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Doctor Who: The Next Doctor (2008 Christmas Special)

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The thing that immediately impressed me about "The Next Doctor" was that you don't necessarily have to be a long-time fan to enjoy it. But for those viewers who ARE faithful followers of the traveling Time Lord (myself included), it's a fine combination of elements that have traditionally worked in Doctor Who stories. The episode is full of action, humor, pathos, better-than-average performances, and a sense of wonder that has long been missing from t.v. science fiction.

[SPOILERS AHEAD] The Doctor is delighted to find himself in Victorian England at Christmastime. He is soon surprised, however, to encounter another fellow claiming to be "the one, the only, the best" Doctor. With his own companion, sonic screwdriver (sort of) and TARDIS (a wonderful twist which I refuse to spoil), this Doctor is man with some crucial memories missing. What the REAL Doctor finds out about this mystery man is tragic yet inspiring, and touches on the whole history of the series. Oh, and did I mention the Cybermen are on-hand as well?

The entire production is first-rate, from the gorgeously-realized snowy streets to the impressive spectacle of the Cyber King on the march. Guest star David Morrisey is so good in his role, you almost wish he WAS the next Doctor. And like the best of the modern episodes, the resolution is both satisfying and leaves you wanting to see more.

The disc also includes an interesting special, "Doctor Who at the Proms." This is an hour-long concert of the show's music peformed at the Royal Albert Hall. In addition to big screens projecting images from the show's first 4 seasons, there are actors dressed as Cybermen, Judoon, etc. that roam through the aisles to the delight of the crowd. Freema Ageyman hosts, with a special appearance by Catherine Tate. It's a fun way to enjoy the great music from the show.

I have no doubt that BBC will eventually release all the one-off specials featuring David Tennant in a box set when all is said and done. But if you can't wait, "The Next Doctor" is a perfect way to pass the time.

For reasons passing understanding, this program, the Christmas Doctor Who special for 2008, has been released this month (September), while its successor in this season of Doctor Who specials on the BBC, "Planet of the Dead", was released earlier this summer. This episode is by far the superior story.

The strongest element in the program, besides the characteristically endearing Doctor of David Tennant, is the "Doctor" of David Morrissey (for those who haven't seen the episode, I'll leave it at that). Morrissey is familiar to many of us for his stellar contributions to "State of Play" and the BBC "Sense and Sensibility". Morrissey is, by turns, dashingly heroic, confused, and crushed, as the true nature of the presence of Tennant's Doctor is made manifest. His is that increasingly rare feature of the "new" Doctor Who--a sympathetic male companion, evoking nostalgia for the likes of Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier and the late Ian Marter's Harry Sullivan, not to mention Frazer Hines' Jamie.
Dervla Kirwin is delightful as the villain, following in the footsteps of such Doctor Who femmes fatale as the Rani and Chesene, the murderous Androgum. And Russell T, Davies' favorite baddies the Cybermen make a grand appearance as well.

The screenplay is superb, set in a Dickens Christmas London, one of the time periods that this era of Doctor Who has been most successful at evoking. There isn't a wasted scene, as the script moves at a fast pace, but manages to give Morrissey time to flesh out his character.

These one-shot episodes are pretty skimpy as to extras, and this one features only one--but it's pretty special: the BBC Night at the Proms concert that was devoted to the music of Doctor Who, composed by Murray Gold. Freema Agyeman serves as MC, and there are guest appearance by Catherine Tate, Davros, and several Cybermen, Sontarans, Judoon and an Ood or three. The highlight is a special video appearance by David Tennant's Doctor.

It will be a sad day indeed when Tennant's Doctor regenerates into his new body in the person of Matt Smith. This terrific program gives us an insight into what might have been....

... and it's not a horrible story. I've seen worse.

Plus, most of the Christmas specials are filled with fluff anyway, in keeping with the holiday spirit. That being said, this story is a fun bit of Christmas cheer, although it lacks depth on some levels, but I'll still line it up with the other Christmas specials for Christmas morning viewing. I will say though, I thought the Cyber-Shades were kind of creepy and I hope they bring them back at some point. On the other hand, the Cyber-King "ship" was a bit too much on the cheesy side for me, and while I first relished the character of Ms. Hartigan, she completely crashed and burned into the cheese fest.

Another thing that stirred the bee in my bonnet was the Rosita character, and I'm going to say something that a lot of people ~ especially fans of the new series ~ won't like: Enough with Rose Tyler, already! I mean, come on. Bleeding hearts of the world unite! Enough with the references, the inferences, the parallels, the longing, the tragedy of it all, etc. The writers, including Russell T. Davies, whom I happen to actually love, being a writer myself, have beat this like a dead horse and to a bloody pulp. Yes, we know the Doctor has great affection for her; yes, we know he can never be with her, but let's move on. Please.

