User Reviews

This special was by far stronger than the previous two specials. Emotional, exciting, excellent balance between humor and drama with just a dash of romance.

It also had really good and relateable characters for aliens; some you love and others love to hate, but all were entertaining. Kylie Minogue was one of many who were outstanding in their roles. The bumbling false historian, Alonzo the rookie but virtuous midshipman, and cute obese couple from Sto were all brilliant and brought life to a story trope usually too often rehashed.

The villains were interesting (still a little bit of camp tho but not too bad). The twist at the end of the "real" villain was predictable but still done decently. And the Doctor gets a truly memorable little heroic speech (so great to hear those). Voyage of the Damned was a first class voyage of entertainment! :) 9/10

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six-billion people on the planet below. You've got a problem with that?" With that speech David Tennant cemented once again that he is one of if not the best Doctor there has ever been.

This episode in my opinion was one of the best ever, some people have criticized it and said that it wasn't good enough, but these people take things too seriously. This was 100% pure drama, pure entertainment. This story was a different Dr Who story because it involved many deaths and it was a very emotional episode which was fantastic. You could see the pain and hurt in the Doctors eyes every time a persons life was lost, you could see him constantly asking "Why?" and you could feel that he felt it was his fault. You were with the character of the Doctor all the way and you wanted him so desperately to succeed and be the hero once more.

The music and the acting like every Dr Who episode matched perfectly, the score behind the slow motion scene was beautiful and it made you feel like there was no hope.

The ending of the show was great too, the death of Kyle Minogues character Astrid was a shock to me. I knew she wasn't doing any more but I didn't think she would be killed off. This again was a moving scene, watching the desperate Doctor try and bring her back but failing was hard to watch, and the line 'You're not falling, you're flying' nearly brought a tear from my eye. The Doctor doesn't seem to be having much luck lately with companions and friends, but thats what makes it more emotional, because you know what the Doctor has been through already and to see him lose someone else, is heartbreaking.

There was also a slight change the theme music which I actually liked, it was weird to hear it at first but the drums gave it a really big feel, don't know if its just for that episode or will be on the next series but I'll tell you now, series 4 looks amazing. And I don't know whats happening in David Tennants future but if he does leave, I promise you, that last story he does will surely have to be something which will bid a fitting farewell to the charismatic man. But he's not gone yet and there are still more episode to come. So don't panic yet.

I don't care what the critics say either about Dr Who, it is the best drama that the BBC has to offer and every year it gets better and better, keep it coming.

Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned is set aboard an intergalactic spaceship cruise liner called the Titantic, named after the ill fated ship from Earth obviously, carrying hundreds of passengers from all over the Galaxy it stations itself above Earth during Christmas 2007. The Doctor (David Tennant) arrives aboard on the TARDIS & decides to stay for a while & enjoy the festivities, however the festivities soon turn to tragedy when three meteorites collide with the Titantic severely damaging it. The Doctor along with an assorted group of survivors including sexy waitress Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) fight for survival as robotic hosts turn on their human creators killing any surviving passengers, something very sinister & very deliberate has happened & the Doctor is determined to find out what...

The third Doctor Who Christmas special after The Christmas Invasion (2005) & The Runnaway Bride (2006) which were broadcast on Christmas Day the previous two years Voyage of the Damned was apparently the second most watched program on British telly during Christmas Day 2007 & had a 50% or more share of the entire audience watching which is quite an achievement all things considered, directed by James Strong even though it will undoubtedly divide opinion with many saying it's 'the worst thing ever' I actually really rather liked it. The whole thing felt like a sci-fi version of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) set in outer space with the Doctor the leader of a band of mismatched survivors fighting for their lives, Astrid as the love interest as well as a collection of other assorted unashamed clichés. Then there's their journey through the wrecked ship overcoming collapsed corridors, blocked doors & having to walk across a precariously placed beam! I liked the Saturday afternoon action film matinée feel about it & for that I apologise to no-one. The script goes for some tragedy, some good old fashioned romance, some good action set-pieces, there's a few twists & turns as well as a bit of light hearted comedy. I liked the character's, the Doctor himself is just great as usual, I liked Astrid & I thought the bad guy at the end although a bit silly looking worked well enough & I'd have liked a bit more motivation or explanation for the Titantic's captain to turn traitor. The story is alright, I'd say it's a bit predictable & sometimes a bit rushed but I liked it, it moves along like a rocket, it's unpretentious fun & doesn't try to be anything else while I found plenty here to enjoy.

