"Not bad for a fella in jim-jams!"

The overnight viewing figures are in for Christmas Day and "Doctor Who" performed well, pulling in an audience of 9.4 million, being beaten only by "EastEnders"! That's slightly more than Paul McGann's debut in 1996 but a little under Christopher Eccleston's earlier this year. It was a sensible move to schedule "The Christmas Invasion" for broadcast actually on Christmas Day rather than in its regular slot of Saturday evening, when its potential audience might still have been engaged in last-minute Christmas shopping!!

The story began on Christmas Eve so there may well have been a temptation to put it out on Saturday at 7pm instead of Sunday. It occured to me, while watching the BBC THREE repeats of episodes three and four of series one on Tuesday night, that we've already had a perfectly good Christmas special earlier in the year in the shape of "The Unquiet Dead". This story was also set on Christmas Eve but in 1869 as opposed to the present day and, while I'm on the subject, the current four-part serial on BBC 7, "The Chimes of Midnight", is also set on Christmas Eve, on this occasion at the beginning of the twentieth century. So, Doctors eight, nine and ten have all visited Christmas Eve! It's getting to be a habit!!

It's hard to form an opinion on David Tennant's interpretation of the role just yet because he didn't really enter the fray until the last twenty minutes of the hourlong episode but he does look very promising. I shall wait until the end of the next series before making up my mind as my opinion of Chris Eccleston's Doctor has grown more and more favourable the more I watch him.

I will say that David's sword fight with the Sycorax leader put me in mind of Jon Pertwee's Doctor, specifically the fencing sequence with Roger Delgado's Master in "The Sea Devils", while the undermining of his enemy with humour was obviously inspired by Tom Baker's portrayal. The new Doctor's reaction to the Prime Minister's destruction of the retreating Sycorax vessel was also that of Jon Pertwee's to the brigadier's annihilation of "The Silurians". I was reminded of Chris Eccleston's Doctor's disposal of Cassandra, in "The End of the World", in David Tennant's final dispatch of the enemy leader as the pyjama-clad hero walked detachedly away with the words "no second chances".

Only a few minor quibbles! I found Camille Coduri's voice very shrill in the Christmas tree sequence and I thought the signposting of the upcoming BBC THREE spin-off series, "Torchwood", a bit heavy-handed. I enjoyed the teaser for the second series, at the end of the episode, and I guessed the final shot would be that of a Cyberman! The design of the cat people, from next year's opening episode "New Earth", looks good on brief acquaintance and it will be interesting to compare it to the cheetahs from Sylvester McCoy's finale "Survival". David's debut was a nice present from the BBC and, despite recording it, watching the repeat should provide everyone with a happy New Year.

Tomorrow, A New Beginning...

It's Christmas and Jackie Tyler is at home preparing for the festive season, not knowing if her daughter Rose will be home in time - or at all! Then she hears the familiar, ancient grind of the TARDIS...

Mickey, Rose's sometime boyfriend, is hard at work at the garage when he also recognises the sound. Both he and Rose's mum race across the estate just in time to witness the TARDIS' gloriously chaotic crash-landing. The doors open and, much to their delight, out steps Rose but with a complete stranger - except it isn't a stranger - it's the Doctor.

Disorientated, yet overwhelmed to see them, the Doctor takes a few minutes to regain his balance and consider what it is he wants to tell them. "Oh! I know! Merry Christmas!" he yells, before collapsing.

The Doctor falls in and out of consciousness, with Rose and Jackie powerless to help him. In a bid to boost Rose's spirits, Mickey suggests a spot of Christmas shopping. A good plan - until they find themselves under attack by a sinister brass band of masked Santas.

However, the Doctor and his friends are not the only ones with problems. Prime Minister Harriet Jones has just been informed that a British space probe, on its way to Mars for a Christmas Day landing, has gone missing. It has been kidnapped by a monstrous race known as the Sycorax, who are hellbent on taking over the world.

Meanwhile, back at the Tylers', Mickey and Jackie are trying to fend off a killer Christmas tree, while Rose tries urgently to wake the Doctor...

"Angel" - No Show!!!

