Doctor Who S2E0: The Christmas Invasion ★★★☆☆

It is a bit of a letdown after the first series, isn’t it? Not that Tennant is bad, he makes a great first impression here. But everything else feels a bit weak. Rose’s character development gets rolled back and she feels utterly helpless without the Doctor, having just saved him right before this.

I am never very fond of them trying to make the Doctor an action hero badass and the fact that the sword fight looks so rubbish doesn’t help. There are a few highlights. I enjoyed the Sycorax switching to English mid-speech as a sign that the Doctor was awake again (even if I also don’t like the translation circuit working through him makes him even more special and magical) and visually evoking East Enders with the overhead view of the alien invasion is a cute way for Davies to wear his soapy influences on his sleeve.