Doctor Who: Ranking The Christmas Specials From Worst To Best

2. The Christmas Invasion (2005)

The first of its kind, €œThe Christmas Invasion€ not established the Christmas special tradition as something very well worth the time and effort, but it also set the bar almost impossibly high for all the specials to follow. Not only was it the first of its kind as a special, but it was an even bigger first in another respect - it introduced David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor with all the gusto and gravitas that he proved to merit throughout his later seasons. The plot itself is exciting and original, without being as convoluted as later episodes. The Sycorax act as effectively threatening antagonists, complete with the loveably cheesy special effects of that era. The episode is different in that, for quite a large portion of it, the Doctor is in post-regeneration slumber and misses a great deal of the action. This works splendidly in Tennant€™s favour, as his eventual entrance has even more power for it being delayed. When the Doctor does arrive, he arrives in a spectacular whirlwind of charisma, command, and pure star quality. As the first regeneration of the new series, he seems to reassure - to both the audience watching with baited breath, to whom a new Doctor Who was still an uncertain idea, as well as a worried Rose Tyler - with every well-placed quip, every flourish of brilliance, that the Doctor is well and truly here to stay. Needless to say, Tennant steals the scene, the special, and the whole show in his first few minutes in the spotlight. €œThe Christmas Invasion€ shows the Tenth Doctor in his prime, before the loss of Rose Tyler and before the guilt and grief of nine hundred years begins to weigh on him... and this Tenth Doctor is a delight. Within fifteen minutes, Tennant establishes everything that the Doctor, and with him the show, will become. His now iconic €œit is defended€ speech portrays both his ebullient love for humanity as well as his unyielding power and by collapsing Harriet Jones€™ regime with six words, he establishes the wrath of the Time Lord and his blinding moral compass. In short, €œThe Christmas Invasion€ will be - if it is not already - regarded as a Doctor Who classic soon enough, by having not just the requisite Christmassy cheerfulness, but by cranking up every single element that makes the show so loved across the world.