Sink the Titanic!

During the early run of the new version of Doctor WhoThe longest running sci-fi franchise (at least in terms of sheer seasons), Doctor Who has seen cancelations, relaunches, and reboots, but the core of the series remains the same: a madman in a box traveling through time and space. (which I have to preface that way now when you realize that "new" Who has been running for 18 years and there are people out there, and starring in Doctor Who who were born after the show was restarted), the show used its Christmas episodes as a way to transition through major character changes. Christopher Eccelston left at the end of Series 1 and the series used "The Christmas Invasion" as a way to process the change in the lead actor as David Tennant took over. Rose left at the end of Series 2 and the following special, "The Runaway Bride" let Tennant's Doctor deal with his loss and try to move on.

And then there was the third special for the newer series, "Voyage of the Damned", in which once again the Doctor finds himself at a transitional point after both Martha Jones and Captain Jack Harkness officially left the series for greener pastures at the end of Series 3. That left the Doctor adrift, not sure of where he was going, just floating along. It's fitting, then, that the TARDIS is then struck by the Titanic. A small ship adrift in space getting nailed by a larger one, like a metaphor for the bigger changes that were to come for Tennant's Doctor at the end of the series to come. Hmmm...

The thing with this episode is that, as much as it puts the Doctor through another transitional phase in his life, struggling to figure out where he wants to go... it doesn't feel like quite as big of a deal. When the 9th Doctor left it was a big moment because he was the main character. Sure, the show regenerated him into the 10th Doctor, following transition, but Eccelston had been the face of the series. With him gone, Rose became the face, in a way. Once they were both gone, the show had to prove it could stand on its own with the original lead actors off the show. But now? Martha only stuck around for a year. Tennant wasn't going anywhere (not yet). The show didn't feel like it was anywhere in as big of a transition period. Yes, the special certainly treats it like the Doctor is going through something... but was he really? Change happened every series of the show so far. Change was natural. At this point they didn't have to worry about if fans would keep up.

Perhaps that's why the show cast a companion that clearly wasn't going to stick around with the series this time. Kylie Minogue played Astrid Peth for this one episode and at the time she was already a huge pop star (at least in the UK). There was absolutely no way her character was going to stick around and be on Doctor Who for even a full series. The audience knew it, and while it was cool to see her on the show -- and she is actually really great in her role -- it was hard to make a deeper connection to her when, clearly, she was vanishing by the end of the episode. And she does, in a very permanent fashion that precluded her ever coming back again. It's actually pretty hilarious when you think about it.

That doesn't stop the show with toying with expectations, of course. The Doctor bonds with Astrid as, naturally enough, danger befalls the space-bound Titanic. And as they bond she wonders if she could travel the stars with this mystery man. He even accepts (and this might be the first case where the companion has asked to come aboard the TARDIS instead of being invited as that's how big a star Minogue was at the time that she could get away with it). But, sure enough, by the end of the episode she has to sacrifice herself to save the Doctor, and everyone else still on the ship, and... well, what does that really say for the Doctor and his arc? He came onto the Titanic after having just lost another companion (this time just to real life instead of a more permanent loss) and he leaves the episode having lost a companion. Emotionally he remains, more or less, in the same place.

I think, honestly, that's a big issue with this whole episode: it doesn't really say much. It's running on auto-pilot, doing the things we expect the series to do, and then it ends with the Doctor traveling off to wherever comes next, as he always does. For the sake of just meeting expectations, there's the actual story of the episode. The Doctor ends up on the Titanic, but it's a space cruise ships designed by aliens to mirror the real Titanic. That's funny, "oh look how they got it wrong," but... then they didn't get it wrong. The series explicitly hangs a hat on the fact that the ship is the Titanic and, of course, it gets nailed by space rocks and suddenly it's a sinking ship that's going to die. That's as expected as any other project called "Titanic II" meeting its own inevitable fate. Like, of course.

Now, that's not to say that the entire episode is bad. It is fun in a number of places. The early part of the episode sees the Doctor playing a charismatic agent of chaos. He sneaks onto the ship (which, yes, crashed into him) so he can play stowaway. He bonds with the servants on board, including Astrid, as well and middle class passengers that are being picked on by the rich elites. He gets some delightful petty revenge, does some wish fulfillment, and it all feels very enjoyable.

And then the ship crashes and we get to watch him and the remaining survivors run around as one poor fate after another comes for them all. Many of these deaths are caused by the Hosts, angel-looking robots dressed up for the holidays (as the cruise liner is hovering over Earth to celebrate "their holiday, Christmas"). Naturally, the robots go evil and start killing. These things predate the Weeping Angels, but you feel like they were an inspiration as, just looking at the angel robots, they send creepy chills down your spine. For cheap Doctor who villains (as so many are), these ones work.

I did enjoy some of the side characters. Special shout outs have to go to Jimmy Vee who played Bannakaffalatta, an alien-cyborg with a ridiculous name. Vee absolutely nails the performance, from saying the long, silly name, to turning what could have been a one-note character and giving him heart and soul. This is done by a number of the actors, from Clive Swift as Mr. Copper to Debbie Chazen as Foon Van Hoff and Clive Rowe as her husband, Morvin Van Hoff. The side characters this time are fantastic.

I do also want to credit Tennant here as he's having an absolutely blast this time around. From the moment he gets on, being a chaos gremlin at every chance, there's just such joy in the performance. Hell, just the way he taste's Foon's name in his mouth, the delivery of it as he learns her name, it's so great. There's a reason Tennant is considered, by many, to be the favorite version of the Doctor, and you can see why he's so great right here.

Despite all this, though, the episode itself is pretty bland. It's an adventure that practically feels beneath the Doctor, like he should have been able to fix everything and escape the carnage easily if the show didn't purposefully cause him problems at every turn. Not good problems, mind you, just unnecessary roadblocks. This is a mission that some other, less capable hero should be able to handle. Like maybe Captain Jack while he's serving over in Torchwood. But nope the Doctor has to do it because he's there.

It doesn't stop the story from feeling rote and silly. Like this is just a padding episode until the next companion comes along, the next big adventure begins. Which it is. This is just space to celebrate a holiday and nothing more. It's fine, and its fun at times, but as a big transition, which the show wants you to feel like it is... yeah, it just doesn't play.