Christmas Invasion is about as average as one can get with a story that should be a bigger deal. It's David Tennant's premiere, after all, but it does feel a little lacking, particularly in the effects department with stuff like the spinning Christmas tree. Some of the acting I could do without, but all that really changes once the Doctor shows up.

Say what you will about this episode, but when the TARDIS starts to translate the Sycorax I always get chills. Ten's appearance and big entrance, his memorable victory over the Christmas Invasion, and his easy dismantling of the Jones Ministry all say a lot about this new Doctor in very little time. It has bits of weakness pretty thoroughly baked into it, but when Christmas Invasion is working well, it is spectacular. Rose truly carries this story and it feels well done on the whole. She is traumatized, confused about the Doctor, and afraid, and I think Billie Piper nails that performance a lot better than what we got out of Mickey and Jackie here.

So, not perfect, but absolutely essential to the history of the Tenth Doctor.

Anyways, this is probably it for me before Christmas. It is fun being a new part of this site and has really helped me start to catalogue what I've seen and how I felt about each story, and I hope everyone has a very happy holidays!