Modern Recap-itulation continues in the Christmas spirit one more time with a new set of caps for The Christmas Invasion. First stories for any new Doctor are always somewhat atypical of their era. Robot certainly seems like an outlier relative to the rest of the Tom Baker early stories. Spearhead From Space reset the UNIT template for the color era but stylistically bore little resemblance to the rest of Season 7. And the less said about The Twin Dilemma the better.
The fascination about a new Doctor always centers around his first story, and in nu-Who this is no less true than it was for the classic series. This is certainly an apt question with Deep Breath looming as Peter Capaldi’s first story in a few weeks (as of this writing). Eccleston’s debut story was (?) not that Doctor’s first adventure so he emerged fully formed for viewers. Matt Smith was right there (albeit with the requisite disorientation) from the jump in The Eleventh Hour. But we suppose there will never be a Doctor debut held back as long or as artfully as was David Tennant’s in The Christmas Invasion.
He’s barely a presence, in fact it’s his absence which is more important, during the first 2/3 of the story. But when Tennant finally emerges from the TARDIS in those jammies, it’s a bravura and winning performance for that Doctor for the rest of the story. And lest we forget that The Christmas Invasion always rates out as our favorite Christmas story.
Classic Capitology beckons once again next time. You’ll want to pair up for this one.
