode, I will write a bigger review later, since I am swamped right now and have no time to watch it.

[Stark]

I don't think it was so much, 'Guns R Bad', in this case, as you shot a bunch of retreating, defeated people who were never going to come back in the back.

A bunch of enslaving, strip-mining, blackmailing dishonest scavengers, right after the Doctor just said 'oh yeah this is going to happen a lot' and the world had come within a hair of being totally dominated due to his absence. It was a little more dramatically sophisticated than the Doctor's pathetic characterisation of 'oh noes you bad for shootin some guys' - and if you thought they were never coming back you're retarded. The risks involved as outlined by Jones were very, very real, and if this had EVER been referred to again ('holy shit we heard the Sycorax went there and nobody's heard from them in ages' or 'if you're going to attack Earth you better win because those guys are big on revenge') it would have been an actual piece of interesting character work as opposed to 'KILLING PSYCOPATH SLAVERS AND PROTECTING YOUR OWN PLANET INSTEAD OF HOPING A HOBO WILL SHOW UP (ps he only did by dumb luck here) IS BAD AND WRONG' which is a truly disgusting message of passivity, getting it's ultimate expression in 'we surrender, now we're going to blow up our planet'. It wasn't so bad at the time, so I didn't let it affect my rating that much, but it's obvious where the trend is going in hindsight.

The climax scene is already excellent, and written by someone braver could have contrasted the realistic needs of Earth defence with the Doctor's childish, morally cowardly need to not ever kill people again after the Daleks (it's much better to send them to hell forever). Instead it's simply presented as the Doctor being 100% right and correct instead of emotionally scarred by the Time War, and tells us that we have no right to defend ourselves or take responsibility for Earth security. This Christmas we learn that the only Earth defence option that isn't BAD AND WRONG is 'sit on your ass and hope the Doctor shows up', which utterly disgusts me, even more so now I've seen the inane S4 finale.

It boggles my mind that you think it isn't 'deeply emotional or possessed of great meaning'. It's absolutely PACKED with those things. Even at a soap opera level, Rose's stunningly mixed messages paints her as a deeply codependent individual, making her far deeper than the other two companions so far.

[Crazedwraith]

The risks involved as outlined by Jones were very, very real, and if this had EVER been referred to again ('holy shit we heard the Sycorax went there and nobody's heard from them in ages' or 'if you're going to attack Earth you better win because those guys are big on revenge') it would have been an actual piece of interesting character work as opposed to 'KILLING PSYCOPATH SLAVERS AND PROTECTING YOUR OWN PLANET INSTEAD OF HOPING A HOBO WILL SHOW UP (ps he only did by dumb luck here) IS BAD AND WRONG' which is a truly disgusting message of passivity.

Again, the Doctor didn't object to Earth having the big old weapon, or think the Earth shouldn't defend itself. What he had a problem with is Earth murdering people. The Sycorax were defeated and leaving. ie) no threat.

Yes, they had proven themselves bastardly and the leader was untrustworthy. But then he was dead already. And even if they did come back. Well Earth would still have its big old laser gun and could just as easily shoot them then. Why is it so important to shoot them in the back?

[Stark]

That your objection is based on emotional stuff like 'honour' just shows how broken it is. They're PLANET PIRATES. They threatened to kill A THIRD OF THE HUMAN RACE so they could SELL US INTO SLAVERY and STEAL OUR RESOURCES. Who knows how many planets they'd already raped? Who knows what the NEXT planet they'd enslave would be? Where's the 'moral high ground' in letting them go rape some OTHER planet, while telling everyone how Earth is totally defenceless except for this one guy? Jones warned them; she said humans were peaceful, but Earth was armed. They came anyway, because they thought it was an easy kill - the next world they ravage probably won't have a scavenged defence laser or a Time Lord protector, and billions will disappear into slave camps. Hooray for the Doctor's moral cowardice! They even callously execute prisoners and attempt to conquer a planet by negotiating with a nineteen year old girl!

Jones was ruthless, and she wasn't comfortable with her decision, but felt it was necessary for Earth security - the scene was excellent, and well played by both actors and at this point in the season, I have no problem with it whatever. Like I said, in the hands of a braver writer this could have set the tone for a season of conflict between the now-anti-genocide Doctor (which is good character drama) and the realistic or paranoid needs of individuals for defence or security (which is good character drama). Instead they largely ignored it, and in the finale the Doctor gleefully condemns tens of millions of sentients to a lingering death in hell. This would have been absolutely EXCELLENT drama, if the writers had even noticed what they were doing. When they tried to do it in later season, we got the retarded UNIT goons and WE SURRENDER SO WE CAN BLOW UP OUR PLANET.