This is one of the better looking things to turn up on British telly recently, lets not forget that over here we don't have huge special effects house's & techniques to create this sort of stuff so it's an achievement that it does look pretty good. Sure there's some ropey effects here but mostly they are pretty impressive, the space-bound shots of the Titantic in particular have real scope, scale & look great. I think the effects in this look as good as anything from an American TV series which sometimes can be truly awful. I must admit I did find the silly bit at the end with the Queen a tad embarrassing though & could have done without it along with the two fat comedy relief character's who are irritating but thankfully get killed off. The production design is nice & it looks glossy with a really nice contrast between the Victorian style wooden interiors that mimic the look of the real Titantic against the high tech sophistication of a intergalactic spaceship. The opening theme has undergone a slight rearrangement & it sounds a lot meatier & less orchestral. The acting is fine, Tennant is very comfortable as the Doctor these days, I quite liked Kylie Minogue & thought she looked sexy in that maids outfit while everyone else does alright.

Voyage of the Damned is a fine Doctor Who adventure that I enjoyed a lot, sure it isn't perfect (what is?) but as a light action orientated sci-fi fantasy with good effects & a good story I'm not one of those who are going to complain although I'm sure there will be plenty of them about that will (unfairly) criticise everything about it.

Another Christmas Day, another Christmas Day 'Dr.Who'. This one was different in that it had the Kylie factor. To be honest, I'm not the world's biggest fan of 'La La La' Minogue. I suppose it stems back to 'Neighbours', a show to which I have a long-term aversion. I can't get squeaky clean 'Charlene' out of my memory banks. Fortunately, she has come a long way since then. The role of 'Astrid Peth' could have been played by anyone, but to her credit she infused it with a fair amount of vitality and warmth. Her demise was never in any doubt ( the production team could never afford her as a regular ), but she got a suitably spectacular exit.

As for the plot being ripped off from 'The Poseidon Adventure', well, doesn't that just take the cake? Fancy taking someone else's idea and turning into a 'Dr.Who' script. Russell T.Davies' head should roll for this. Of course this sort of thing never used to happen back in the days of Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe, when 'The Talons Of Weng-Chiang', 'Planet Of Evil' and 'The Brain Of Morbius' were made. Any resemblance to these and 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Forbidden Planet' and 'Frankenstein' must have been coincidental then.

A survivor of the 'Titanic' was quoted in the press as saying that the tragedy should not be used as the basis for entertainment. Fair comment. The thing is Dr.Who's 'Titanic' was a spaceship. Unless there was a spaceship disaster recently that involved robotic angels, cyborg dwarfs, and teleport bracelets, I think we should let the complaint pass.

I think what has miffed some fans is that 'Damned' did not take place on the real Titanic, because then they could have savaged R.T.D. for messing up continuity by not having the tenth doctor meet his predecessor ( who was also aboard, if 'Rose' is to be believed ).

Being a Christmas Special, 'Damned' had to be spectacular - and was. We've come a long way since the wobbly sets and quarries. The sets and S.F.X. would have done credit to a movie. Everything was BIG. The cast were exceptional too - Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Bernard Cribbins, George Costigan, and that old thesp Nicholas Witchell. There were some good gags, such as Mr.Copper getting Christmas wrong and London being deserted because the public remembered the events of the previous Christmas Specials. Jessica Martin was The Voice Of The Queen. You have to hand it to her Majesty. The moment she saw the Titanic hurtling towards her, she knew the Doctor had to be involved somewhere.

'Damned' pushed all the right buttons; it was funny, thrilling, tragic, suspenseful. Anyone expecting another 'Blink' was a fool. Yes, the plot was thinner than one of my Aunt Doris' After Eight mints, but sweet all the same. Yes, a lot of people died, but then they do in real disaster movies. David Tennant confirmed his status as the best Doctor of them all. His 'I am a Time Lord' speech was electrifying.

While the 'fans' pick over the Special like a housewife cutting up the remains of the turkey on Boxing Day, I shall raise a glass of sherry to everyone involved in its making, and bask in the glory of the viewing figures.

'Dr.Who' is no longer a 'fans' only show. When I buy D.V.D's, I no longer feel embarrassed, because I know now I am no longer alone in my love for the show. While 'fans' cry into their Tom Baker hats and pretend that the new-look 'Who' is a bad dream, I feel sorry for them because they are missing the best British television in years. Like him or hate him, R.T.D. is part of that success story. Could Steven Moffat have done better than thirteen million viewers? In some strange parallel universe, R.T.D. never existed, 'Dr.Who' did not come back in 2005, and the 'fans' spent this last Christmas Day writing yet more letters begging for its return.

