The Next Doctor

That was a lot of fun, wasn't it? Exactly what you need for Christmas Day. I know there are a lot of fans for whom Russel Davies's take on the series is too lightweight and childish. I'm not one of them. Doctor Who should be fun and adventurous. That's not to say I'm averse to something grave and serious on occasion, but you need balance. There was plenty of deep emotional drama on display here, as the story of Jackson Lake unfolded. (Let's face it, despite all the hype, he was never going to turn out to be the Doctor, was he?)

Once the mystery of Jackson was out of the way, there were very continuity issues in this story. Indeed, by removing the originally planned cliffhanger ending of Journey's End, Russell Davies has effectively de-linked the story from the tv episodes either side of it, meaning we've got a fairly nebulous spaces into which some of the spin-off material can be easily inserted. There are plenty of comic strip adventures, and even a solo-Doctor novel now (The Eyeless) that can go into a gap before the Christmas special - so thank goodness that hasn't been as problematic as in previous years!

Speaking of comic strips, I've been thrilled by the latest issue of IDW's current series The Forgotten. What had seemed to be yet another series 3 tale with Martha has turned completely on its head, and it now looks like it's set post-series 4. Great twist! As yet, I'm not certain if the story occurs before or after The Next Doctor. I guess I'll be able to make a better decision after the last two episodes have come out... Similarly, DWM have started on a new arc of comic strips with a new companion. It's looking like the "gap year" is going to prove interesting in terms of how diverse story strands are going to fit together, especially as we have no idea yet how things are going to pan out in the tv specials themselves. So we could well see the tenth Doctor adventure listings fluctuating wildly as I try to keep up with new developments...