Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Paul Evans I can recall the feeling of utter joy knowing that the legendary, fabulous Catherine Tate was going to guest star in the Christmas Doctor Who. The Christmas Invasion had showed us that the Christmas specials were actually good viewing, not just hammed up fillers seeking viewing figures with cheap stunts and rubbish plots.We'd had a glimpse of Donna in Doomsday, and I think from that cheeky clip we realised the Doctor wasn't going to have an easy time with the flame haired noisy one.It wasn't the best by any means, the story is a bit limp, the Robot Santas have been re-used from last year (cheap and lazy!!) but who cares we've got Donna, I know we've only just said goodbye to Rose, and I love Rose, but Donna is possibly she show's best companion (PLEASE one day return.) Sarah Parish, a normally top notch British actress is given a pretty naff part, the Empress of the Racnoss, not the best Who villain of all time, and seems doomed to the one appearance.How sad that Howard Attfield who played Donna's dad Geoff died not long after making this.Lighter then the normal episodes, silly, bad and wonderful. The Runaway Bride was the perfect Christmas day romp, it's a fun 8/10, not to be taken too seriously, but praise it for giving us Donna.

Claire Robson First aired on Christmas Day 2006, I really enjoyed this episode.Tennant plays the Doctor with his tongue so firmly in his cheek he's almost blowing raspberries at the "die hard" fans who cannot enjoy an episode unless they can find fault with it and prove their devoted fanaticism.I wasn't sure about Catherine Tate as The Bride at first. However, once I got past the "Am I bovvered?" voice in my head I really enjoyed her performance as a sharp-tongued nice-but-dim Essex girl trying to make it to the alter on time.Doctor Who is quite formulaeic (each episode is a variation of the same theme) - aliens attack, Earth is under threat, the Doctor saves the world, girl in tow to give him simpering look and viewers feel the air of melancholy as we all know the Doctor must remain a solitary being... This episode is no different (hope I haven't ruined the plot!!) but Tennant and Tate spark together very effectively - there are some laugh out loud moments in this episode, some great special effects and I felt the previous reviewers judgement was narrow-mindedly harsh. TV like this is made to entertain, and this episode certainly does!

david-3827 I really cannot understand how anybody could regard this episode as anything but totally awful. It was thinly scripted and played far too much for laughs. One thing above all really stood out for me and that was that this Doctor seems to have little regard for anyone but himself and whoever his companion is. So why do I say this ? Remember the scene when he is running from the robot santas (yuk!) and they raise there weapons / instruments to fire, how does he escape ... by making the cash machine spit out lots of cash and hiding behind all the totally unaware, and apparently unimportant, passers-by who scramble for the money. I cannot imagine any of the previous Doctors behaving with such reckless disregard for the safety of others. I absolutely hated this episode.

bob the moo The Doctor barely has had time to get over Rose before he finds himself with another woman in his Tardis – this time a bride on her wedding day. The Doctor cannot figure out how she got there but a quick return to earth later reveals robots disguised as Santa who are after Donna and, whatever the reason, it probably isn't a good one. On the run from her would-be captors, the Doctor starts to piece together a reason for alien interest in his new (unwilling) companion involving a former Torchwood facility.Everybody sat to watch this and I'm sure it will have been one of the biggest ratings winners across the Christmas period, which I imagine leaves the makers with the problem of trying to tailor the special to meet this diverse audience. With the normal series it can bring out certain aspects (the silliness, the darkness, the relationship etc) across different episodes and accept that some viewers will like some episodes but not others, but with these one-off things you only get one shot. Hence here then we a mix of comedy, special effects, action, monsters, dark character traits and hints at an inner pain in the Doctor. Needless to say no one aspect gets done really well but none gets left completely out – and it more of less manages to stay on the fine line between giving everyone something as opposed to annoying everyone!However depending on your point of view there will be parts that don't work. Personally I really enjoyed the hints at the darker nature of the Doctor (eg his single-mindedness in wiping out the creatures) and his feelings of loss regarding Rose and I would have liked more of that. However I knew this was never going to slow down and be about that so I accepted that we would have lots of Santa robots, exploding baubles and so on. This all works reasonably well and produces a solid enough piece of family entertainment that should please fans of the series even if everyone will have some reservations about some of the aspects of it. For me one of these things was the casting of Tate. I think towards the end she got better but for the first half her "Eastender's reject" act just grated on me and I didn't find it funny (which I think was the plan) and I thought she clashed heavily with some of the quiet moments attempted early on. Which was a shame because I though Tennant was best in these moments – moments where he was allowed to be a character rather than a panto-hero-come-action-figure. Of course he does the latter well enough as well but as usual I did wish that he didn't greet everything that happens with a big "oh, of COURSE" burst of recognition and instant understanding. Parish hams it up a bit too much as the Empress of the Rachnos; I didn't mind her accent so much but her "jokes" didn't fit her character and I would have liked her to have been more ambiguous (after all – if they did create the earth as a rock to "hibernate" then the humans are not really their fault). The writers do bring a touch of this out at the end but it is too little to really justify as anything. Gilet is solid enough in a minor role but nobody really steps up to adequately fill the hole left by Piper – for that we have a very fast pace that never really lets up for longer than a minute or two.Overall then, a lively and enjoyable Christmas special that has lots of energy and something for everyone in the delivery. The lack of quiet moments and character exploration was a bit of a disappointment to me (particularly as they hinted at doing it) but it was still quite enjoyable. That said, the presence of Tate's mostly annoying performance did distract me but also made me realise what a job Agyeman has ahead of her in the new series because the "partner" role is an important one to get right.