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denimbex1986 · 11 months ago

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'...1. Voyage of the Damned - 2007

David Tennant's third festive special also featured pop princess Kylie Minogue playing a waitress called Astrid Peth who works aboard the Titanic. However, it isn't the legendary tragic vessel but rather a nuclear-powered interstellar cruise liner from the planet Sto, which is inspired by the original ship.

It is on a collision course for earth and it turns out that the culprit is the former cruise line owner Max Capricorn. He was bitter about being forced out of his own company and plotted the Titanic's collision with Earth to bankrupt the company and frame the board of directors for murder.

Astrid sacrificed herself to save the Doctor and he used the heat from entry into the Earth's atmosphere to restart the ship's engines and prevent the collision. The episode is also noteable for giving us our first glimpse of Bernard Cribbens as Wilfred Mott

With 13.31 million viewers and an 86 AI rating it is a clear winner for the most popular special.

2. The Next Doctor - 2008

The 2008 special The Next Doctor caused huge excitment as fans specualted that, after three years in the role, David Tennant's Doctor might regerneate into a new incarnation. However, the title turned out to be a curveball as the plot saw him encounter a man calling himself "the Doctor" who was played by David Morrissey.

Although initally The Doctor believed the man, who was suffering from amnesia, was e a future incarnation of himself he later realises that the Next Doctor is really a human called Jackson Lake. He was supposed to be the first missing person during the Cyberman invasion that has seen numerous children, pulled from workhouses around the city by Miss Mercy Hartigan (Derbhla Kirwan), are being put to work at an underground facility under Cybermen guard.

The Cybermen converted Hartigan into the controller for the "CyberKing", a giant mechanical Cyberman powered by the energy generated by the children.When she refused the Doctor's offer to leave the planet, he severed her connection to the CyberKing, exposing her to the emotion of what she had done which destroyed# both the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan.

The episode ended on a sweet note with with the Doctor and Jackson heading off to attend Christmas dinner in remembrance of those they have lost.

While not as popular as the number one onthe list it still garnered an impressive 13.10 million viewers and an AI of 86 making it second in the popularity ranking.

3. The End Of Time (Part One) - 2009

This two part special marked the end of David Tennant's era as the Doctor. It also saw the return of fan favourite John Simm as The Master and featured Succession star Brian Cox don heavy prosthetics to play an Ood. The plot saw a cult of women resurrect the Master, but his wife Lucy Saxon sabotaged the ceremony, causing him to be brought back with incredible strength but constant hunger.

Meanwhile the Doctor arrived back on Earth on Christmas Eve and reunited with Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbens). He found the Master at wastelands outside London, and learnt that the Master has been suffering from hearing the sound of drums.

The Master is laterplaced in custody of Joshua Naismith (DAvid Harewood) who has recovered a broken alien "Immortality Gate" and wants the Master to fix its programming. The Master activates the Gate, which he has reprogrammed to replace all of humankind's DNA with his own resulting in a planet full of lookalikes.

Elsewhere, the Lord President of the Time Lords (Timothy Dalton) asserted that the Time Lords will return.

The story is left hanging as part two was broadcast on New Years Day ensuring that the Doctor dominated the festive season. While this episode had 12.4 million viewers and an AI of 87 making it number 3 on the list of Christmas specials, it was actually beaten in the ratings part two with 12.27 million viewers and an AI of 89.

8. The Christmas Invasion - 2005

The first Doctor Who special of the rebooted era also marked David Tennant's debut as The Doctor after the departure of Christopher Eccleston. However, he spent most of the episode in his pyjamas in bed recovering from the effects of regeneration.

This meant that most of the focus of the episode was on tried and tested companion character Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). When she and her boyfriend are attacked by Santa robots; the Doctor theorised that energy from his regeneration has lured them here.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Harriet Jones (Penelope Wilton) was threatened by the leader of alien race the Sycorax into giving them half of the Earth's population as slaves. After Rose and her mother and boyfriend drag the Doctor onto the TARDIS, it is detected by the Sycorax and they transport it to their ship.

The pyjama clad Doctor challenges the Sycorax leader to a sword fight for the future of the Earth, which he eventually wins saving the planet.

With the new era of Doctor Who only one season in this garnered 9.84 million viewer and an AI of 84 making it the eighth most popular epsiode.