It's for this reason that I am really anxious for Steven Moffat to take the reins of the series ~ and in a way, I'm glad there's a new Doctor. I love David Tennant and I think he's been absolutely brilliant ~ right up there with, if not surpassing, Tom Baker ~ but this whole, galactic playboy thing (as further evidenced in Planet of the Dead) is wearing thin. The character of the Doctor is NOT Captain Kirk and he is NOT about romantic baggage, thank you very much ~ and I'm saying that as a chick, who initially loved the character of Rose and her deeper friendship with the Doctor. It was different than the classic series, with a little more humanity thrown in, instead of the cold, androgynous, teacher-student, master-apprentice dynamic. But enough.

There, I said it. I feel much better now.

On the upside, David Morrissey's portrayal of "The Doctor" was quite fun to watch as a romanticized, chivalrous version of our favorite Time Lord, and some of his dialogue and interaction with the real Doctor was thrilling, thinking that this might just be a future version him, with memories lost. Alas, 'twas not meant to be, which is kind of a bummer, because I think Morrissey would have made a great eleventh Doctor.

On the whole, though, it's a fun little frolic ~ not on the A-list, but rather on the B-list, in the canon of the Whoniverse. But like I said, I've seen worse, and as we tick down the days and months to David Tennant's departure, I do feel a certain sadness. He's been MY Doctor of the revived series, just like Baker was in the classic, even though I loved Christopher Eccleston, too, and I will be sad when Tennant leaves.

But hey! Viva la Doctor! As one chapter ends, another begins. And that's what the Doctor's story is all about!

First off, let me say that if "The Next Doctor" has any shortcomings, it's not the fault of the actors. The two Davids (Tennant and Morrissey) give some really stellar work here; nuanced, passionate and believable. Morrissey, in particular, gives a much better performance than this deserves. I would recommend seeing this special solely for their performances alone. Even the actress who plays Rosita is delightful, and I wish we saw more of her in this episode. The actual story, however, reeks of wasted potential, even for 60 minutes. For a premise this grand, you really need two hours to properly present it all. Failing that, however, you could at least make this Cyberman adventure distinguishable from the others. Simply jacking up the awful musical score to downright-intrusive levels won't do the trick.

The revelation about the "next" Doctor's nature is revealed pretty early on, which deflates most of what follows. The Cybermen have learned a few new tricks, including the part-simian versions that are covered in fur, but we don't delve into exactly what they are or why the Cybermen are making them. To put it bluntly, the whole affair feels by-the-numbers. It begins with a haphazard murder mystery which turns out to be superfluous; yes, the Doctor will snoop around and find the answers instantly; yes, the Doctor will casually overpower the villain with little to no effort; yes, everyone fawns over the Doctor (the camera literally zooms in whenever someone even mentions his name) and thinks he's the greatest thing since ice cream. The only thing lacking is...well, a plot. The villain's motives and overall aim are taken for granted; she's evil, she wants to rule the world. What else is there to know?

Well, nothing much, if you're a kid. In fact, the series as a whole has been drifting further and further away from the mass appeal of the earlier seasons, and is now catered exclusively toward kids. And rather dim kids, at that; the script is overloaded with exposition, literally narrating the Doctor's every move, no matter how obvious it is to the viewer. I shudder to think what will become of this series once David Tennant's seasoned grasp of the character and his mannerisms have left the show, and the lead performances become as hollow as everything else.

This Christmas Special has a bit more comedy than others, in my opinion. The whole "Next Doctor" bit is very entertaining. Although the method of how he came about, and their primary weapons against the Cybermen seems a bit far-fetched and silly.

In comparison to the general series, this special is a bit less serious and is not as thoroughly backed with details, but as long as you are familiar with the series most of the information fills in. It does introduce a new type of Cyber-unit and these information storage units called "Info-Stamps" that hold a load of data in picture format, it would seem. There is no real information on where this new Cyber-critter came from, and the Info-Stamps are a bit overly powerful. They can project the information on a wall, be plugged into the Cybermen and the information is immediately transferred, or one can pop the cap off of them and obliterate most anything with the wonderful power core. How handy! Sounds like the ultimate weapon/tool all wrapped up into one handy hand-held cylinder! Oh, and apparently, they can imprint a lot of information into a person's mind if they hold it wrong. I kind of feel that these little Info-Stamps were given a bit too much weight in the show. It just seemed like a much-too-easy solution to everything.

This DVD comes with a 1 Hour "The Next Doctor" episode, along with a 1 Hour "Doctor Who at the Proms" special which is a musical special that takes place at the Royal Albert Hall. It is entertaining to watch as well, although they mixed in a lot of clips from the show with the video of the performance. There were many familiar aliens from the new Doctor Who series running about the audience. It must have been an awesome experience to be there!

