Doctor Who: Every Tenth Doctor Episode Ranked From Worst To Best

32. The Next Doctor

Doctor Who The End of Time
BBC Studios

The 2008 Christmas special revolved around one joke for its duration: the Doctor meets a man who believes he is the Doctor, but is actually not.

While the episode's title was a cheeky play on David Tennant's prior announcement that he was leaving Doctor Who, the actual story never convinces us that David Morrissey's character is really being set up as his replacement. The Next Doctor feels like it would've been better suited as a Comic Relief sketch than one of the final episodes for the Tenth Doctor.

Once the blatantly obvious reveal that Jackson Lake isn't the Doctor takes place, the story falls into generic Doctor Who territory, as the Doctor defeats the Cybermen and saves Christmas.

It's a shame that more wasn't done with Morrissey's character in the final act, as the actor gave a great performance, and Jackson Lake could've been so much more interesting if he'd been used differently.

Contributor

An avid cinephile, love Trainspotting (the film, not the hobby), like watching bad films ironically (The Room, Cats) and hate my over-reliance on brackets (they’re handy for a quick aside though).