9. The Runaway Bride - 2006

The 2006 special introduced viewers to future companion Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate. To The Doctor's surprise she materialised in his TARDIS in her wedding dress.

Alhtough he returned her safely to her wedding the adventure didn't end there as the reception was attacked by robots dressed as Santa Claus. The Doctor discovered that they were being controlled remotely from space whch led him to the spider-like Empress of the Racnoss, played by an unrecognisable Sarah Parish, who had been hiding in hibernation at the edge of the universe.

The Doctor took travelled back billions of years wth Donna and discovered that an inert Racnoss ship became the core of the Earth as the planet formed around it. In the present day The Empress was trying to wake her children aboard with huon particles, which it turned out Donna's fianceé had been spiking her with, which is why she materialised on board the TARDIS..

Although The Doctor attempted to offer a peaceful solution the Empress refuseed, and the Doctor wass forced to flood the pit with water from the Thames in order to save the planet. Although he dropped Donna back home this wouldn't be the last we would see of her and she went on to become one of his most popular companions.

With 9.35 million viewers and an AI of 84 it is far from the most popular Doctor Who special but it does mark a pivotal point in the series...'

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halewynslady · 5 months ago

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I am watching Picard S2.

Beware. :p

Seven and Raffi are adorable and I would die for them!

So anyway, here is more on the Borg Queen.

I don't really go into memes often but her facial expression tends to be set on that picture of the cat looking all smug with a knife to its throat.

Her interactions with Agnes are hilarious. The moment she scents autism in the air Borgie goes heart eyes and those never leave.

Maybe that is just the black eyes. I don't know. They look way too sweet. I had the same 'problem' with other villains. Full black eyes just scream affection. (a real life friend of mine agreed with me on this) It's the same with Mercy Hartigan in Doctor Who. We all know I love her.

The black top is just amazing too, the sort of ribbon-harnessstructure in it. I love how she shows you don't need perfect skin to successfully pull off cleavage. A lesson already shown once by Alcina Dimitrescu and one I can use more often, so do keep reminding me. The spine hanging out, nice!, that really brings that monster to mind...What are they called? That detach from the lower half of their bodies at night and go hunting children to eat or something, half their entrails hanging out. Fun stuff.

The back-port/tentacles bring Olivia Octavius back. Also not a bad thing to be thinking of.

I love that she is the Damsel in Distress. I did not know that this was the situation beforehand, I had seen a few scenes before floating around the webs, but this added thing just made the mood for me.

Clearly there can be nothing better than saving this aggressive flirt. I thought it funny too how her flirting is alternated with horror. (funny or traumabonding, take your pick) The scene where she is on the floor is my favourite (again no one surprised), so elegant, the Frankensteinie lightning flashes and then putting up the web like she is claiming Bela Lugosi's hallway. Classic horror.

Two episodes later she's clearly made the switch to modern horror. Her approach is fun. (calling Jurati to show a surprise reminded me a lot of GLaDOS and her cake promisy shenanigans) I couldn't wait to see her figuratively shoot herself in the foot because of her crush on Agnes Jurati. Okay, it was the neck. She's a fan of handholding huh? That build-up awe. Why so cute?

I decided to do a smidge of research to see where this frankly bad flirting style of hers came from, I was chalking it up to her being a robot virus of sorts (guys I am new to Star Trek) and... judging by yt fragments seduction is her usual tactic? And her new style is actually already an improvement? I am shocked.

And I am having flashbacks to the Metropolis robot girl now. Hmm, the original borg blueprint?

So everyone is lonely and everyone has bad social skills. Oddly comforting, this creature called Star Trek.

Also I read before that the Borg ship was yonic in form, boy, is it!

I think I'll go read Rose/House again.

Actually I was in the midst of writing Princess Mombi things, but the Borg Queen took over. I guess femmefatales can just be heads.

Aline out. (for now)

#Star Trek #borg queen #me having thoughts and for once sharing them with the collective :p #my thoughts

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radicalrascals · 2 years ago

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———— 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.

𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 : Thomas Matthew Hartigan

𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒) : Tom, Tommy (if you have a death wish)

╳ 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐒.

♔ 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇𝐒.

