(752) The Next Doctor

When this episode aired on Christmas Day 2008, it was well known that David Tennant would be leaving the show and Matt Smith’s announcement was still a week away. The title seem to exist purely to give people the impression that the new Doctor would be making his/her debut in this special. But of course things with RTD are never that simple and in fact the title is a bit more complex than you would think. When this episode aired on December 25, 2008 it was day 1,096 meaning that he overtook Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton and becomes the fourth longest serving actor and also the fourth actor to go past the 1,000 day mark.

David Morrissey is one of the guest stars. He stars as Jackson Lake who thinks he is the Doctor. He has a sonic screwdriver which is just a normal screwdriver. There is a moment when the Doctor notices a fob watch on Jackson Lake but its just a broken fob watch. It’s a nice comedy moment. Another comedy moment is the revelation of his TARDIS which is a hot air balloon. His TARDIS stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed in Style. That is quite clever of RTD. The truth about Morrissey’s Doctor is that he is in fact Jackson Lake.

Dervla Kirwan plays Miss Mercy Hartigan and she is one of the successes of this episode. She is very good from the very beginning of the episode. Miss Hartigan is working for the Cybermen but like most humans, she thinks that she will be the at the court of the Cyber King. The scene where she walks through the cemetery attending the funeral is a great scene cause she’s dressed in red and the snow helps her stand out more. Things seem to be going well for her but just before the Cyber King is launched its clear that Miss Hartigan will become the Cyber King.

The Cyber shade are another RTD disaster. It’s like a dog with a rusty Cyberman mask. Luckily they aren’t in it that much. I cant make up my mind about the head piece of the Cyber Leader. On one hand its very distinctive but on the other hand it looks a bit odd. Black and Silver can go together but no on this occasion. The Cyber King is criticised when people talk about this episode but I have to be honest that I really like it. I like the idea of the Cyber King stomping its way through London. It also looks visually impressive so I cant quite understand why it people are so down on it.

This episode sees the first example of the Doctor’s previous incarnations. I think I remember hearing/reading that Julie Gardner was reluctant about this idea but I think that the show had been back long enough that people would be aware about the past Doctors and will have even bought Doctor Who DVD’s so it’s a nice little nostalgia moment.

The thing about this story is that its not really designed to be taken seriously as like most stories in the series (like the other Christmas Specials) so its unfair to lump it in with the other specials. I thought that this story had its moments and the things that were right with it were good enough to make me like it. I thought that the two David’s were equally great and also Dervla Kirwan was more than capable of keeping up with them.

It’s not the greatest Christmas Special but it was an enjoyable one and it had David Morrissey in it and that’s never a bad thing.