Voyage of the Damned

A Review of Doctor Who

The 2007 Christmas Special for Doctor Who, the popular BBC television series, has yet to run here in the United States, however I managed to get my hands on a copy of it and it reminded me why I am a Doctor Who fan.

The story begins right where the 3^rd Season finale, Last of the Time Lords, left off, with the Titanic busting through the TARDIS wall. We discover that it is not the actual Titanic, but a space cruiser taking humanoid aliens to visit 21^st Century Earth during the Christmas holiday. The cruise company is owned by Max Capricorn, a swarmy looking chap that had me feeling dubious about his place in the story.

The Doctor, who makes himself at home where ever he is, befriends a waitress named Astrid Peth, played by Kylie Minogue, Australian pop princess. He takes her down to Earth and they find London empty, most residents taking refuge since the past two Christmas holidays have witnessed alien attempted invasions during Christmas.

Back on board everything breaks loose, if you see The Doctor at a party then leave immediately, things are about to go bust. The Captain of the Titanic space cruiser has made a deal. He is dying and took a payoff to crash the Titanic. He takes the shields offline and allows three meteors to hit the ship, which is causing it to fall to Earth, where it will destroy all life aboard the ship and the planet.

The Doctor is to the rescue. The mechanical guest service droids, called The Host, are also attacking humans. After trying to make their way to the bridge, The Doctor discovers something amiss onboard and goes to find out who or what is behind this plot. He finds Max Capricorn, a human head atop a mechanical body. His company has been taken from him and so, after selling his shares, has decided to put it to those who took the company from him by causing this disaster.

The Doctor's companion for this story, Astrid, sacrifices her life to save The Doctor and the rest of the passengers and residents of Earth. The Doctor tries to save her in return but to no avail. The Doctor does save the ship and the passengers left alive. Once again he leaves Earth afterward, once more on his travels and once more alone.