The episode features the only performance in Doctor Who by the Australian singer and actress Kylie Minogue, who plays the waitress Astrid Peth.

The Doctor decides to stow away, and joins a party of aliens including the waitress Astrid Peth on a brief excursion to London.

The Doctor makes contact with Midshipman Frame, a crew member who survived the collision, to help him stabilise the ship.

En route to the bridge, the Doctor's party are repeatedly attacked by the Host, androids resembling angels who were programmed to kill the survivors.

He is taken to the Host's leader, former cruise line owner Max Capricorn, who is a head attached to a mobile life support unit.

During the third series press launch in March 2007, the production team was approached by William Baker, Kylie Minogue's creative director, about her appearing in the show.

[1][2] Minogue's appearance would allow the show to easily transfer the lead companion role from Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to "Penny"—the intended companion for the fourth series, eventually replaced by Catherine Tate as Donna Noble—and provide a "big name" star to appear in the Christmas special.

Swift portrayed Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks (1985), while Palmer played Undersecretary Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970), and the Administrator in The Mutants (1972).

Colin McFarlane, who provided the voices of the Heavenly Host for the episode, went on to play General Pierce in Torchwood: Children of Earth (2009), before later reappearing in Doctor Who as Moran in "Under the Lake".

Page rejected a long dress because it was atypical to Minogue; she instead elected for a "cigarette girl" image, similar to a "1950s [...] cinema usherette".

He was highly influenced by the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure: he considered "[turning] the spaceship upside down" before cutting the concept for monetary constraints;[1] and the character of Foon Van Hoff (Debbie Chazen) was heavily based on Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters).

He diverged from the trope in its climax; the format of Doctor Who dictated the requirement of an antagonist: Max Capricorn, whose plan was to sabotage the ship as part of an insurance scam.

[10] The episode includes several external references: the episode is dedicated to Verity Lambert, Doctor Who's founding producer, who died on 22 November 2007, a day before the show's forty-fourth anniversary;[11] and the malfunctioning Host stuttering over the name "Max" is a reference to 1980s virtual presenter Max Headroom;[11] Davies inserted references to other Doctor Who episodes in the script: he emphasised society's increasing awareness of aliens and the tradition of London's consecutive Christmas attacks in the script, describing the latter as "becoming a bit of an in-joke";[2] the Doctor's use of the catchphrase "allons-y Alonso" in the episode when he helps Frame stabilise the ship continues a running gag originating in "Army of Ghosts";[1][12] and the Host continue the thematic motif of angels.

[11] Despite angels being the antagonist in two episodes that aired close to each other, which dismayed writer and executive producer Russell T Davies when he read Steven Moffat's script for "Blink", the Host are functionally different as subordinate "robot butlers".

[1] One week of filming was conducted primarily at the old DuPont site in Pontypool which provided the sets for Deck 31—Capricorn's refuge and command centre.

[1] Composer Murray Gold, arranger Ben Foster, and singer Yamit Mamo make cameo appearances as part of the ship's band.

The song was influenced by Irish folk music, and contrasts the upbeat "under deck" feeling with melancholy lyrics about unrequited love.

[25] Gareth McLean, who reviewed a preview screening for The Guardian's TV and radio weblog, appreciated the episode's use of "the disaster movie template" and came to a favourable overall conclusion: "For the most part, The Voyage of the Damned is absolutely smashing."

[26] James Walton of The Daily Telegraph gave the episode a positive review, summarising it as "a winning mixture of wild imagination and careful writerly calculation".

[27] Alex Clark of The Observer commented that the death toll was rather high, but she still thought the episode was "an oasis of cheeky nonsense and careless invention".

[28] Harry Venning of The Stage concluded his positive review of the episode by stating it "was well up to Doctor Who's impeccably high standards".

"[30] Tim Teeman of The Times gave the episode a negative review, stating that "It was boring, despite the endless dashing about and CGI flimflam.

"[31] The Daily Mirror commented the episode had "some brilliant psychedelic Pink Floyd-esque imagery", "great baddies", and "neat jokes", but lamented that "the plot was a mess, consisting mostly of one hi-tech chase scene after another, and it descended into noise and bluster.