Five are not going to broadcast the fifth and final series of "Angel". The "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" spin-off has had a rough ride on terrestrial television since it began on Channel 4. The programme was deemed too violent and, during its first season, was consequently heavily, and rather badly, edited for a 6pm transmission slot. People complained and it was rerun, often in double bills, late on Saturday nights. The damage was done though and it obviously didn't find an audience as, after running the second season in the same late night slot, Channel 4 gave up on the series.

Five acquired the rights, moved it to Mondays, but continued broadcasting it late at night. Had I been Five's scheduler, I would have put it on straight after "Charmed" around 8pm on Saturday evenings, where, at the time, they were running James Cameron's "Dark Angel". Ironically, the reruns of "Dark Angel" are now in the graveyard slot once occupied by "Angel"! Even more ironically, since "Dark Angel" finished its first run on Saturday nights, this early evening slot has been occupied by reruns of the first season of "Buffy" and more recently the first season of "Star Trek: Voyager"!!

There have been rumblings about Chris Eccleston's prompt departure from the recent revival of "Doctor Who" because, it is claimed, audiences had invested in his character. At least "Doctor Who" is returning to our screens just with a different lead actor, which is, in any case, built into the concept of the programme. But, what about when an audience invests in four seasons only to be told they are not allowed to see the final year? You could argue that you have had your time wasted, been sold a book with the last chapters missing! This happened with "Millennium" on ITV1 several years ago. They broadcast the first season, at least twice to get their money's worth, and then left regular viewers wondering "what happened next"?

I am a fan of Juliet Landau. Interestingly, I was already a fan of her parents' work, particularly on the Gerry Anderson series "Space:1999", although, when I first noticed her as Drusilla in "Buffy", I was unaware of who she was until I did a little research! She is pictured above with vampire accomplice Darla, played by Julie Benz, in both actresses' last ever appearance in "Angel", in the twentieth episode of season five, "The Girl in Question". Just as I have yet to see Juliet's guest appearance in a season three episode of "Millennium", it seems as though I will have an equally long wait before seeing her final two appearances in the last season of "Angel", if at all! Perhaps I should take consolation in that I have seen her guest appearance in "La Femme, Nikita"... twice!!!

All Rise!

Last night's BBC Radio 2 documentary, "Doctor Who: Regeneration", exclusively revealed that the first of the four episodes to feature the long-awaited return of one of the series most popular adversaries is entitled "The Rise of the Cybermen". This will appear fifth in the run of thirteen episodes likely to air from the end of March 2006. The title of the concluding episode of this two-part story is still unknown while both episode titles of the Cybermen story that concludes the second season are now known. Episode twelve is called "Army of Ghosts", as stated in a previous post, and is followed by the apocalyptic sounding "Doomsday".

The first of the two two-part Cybermen stories is set on an alternate Earth doomed to disaster, making it sound like a reworking of the Jon Pertwee classic "Inferno" which incidentally is due out on DVD next year. The second outing sees the Cybermen awaken in our universe where they have allied themselves with something from the Doctor's past. All four Cybermen episodes are directed by Graeme ("The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks") Harper, as seems likely is the other two-parter. Set on a nightmarish alien world, and opening with the episode "The Satan Pit", this would make a total of six episodes, almost half the season under the helm of the classic series director. Good news indeed.

Other news concerning the next run is that the Face of Boe, originally seen in second episode "The End of the World", will be making a return appearance and this time in a speaking capacity apparently having "some important words for the Doctor"! Stephen Fry's episode is being held over to season three because of the demands it makes on the effects department. His episode, the eleventh, is now being written by Matthew Graham. Episode ten will feature the Abzorbaloff, the creature created by a "Blue Peter" viewer.

Meanwhile, returning to the Cybermen episodes, Roger Lloyd Pack was worried he wouldn't be able to take on the role of enemy John Lumic after he fell down the stairs at home and broke a leg. Scripts have been rewritten to accommodate his injury and now sees him wheelchair-bound. Apparently, this has had the effect of adding to the mystery and intrigue surrounding his character! Let's hope he makes a speedy recovery.