It seems that DOCTOR WHO has now become part of Christmas and I for one am glad of that . I always used to receive a DOCTOR WHO annual without for my Christmas as a youngster . Ironically enough a few minutes after seeing this Christmas I caught a snippet of CORONATION STREET where a child character was trying out their " human Dalek " mask seen in Daleks In Manhatten . It says something of the show's success when BBC merchandise makes an appearance in an oppositions show

As for the episode itself it will be for ever remembered as " The one with Kylie Minouge " which isn't really a bad thing . Whilst being enjoyable this episode by Russell T Davies is far from original . I'm all for traditional ( read scary ) stories but basically it's a remake of the 1977 story Robots Of Death where instead of passengers being murdered by voc robots they're being murdered by robotic angels . Throw in some of THE POSIEDON ADVENTURE and you've got television by numbers . I shouldn't criticise too much because it was much better than the previous year's special and this episode got almost 14 million viewers making it the second most watched programme of the year - only the EASTENDERS episode the same day got more viewers !

My only problem with this episode is the fact they didn't go on the real Titanic. Also, I loved Astrid's death scene. Very sad, as most death scenes in Doctor Who are.

Another one of those entertaining Doctor Who Christmas specials having Tennant's Time Lord stowing away on board a "luxury liner spaceship" called the Titanic (an alien race from the planet Sto kind of gets a lot of Earth's history wrong, unaware that the very ship that bores their title suffered a rather tragic fate) after it crashes into his Tardis. The captain of the ship was dying and paid off (the payoff to be left to his family after his death) to allow the shields to go down and missiles to blast parts of the Titanic, hovering over the Earth. "Angel" cyborgs are stored throughout for the convenience of passenger tourists but they soon "go rogue", endangering the very ones they were assigned to assist. Who is behind all this…could it be the luxury liner's CEO, Max Capricorn (George Costigan)? Somebody has to be responsible for the major death toll that erupts, not to mention the malfunctioning angel cyborgs violently attacking tourists. Kylie Monogue gets quite a character here as a potential new companion for the Doctor, her fate quite a staggeringly emotional stunner. Lives (including a heroic cyborg) are sacrificed to save the Earth below as the Titanic is set to crash on it. That old revenge angle is mined again as a reason behind all that takes place, with the Doctor having to watch as those he would like to protect give up their lives. This is one of those episodes where the Doctor must endure loss and understand that even he sometimes can't save everyone. With angel cyborgs that hurl violent metal halos at people, a spaceship named Titanic that could very well crash into the earth, and Monogue operating a forklift, "Voyage of the Damned" certainly doesn't fail to provide lots for us to remember. A handful of survivors joining the Doctor in a perilous survivalist mission as a new shipmate tries to helm the ship after the captain is killed once the missiles damage the Titanic devastatingly could remind many of The Poseidon Adventure. With the Doctor having to helm the Titanic to safety as it plummets towards the Earth, we get quite a rousing final descent. This probably isn't in the same league opposite many more show-defining Christmas specials, but "Voyage of the Damned" still has plenty to offer Doctor Who fans. Tennant is obviously having a blast as the Doctor, and there's a great deal of action and special effects dallied out for our enjoyment. I didn't think Kylie was extraordinary opposite Tennant as the "girl desiring to travel" but her character's conclusion is heartbreaking and allows for a major gasp. And the Doctor's desperate attempts to save her, and unable to do so, is a real shot in the gut...no matter how much he has contributed to the safety of many in the face of insurmountable odds, the Doctor can't always succeed.

During the "Classic" era (1963-89), Doctor Who did not seem to celebrate Christmas, but since the show's revival in 2005 Christmas specials, of which this was the third, have been a noted feature. (The doctor's earlier lack of interest in the festival seems curious, given that we learn here that he was present in person at certain events in Bethlehem 2000-odd years ago and even took the last room at the inn). "Voyage of the Damned" borrows its title from a 1976 movie about a shipload of Jewish refugees from Nazism and its plot is an equally obvious piece of borrowing from various seagoing disaster movies, notably "Titanic" and "The Poseidon Adventure".

