The Doctor In The TARDIS

Looks like we have been lucky for timing. The first new story for December is the 2006 Christmas special, The Runaway Bride.

Killer Santas, exploding baubles, an alien spaceship shaped like a giant star - Christmas with the Doctor is anything but a silent night...

The Runaway Bride was the second Christmas special of the BBC Wales era of Doctor Who. It marked the first change of companion since the 2005 revival had begun, and also introduced the concept of the "one-off", one-story companion. Though Donna Noble did later return for a full series of her own, the original plan was for her only to appear in this episode, thereby blazing a trail that others like Astrid Peth, Jackson Lake, Christina de Souza, and Adelaide Brooke would follow.

The next story will be posted on Sunday 11th December.

Awesome excuse for a rewatch. Great timing :D

It gives me great pleasure to open the voting with a 5 :)

I think if Donna hadn't returned as a companion it may have got a lower rating, but because we got to explore and understand the character a lot more during S4 it makes this story a lot more enjoyable. The only downside for me, though not enough to mark it down, was the reuse of the Santas and Trees from the previous special.

I've gone with a 4. Overall a good episode but there are a few bits and pieces in there that I wasn't so keen on. Definately one of the better Christmas Specials though, for sure.

Oh and thank you to PP for setting TIQ up again for me this week :D

Three from me. 3.5 if the option was there. Far from being one of the worst Christmas specials, I do think there are a couple that are better. Donna was at her grating worst in this, but I liked her anyway. I agree that having the santas return was a bit lame, though it's probably the least Christmasy of the specials, so I would guess that is why they were there.

Also a Four from me =) I quite liked it, but like the Doc I had little bits that didn't quite do it for me.
But I still really enjoy watching it again^^

4/5 from me. Not my favourite of the Christmas specials but definately one of the better ones and I much prefer it to the one that came before it.

I went with full marks. We have the creation of earth, an angry bride, a giant spider and a wedding party. All at Christmas. One of my favourites. It never used to be, but the more I watch it the more I love it.

4/5

Good solid episode, and yay for Donna!

I went with a 4. The main reason I marked it down is because it wasn't Christmassy. It felt like it could have fit anywhere in the season, which isn't a bad thing, but a Christmas special should be Christmassy and the santas felt a bit shoehorned in just to remind us it was Christmas.

This is by far my favorite Christmas special- I went with a 4/5. It never fails to get me  laughing, but the RoboSantas were a bit random, and I really don't like Lance. Well, actually, I kinda hate him. But, whatever. Donna is amazing, and even when I had just seen this episode, I was hungry for more. I was really upset at the time that she didn't go on to travel with him, actually. Maybe the only one who felt that way after this, I don't know.

I went with a 4, but tending up rather than down.  It's great fun.  I must admit, I was very dubious when I heard Donna was coming back - I felt she was a great one-off character, but there wasn't much further to go - but I was delighted to be wrong, and I agree with TDD that the later development improves this story in retrospect.

I have given this full marks. For a long time it was my favourite special and I think it's really good. It's not my favourite anymore but I still think it's great.

4 from me. A great story with some great new characters but not really all that Christmas-y which is a bit of a shame. Other than that though it was all good :)

I think this sums up perfectly how I feel about this. It wasn't the best, it wasn't the worst. It was ok. Catherine Tate gave only a glimpse of how amazing she would turn out to be but she was ok. The Racnoss were ok. And everything else was ok. David Tennant was the exception - he was sublime (as usual)

I've marked this a 4/5.

On the whole I thought it was a good story and I liked the majority of it, but there were some elements of it that I wasn't too keen on. I think a four is fair though.

5 from me, ok I don't watch it that much, but then again I don't watch the Christmas ones that much! But to me this is the only Christmas one I am most likely to watch over again if I fancy a Christmassy one