Into the Tennant Years now. I should mention that though we have the TV series back on and regularly, I will still be having stuff from the various spin-offs on here too, as Big Finish and such didn’t just go “oh well, that’s Who covered, never mind, pack up lads” when the series started, they instead upped their game. Plus, do you really need yet another analysis of Blink on the Internet? So I thought I might focus on a few other things going on too, stuff that might be a bit overshadowed by TV Who, let’s do a little bit of redressing the balance. So then, we’ll start with a Tennant episode, before moving onto a different season opener, broadcast not on BBC One, but on Radio 7 (what Radio 4 Extra used to be called).
Year 43: 2005 to 2006 - The Christmas Invasion
Now this might be an odd choice; many would probably go for The Girl in the Fireplace or School Reunion. I do have a very solid reason for this one though, which I will get to in a minute. Firstly, the episode itself is a good ‘un. The revived season was only one season in before its first big cast shake up, so in many ways this had a lot hanging on it, would a modern audience be accepting of the idea of a regeneration? It's probably why so much of the episode is carried by Rose, keep the audience familiar elements before fully introducing the new Doctor. And what an entrance Tennant gets here, not least for the clever gambit of using the TARDIS’ translation functions to foreshadow his arrival proper. It's only about twenty minutes before the end before he wakes up, but as soon as he does, he takes over the episode marvelously, making the role very much his own. Also it's fun to see the seeds of so much that would become important later on (Torchwood, the hand, the impact on Harriet Jones's government…) be set up here.
But the main reason I am picking this one is for what it started. Now I am a big defender of the Chibnall era in a lot of ways, but one criticism I do have of them is that I really missed the Christmas specials. To misquote a fine Big Finish production (one of their best) “Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Who on the Telly”. This one episode effectively started a new Christmas tradition in a single go, succeeding where The Feast of Steven failed. Before this episode, the idea of doing a Doctor Who Christmas special seemed so bizarre, and yet the combination works so well. The specials have given us some incredible moments, and some of New Who’s best ratings, which is unsurprising given the captive audience watching during a turkey induced semi-coma. I am so glad that we’re getting them back with Ncuti’s first episode, and I do admit to last year going “hold everything” on Christmas Day itself, so I could catch the trailer for the Star Beast they had on then. So yeah, for starting a new tradition, and being a demonstration of the confidence the Beeb had in the show, giving it pride of place on BBC One Christmas Day, I have to give the nod to this episode.
Whilst I’m here, I will quickly go through my favourites of the Christmas Specials. So besides this one, I have to give the nod to The Runaway Bride (for Catherine Tate’s debut in the show), A Christmas Carol (easily the most Christmassy of the lot, and with a fun take on the old format), Last Christmas (mainly for Nick Frost, a man destined to play Santa), The Husbands of River Song (a wonderful ending to her character arc) and The Return of Doctor Mysterio (for being a better Superman story than the actual Superman film out that year; YEAH I WENT THERE!). Although I will add that my all time favourite Doctor Who Christmas story is not one that’s on TV; it’s a two part story in the Big Finish Eighth Doctor box set Ravenous 2, Better Watch Out and Fairytale of Salzburg, in which on a trip to Austria, the Doctor and friends must face The Krampus! Speaking of a Big Finish Eighth Doctor story...
Year 44: 2006 to 2007 - Blood of the Daleks
This was the start of a collaboration between BBC Radio and Big Finish, to make some audios starring Paul McGann that fit the format of New Who, rather than the older serial format. It also led to some big changes to the main audios; since they wanted it to be for a new audience, it was decided that the Eighth Doctor should have a fresh companion, at the start of their story arc. So as such, the Eighth Doctor’s stories in the main monthly range were wound down (although Charley did get to stay in the range for a while… enjoy the surprise as to how!), and so McGann was the first Doctor to get his stories as their own, self contained series. I have been recommending some fine Big Finish audios before, but I think that, by this story’s nature, it’s probably the best jumping on point for someone looking to get into them we’ve had so far.
So as for the story itself, it’s a very strong Dalek tale; as soon as they turn up offering humanitarian (Dalekitarian?) aid to the planet Red Rocket Rising, you immediately start wondering “All right, what are you lot up to?”. What’s really going on, what they are after is revealed slowly, and carefully over the story, notably in an excellent cliffhanger between the two parts, and it’s something that makes a lot of sense given the Dalek’s characterisation, and it leads the Doctor to some interesting dilemmas about how to deal with it. But he also has to deal with his new companion; Lucie Miller, played by Sheridan Smith. Having been dumped on him by the Time Lords themselves, as part of some “witness protection scheme”, she’s a lot of fun; she’s almost like a reflection of Rose Tyler, with the big difference between her and Rose is that, at first, she’s not all that impressed by the Doctor. She has quite an attitude on her, but it soon becomes clear that she really does care about people, her character arc across all her audios is great, with one hell of a climax, and Sheridan and Paul have excellent chemistry together. This story is a fun take on the classic enemies in and of itself, and it kicks of a great new age for the Eighth Doctor too, showing that even beyond the Wilderness Years, there was plenty of range to explore his take on the Doctor. Oh, and Marvel fans, the cast list for this story features Peggy Carter herself, Haley Atwell! Man, it would be great to have her back in Who again…
Next time, I will have a look at a very fun one off comic story, and I'll be highlighting another range from Big Finish, one that might contain their finest work…
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