Specials, Episode 1 | 1 part | First broadcast: 25 December 2005 | Writer: Russell T Davies | Director: James Hawes
Cast
- David Tennant as the Doctor
- Billie Piper as Rose Tyler
- Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler
- Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith
- Penelope Wilton as Harriet Jones
Summary
Still unstable from his regeneration, the newly-changed Doctor spends most of Christmas Day unconscious in the TARDIS, leaving Rose and her family to face an invasion of the Sycorax alone as their spaceship looms over London. When the Doctor finally wakes, he confronts the Sycorax leader in a sword duel to determine Earth’s fate, only to reveal a darker, more decisive edge to his new personality when Prime Minister Harriet Jones takes matters into her own hands after the threat has passed.
Interesting Facts
- This was David Tennant’s first full story as the Doctor, following his brief regeneration scene at the end of “The Parting of the Ways.”
- The story introduces UNIT’s Torchwood Institute references that would set up the “Doomsday” finale and the Torchwood spin-off series.
- Tennant spent much of the episode in pyjamas or unconscious, a deliberate choice to delay revealing his Doctor’s full character until the episode’s back half.
- The Doctor’s line “no second chances, I’m that sort of man” became one of Tennant’s defining early moments.
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