To understate things somewhat, the most recent season of eighth Doctor stories hasn't set me alight, what with a new companion who was never interesting and then went off somewhere to be less interesting, and then a return by a much-loved former companion who had certainly done her time. So it was with diminished expectations that I headed into this season's (second!) Christmas special, Relative Dimensions. Written by Marc Platt, it is a sequel to his own An Earthly Child, reuniting Paul McGann's Doctor with Carole Ann Ford as his granddaughter Susan and Jake McGann as his great-grandson Alex. What special occasion brings the Doctor on one of his rare visits to his family? Christmas, of course.

There's a lot of nice little moments between the characters, and they all ring true. Susan's yearning for the past she won't let herself have again is well-portrayed, especially when she and Lucie pay a visit to her old room. The Doctor's own yearning for the past here... but then, so is his need to have a future. The conventional family interactions work well, somewhat amusingly transposed to a neurotic 900-year-old and his relatives, ringing true because this really would be a very awkward Christmas for poor Alex, who only met his great-grandfather once before-- in the middle of an alien attack. I especially like the bits with Doctor trying to make sure Alex turns out right, and the choices of presents he makes for everyone else.

I wasn't expecting the conclusion, but the strands of Susan, Lucie, and Alex are all wrapped up very effectively, giving us a fun and festive story. It might be a little on the light side, but Relative Dimensions is a solidly enjoyable sixty minutes. Definitely my favorite of the fourth series thus far, and good on its own merits as well.

You can read a longer version of this review at Unreality SF.

I am not a huge fan of McGann's Doctor, but this time he seemed to me to nail the character of the moody, neurotic, somewhat needy Time Lord who is trying to do a little bit of good. I wasn't wild about the plot - the idea of pets taking over the Tardis has been done before, and done better; and I'm not convinced by the younger McGann. But as a story about the Eighth Doctor I thought it worked well enough. ( )