"Bleak House", then and now!

It's difficult to choose a stand out performance from the latest television adaptation of "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens, when they were all so uniformally excellent, but, if pushed, I would have to say newcomer Burn Gorman as Mr. Guppy (pictured) stole the show. He had the voice, the facial mannerisms, the body language, all off to a fine art. The only thing he didn't do was wipe his hands in the table cloth while first proposing to Esther Summerson, as Jonathan Moore did in the same role twenty years ago!

It's been difficult to avoid comparison with the production from 1985 as it was this earlier version which first brought the story to my attention, despite already being a fan of costume drama and the novels of Dickens. Denholm Elliot brought more grit to his portrayal of John Jarndyce in the mid-Eighties while Denis Lawson, in turn, brought much humanity to a truly good-natured human being.

Both versions of "Bleak House" featured a comedian but in different roles! Charlie Drake was Smallweed in the older dramatisation; Johnny Vegas played Krook in the serial which concluded its eight-week, fifteen episode, run yesterday evening. Both versions featured actresses better known for cult roles in the same part!! Diana Rigg, Mrs. Emma Peel in Sixties classic "The Avengers", played Lady Dedlock previously while Gillian Anderson, Dana Scully in US SF series "The X Files", portrayed her on this occasion.

For anyone who has missed what is, without doubt, the drama of the year, there is an opportunity to see the final two episodes again this Sunday afternoon or view the entire serial on BBC FOUR over two nights at the end of the month. Failing that, I thoroughly recommend investing in the DVD release available from the end of February, next year.

Back from the USSR!

Three years after t.A.T.u burst onto the pop scene amid a blaze of publicity, and scored a number one hit with their UK debut "All The Things She Said", the controversial Russian duo are back with a new album and single. The single, "All About Us", charted well while the album, "Dangerous And Moving", which came out on 10 October, seems to have found only a limited release. I have seen it in HMV but in none of the supermarkets which is a shame as I think it is power pop at its best!

On the left of the above picture is Julia Volkova and on the right redhead Lena Katina whose on stage antics together seemed to upset a lot of media folk prompting chatshow hosts Richard and Judy to suggest their viewers boycott the girls' original release. The former "This Morning" presenters might do better to target the misogynistic lyrics of certain rappers than attack something as mild as this and which is no more than a marketing gimmick. In any case, it made no difference to the success of what I think is a perfectly crafted pop song though that probably had as much to do with the skill of Trevor Horn's production as it did the ability of the two singers!

So here it is, Merry Christmas...

Ten days to go until David Tennant makes his debut as Doctor number ten! The significance of the title of this post will become clear when you see the part of the episode where Mickey hears the TARDIS above the radio!! The remarkable thing is that "Doctor Who" hasn't appeared on Christmas Day for exactly forty years!!! That episode was "The Feast of Steven" and appeared as light relief in the middle of the 12-part "Daleks' Master Plan" epic in which first Doctor William Hartnell turned to the camera to wish viewers a Merry Christmas.

The new episode sounds as though it follows the structure used for the closing two episodes of the Chris Eccleston season. The first half, instead of robot game-show presenters, features a deadly quartet of robot brass instrument-playing Santas and a lethal rotating Christmas tree as the vanguard to the alien invasion. This time, instead of Daleks, we meet the Sycorax. My first thought on seeing this new villain was that Jon Pertwee's Doctor would have enjoyed them because of the half mask design, which he believed allowed the actor behind the make-up to give a real performance.

Christmas this year is a "Doctor Who" feast across both TV and Radio with the documentary "Regeneration", next Tuesday on Radio 2 at 8:30pm, preceding the television special. Before that on BBC7, beginning this Saturday, Robert ("Dalek") Shearman's highly regarded 4-part eighth Doctor story, "The Chimes of Midnight", also set on Christmas Eve, receives its first broadcast. Chris Eccleston's season is rerun on BBC THREE from Boxing Day in daily double bills leading up to the first repeat of "The Christmas Invasion" on New Year's Day, exactly a week after its first transmission. All-in-all, a lot to look forward to!