It starts off at such a pace it makes you think “Wow a lots going to happen in this special, this should be good” and then very little actually happens. They get straight into the running almost immediately so it seems initially like their is some urgency. The Doctor sits with the Ood for a couple of minutes (I’m guessing exposed brain patterns are the special effects guys’ trademark in Doctor Who) then off he goes running to get back to Earth. And then we have the resurrection of The Master who for some inexplicable reason gains superpowers and taste for human flesh (and turkey) when said resurrection gets botched. Then we spend the next half an hour following around Wilf and get to watch the Doctor be all whiny. Then after all the piffling about we get to end of the episode which includes some incredibly convenient super-tech, the addition of some pointless and stupid look aliens, everyone under-estimating The Master (again) and some kind of weird play on the fortress of solitude scene at the end of Superman 2. Finally we have the cliffhanger which has to be the most unintentionally hilarious piece of TV (The Matrix meets The Master) I have seen this year followed by a massive and pointless spoiler for the next special on New Year’s day.

It’s like Russell T. Davies has come over all George Lucas with this special and those around him have let him because this and the New Year special make up his final story. Nothing anybody does in this special makes a lick of sense and half the plot seems purely so special effects can be used. The other half of the plot seems to cater for poor bad jokes and pretty low brow humour. Are old people really all so bored they would spend their time looking for a Doctor because one of their ilk said it would be a good idea? Why has the TARDIS even got a chameleon circuit if the Doctor can make it invisible? Does nobody on TV actually partake in any fiction whatsoever so they can see these ’sudden but inevitable betrayals’ coming? When does Steve Moffat take over?

And through all this crap Bernard Cribbins, David Tennant and John Simms (even if he was chewing the scenery) act their socks off to save this special from being another ‘Planet of the Dead’. Even Catherine Tate in Donna Noble’s few scenes oozes class. Which in a way makes it all much worse as they stick out like brand new Blu-ray players in a manure pile. Lets hope the 2nd part of this tale is much better and that this special looks better in hindsight because of it. However I predict that it will just be another typical ridiculously-over-the-top Davies end of season story.