Doctor Who Christmas Special
Aka the one with the two Davids.
Runaway Bride is still my favourite, but this one is now comes second. Ever since David Morrissey was announced as a guest star for the Christmas Special, I've been looking forward to it, due to the fabulous chemistry he and David Tennant had in Blackpool, as well as David M. as a good actor in general, and their scenes here did not disappoint, despite a lamentable lack of dancing.
You can tell the transition state has set in - Ten here feels much like Three in Planet of the Spiders or Four in Logopolis - not suicidal (as opposed to, say, in the season 3 Dalek two parter) but definitely aware his time in this body is running out, and being at peace with this. I'm not exactly sure when exactly he has figured out that Jackson isn't a future regeneration but a human who somehow got inflicted with some of his memories, but it's before he makes the heart test; I'd say when Jackson uses the (un-sonic) screwdriver at the latest. But he still spares Jackson the knowledge as long as he can, and I loved such moments as "Oh, I'm your companion!" (btw, wouldn't swear to it, and of course at the very start of the show Ian and Barbara were written as the heroes and the Doctor as the unreliable trickster, but I think it's the first time he deliberately takes the companion role) and the gentleness when he does tell Jackson the truth. Jackson's story, btw: amnesia after trauma, transformation into hero via joining with no-nonsense woman companion, finding his son and escaping with him - a mixture between Eight and One?
Jackson, both as peudo-Doctor and as himself, was a very likeable character while also being a man of his time (the fact his vocabulary, Doctor-borrowed words aside, is strictly Victorian is an early giveaway, and of course it fits that at the end he envisions Rosita as his son's nursemaid, not as something else); he has one of the best reactions to the TARDIS ever, and "wonderfully silly" is the best description I can imagine for the whole concept of a time travelling sentient machine disguised as a police box. (And come to think of that, of the show.) His own Victorian!TARDIS is a beautiful thing, and very Jules Verne; I loved that it got used in the climax.
Our other two guest characters were Rosita and Miss Hartigan (Hardigan?). Rosita (yes, yes, obvious mixture of Martha and Rose) is a likeable if generic companion type, with her best moment being when she saves the two Doctors with the ax; Miss Hartigan is a great variation of one of the most famous and interesting of Victorian villainesses, Miss Havisham, fitting the Dickensian theme of this special. Dressed in red (which makes for striking visuals among the dark suits of the men) as opposed to Miss Havisham's white, clever, passionate, exploiting children for her quest and at the very end horrified by realisation, all check. Miss Havisham was ditched on her wedding day, which doesn't resonate nearly as much today; we never find out what exactly happened to Miss Hartigan, but it's clear she suffered exploitation and indignities galore by Victorian mankind. As Miss Havisham, she crosses the line when she starts to use and destroy others. I hoped she would accept the Doctor's offer at the end, but didn't really expect it (because of the Havisham model); so far, the Vashta Nerada remain the only villains in New Who who have done that.
Villains and tragic backstory for Jackson aside, this special is remarkably death-free, and ends on an elegic-optimistic note, when after a poignant allusion to Donna Jackson persuades the Doctor to share dinner with him, Rosita and his son. It left me with a wistful smile, and of course a fanfic craving.
ETA: The most RTD indulging his inner fanboy moment: the montage of all ten Doctors. Which made me happy. First time all ten apear on screen, and first time the first eight (except for Five and Time Crash) show up in New Who, drawings in John Smith's journal exempted. Paul McGann fans should be especially gleeful: he's more than canonized!
Runaway Bride is still my favourite, but this one is now comes second. Ever since David Morrissey was announced as a guest star for the Christmas Special, I've been looking forward to it, due to the fabulous chemistry he and David Tennant had in Blackpool, as well as David M. as a good actor in general, and their scenes here did not disappoint, despite a lamentable lack of dancing.
You can tell the transition state has set in - Ten here feels much like Three in Planet of the Spiders or Four in Logopolis - not suicidal (as opposed to, say, in the season 3 Dalek two parter) but definitely aware his time in this body is running out, and being at peace with this. I'm not exactly sure when exactly he has figured out that Jackson isn't a future regeneration but a human who somehow got inflicted with some of his memories, but it's before he makes the heart test; I'd say when Jackson uses the (un-sonic) screwdriver at the latest. But he still spares Jackson the knowledge as long as he can, and I loved such moments as "Oh, I'm your companion!" (btw, wouldn't swear to it, and of course at the very start of the show Ian and Barbara were written as the heroes and the Doctor as the unreliable trickster, but I think it's the first time he deliberately takes the companion role) and the gentleness when he does tell Jackson the truth. Jackson's story, btw: amnesia after trauma, transformation into hero via joining with no-nonsense woman companion, finding his son and escaping with him - a mixture between Eight and One?
Jackson, both as peudo-Doctor and as himself, was a very likeable character while also being a man of his time (the fact his vocabulary, Doctor-borrowed words aside, is strictly Victorian is an early giveaway, and of course it fits that at the end he envisions Rosita as his son's nursemaid, not as something else); he has one of the best reactions to the TARDIS ever, and "wonderfully silly" is the best description I can imagine for the whole concept of a time travelling sentient machine disguised as a police box. (And come to think of that, of the show.) His own Victorian!TARDIS is a beautiful thing, and very Jules Verne; I loved that it got used in the climax.
Our other two guest characters were Rosita and Miss Hartigan (Hardigan?). Rosita (yes, yes, obvious mixture of Martha and Rose) is a likeable if generic companion type, with her best moment being when she saves the two Doctors with the ax; Miss Hartigan is a great variation of one of the most famous and interesting of Victorian villainesses, Miss Havisham, fitting the Dickensian theme of this special. Dressed in red (which makes for striking visuals among the dark suits of the men) as opposed to Miss Havisham's white, clever, passionate, exploiting children for her quest and at the very end horrified by realisation, all check. Miss Havisham was ditched on her wedding day, which doesn't resonate nearly as much today; we never find out what exactly happened to Miss Hartigan, but it's clear she suffered exploitation and indignities galore by Victorian mankind. As Miss Havisham, she crosses the line when she starts to use and destroy others. I hoped she would accept the Doctor's offer at the end, but didn't really expect it (because of the Havisham model); so far, the Vashta Nerada remain the only villains in New Who who have done that.
Villains and tragic backstory for Jackson aside, this special is remarkably death-free, and ends on an elegic-optimistic note, when after a poignant allusion to Donna Jackson persuades the Doctor to share dinner with him, Rosita and his son. It left me with a wistful smile, and of course a fanfic craving.
ETA: The most RTD indulging his inner fanboy moment: the montage of all ten Doctors. Which made me happy. First time all ten apear on screen, and first time the first eight (except for Five and Time Crash) show up in New Who, drawings in John Smith's journal exempted. Paul McGann fans should be especially gleeful: he's more than canonized!