Beware - if you have not seen The Next Doctor yet, this review will include big spoilers, so avert your eyes!
BBC One gathered over half the TV viewers last night at six, for a Christmas special of Doctor Who. While there were "only" 11.7 million people watching it (overnight figures), it is safe to say that those were drawn in by the appeal of the show itself, rather than by the star effect of Kylie Minogue last year.
And those viewers must have been pleased: of all the Christmas specials, The Next Doctor is the one that feels most Christmassy, with plenty of snow, children and a scenery and photography (at the beginning) which reminds slightly of Nativity scenes (admittedly, at a push). Victorian London, in any case, feels very much like it's taken straight from Dickens's books. Storywise, it was bigged up quite a bit by the sparse leaked information: the title, The Next Doctor gave quite a bit away, especially as David Morrissey was reportedly cast as "the Doctor" and had an assistant called Rosita (and even, we find out, a TARDIS!) and as David Tennant is reportedly leaving the show after this year's specials. The Cybermen were back in it as well, which would have been quite a biggie were it not for the multi-doctor aspect of the story (remember the end of series four teaser?).
And, just like in series 4's The Doctor's Daughter, we are cheated! David Morrissey is not the next Doctor, but through rather clever story devices, he has assimilated some facts about the Time Lord, and believes himself to be him. He has a screwdriver, which is sonic (as in, makes sound), a hot-air balloon, which is his TARDIS, and many more similarities with the Doctor. Now, while the plot device to explain this assimilation is subtly introduced at the beginning of the story, it remains no more than a plot device that accidentally also serves as a weapon, and in the end, the viewer is left to wonder why the Cybermen needed those in the first place (let alone how they have archive footage of the Third, Eigth and Ninth Doctors, and if they are the parallel universe Cybermen, how they have any of any Doctor except for the Tenth!).
But the plot works fairly well, and is the occasion for a few nice continuity references, some more subtle than others (Blink, Human Nature twice -once obviously, the other time less so-, The Runaway Bride gets a nod at the end, Last of the Time Lords at a push... very much at a push... if you find it, kudos, you're as much a geek as I). The dialogue is crisp, and the acting awesome on Tennant's and Miss Hartigan's side, quite good on the Next Doctor's and Rosita's too. And the mystery is quite deep throughout a story whose pace never lets down.
More importantly, maybe, it is a pivotal story in the Cybermen's storyline - which is quite surprising for a Christmas special. Russel T Davies has, essentially, created an Eric Saward Dalek storyline for Cybermen. There could well be, from now on, two factions of Cyberpeople - one, following Miss Hartigan, and the other one, rebelling against those heathen feelings. I am quite curious to see what a Cybermen against Cybermen story would do - after all, the CyberKing has only been sent to the Time Vortex, nothing says it can't get out in Manhattan/fall through time all the way to the Time War and get the Rani out/anything is possible.
All in all, The Next Doctor is probably the best Christmas special so far, and deserves full marks! (and I haven't even mentioned Murray Gold's music, even though it is mostly the ususal themes rearranged this time around!) (and well done to Doctor Who Magazine for managing to make a Doctor cover for Morrissey without giving the game away!)