2006 Christmas Special: The Runaway Bride

[PTeppic]

Now that's what Doctor Who is all about... fast paced action, giant space-based aliens, TARDIS chases down the motorway, little plot links to previous episodes, running down wierdly lit tunnels, cross-referencing famous landmarks and general mayhem in the centre of major towns.

Still visibly "mourning" Rose's departure the Doctor finds he's picked up a hitch-hiker. Which of course is technically impossible. She's a thirty-something London girl who was half-way up the aisle at her wedding. Playing down the capability of the TARDIS the Doctor and the Bride (Donna, played perfectly by Catherine Tate [yet is SO bothered by the whole experience she never quite says so!]) end up in London where Donna is captured by one of last year's Santa robots. The Doctor comes to the rescue via an open doored visible flight along the motor way, before taking the Bride back to her own reception. There we meet Donna's fiancee, Lance. Viewing the wedding video the Doctor realises that Donna is seeped in Huon energy, which has been absent from the universer for aeons, apart from some in the TARDIS, to which she must have been drawn like opposing magnets - so where did her Huon energy come from? Investigating, we go back to where Donna and Lance work, a security firm which turns out to be owned by Torchwood. In the un-mapped celler something lurks. It turns out to be a factory creating Huon energy, to be used to help hatch a nest of Racnoss eggs, by the Empress of the Racnoss (Sarah Parish) in one of the best make-up/prosthetics ever seen on terrestrial TV in the UK. Obviously the Empress doesn't like the Doctor's interruption, and things get generally complicated, but you get the idea.

Fabulous episode, with some incredible make-up/prosthetics for the Empress. Some of the other, minor, CGI stuff elsewhere in the episode was a little rough, as usual not in itself but integrating with the live footage. It's still their biggest problem. Great action, a few little nods to previous episodes, some genuine emotion from both lead characters. Plot-wise, one or two tiny niggles (what would really happen if there was suddenly a 4000 mile hole drilled into the surface of the planet?) but otherwise excellent. Not sure I liked the final departure of the TARDIS, visibly shooting upwards into the sky as it faded.

As for the "coming soon":
I reckon there were a good half-dozen, jumbled up episode's worth of spoiler/trailer sequences. I'm going to have to watch the repeat on Wednesday with the video running, there were probably clips from twice as many as this but... there's the Judoon, human rhinoceros people; what looked (very briefly) like the pig-human from "Aliens of London" but I couln't be sure; Mark Gatiss seemed to be playing with regeneration in some form (a self-penned episode?) and of course.... you just can't keep the beeping Daleks down...

[Perpetual Man]

As a whole I'd have to agree. For my own tastes it was rather Lite - no depth, just a fast paced bit of fun - but I don't think I would have wanted anything else on Christmas day after booze, food and chocolate. I'm not a huge fan (read that as not a fan at all) of Catherine Tate and she grated to start with, but by the end she almost won me over.

David Tenant still shines as the Doctor, and loved some of the hints for next year.

This is obviously the start of a Doctor Who heavy week in the UK, with a double episode of Torchwood still to come and the start of Sarah Janes Adventures...

[pyan]

Excellent! As PM says, Dr Who Lite ; but just right for Boxing Day. Loved the motorway bit, especially the kids in the car, the way all the Empresse's eyes blinked at the same time, and, in spite of what PTeppic said, the departure of the TARDIS really impressed me - in fact, all the TARDIS did in this episode was brilliant.
Loved the trailers as well - anyone else think Gamorrean Guards? - and the Black Dalek right at the end was perfectly placed to whet appetites.
For once, really worth all the hype.

[HoopyFrood]

Ahem...


I LOVED IT!

It was brilliant, I especially loved the race along the motorway. And the Empress was fantastic, especially as CGI was cut down to a minimum. Catherine Tate was brilliant, adding a lovely bit of humour to the story. Ah, a brilliant episode.

[Dave]

I'm afraid I fell asleep on and off for most of this.

It wasn't the fault of the episode - very action orientated, though plot light I thought - on the other hand I have no idea what was going on anyway. My kids enjoyed it, though they didn't like Catherine Tate and are glad she will not be the new companion, and said no to the Doctor.

Not having a good week as I missed Torchwood too! And it isn't on everyday twice like it was before. I'll have to wait until Wednesday.

As for the preview of next season - it did look good - did I see Sontarons???