[White Haven]

Yeah, the end of that episode really rubbed me the wrong way as well. Granted, I tend towards the ruthless, so I've got a slanted viewpoint, but the Doctor's arrogance and viciousness in defense of viciousness is simply astronomical. 'Lol I destroy your career because you killed slavers and genocidal raiders.'

[Atavarius]

I am going to give it a 3.

Enjoyable bits: Tennant's intro was good. The humor was good. The chemistry between the Doctor and Rose's family was always pretty good. Sycorax were a fairly decent enemy.

Weak: The fight scene. Doctor "Pacifist" ya know, but only sometimes or something.


Looking back on this I imagine what the Tennant era could have been. Imagine how much better this episode would have been if after they were all beamed back to see the Doctor turn to Harriet and say: "Prime Minister Jones. Fire." *ship blows up* Rose looks at the Doctor in shock and he says "No second chances."

They could have played that dynamic all through the season. He does what needs to be done, but feels the guilt of it all burn all the time. Rose is dependant on him, but is also terrified by him.

[Stark]

Yeah, the end of that episode really rubbed me the wrong way as well. Granted, I tend towards the ruthless, so I've got a slanted viewpoint, but the Doctor's arrogance and viciousness in defense of viciousness is simply astronomical. 'Lol I destroy your career because you killed slavers and genocidal raiders.'

I think the scene is excellent, and they couldn't have done better with the material than if they flashed PATHOS PATHOS PATHOS up on the screen. However, in retrospect, we know where this idea went and how it was handled and referred to in future (ie, none of it ever is again and guns r bad) and that makes it poor in retrospect. When I first saw it, I was extremely pleased to see some character growth for the Doctor (however much I think his decision was poor, I can see how it makes dramatic and character sense) and some new independence for Earth and acceptance of aliens. They even FUCKING OUTRIGHT SAY there's no way humans can deny it, aliens are real and they tried to take over, and now the have a spacegun and a ruthless yet very human leader who won't wait around for the Doctor to show up in the nick of time S2 seemed to be off to a great start. Jones didn't even believe that the Doctor - a hero - could be so bankrupt and callous as to destroy British history in an act of petty revenge (and facilitating the Master's takeover). Turns out she's more capable of making hard decisions than he is, which is awesome - after all, she lives there and takes real responsibility for it, instead of just batting about at random and 'lol maybe I'll show up in time'.

Two years later we have people reacting in a modern 'pfft aliens no way' fashion to the idea of aliens.

[Patrick Degan]

One thing that strikes me was how out-of-character Rose was depicted; practically falling apart and suddenly all thick instead of the clever, capable girl we'd been watching all the previous season. Grated on my nerves when I first saw it unfold and still does thinking on it.

[Stark]

One thing that strikes me was how out-of-character Rose was depicted; practically falling apart and suddenly all thick instead of the clever, capable girl we'd been watching all the previous season. Grated on my nerves when I first saw it unfold and still does thinking on it.

She's a codependent teenager who just got dumped. This behaviour is totally believable. Witness her trembling with glee and nearly wetting herself when the Doctor accepts her back on board at the end of the episode.

[Ford Prefect]

I want to give it more than a three. It was better than average as an episode, and it had all sorts of stuff that if they'd followed up on would have been awesome. However, I don't think it was really shit hot enough to warrant a four. Damn these numbers!

[Straha]

I hadn't watched this episode the first time around. It's not horribly bad, but the ending really is awful. Without knowing how it was followed up on I would give it a three (and do so) because it seems like a setup for something greater and different than in Season 1. Knowing how it was followed up on pisses me off though.