The Doctor finds himself on board a luxury space liner called the "Titanic" which has not only been named after the notorious ocean liner of that name but has also been designed to resemble it. Aboard the ship are people from the planet Sto who are on a cruise to observe the Earth, which they regard as a primitive culture. When you call a fictitious ship "Titanic", of course, you know exactly what is going to happen to it, and it is not long before the ship is severely damaged in a collision. Even a writer as resourceful as Russell T Davies could not conjure up an iceberg in outer space, however, so in this case the damage is done by a meteor. The Doctor and an assorted group of survivors have to fight to save the stricken ship and to prevent it from plummeting towards the Earth. The Doctor also has to find out who was responsible for sabotaging the ship, and why. (And it was indeed sabotage. Purely natural disasters are rare in "Doctor Who"; whenever disaster threatens it has normally been caused, either deliberately or inadvertently, by the acts of some conscious being or group of beings).

This being a Christmas special, there have to be some specifically festive features. It is Christmas down on Earth, and Mr. Copper, the ship's resident historian, is lecturing the passengers upon the salient features of the festival. (Although the passengers are supposed to be from an alien planet, they all, apart from the cyborg Bannakaffalatta, look recognisably human and even bear obvious Earthling names. Besides Mr Copper there are also characters named Max, Astrid, Captain Hardaker and Alonso Frame). Another, rather odd, Christmas-themed detail is the Heavenly Host, robots in the form of angels, who are supposed to assist the passengers and crew but who after the collision run amuck and start killing anyone they see. (The idea of killer robots struck me as a direct plagiarism from the Fourth Doctor adventure, "The Robots of Death", where the robots bore a certain resemblance to those featured here).

Kylie Minogue has had such a long and successful career as a singer that younger viewers might not realise that she actually started off in showbiz as an actress in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours". "Voyage of the Damned" represents one of her occasional forays back into acting; she plays Astrid Peth, a waitress who becomes one of the Doctor's allies. Kylie was never a great actress- she was probably well-advised to concentrate on her singing more than her acting- but here she does enough to make Astrid a sweet and likable heroine. (There has been speculation that Astrid was given her name because it is an anagram of TARDIS).

In the original script for the show, Astrid survives, but in the version that was actually broadcast she is killed off, apparently because Davies preferred Kylie in a one-off role rather than as a regular companion. For a programme that was originally broadcast during the season of goodwill, there is a surprisingly high death toll among the more sympathetic characters, which means that the tone can at times be rather mawkishly sentimental. This sentimentality does not always sit well with the episode's more comic interludes, generally centred upon Mr Copper, whose knowledge of the Earth and the customs of its inhabitants turns out to be ludicrously inadequate- we learn, for example, that the British worship a god named Santa and his wife Mary. Nevertheless, David Tennant's rather quirky Tenth Doctor personality works well enough to hold the whole thing together and make it enjoyable Christmas viewing. I for one enjoyed it when I first saw it with my then teenaged niece and nephew on 25 December 2007, and they certainly did too.

Firstly, let me say that as a standalone episode in a drama that manages to exceed expectations on many occasions, this episode was perfectly enjoyable. With Tennant as ever giving a splendid performance as The Doctor, with honourable mentions going to Bernard Cribbins and Russell Tovey, there is nothing wrong with the performances in this episode. However, Russell T. Davies' style as a writer for Doctor Who is fairly tired now, and his clichés are all too recognisable now, and instead of being treated to a scary, intriguing ride, we are left with a fairly standard adventure which appears to outstay its welcome.

In this adventure, The Doctor travels on a spaceship named the Titanic so that his TARDIS can recover from when it was unexpectedly hit by the aforementioned ship at the end of the previous series. Whilst travelling, The Doctor befriends a maid called Astrid (itself an anagram of Tardis), played delightfully by Kylie Minogue. He finds out that they are currently travelling several miles above the Earth. However, tragedy strikes when the Titanic is hit by three meteors and is headed straight towards the Earth. The Doctor then takes charge of a few survivors of the initial collision and resolves to take them to the Bridge of the ship, whilst avoiding a group of murderous robotic angels, known as the Host.

This episode is definitely not without its moments, highlights including when The Doctor and Astrid visit London, only to find it completely deserted because people are afraid that there will be another alien attack at Christmas, following the attempted invasion of the Sycorax in "The Christmas Invasion" and the attack by the Empress of the Racnoss in "The Runaway Bride". But, other than this, there aren't many other outstanding moments, and, though you may be entertained, you may also be waiting for this episode to finish for a long time before the sneak preview of Series Four is actually shown at the end.

From the run up to this Christmas special, including all the trailers released, it looked like the Doctor Who CGI effects team had outdone themselves. And they certainly had, the effects of the Titanic being hit by those asteroids and of the Titanic itself have outdone anything seen before in this new Doctor Who.

