Astrid Peth "a full return to the limelight", Minogue's appearance was not universally praised. Gareth McLean, a TV writer for "The Guardian", described Minogue as "not that good...she's blank and insipid". McLean wrote: "There's no chemistry between Astrid and the Doctor, she delivers her lines with a real lack of conviction and thus we never really believe in Astrid as a character. Where Catherine Tate's Donna in last year's special was overbearing, Kylie Minogue's Astrid is hardly there at all. It does make you wonder why casting Kylie was regarded as a coup. She's a pop star – of course she's going
Christmas Day in the Morning Seven Joys of Mary,' the songs that Mr. Ives sings to his own guitar accompaniment, are the most attractive, for in the others the ballad singer is pulled out of his element by being starred as the soloist with a choir and an orchestra." The same eight songs, along with four others, were released as "Christmas Eve with Burl Ives" (Decca DL 8391) in 1957. These songs, in turn, were released as "Twelve Days of Christmas" (Pickwick SPC 1018) in the 1960s. Christmas Day in the Morning Christmas Day in the Morning (Decca DL 5428, 1952) is the first of