All in all, for the price, it was wonderful! Maybe not the best Doctor Who plot of all time, but it certainly helps break up this year without any new episodes! I enjoyed it, and am happy to have bought it!

Doctor Who: Next Doctor is the 2008 Christmas special, a Doctor Who tradition. It is, in a word, superb. Writer Russell T. Davies continues to add layers to Who mythology, and to the character himself, as he consistently does. The characterizations of Dr Who, the "next dr," and Rosita ("next dr's" companion) are fun and vibrant, the episode is loaded with action, and the FX in the climactic scenes are quite a spectacle. I will give nothing away, but let me say that the final scene is another one of those great, poignant moments that can't help but make you love the character of (and David Tennant's rendition of) the good doctor more than ever.

I suggest you also watch the extra, which is a concert, "Doctor Who BBC Prom," hosted by Freema Agyeman, and recorded at Royal Albert Hall in London. It includes a full orchestra and choir performing music from the new series, including the epic Rose's Theme, along with various alien creatures from the series 1-4 interacting with the audience. It's great fun watching how the kids in the audience respond when, for instance, they are approached by a very convincing Cyberman. In addition, a mini-episode featuring Tennant, "Music of the Spheres," is projected for the audience. It is interactive and pretty clever. This is just a very fun disc. The only flaw is that the episode is only an hour long :(

The first time I watched The Next Doctor (2008 Christmas Special) I was less enthusiastic about it than I had hoped. This past year of Dr Who has been so long and drawn out, especially in the US, and somehow, watching it on BBCAmerica just didn't live up to the expectations.
I did go ahead and order the dvd, however, waiting a while to watch the show a second time.
The key was viewing it with the continuity of a movie format, and appreciating once again, how it delved into the Doctor's emotions and character. The addition of the "new" doctor and his circumstances make for a really nice story, dramatically and, in fine Dr. Who fashion. There is the trauma of cybermen, a slightly deranged female villain and the heroic work of the two doctors.
If you were unsure, as I was, then take a chance on this and view it once again. Especially if you're following this last year closely, having all of them on hand on dvd will be a finale to this extraordinary series. This is an integral part of that.

"The Next Doctor" the first in a four one off episodes for 2009 featuring David Tennant.
After the events of series four and still dealing with the fact that he had to take every memory from Donna to keep her alive. He finds himself in London in the year 1851 on Christmas no less "with proper snow" even. Soon enough The Doctor hears his name being shouted by a strange woman calling for him. Once The Doctor arrives only to find that he isn't "The Doctor", soon enough another person calling himself "The Doctor" arrives and takes charge. The real Doctor decides to play along but in the back of his mind he wonders if he has met a future version of himself. Both Doctors seek out clues as to hat is goingon and all fingers point to one threat..cybermen. Trapped in earth's past they have a plan to rule the Earth and convert all of the world to cybermen. Aided by the angry and devious Miss Hartigan the Cybermen plan on using wealthy members of society and thier money for sinister plans. Will the Doctor figure out what is going on before he becomes a foot note in his own past?

Okay let's step back for a moment and remember that this is not supposed to be a true to life scientific drama or documentary. Having said that, we can overlook the really lame giant metal machine at the end which made me laugh. The whole point of the episode was revealed in the final scene between the 2 doctors. "The Doctor" said that in the end "they break my heart." Here is the Doctor's dilemma; he cannot stand to go through the pain of his travels alone, but he cannot stand the pain that comes from what he puts his companions through, or what an extended relationship with one of them will bring-the ultimate knowledge that he will outlive them-he will not grow old or die, but they will. So at the end the Doctor gets to spend some time for Christmas dinner, and he did not need a close companion to get mixed up with to go through this latest adventure.

I think this special episode ("The Next Doctor") out on DVD was good but could have been more exciting like the next special "Planet of the Dead". Unfortunately, the suspense with the Cybermen was a bit lacking compared to the 2-part episodes ("Rise of Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel") from Season 2 with Rose Tyler. The ending was a letdown and totally a cop-out compared to the 2-parter from Season 2. But, the real twist is figuring out this new "Doctor" character played by David Morrissey. Yes, he was in "Basic Instinct 2" with Sharon Stone but at heart is a British actor deep in BBC productions. Hearing him talk with the REAL "Doctor" is a hoot and you will easily be won-over with his emotional rollercoaster ride. Cybermen are NOT scary in this special which is sad but I think writers were counting on the whole David against David banter to last for 60 minutes. If you are a true "Doctor Who" fan, then get it. If you are the occasional viewer, then check first with "Planet of the Dead" before "The Next Doctor". Also, I can't wait for "Waters of Mars" and "The End of Time" 2-parter season finale. I don't get the Dish but others can catch it on BBC America in December 19 for "Waters of Mars" and December 26 for the first part of "The End of Time". Also, you will find out who knocks 4 times.