RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Paul Evans It's Christmas Eve 1851, and the Doctor lands, with no companion, he encounters Rosita, searching for her Doctor, who turns out to be David Morrissey. The Doctor thinks he's his future self, but certain things don't quite make sense, a pocket watch may hold the key. New Doctor explains the Cybermen are at work in the area, aided by local Miss Hartigan. At the funeral of the local Reverend Miss Hartigan turns up wearing a bold red dress, and a Cyber attack takes place on the gathered guests, killing some and rounding up select members. They then round the children into the workhouse, with one aim, re birth of the Cyber king.There are quite a few surprises in store, the Cybermen pop up in some unexpected ways.I think the scene when Miss Hartigan attends the funeral in that red dress is one of the most visual I can think of in the show's history, it looks so good. The episode rather a fun romp. Dervla Kirwan is rather brilliant as Miss Hartigan. I must applaud David Morrisey, no wonder he was touted to play the Doctor, he was so brilliant, I loved his performance. A slight tease as Morrisey was tipped to take over the reigns of the TARDIS at the time. A Christmasy Oliver feel, the Children, the Workhouse etc. Not so sure about the Cyber King, it's a little bit over the top. Overall it's fun and quite heart warming. 7/10

invisibleskidmark this is a good episode and i enjoyed it but the dialogue was poor yet again by Russel t Davis and the direction was sloppy at times. this is essentially hard times but with a few twists; instead of a business man it's a cyberking and the setting is Victorian Britain, there's a labour force a lot like hard times and the new doctor is being hunted down by cybermen, a lot like gradgrind Jr. being hunted down by the business man. the performances are exceptional, considering the rushed and badly plotted script. David tenant plays his part to a tee and despite the previous comment it was consistent with his other performances and not over the top. morissey stood out and plays turmoil really well and his character resembles the turmoil of Louisa from hard times.if you like doctor who then this is a good story but if you don't and are just passionate about the art of film then avoid at all costs as this wasn't the serial's best. also in my opinion the best scripts of the series are written by Steven moffat even though some of his plots are flawed.

Robert McElwaine Just before It was revealed that Matt Smith was to step in to David Tennants shoes and replace him as the eleventh actor to play the Doctor. Many names were bandied about as to who that person might be. Writer/Exectutive producer Russel T. Davies took advantage of this speculation and penned "The Next Doctor" which would be 2008's Christmas special. The story revolves around the Doctor arriving in nineteenth century London on Christmas Eve where he meets a strange man who goes by the same title. He looks totally dissimilar in physical appearance, wears different clothes but there are subtle similarities. The eccentric behaviour, as well as the Victorian wardrobe which the Time Lord would conceivably wear, he apparently has a sonic screw driver and has a female companion, a young twenty something who goes by the name of Rosita. Most eerie is that he also refers to himself as being a Time Lord.So far everything sounds quite promising and so you would think but while the stories premise is fairly good. The end result while not awful (as with with much of RTD's work on the he show) is a bit of a let down. Good concept, so-so execution.The performances though aren't part of the problem. David Tennant is a normal, reliable as ever while guest actor Neil Morrisey (who was one of those rumoured to be taking over) makes an instant impression as the pseudo-doctor of the title. He breathes a lot of energy in to the part and show's much of the enthusiasm that Tennant himself has displayed through out his tenure, as well as the requisite passion that you would expect the heroic lead to have. Velile Tshabalalaas as Rosita makes a decent feisty assistant who manages to gel well with her two male counterparts. Even if at times she verges on being a tad OTT in moments where she is called upon to show annoyance, anger or hostility which undermines some of the more dramatic moments. Also my hat has to go off to Dervla Kirwan who is quite excellent as the human villain of the piece, Mercy Hartigan, a detestable, vile woman who Kirwan plays with the right touch of dry, cool menace and venom, allowing to, bring to life a memorably chilling villainess.But these can't entirely compensate for some of the problems which arise in the script. Again we see the return of the alternative version of the excellent Cybermen which were introduced in 2006's "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel". Although I can't say that I hate this new version they're not a patch on the original monsters which were previously seen in the classic series. Then there's the thought that rather than have the Cybermen relegated to be being convenient villains rather than the main source of the story. Why not introduce a new threat which may have complimented the story then there's the newly introduced Cyber-dog creatures used by the Cybermen who just look like they were inspired by an old "Tom and Jerry" cartoon. Not forgetting that part of the plot relies on young urchins being exploited as a means of slave labour. Which isn't the most innovative of plot devices.Some of the humour at times although appropriate in practically any "Doctor Who" comes dangerously close to being too cartoonish at times. Not to mention slapstick. And the specials show stopping climax which revolves around the rise of "The Cyber-king" is somewhat ludicrous given the amount of witnesses who witness the terrifying event and yet no-one in the future seems to have heard anything about (with the possible exception of "Torchwood" which even then did not exist at the time where everything takes place). Never the less there are some rather novel ideas thrown in which include the explanation as to who "The New Doctor" really is and why he believes himself to be the ancient Time Lord of legend and an interesting (if a bit hackneyed) inclusion of a weather balloon. Davies also manages to keep things rolling along at a fairly even pace and there are still some genuinely exciting and fun moments to be enjoyed. One of which is a defining moment towards the end where Tennants Doctor is forced to confront Miss Hartigan and the Cybermen more or less face to face offering them an alternative to the cruel madness that they have in mind. It makes for what is a genuinely compassionate moment which you would expect from the noble time traveller.Tag on an nicely placed coda where the false Doctor finally invites his new friend to Christmas dinner and "The Next Doctor" makes for a solid if under whelming end to the year which was 2008. It's just a shame that David Morrisey won't be taking over from Tennant as the new Doctor as he had the potential to be something great. But here's to Matt Smith and what he may bring to his tenure.

Joy H The Next Doctor as a whole was "okay". The script was very dull. The saving grace was David Morrissey playing the said 'Next Doctor'. His performance was astoundingly good - really exceptional - he gave it all he had; but definitely wasn't OTT (like his counterpart). Mr Morrissey exhibited a quality well above this production, and it blew me away. I shall certainly be looking out for him in future. The stand-out factor of the show was the giant robot at the end rising from the Thames and stomping on Olde Worlde London; it really did look fantastic and the CGI dept did a very fine job indeed. The big aspect of the show that genuinely upset me was their use of a REAL graveyard to shoot a Cyberman group attack scene; it was covered with paper snow and the actors were running/falling all over the graves, which for me personally isn't acceptable for any production. The graveyard could easily have been constructed in a studio, thus negating this most disrespectful behaviour. Overall, not a bad show; however it was just the talent of David Morrissey and the giant robot that saved it, otherwise it would have been totally forgettable.