Remembering Christmas: 2005 & 2006

2005- The Christmas Invasion

I liked The Christmas Invasion okay. It was our first such special, but was more of a post-regeneration story. That aspect is what saved it for me. One of my favorite scenes was when Rose was struggling to sound authoritative to the Sycorax, and upon hearing them translated for her, she realizes The Doctor, absent for the most part up until then, must be better....

I loved seeing Harriet Jones again, we will always know who she was. I didn't care for the direction her character went, but I still appreciated her, especially in her next appearance. My other favorite scene was The Doctor picking out his new clothes. This is always fun, and we saw some nods to old Doctors and companions hanging in the wardrobe. But the wardrobe room itself was worth it, the first room outside the console room to be seen, and only other until The Doctor's Wife. To be technical, we didn't see any new rooms until Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS.

2006: Runaway Bride

Besides The End of Time, Runaway Bride is my favorite pre-Moffat era Christmas special. A lot of that could be my huge love of Catherine Tate. But aside from that it was fun. Seeing the viewpoint of a companion who found herself unwillingly in the TARDIS, as portrayed by Ms. Tate, was a riot. One of my favorite scenes is her first after finding herself inexplicably beamed into the TARDIS. Which is not even a proper word!

Donna struggles to get back to the church she had been getting married in. She's not impressed by The Doctor at all, something new, and she's also not carrying any money. (pockets) My favorite scene of the whole episode comes after she finds a cab driver willing to giver her a lift.

They really played around with the TARDIS in this one, and I don't just mean going back to the creation of the Earth. My other favorite scene is when The Doctor uses the same Huon particles in Donna that pulled her into the TARDIS to bring the TARDIS to them.

SPOILERS!!! Big Christmas Hints And Quote From The New DWM

The new issue of Doctor who magazine has a couple of very interesting tidbits...



Stephen Moffat says the question was not asked in The Name of The Doctor, claiming surprise that fans thought that was it. This really changes things. So what was all that "Doctor who?" about coming from Dorium, among others.


Matt is supposedly in almost every scene and even helps Cara cook Christmas dinner!



There is a 'fair bit' of nudity, but knowing Moffat this could be Silence or Cybermen.



We get some clarification on Tasha Lem. She s someone we have never met, but is an old friend of The Doctor and knows him well. I'm kind of excited because she is the Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe. (Last mentioned, I believe, in A Good Man Goes To War) And confused by the image released. (See previous post)

Is this going to be the endless war mentioned by Madame Kovarian?



We also got a newer synopsis:

"The Doctor dies on Trenzalore. It's a fact. He's seen it. His own tomb, somewhere out there in the future. The Great Intelligence knew it to be true: "One day it was just too much for the old man." The Doctor's death is inevitable - and the time has come for him to return to Trenzalore to fight his final battle. But first there's Christmas dinner to prepare..."



Here is a quote from the episode:

CLARA: "But you don't die. You change-you pop right back with a new face."
THE DOCTOR: "Not forever. I can change 12 times. 13 versions of me. 13 silly Doctors."
CLARA: "But you're number 11, so-"
THE DOCTOR: "Are we forgetting Captain Grumpy? I didn't call myself The Doctor during the Time War, but it was still a regeneration."

Spoiler-y New Images For Christmas

Okay, I put this one first because WHAT the WHAT?? This kind of blows a few theories as to who Tasha Lem will be out of the water.

I don't think the rest are spoilery, bu they are very nice. There are a couple of new views of the kid's drawings, too.

How sweet. Looks like for Christmas we get a Silence singing O' Holy Night.

Previewing The Time Of The Doctor

We got the first trailer today. It's short but interesting.

In it we can hear Clara narrate: "And now its time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now. The clock is striking twelve's."

The mysterious woman says, "The siege of Trenzalore has begun." and "The Timelord has entered the trap."

Clara begs someone to help The Doctor change the future.

A Dalek bleats, "The Doctor is regenerating."


Here are some of the images I found interesting. First the mysterious woman, Tasha Lem. I don't know where the name comes in, but we've been told she is someone from The Doctor's past. By the look of her, and how she has taken charge of this army, it really looks to me like it might be The Rani, the evil Timelady we last saw in "Time and The Rani." Which is good, and a regeneration episode, but not as good as "The Mark of The Rani." IMHO.

And given the other images we have seen, I wonder where this is...

Looks like The Doctor is legend on Trenzalore, but is this before or after whatever happens happens?

I was wondering what this huge Dalek gun was sticking out from the one on the left, but when looking at the second picture, it looks like it might have been attached to that tank.

Speaking of the Daleks, look in the first photo, has The Doctor become King of the Daleks? In the second pic I find the painting with a Silence in it interesting. Looks like it might be Timelord art.

Here are three of our villains. Quite a spooky image of the angel. The Silence appears to be singing a power ballad. I love the look of the wooden Cyberman. It's been put out there that they upgraded when they found out the sonic screwdriver doesn't do wood. (He has GOT to fix that) I think it could be that or to do with the gold allergy they used to have, which was brought up in "The Nightmare In Silver."

Lastly I'll share more proof of The Doctor's legend on Trenzalore. How these children would know all of these things to draw I have no idea. Mostly the images are familiar, but there are a couple I question.

Gallifrey Found

This is planet "HD 106906 B" and it was found in the farthest orbit of a sun yet discovered. Probably because of a combination of it's appearance as well as the 50th anniversary and the revelation that Gallifrey is out there, not surprisingly there is a petition to have the planet named Gallifrey.  I don't normally go for petitions, but I signed this one, and I hope enough people do to have it named, as it would be a fitting tribute for the show, as well as a wonderful 50th birthday gift. They are still a number of people away from their goal of signatures, so please go here and sign the petition today. 

Here is a Youtube video from the person who started the petition.

We might not get a more perfect opportunity to immortalize Doctor Who in our reality's stars.
#GallifreyFound