🖌 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒 & 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐒.

tagged by: @savagecuhnt

tagging: @etxrnaleclipse (for Ben or Theo), @fangsandmagic (for Aiden), @silntimes (for Sarah), @daisyxmuses (for Kenza or Damien), @werebullull (for Bram), @wintxrx (for Veronica), @rubiesintherough (for Peggy), @tessastormrp (for Mordred), @ask-thedepressedkidatthetable (for Justin) & anyone who wants to give this a go

#thanks for the tag luv :)#Muse: Tom #Dash Games

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yournewlodger · 2 years ago

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how is the doctor who 2008 christmas special the next doctor not a moffat episode. mercy hartigan is sooooo missy coded

#doctor who #doctor who the next doctor #the next doctor #mercy hartigan #doctor who missy #missy doctor who #missy #lodger speaks #lodger rewatches nuwho

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hitchell-mope · 4 years ago

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Oh Christ. Mercy thinks she’s a street walker

#doctor who #mercy hartigan #rosita farisi #the next doctor

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raineszramski · 6 years ago

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My illustrations of Mercy Hartigan and Bill Potts for the book Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived, by Christel Dee and Simon Guerrier.

#the women who lived #Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived Thirteenth Doctor #christel dee #Simon Guerrier #@DWBBCBooks #Bill Potts #Mercy Hartigan #Raine Szramski

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an-american-whovian · 4 years ago

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• Fool Me Once -- Shame on Me:

Around this time David Tennant announces he's gonna retire his Chuck Taylors -- and quit 'Doctor Who'. So Russell T Davies tries to pull one over our heads by having this story called 'The Next Doctor'.

I don't think ANYONE was fooled.

(Maybe.)

• The Governor, err, I Mean "Doctor":

David Morrissey is pretty decent as this wide eyed swashbuckling adventure-esque version of the Doctor. Like, he's basically just a bargain bin Eighth Doctor (in a good way).

Love the lady that plays his sassy "companion" Rosita. Talk about a nubian goddess. 😍

• Cyber-Dogs? Cyber-Apes? CYBERSHADE!? MORE, LIKE, CYBERSHITTY!:

The stuff with the Cybermen is okay. Those hairy ones are really poorly costumed, tho'. Like that shit should've been left back in Classic Who.

Sincerely, what the fuck are they supposed to be!? (According to Wikipedia -- THEY HAVE THE BRAINS OF CATS!?)

• She Ain't the Cybermens' Bitch:

That Miss Mercy Hartigan lady, tho'!? She's legit; very charmingly evil and terrifying. When she gets betrayed and turned into a Cyberking!? Love it.

"But you promised me you said I would NEVER be converted!"

"That was designated -- A LIEEEE."

(Her Cybermen sweatshop is REALLY well designed, too.)

Some complain about the Cyberking MegaZord thingy -- but I love that, too. The effects are pretty good fer the budget, honestly. (NuWho has been guilty of WAY WORSE.) There's, also, the complaint that no one in "history" afterwards mentions a giant robot terrorizing Victorian London. Well, that's just poor writing in other writers.

I'd complain more that the Doctor visits Victorian London WAAAAAY too much.

• I Mean, if I HAVE to Complain:

Fer a Christmas Special -- this story isn't very Christmassy. Like, I think it only gets mentioned twice (and the second time is towards the end when the Doctor gets invited to dinner. [Although Murray Gold's score is DOPE/festive. Miss that guy]). Whilst I'm at it, the whole Jackson Lake "mystery" is pretty predictable. I think Davies coulda/shoulda REALLY tried to full everyone there.

Alas, a small missed opportunity.

(Another thing, the "next" Doctor's "TARDIS" (joke) is either hit or miss . . . )

• SURVEY SAYS:

If yer bored and/or REALLY love the Tennant era -- I'd give it a watch. It's kinda no stakes fun, with some good characters, unfortunate lackeys and a couple of pretty bad ass broads. Have it on in the background while yer cleaning around the house or some shit. (Quarentine is still a thing!)

(Also, let's face it, this story is better than ANYTHING in series 11.)

#doctor who #an american whovian #whovian #dw #review #nuwho #the tenth doctor #david tennant #the next doctor #jackson lake #david morrissey #rosita #cyberman #cybermen #cyberking

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hypexion · 4 years ago

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The Next Doctor is an episode with a gimmick. Except the gimmick stopped working less than a year after it was aired. Now all it has to stand on is an interesting mystery and also the Cybermen. It may also feature more Gloucester than the episode that is meant to be set in the city.

