I'm still in a digesting state. I liked that the "next doctor" was neither a real imposter nor another time lord. For some time I believed (just as the Doctor did) that Jackson is a future incarnation with memory loss (loved the mention of the fob watch and Blink btw, especially because I watched Family of Blood/ Blink this afternoon ). Loved Rosita (wouldn't mind seeing her around again, tho I doubt that'll happen) and how doctor-ish was it of Jackson to not even consider her as a love interest in the slightest, not even after the Doctor suggested she could be more. Although in his case it might be a bit based on race issues and his cultural background but it was funny at the same time.

LOVED the bit where whole of London applauded the Doctor. He so deserved that moment. Bravo Doctor indeed!!

Having said that I must admit that I though the Cybermen in this episode were a bit rubbish. *gasps at own blasphemy* The whole story reminded me of the Daleks in Manhattan 2-parter which are 2 episodes I skipped at my last re-watch of S3. That's kinda saying something.
So, we had some kind of "pig slaves" again, only they were not pigs but cyber... dog... thingies? We had the Cybermen, trying to create a new generation of themselves by using human and Cybermen elements (just like the Daleks and the Human Dalek) in both cases it didn't quite work the way they had planned it.
Of course the outcome was different then: The "look at what you've become" is what the Doctor used on the Cybermen before, in the Age of Steel 2-parter.

I would have liked to learn more about Miss Hartigan, why and how she became what she did (or maybe I was too busy drooling over DT and missed that part, I need to watch it again) and I think they could have focused more on the child labor... maybe more and more children go missing, Doctor investigates, find children, finds Cybermen, etc but that would have taken time away from the Next Doctor storyline... so what I think the problem is (well... problem... if you want to call it problem) that they tried to fit too many different ideas, too many storylines into the episode.

I think the story of a man who had his memory taken from him (after a tragic event or by force by some alien) and replaced with the Doctor's memory, meets the real Doctor, they need to battle some kind of alien (for the action scenes) while figuring out what happened. THAT would have been one great episode. And then you could have another episode with a brilliant woman, who's never taken seriously by men, who tries to take revenge for that by collaborating with some kind of evil aliens and then you could throw the child labor into the mix (evil witch and children, always a good mix). You could have the Cybermen in either of the episodes... or none really.

So I don't know what happened there... maybe they (RTD ) had already cooked out some ideas for season 5 before deciding to make it 5 specials instead and tried to fit all their ideas into these 5 specials (I hope not...) or they felt the need to add another storyline to fill those extra 10mins which they didn't have if they had focused on one storyline a bit more... imho.

Oh wow... didn't mean to write quite as much about the eppy but once I started, there was somehow now way of stopping. LOL!

To end this on a positive note: I loved the end of the episode.

Jackson's excitement and then fear (?) when he saw the (real) Tardis. Just such a normal reaction that we Whovians maybe forget sometimes. Usually companions are excited about the Doctor's adventures and the Tardis but we sometimes need "normal" people with "normal" reactions to all the crazy stuff that surrounds the Doctor to remind us that not everyone is companion material. Of course, all of us Whovians, are tho
And I loved that Jackson convinced the Doctor to join him, Rosita, his son and the balloon guy (if I saw that correctly) for Christmas dinner in memory of those they both lost. I take that as a signal that the Doctor will find some closure after losing Rose (again) and Donna and be able to move on. I think he needs this kind of closure and maybe the company of a man who shares his memories, who understands him and who has also lost a loved one, can help him overcome his grief.

A little bit at last. The Doctor still needs to be emo. Sometimes.

DISCUSS!

Will the Dr. Who Christmas special be shown on SciFi?

I was really, really glad the other Doctor turned out not to be a TimeLord. He was a bit of a wet blanket in the end Although, he was working within his era, so was actually very good. (There's logic in there somewhere, I think!).

I loved that he'd made his own version of the TARDIS, albeit with another name. But I loved his sonic screwdriver better

I caught the Rose reference from the Doctor when he told Rosita she has a good name. Well snuck in there, I thought.

The cybermen though - I'm so tired of them! nd they really didn't fit this episode at all. In fact, I agree with most of the above - the whole ep could have worked well as two separate eps and not included the cybermen at all.

I didn't really like the Doctors admission that the companions break his heart. Although the emotion was real, and you do feel for him and sense his loneliness.

I enjoyed the episode overall though. I love seeing the Doctor's cogs working in his brain as he solves a problem (this case being working out that his future self wasn't him at all).