But, other than the effects, there really isn't anything else that sets this Christmas special apart from any other episode which results in a disappointing feeling by the end. The fact that this Christmas special does feel like any other episode means that it lost those 3 points in my vote. Kylie Minogue's appearance was neither here nor there and it didn't feel like a great loss when she sacrificed herself.

At the end of the day, Voyage of the Damned will serve it's purpose well in keeping the Doctor Who fanbase interested until the beginning of series 4 which, by the way, looks very interesting indeed.

This episode is, in a word, a masterpiece. A mixture of casting genius (Kylie Minogue I LOVE YOU) and good writing resulted in Astrid Peth AKA one of my all-time favourite companions, even if she WAS there for this episode and no others (couldn't she have just leaped out of the forklift truck at the last second? She didn't have to die. Mind you, I suppose the BBC could only afford Kylie once). Add a brilliant villain and a fantastic storyline and you have yourself a classic episode, which, if you somehow haven't seen it, is well worth a watch. And I ought to know, because my name is (not) Max.

This Christmas episode was great, the best so far. A Classic episode of Tennant's Dr Who. Brilliant, all the actors and actresses were great the plot was great and the dawn and demise of Banakafalata was amazing as well. I've seen this before and will watch again one day I'm sure.

Note: This review basically says the whole plot.

This episode, while great fun to watch (I saw it with my family and laughed the whole way through) is an odd departure from the regular Dr. Who. Not in terms of plot line, which is the regular 'save the earth' story where only the doctor can save the earth, but in the way that it is SO cheesy and stolen.

Before I go into the poseidon adventure side of the plot, i'd first like to talk about the 'coincidental' nature of it. Coincidentally, the tardis crashed into a ship flying around our earth in 2007. Coincidentally, it is hovering over London, as all the Christmas specials have. And coincidentally (more curiously), all of the 'aliens' look like humans, allowing a variety of cameos from various BBC television celebrities - I spotted three random celebrities.

The plot itself is stolen from the poseidon adventure, with an altruistic hero (the doctor) a self-centered person, a lead female, but then there's also the two fat people; a direct rip-off, who refuse to be without each other (another direct rip-off). There are several moments, such as the fact they discover they aren't the only people still alive, and the other people die as they are not under the guidance of the main hero.

The hero has a moment where his leadership is questioned, JUST LIKE IN THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, there is a sacrifice of one person after she decides life isn't worth living without her husband, JUST LIKE THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, the remaining people have to try and cross a rickety piece of metal to get to the other side (*sigh* i'm just going to abbreviate this to "jltpa" now) and the heroine dies trying to save the others. OK, so it was the hero in the poseidon adventure, but it's still jltpa.

OK, this is a confusing plot already, but then they throw themes such as: - the earth and all inhabitants will be destroyed, - some of the people can barely work to earn enough money (poverty), - two characters have an eating disorder and struggle with it, - the smug, rich person gets all the glory (being undeserving) - the old person gets treated to a better life (which is just a plot to make it a happier ending) - over-dramatic, slow-motion deaths and, one of the funniest themes: - cyborg mistreatment laws on the home planet of the aliens. Yes, you read that right, there is a side-plot where the moral opinions of Cyborgs are dealt with in a 'teary' death scene.

Now come on. There are a ridiculous number relationships portrayed, with too many side-characters not to care about. Had this been a two-hour movie it may have been alright, but as it stands, it merely steals the poseidon adventure's plot, tacks on some (well-done, might I add) sci-fi effects, and adds some decent humour and wit here and there. However unlike other episodes, even the serious plot lines feel cheesy.

The episode was a barrel of laughs, for some right and wrong reasons, and makes for great viewing, but then again, so do cheesy 1950s horror movies, but not because they're masterpieces. It's odd, as the episode has the general feel of a usual 10/10 episode, but is let down by poor story scripting, which is like every other doctor who episode crammed into one. I hope this isn't a sign of worse things to come.

To the writers of the show: pick a plot (that's ONE SINGLE plot), refine it, add a twist and stick to it. Don't throw in so many things it's impossible to care, and make it ORIGINAL. No more 'we're back in London' please - alien worlds or the future would be more appreciated. I believe the world is bigger than just London - it's odd that from the millions of worlds out there, we're not only forced to watch the same planet, but the same single city as well.

Overall, it was a fun watch and was visually spectacular. But the plot was just so far-fetched, jumpy and random that it really spoilt the experience for me, hence the 5. Recommended for a quick laugh with friends or family, but they really need to get back on track for series 4.

(One final note, about 10 of the plots are jltpa, so please don't steal any more plots).