Really, the gimmick of The Next Doctor was always unnecessary. The mystery of “who is this alleged Doctor?“ works perfectly well on its own. It’s carefully put together to slowly introduce the idea that the mystery man isn’t actually the Doctor, and to bring up the new questions that introduces. We come to learn of Jackson Lake, a man beset by tragedy, who becomes the Doctor to avoid the pain of remembering. But in spite of that, he still has all the courage and drive to make a good attempt at being the Doctor, even in Victorian London. He even aquires a companion/minder in Rosita, who fills out The Next Doctor‘s quota of level-headed people. And even once he’s rediscovered himself, Jackson Lake is willing to fight the Cybermen, with nothing but a pile of faulty memory sticks as weapons. His arc ultimately ends on a high note, with his son being recused, and the possibility of a new life is opened up for him.

This brings us to the Cybermen. They’re around, doing regular Cybermen stuff, which is apparently being the least interesting part of any episode they’re in. Instead, the role of primary antagonist ultimate falls to Mercy Hartigan, a particularly cunning mind, who has the misfortune of being a woman in Victorian England. She provides a conduit for personal conflict and bander, things the Cybermen tend to be lacking in. She’s also another character able to override the Cybermen’s conversion process through sheer force of will, cementing herself and the one and true villain of The Next Doctor. Of course, given that she’s apparently a-okay with child slavery, it doesn’t really take that much to elevate her position.

However, due to how Cybermen are, it seems that the only escalation that could be found from Cybermen was... bigger Cybermen. Or “Cyberking“. On the one hand, it’s a giant steampunk mecha, which should be inherently cool. But on the other, it’s still a big Cyberman, in a period of the show where the Cybermen weren’t doing much interesting stuff. The “final showdown”, as it might be termed, ends up lacking. The Doctor makes his usual offer of mercy, the villain declines, and then the Doctor wins. Except in this case, he wins by zapping Miss Hartigan with pure information or something, apparently turning off the Cyber-suppression that... Miss Hartigan had already overcome? Then she screams a little then literally explodes. This is not a satisfying conclusion, really.

Once everything is done, there’s a little time for a Sad Tenth Doctor moment, where he is sad about all his companions leaving him. Even though only Martha actually left, with Rose and Donna being victims of circumstance. Jackson Lake ends up using this to bully the Doctor into having a good time, and it works. Jackson Lake also tells everyone the Doctor is kind of cool and maybe he should get some thanks. It’s a nice sentiment, but might also mean that Jackson Lake is retroactively responsible for the weird times the Doctor is deified in-universe. Once you know what will be coming with the Eleventh Doctor, that little speech really does hit differently.

Overall, I’d say that despite it’s issues, The Next Doctor is a generally good episode. Most of it’s strength comes from the interactions between the Doctor, Jackson Lake and Rosita, who manage to play off each other in a way that seems natural. There’s a lot of energy bouncing around, and while the Cybermen aren’t the best of villains, they provide a good enough driver for the narrative. While I wouldn’t put The Next Doctor above The Christmas Invasion or The Runaway Bride, I think it sits comfortable above Voyage of the Damned. It’s not so relentlessy grim, and I think when it comes to an episode set around Christmas, that’s sort of a requirement. In the end, The Next Doctor tries something out, and it manages to work out in an interesting way.

#doctor who #Tenth Doctor #the next doctor #doctor who rewatch

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halewynslady · 2 years ago

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Hi, here's a 🌹

-Here is a sentence from one of many wips:

(I cannot restrict myself to a sentence. Maleficent/female Frollo coming up:)

”Are you fae or are you magpie?”

”Yes dear, I am magpie. I steal princesses, destinies, kingdoms, entire lives and relocate them to dungeons, woods, monsters, death. I’d like to steal your cheekbones. Such appealing lines. Not handsome as per human laws, but it is to mine.”

She snaps her mouth shut. She smiles still. Such teeth, of a dragon.

-Here is a writing direction at myself for my yet to be posted Mercy Hartigan fic:

*write these cybermen as you would Team Rocket*

-And here is a sentence I said today, followed by what is now a very short story:

”If this be some sort of stag-god I want it for my stew.”

