Doctor Who: Every Christmas Special Ranked From Worst To Best
3. The Next Doctor
Tinsel Factor: 7
Star Quality: 5
Laughter Lines: 9
Thrill Meter: 9
Christmas Spirit: 9
Soapy Spoilers: 3
Total Score: 42
The Next Doctor was the first special to be set in the romanticised Victorian England of endless Christmas cards. Sure, we see a semblance of poverty in the stereotypical street children and in Jackson Lake’s companion Rosita, but we do so only through the lens of an sanitised past.
The highlight of the episode is David Morrissey’s performance as the Doctor who never was, and it is fun to see David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor forced into the companion’s role for a while - a welcome break from the increasing smugness of this incarnation.
True to the spirit of the Christmas special, The Next Doctor ups the ante to ridiculous proportions when the Cyberking stomps through the City, but the point of the story is focused on one family, even if the obligatory set pieces leave little time to develop it.
The plot is a little shaky in places, but it all builds up to the touching moment when Jackson Lake is reunited with his lost son. The man who had previously been defined by what he had lost, ends up celebrating what he has, by spending Christmas with Rosita and his son and finding a place at his table for the Doctor.
The Next Doctor was one of only two Doctor Who Christmas specials to achieve over 13 million viewers, a testament to David Tennant’s popularity and the success of the previous year’s record breaking special, Voyage of the Damned.