Christmas Special 2006
David Tennant, Catherine Tate

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4021 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-02
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Colour
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 61 minutes

DVD Description
No sooner has the Doctor said a tear-stained farewell to Rose Tyler than he finds himself face-to-face with a woman, played by comedienne Catherine Tate, dressed in a fluffy white wedding frock.

Who is she? Who is she supposed to be marrying? And how did she get on board the TARDIS?

This popular Doctor Who Christmas special aired in December 2006 and little did we know at that stage that Catherine Tate's Donna Noble might be back for more.

Synopsis
Whilst preparing to marry her boyfriend, bride-to-be Donna suddenly vanishes, only to reappear in the Doctor’s Tardis. As the Doctor races the Tardis back in an attempt to get Donna to the Church on time, it becomes evident that she is the key to an elaborate alien plan masterminded by the dastardly Empress Of Racnoss.

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Customer Reviews

Poor value for money
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the episode but the DVD as a whole is poor value. I'm a big fan of the vanilla releases as I'm not a huge admirer of extras on DVDs but this release was just a huge disappointment for me. One episode (albeit an hour long instead of the usual forty-five minutes) selling at the same price of a release with 3 is just daylight robbery and the addition of the DW Confidential Special is a poor substitute for further episodes. At least last year's Christmas Special had "New Earth" with it too.

On a slightly more positive note David Tennant was usual exceptional self, Catherine Tate wasn't the nightmare I was dreading and the Empress of the Racnoss was a truly impressive creation. But I'm sorry Amazon, until this one drops in price I won't be partaking of it, completist even though I am.

NEARLY A RUNAWAY SUCCESS
A little of CATHERINE TATE goes a long way. Her characters are renowned for having 'big personality' stamped all over them. And as the almost-wed Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas Special, her big personality gets to mix it with two more in the shape of THE DOCTOR and THE EMPRESS OF RACNOSS. Three required presences, a fair bit of scenery chewing - and just enough oxygen left to avoid suffocating.

Of course, Christmas is the season where - despite every effort to resist - one is less critically, and more forgivingly, inclined. THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, then, is a perfect example of that process in action so pass me another sherry.

Nothing in my book will quite match 2005's THE CHRISTMAS INVASION for sheer size and movie spectacle but there are enough outstanding moments here to fend off niggling worries about downsizing or budget cuts. The scenes of Earth's formation from gaseous stardust, trapping the Racnoss spacecraft, are magnificent, almost Hubble Telescope-like in depth and dimension; the taxi-Santa kidnap on the motorway is pure punching the air stuff and the destruction of the Empress's 'star' ship is elegantly realised. The Empress of Racnoss herself is a wonderful non-CGI spider creation, but its lack of movement - when it should have been pit-pattering around to more dangerous effect - slightly hampers an otherwise commendably ambitious setup.

DAVID TENNANT and SARAH PARRISH bounce of each other very well and the denoument, as the emerging 'children' are flushed down the plughole, is powerful and more than appropriate for insects and arachnids, however big they might be (please note: if I eventually re-incarnate as a bluebottle, be kind and open a window).

References to the loss of ROSE TYLER in her parallel universe keep an emotional continuity necessary to the one-off nature of this story and lend Donna's last words to the Doctor genuine weight and poignance. As he leaves, we're left feeling for him and the new horizons to come. It's a lovely ending, reflective and softly low-key. Pass me a tissue, mansize. (...) Yes, yes, I know what 'please' means...sorry. (...) I don't know, maybe there's a high winter pollen count or something? Hmm.

In 'The Runaway Bride', RUSSELL T. DAVIES has begun ringing in some of the changes for the season to come. In consequence, Doctor Who continues to be a wonderful experience with a bona-fide creative genius at the helm, surrounded by talented colleagues in every department. Even the 'Confidential' extra is a worthy bonus. Buy it.


HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Doctor Who - The Runaway Bride
This disc features the hour long Doctor Who Christmas Special starring David Tennant as The Doctor and Catherine Tate as The Runaway Bride.

THE RUNAWAY BRIDE
Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Euros Lynn

The final episode of Series 2 saw the dramatic exit of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) from the series, and so the question that many Doctor Who fans were asking themselves in the run up to the 2006 Christmas Special was whether or not the show could survive without its lead actress. Rose had been a very interesting and successful companion since the show was revived two year's ago, and there were worries/doubts in my mind that the series would suffer in quality as a consequence. Luckily, my doubts were completely ill-founded, because 'The Runaway Bride' is another superb addition to the new series, boasting an ambitious, confident and action-packed hour of sheer entertainment, suitable for the whole family to sit down and enjoy together. One of the main reason's that Doctor Who has survived for 44 years is because of it's ability to handle change - and luckily Catherine Tate puts in a lively and memorable performance as Doona (the Bride), and it is clear to see that she has great on-screen chemistry with David Tennant, because the pair play off/interact with one another very well indeed. With head writer Russell T Davies on scripting duties, the viewer isn't given a split second to miss or mourn Rose, because the episode is tightly plotted, full of witty one-liners, big action sequences and some really rather touching, tending moments, that make you realise just what a versatile, unique show Doctor Who is. Perhaps, it's slightly weaker than the 2005 yuletide offering, the sublime 'Christmas Invasion', but it was really was the hihglight of the festive TV season, and served as a nice piece of light, comic relief after the harrowing intensity of 'Doomsday'.

Okay, the plot - Donna Noble (The Bride) finds herself suddenly transported from her wedding and ends up in the TARDIS with the Doctor, leading to some humurous and energetic banter between the pair, and the wonderful moment where she realises she's in space. From this point onwards the plot never slows down - there's a big full-on motorway car chase involving the TARDIS, the return of the Robot Santa's and killer Christmas Tree's, a journey back to the creation of the universe and the evil Empress of the Rachnos, half-spider, half-human. My favourite part of the episode however was the beautiful written end sequence - Russell T Davies' dialogue and characterisation is second to none, and there are some really special, poignant moments between the Doctor and Donna. David Tennant feels completely at home through the duration of the episode, and gives what is possibly his best performance in the role to date. I was sceptical about Catherine Tate, not being a fan of her 'comedy' show, but once she'd calmed down and the audience had an oppertunity to get used to her brash persona, she was hoot - and I wouldn't mind seeing her again in the future. Also included on this disc is the hour-long Christmas Day edition of Doctor Who Confidential, entitled 'Music and Monsters', which was broadcast on BBC1 at 1pm on Christmas Day, and featured footage of the brilliant Children In Need concert in Cardiff, and is a veritable feast of Murray Gold's sublime music scores for the show.

On thr whole, although perhaps not the best Who episode, it's certainly a worthy addition to your DVD collection. And now of course, the wait begins for Series 3, of which I have incredibly high expectations for. 'The Runaway Bride' comes highly recommended from me.