”He is in human form.”

”Try the stew anyway.”

#Ask more if you like #Or from a specific story

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pellaaearien · 7 years ago

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fandom ask: 1, 9, 16 ? c:

1. Character in my fandoms that I think I’m most like.

For DW, probably Martha. For Lucifer, Ella Lopez. For Dragon Age I dunno, probably Merrill? Or Alistair.

9. Character death you still haven’t moved on yet?

Well, the great thing about DW is that characters don’t really die. HOWEVER, I am still not over Ten. I will never be able to watch EoT more than once.

16. Favorite villain/s.

Erm… I do like the Boneless. Just because you never see them and the Doctor names them and it’s cool. And I actually kind of like the living suns (from 42 and Rings of Akhaten) even though I don’t really see them as villains. Does TLV count? Well the Waters of Mars anyway. Mercy Hartigan.

Thanks for asking!

#dw #lucifer #dragon age #eot #tlv #pella answers

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classicwhocatchup · 8 years ago

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The Next Doctor

I’ve covered every episode of Classic Doctor Who now as well as the Ninth Doctor’s series, so now I’m looking at the era of the Tenth Doctor!

233: The Next Doctor

“ Jackson, if anyone had to be The Doctor I’m glad it was you. ”

Format: 1 x 60 mins

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Team TARDIS:

Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)

Story: Christmas 1851, and Cybermen stalk Victorian London. The Tenth Doctor discovers a spate of mysterious deaths, and he's surprised to meet another Doctor! Are two Doctors enough to stop the rise of the CyberKing?

What I liked:

David Morrissey is great

Love the idea of someone thinking they are the Doctor

Good Victorian London sets

What I disliked:

Cybershades and a cyberking?!

I don’t think Mercy Hartigan really worked.

Overall thoughts: After the epic Series 4 finale we get this. Thanks to the daleks breaking down the walls of reality the cybermen have somehow managed to escape the Void and arrive in Victorian London. No, it doesn’t make sense even for Doctor Who. I suppose after three Christmas specials set in the present day it was time to shake things up.

What works really well here is the Jackson Lake side of things. He believes he is the Doctor and whilst I can’t see Morrissey as the full-time Doctor he is glorious here. There’s a lot of fun to be had in seeing his ‘sonic’ screwdriver and his TARDIS but there’s also a decent mystery over who he is and what he’s forgotten. It all works so well because David Morrissey is so convincing. He makes a fun, cheesy Doctor but there’s real emotion as he gradually learns the truth.

What doesn’t work so well is the cyberman stuff. For a start I don’t think cybermen in a historical setting works. I suppose they were hoping for a steampunk vibe but it doesn’t really work. Then there’s the cybershades, random furry monsters with a cyberman mask on. What’s the point of these- they look awful and normal cybermen could have easily filled their places. The cyberking isn’t much better. The Doctor seems to know of the concept which is odd as otherwise I’d assume this is something the cybermen created based on the available technology. The idea of a giant cyberman sounds great but in practice it’s rubbish.

Then there’s Mercy Hartigan, played with real menace by Dervla Kerwan. I sort of get the idea of her, a genius woman suppressed by men her whole life who is so strong she can control the cybermen. For me though it didn’t really work- she’s tricked by the cybermen and easily defeated by the Doctor so despite being described as something special she’s pretty rubbish too.

Thankfully there’s a wonderful ending. The Doctor discusses why he no longer has a companion- “I suppose in the end they break my heart.”- and then goes for Christmas dinner with Jackson. It’s Christmassy, emotional and generally a good ending to a fairly underwhelming episode.

Next Time: An unusual bus ride...

#Tenth Doctor #10th Doctor #Doctor Who #David Tennant #Cybermen

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hitchell-mope · 4 years ago

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Phoebe Sparrow’s off the shits

#doctor who #mercy hartigan #the next doctor

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raineszramski · 6 years ago

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I contributed two illustrations for this book: one of Bill Potts, the other of Mercy Hartigan (the Cyber-King!) I’m honored to be in the company of so many other wonderful artists who also worked on it! https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=the-women-who-lived-amazing-tales-for-future-time-lords

#The Women Who Lived #Doctor Who: The Women Who Lived Thirteenth Doctor #women in Doctor Who

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esonetwork · 4 years ago

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Timestamp #205: The Next Doctor

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-205-the-next-doctor/

Timestamp #205: The Next Doctor

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor (Christmas Special, 2008)

The Doctor who wasn’t really the Doctor.

