The Next Doctor

If you were a fan of Tennant before Doctor Who and one of Morrisey before The Walking Dead, then this episode is a dream. As an adversarial pair in Black Pool, these two actors chewed up the scenery and gave an audience something spectacular. In this episode they truly work off that chemistry as eventual allies, and the performance is one based on familiarity and trust. That permeates the episode. RTD gives enough cheek (Rosetta), sentiment (the son) and emotional foreshadowing (the next Doctor) to create a fully satisfying episode. To look back and see The Governor in such a sympathetic role speaks volumes to his talent.As to Tennant - well, if you're a fan, you know his work here, there, and recently on Broad Church speaks for itself. Wonderful episode.

Somehow I'd missed this old Christmas episode of David Tennant's "Dr Who", but even watching it in mid-April, found it to be one of the best of the whole new-Doctor episodes I've seen.

Cleverly riffing off the ever-attendant speculation on who will be the new Doctor, Russell T Davies cheekily casts one of the then prime contenders for Tennant's trainers, David Morrissey, opposite the incumbent, intriguingly as an apparently till-now unknown Victorian incarnation of our favourite Gallifreyan time-lord, complete with his own Martha-like companion, sonic screwdriver and even his own TARDIS.

Davies spins out the confusion just long enough before he gives us the crafty explanation leaving room for a big (and I mean big) finish where our Doctor naturally saves the day in a massive C-Gen set-piece against the backdrop of London itself.

There are some great in-house jokes, none more so than Morrissey's Doctor's explanation of the acronym of his own TARDIS and yet it's his Heath Robinson-type contraption that saves the day rather than Tennent's own.

This episode cries out not be taken too seriously as every serious Dickensian reference is riposted with light-hearted sideways nods at more contemporary action characters as the Doctor makes a Superman-type rescue of a young boy and of course that whole over-the-top "Transformers"-style climax as the gigantor Cyber-King is brought back down to earth, almost literally.

Morrissey's great as the deluded Jackson Lake, Tennant as usual is too-cool-for-school, gently bursting Morrissey's bubble, while Dervla Kirwan makes for a great villainess. I enjoyed that Tennant flew solo on this occasion, his between-partners status causing some considered reflections on the transient nature of all his past fellow-travellers.

This was classic Who, one of the best I've seen and also offers a tantalising look at an alternative future Doctor who didn't quite get the nod, but would surely have done well in the part in an alternative future.

The gap between seasons four and five of "Doctor Who" was marked with five specials, leading up to the departure of David Tennant. The first of these, the Christmas special from 2008, saw Tennant reunite with his "Blackpool" co-star David Morrissey for an adventure that's perhaps better in idea than in execution.

Alone once again, The Doctor (David Tennant) travels to Victorian London, in time for Christmas. Implausibly, he hears someone calling for help from "The Doctor" and whilst he responds, he's beaten there by another man, also calling himself The Doctor (David Morrissey). The pair fail to capture a creature with the face of a cyberman. The (original) Doctor comes to quickly believe that this other Doctor must be a future version of him, though this "Next Doctor" doesn't seem to remember being him. With a cyberman squad established in London and Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan) as their embittered leader, The Doctor learns the truth about who the man is.

I thought that, following that stellar run of epsiodes that sees out season four, "The Next Doctor" was a bit of a disappointment. The performances are good - particularly from Morrissey who, in a not particularly different set of circumstances, could have been the actual Doctor at previous times. He plays a slightly more stoic version of the character, more of a traditional hero than Tennant's version. Kirwan is good too, hinting of a darker back story which explains why she takes up with the Cybermen against her fellow humans.

Once the truth of the characters is established though, the rest of the episode is a bit weak - particularly the ending and how the giant Cyberman is dealt with.

My recollection of these specials is that they were fairly disappointing until the final two-parters that saw the Tenth Doctor finally regenerate, despite some brighter moments, that is certainly the case with this first one.

The Cybers have dropped back in time, unmerrily on high the bells chime, but there is a new champ, mind full of Info-stamp, and he makes a great partner in crime.

The skills and innovation of Victorian Cybermen is astounding, adds a bit more context to the Industrial Revolution.

It's Christmas Eve 1851, and the Doctor lands, with no companion, he encounters Rosita, searching for her Doctor, who turns out to be David Morrissey. The Doctor thinks he's his future self, but certain things don't quite make sense, a pocket watch may hold the key. New Doctor explains the Cybermen are at work in the area, aided by local Miss Hartigan. At the funeral of the local Reverend Miss Hartigan turns up wearing a bold red dress, and a Cyber attack takes place on the gathered guests, killing some and rounding up select members. They then round the children into the workhouse, with one aim, re birth of the Cyber king.

There are quite a few surprises in store, the Cybermen pop up in some unexpected ways.

I think the scene when Miss Hartigan attends the funeral in that red dress is one of the most visual I can think of in the show's history, it looks so good.

The episode rather a fun romp. Dervla Kirwan is rather brilliant as Miss Hartigan. I must applaud David Morrisey, no wonder he was touted to play the Doctor, he was so brilliant, I loved his performance. A slight tease as Morrisey was tipped to take over the reigns of the TARDIS at the time. A Christmasy Oliver feel, the Children, the Workhouse etc. Not so sure about the Cyber King, it's a little bit over the top. Overall it's fun and quite heart warming. 7/10