I did watch this over the weekend, and it's a banger of a start for David Tennant. Even if he spends a great deal of the special asleep.
First thing I noticed doesn't have any bearing on the episode: producer Phil Collinson is credited as "Phil Collision", which I guess is his rave DJ alter ego. This was the '00s, after all.
We see the debut of two tropes that will recur through RTD christmas specials: a murderous Santa band, and Slade's "Merry Xmas everybody". One is a cool idea that only happened once more, in "The runaway bride", and the other is a terrible novelty song that might've been put to rest after one outing. Ugh, Slade.
The Sycorax are quite terrifying, they feel more at home in a Conan setting than Doctor Who, with their skull helmets, "blood magic" and swords, and that janky looking ship that has the air of an ancient desert stronghold. And if that wasn't enough to sell the episode, having a third of Earth's population sleepwalk onto the nearest roof or precipice is a haunting image.
Jackie's neighbour Jason is Paul Anderson from Peaky blinders, BTW. A rare occasion of "where did I see that Who actor before?" where the answer isn't Game of thrones.
For the first half of the special, I'm really on board with the Doctor-less narrative. Jackie, Mickey and Rose work so well together, trying to survive christmas like any family. And Harriet Jones is set up as a capable leader with a human side — we know what they say about "too good to be true", but I actually rooted for Harriet all the way up to her call with Torchwood.
I think this must be the first mention of Torchwood? So what are Harriet and the general referring to, about the institute having lost a third of its staff? Maybe it's just the third that's on the roof at the moment.
Rose and the Doctor, though... It's hard to revisit this episode, knowing what lies ahead. Not because I nurse some parasocial romance for their arc, quite the contrary. I find the while thing pompous and tedious at the same time, and even more so with every return of Billie Piper to the show.
There is a better, hypothetical version of the show, where the Doctor (and really RTD) just let go of Rose after "Doomsday". No dimension-hopping, gun-toting return in season four, only maybe the 50th anniversary bit as the Moment (although that really only makes sense if they'd landed Eccleston instead of Hurt), but definitely no dumb, faux-regeneration cliffhanger after Gatwa's exit.
But it all starts here. "ENOUGH WITH THE F—KING FLIRTING," I shouted at the screen on this rewatch. "The christmas invasion" does set the template for the rest of the Tennant run. Good to terrific stories, with an insistently humdrum romantic subplot.