Also, I don't like at all the downfall of Harriet Jones. I really liked the character and I really dislike the way the Doctor suddenly reverses course on his earlier "Don't change history!" blandishments when she merely disagrees with him. It could make great drama for the future but it doesn't, and the Doctor is then unequivocally treated as if he were right when anyone with two braincells could tell that not only is Ms. Jones right but she's proven right in Journey's End. (Also, the Doctor saying "I should have told them to run away from the monsters that are coming!" strikes me as odd considering these creatures are, in essence, monsters. They go from planet to planet, stripe mine and enslave and then leave. But hey, humans are bad for blowing em up.) I think it could have worked out much better if, instead of the Doctor taking down Harriet Jones he'd confronted her and essentially given her a choice. Either she dismantles the weapon or he wont come next time, and next time Earth would be on its own. That way his actions make some sort of sense in the future with Earth.

But that's just me.

[Stark]

Actually, I was thinking the weapon could have itself been used as the focus for an invasion; we know that any decent aliens can just do a scan for alien tech and find advanced shit, so the nodes of the weapon (and by extension other Torchwood bases, like Canary Wharf) would now be first-strike targets. Some aliens could even have been framed as UN inspectors, attempting to disarm the planet or prevent it using military technology from more advanced races. We see that a single year is enough for the Master to convert Earth into a giant invasion platform, so S2 could have had not only the reality of aliens bought home to the humans, but the threat of clever little humans brought home to the galactic community.

Harriet Jones could have been bought down by discontent bought about by aliens constantly mentioning her or speaking directly to her on arrival, due to their fear of the Torchwood technology, instead of 'author of Britain's golden age... oh wait neverwind she's in power for like three months'.

[Thanas]

So, I went into this episode after having watched all of S1 and the children in need special before. After imagining that Season 2/3/4 did not happen the quality improved considerably. Also, watching the special before the episode improves the episode as well.

So, watching the episode without giving any thought to the shitty execution of the points raised in it...I gotta say, it is definitely one of the best ones IMO.

David Tennant did a fantastic job taking over from Eccleston - there are small moments where the "old" doctor resurfaces, while there are also new traits being established. I especially enjoyed the dinner scene and the "song for ten" that highlighted the transition. Can anyone imagine Nine sitting down to christmas dinner? It is great that the cast chemistry was not lost. The humour was great as well.

Disregarding the fact that the "doctor does not approve of killing retreating aliens" turned into "Save Davros" later on (which, to be fair to the episode, noone had any idea of at the time of its airing), the intensity shown by Tennant when crushing Harriet Jones was just sublime to watch. I disagreed with his reasons, but I could buy that this was the doctor acting (unlike in S4).

On the other hand, the episode has its drawbacks, namely the somewhat lame swordfight and the questionable ending. Also, Mickey seems a bit lost in the episode. But I can easily forgive the episode those faults, because to be honest, at the time I was watching I didn't really realize those due to the execution. I remember when I first saw the episode I was afraid that Tennant would just suck in the role. Then I watched the episode and I could accept him in the role. I didn't really love him - that took until "Tooth and claw" - yet I remember this episode to be a real joy to watch and it was definitely the TV highlight of the christmas season.

So in the end I would give it a 4.5...and since I am feeling generous today, I will actually give it a 5. Definitely the weakest 5 I have ever given in a Doctor Who recap thread, but a 5 nonetheless.

[Revy]

I recently saw S2 for the first time having only just gotten into Who. I gave this episode a 3. I was tempted to give it less, largely due to it being yet another episode set in modern day London. I hate London, and in a SciFi show with a go-anywhere/when spaceship, it's the last place I want to see. And gee, gosh, it's yet another alien invasion. Yawn.

Still.

It had some good moments. Mind controlling a third of the worlds population and making them stand on high ledges was IMO quite scary and different, and much less cheesy than some of the things that are normally done in these situations. Kinda lost it's impact when we learned that it was also totally harmless, but hey.

Tennant was great, and Harriet Jones always annoyed me no end, so I was happy to see him snuff out her career with a few well placed words, even if she was in the right. As for messing up human history, well it wouldn't be the first time would it? 9th Doc was prepared to change human history in Uniquiet Dead by allowing aliens to walk the earth in human corpses - history is fluid he said. And he ruined Earths golden age empire of the 51st century by destroying that news media setup and then just leaving - resulting in the broken down reality show earth run by Bad Wolf corporation (who, incidentally, I was hoping at the time would turn out to be a new recurring villain of some description, though they were probably just a Dalek patsy).

I could go on, but really I just felt this was average. A good introduction for Tennant and the 10th Doctor, but that was it. Everything else was just so-so, seen it before, and me going ape over yet more modern-fucking-London. I guess things could have been worse, all things considered.