[Adasunshine]

I loved this episode, nice and light and good fun for Christmas... wasn't keen on the Rachnos thingy... *shudders*... me no likey spiders....

Can't wait for the new season though... *is far too excited*

xx

[nixie]

Oh I liked the Empress of the Rachnos, the makeup was great.Roll on the new series

[Coolhand]

I rather liked this.
I mean yeah there were some plot issues and Catherene Tate played a character that I wanted to kill with a nailfile after hearing just five sentances from her (that woman has a real gift for playing people you'd sell your firstborn to avoid) but somehow Doctor Who always just sweeps me along for the ride in it's wild tsunami of enthusiasm and energy.
Prefered the previous christmas special but hey, that one had a sword fight and I love sword fights.

[Dr.Jackson]

I, like many others, wasn't sure about this episode before it aired. The fact that I find Catherine Tate as funny as root-canal and irritating to boot kind of clouded my judgement.
However, by the end of the episode I thought that she wasn't bad as an actress. I think that she might want to take up more acting roles, rather than attempting 'comedy'.

Over all, I enjoyed the episode, but didn't think it was quite as good as the previous Christmas special. It did throw us a few new things about the Doctor (pockets bigger on the inside! I have a jacket like that!).

Still not sure about the TARDIS taking off at the end of the episode. Fair enough, it is also a spaceship, but it shouldn't have made the 'whurn' noise that it makes when de-materialising, because that is a seperate function from its practical engines.
I did like the TARDIS bouncing along the motorway though. I'm sure that Torchwood will now have the footage from the traffic cameras along the road, but just which branch will get it? Also, when it took off at that point, I'm sure it exceeded the speed limit - he'll be getting a ticket soon!

Looking forward to the new series, like the rest of you.

[the_faery_queen]

it was all right. i hate catherine tate. i find her annoying and unfunny. but she could act. i dunno about drowning all those spider babies though. im fairly sure spiders can't drown. of course it comes down to whether they have lungs, as they're not spider spiders, but spider people spiders. still, it was ok. *shrug* i guess im just old and gringy cos nothing impresses me/

[HoopyFrood]

Bit more of a detailed post from me now...and without the gratuituous use of "brilliant" like my last one! (seriously, someone buy me a thesaurus!)

I especially loved the chase down the motorway, it's these kind of moments that the show needs more of...intense and fast-paced, but simple.

I have to say that I quite like Catherine Tate, so when I saw, back at the end of the series, that she'd be appearing in the Christmas special, it made me even more determined to watch it (yes, I had been looking forward to the Christmas special since the end of the series ) Ok, I admit, I did find her voice annoying after a while, but the fact is she was supposed to be playing an annoying, self-centred character, so I think it's praise to her acting abilities that she managed to set so many people's teeth on edge!

I quite liked the Spider Empress thing, but she wasn't incredibly impressive to me...She just didn't seem that much of a threat...but then I suppose the Doctor ended her plan before she could really get going...bit of a pain though, waiting around billions of years, just to be beaten at the final moment And perhaps I'm just too much of a Dalek fan...if they don't make an appearance, I'm not impressed

Anyhoos, needless to say I'm looking forward to the next series. I bet I'm at University when it's on though...grrr. I've heard that David Tennent is leaving mid-way through the fourth series (I don't know if it's true, my source might not be entirely reliable!) It's a shame, I like David as the Doctor...but then I'm a big Tennent fan, after watching him in Cassanova...

[PTeppic]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

I quite liked the Spider Empress thing, but she wasn't incredibly impressive to me...

It's a fair point - without opposable thumbs it's unclear where they got all their power from apart from simply munching on everyone. There must be some technology usage to control the roboforms, but it's a bit unclear how. And yes, she seems awfully susceptible to "normal" human weapons... looks terrifying though, which in this case is all that matters.

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

I've heard that David Tennent is leaving mid-way through the fourth series (I don't know if it's true, my source might not be entirely reliable!) It's a shame, I like David as the Doctor...but then I'm a big Tennent fan, after watching him in Cassanova...

I believe that has been rumoured widely in recent couple of days, though the last I saw the BBC were denying it...

[PTeppic]

Just re-watched the episode: in the "coming soon" it was all a jumble of episodes, but I reckon there were probably at least six separate episodes being shown:

witch/vampire
rhino people (the Judoon)
the Face of Boe
the cat person - related to the nurses?
Mark Gatiss becoming young again
black dalek

there were some clear distinctions in time-frame, though they probably match up to the above ideas.