The TARDIS materializes under an archway in a snowstorm. The Doctor strides out with a smile on his face, happy to be in London for Christmas in 1851. His joy is interrupted by someone screaming “Doctor!”, and he finds a growling creature behind a door wearing a copper Cyberman mask, a frantic woman, and a man claiming to be the Doctor.

This other Doctor, armed with his own “sonic” screwdriver, tries to lasso the primitive assimilation as it runs up a wall. The Tenth Doctor grabs on and the pair finds themselves dragged along until companion Rosita cuts the rope with a hatchet. The Doctors laugh about their adventure while Rosita chides them. While she goes to check the traps, the Doctor rambles along, mistakenly believing that the other Doctor is a future regeneration. He soon figures out that the other Doctor has memory loss, something that happened just before the Cybermen arrived.

The Tenth Doctor adopts the John Smith alias as the other Doctor rushes off to a funeral.

The Cybermen, led by a new Cyber Leader and a human ally named Mercy Hartigan, review the Cybershade’s surveillance footage while they prepare for the rise of the Cyber King. These Cybermen are the Pete’s World variety, somehow left behind when the worlds merged.

The other Doctor and Rosita observe the funeral procession of Reverend Aubrey Fairchild before springing into action. Rosita heads to the “TARDIS” while the other Doctor investigates the house of the deceased. He’s joined by Mr. Smith, and he explains that the Cybermen presence is linked to a number of murders and child abductions across the city. The rash of crimes started with the death of a man named Jackson Lake and have led to the reverend’s demise by some advanced form of electrocution.

The pair find a pair of infostamps, one of which contains the history of London from 1066 to 1851. The other Doctor has a flashback to his “regeneration” and memory of another infostamp. They also uncover a Cyberman home invasion and have to run. While they flee, John Smith reveals himself as the real Doctor and the other Doctor bypasses the safeties on the infostamp to overload the pursuing Cybermen.

The other Doctor is troubled by the happenings. The Doctor promises to help him.

At the reverend’s graveside service, Miss Hartigan crashes the proceedings with an admission: The reverend had to die in order to get the mourners in one place. She dispatches the Cybermen to attack them, sparing only a few as the rest are deleted.

The Doctors return to Rosita’s side at their home base. Jackson Lake’s belongings are stacked by the wall, kept as evidence of his disappearance, and the Tenth Doctor finds another infostamp in the luggage. The other Doctor shows off his TARDIS – a gas balloon, fueled by the local gasworks for a substantial fee, long-form called Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style – and dreams of flying it one day.

The Doctor now knows that this man is not him. He shares the story of the Battle of Canary Wharf, presuming that some of the survivors fell through time and landed in London, 1851. He draws the parallels between Jackson Lake and the man’s memories, even showing him the JL inscription on his fob watch. The man, truly Jackson Lake, was flashed with an infostamp that contained all of the Cybermen’s information the Doctor, thus side-booting his brain with an alternate identity.

There’s still one missing piece that Jackson can’t remember, but the Doctor helps him remember based on the amount of luggage on hand: Jackson remembers how the Cybermen invaded his home and killed his wife Caroline. His fugue state ends as he breaks down in tears.

While Jackson Lake mourns and is consoled by Rosita, the infostamps start to chime. The Doctor finds a whole cache of them and realizes that the Cybermen are on the move. The Doctor rushes out, and Jackson sends Rosita after him.

Miss Hartigan fits her survivors with Cyberman EarPods and uses them to fulfill tasks for her. The Doctor and Rosita find the survivors marching children from their workhouses and orphanages to the River Thames. The procession is guarded by Cybershades and Cybermen, and it ends at the court of the Cyber King.

The Doctor and Rosita are ambushed by Miss Hartigan and the Cybermen. The Cybermen don’t recognize the Doctor because of the corrupted data on the infostamp, but they repair it. The Cybermen march on the Doctor and Rosita, but are stopped by Jackson Lake and his cache of infostamps. The trio run (after Rosita sucker punches Miss Hartigan!) and Jackson reveals that his cellar may be a gateway into their operations.

