Doctor Who: Every Christmas Special Ranked From Worst To Best
10. The Christmas Invasion
Tinsel Factor: 5
Star Quality: 2
Laughter Lines: 8
Thrill Meter: 6
Christmas Spirit: 5
Soapy Spoilers: 1
Total Score: 27
Although the honour of the first Doctor Who Christmas Day episode goes to 1965's The Feast of Steven, The Christmas Invasion was the first to be marketed as a Christmas special, setting an unbroken 11 year trend.
The Tenth Doctor's debut story would have been a ratings winner whenever it was broadcast, but as a Christmas special it doesn't quite work. For starters, the introduction of the new Doctor meant that hiring a big name for a guest appearance would be an unnecessary and expensive distraction. Furthermore, as a 'resurrection' story, it inevitably lacked any tragic twist, focusing instead on Rose's gradual acceptance of the new Doctor.
More than perhaps any other episode, this one embodies Russell T Davies’ writing technique of moving from one set piece to another, with Robot Santas and a spinning Christmas Tree serving little purpose other than to add a Christmas twist to what is otherwise a fairly run of the mill Earth invasion story.
There is however some fun to be had at the expense of the Sycorax, with David Tennant’s Arthur Dent impression, tempered by a sign of things to come when the Doctor brings down Harriet Jones’ premiereship in five words, and Torchwood gets its first name check.
A longer game is clearly in play here that perhaps takes away from the event nature of this significant episode, which might have been stronger had the Doctor drunk his tea earlier on.