5. Voyage Of The Damned
There was a time when you would've laughed at the outlandish concept of the Tenth Doctor joining forces with Kylie Minogue but in 2007 it became a reality when the singer personally requested to appear in the series and ended up being cast as the Time Lord's 'companion who never was', Astrid Peth, in Voyage of the Damned. It's not everyday that someone asks for a guest part in the series and gets handed one on a plate, of course, but she should be so lucky (
lucky, lucky, lucky...) to have been given the opportunity to leave such a coveted mark on the Whoniverse. As expected, her involvement in the seasonal escapade attracted a
lot of media interest, not only because it would mark the first time she'd played a character on TV since her formative years as Charlene Robinson in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. As the centrepiece of the BBC's yuletide festivities, the now traditional Doctor Who Christmas Special is always guaranteed to be a hit but this time there was even more at stake as the Doctor found himself fighting to the death aboard the Titanic (or rather, a cruise liner spaceship replica - this
was Doctor Who, after all!) amidst aliens, saboteurs, robot angels... and a petite pop princess. Naturally. The gamble paid off in the end, though, as Astrid Peth did the loco-motion right into our hearts and Kylie's short but sweet guest stint in the show secured a whopping rating of 13.31 million and the episode is still the most watched of the revived series so far. Perhaps it would only be beaten if the Doctor were to join forces with Justin Bieber this Christmas. Stranger things have happened.