Miss Hartigan, in it for her own social liberation from this patriarchal society, takes control of the child workforce after killing the EarPod-clad men. Meanwhile, the Doctor’s trio finds a Dimension Vault in Jackson’s cellar. The Cybermen used the Dalek technology to travel through time and escape the Void. They follow the tunnels to the enemy base as the Cybermen attempt to convert Miss Hartigan and provide her liberation (from her anger and rage) as their Cyber King.

Unfortunately for them, she’s too strongwilled for conversion. Her mind is too powerful to control, and she uses her new powers to obliterate the Cyber Leader when it tries to intervene.

The conversion has also moved up the CyberKing’s timetable. Since they’re no longer needed, the Cybermen try to delete the children, but the Doctor and Rosita free them instead. While the children run, Jackson remembers that the Cybermen had also abducted his son, and he finds the boy among the workforce. Unfortunately, Frederic is trapped on a ledge, so the Doctor swashbuckles his way up and rescues him.

As the base ignites around them, the Doctor, Jackson, and Frederic run. Outside, a giant mechanical CyberKing rises from the Thames with Miss Hartigan on the throne, ready to convert millions into Cybermen as it rampages through London. Jackson, Frederic, and Rosita rush to safety.

The Doctor grabs the Dimension Vault and uses the “TARDIS” balloon to look the CyberKing in the eye. He offers Miss Hartigan one last chance at mercy, extending the opportunity for the Cybermen to travel using the Dimension Vault to a place where they can live in peace. She rejects him, so he uses the cache of infostamps against her. The assault breaks the cyber connection and leaves her mind open to see what she’s become. The shock and terror of her reasserted humanity destroys all of the Cybermen, leaving the giant automaton to stumble about until the Doctor uses the Dimension Vault to transport it into the time vortex where it will be disintegrated.

Jackson Lake addresses the onlookers and rallies them to cheer for the Doctor as he drifts above the city. Later on, they discuss the Lake family’s future, including Rosita as Frederic’s new nursemaid. The Doctor offers Jackson a look inside the real TARDIS. Jackson is amazed by the sight, but Jackson has had quite enough adventure. He asks the Doctor about his companions, to which the Doctor turns maudlin.

Jackson offers the Doctor a Christmas dinner in honor of all those that they’ve lost. The Doctor accepts.

I’m of two minds about this story. The Jackson Lake mystery is simultaneously amusing and tragic, adding a compelling throughline to the Cyberman invasion plot. The flip side is that the climax of the Cyberman story – the Pacific Rim-style CyberKing – is utterly ridiculous.

It’s a shame, really, because this story balloon really flies along until the cyber-mech lets the air right out.

There are some good but minor things that help tie things off:

The sequence with the boy at the beginning is a direct reference to A Christmas Carol;

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen makes yet another appearance as a fairly generic Christmas song, continuing from The Dæmons, The Curse of Peladon, The Unquiet Dead, The Christmas Invasion, and The Runaway Bride;

There are direct ties to the previous nine incarnations of the Doctor, once again breaking any claims that “nu-Who” doesn’t connect to the classic era;

The scene where the Cybermen “identify” the Doctor is an homage to Earthshock;

The Cybermen in the snow reflects The Tenth Planet;

Li H’sen Chang’s show poster appears as an easter egg in the background.

The infostamp memory files of the Doctor’s lives come from The Time Meddler, The Ice Warriors, Terror of the Autons, City of Death, Arc of Infinity, The Mysterious Planet, Time and the Rani, Doctor Who (The Movie), The Parting of the Ways, and The Family of Blood, none of which are actuallyCyberman stories. The War Doctor does not appear in the library files, which makes sense from a production standpoint, but doesn’t quite jive from an internal chronological standpoint.

Finally, I also love the character development as the Tenth Doctor considers that his time may be coming to an end. He’s excited to think that he won’t be the last of his regenerations, and his joy is infectious.

I just wish that the cyber jaeger hadn’t been a thing.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

Keeping in mind that the Timestamps Project is following the franchise chronologically at this point…

UP NEXT – Sarah Jane Adventures: From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Tenth Doctor #Timestamps Project

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