Quick Guide to Who Christmas Specials

It's the first year for 14 years that there has not been a Doctor Who Christmas special on 25 December.  To someone who lived through the long Who drought of the 1990s* it still seems slightly incredible that for the new generation Doctor Who is as much a Christmas TV tradition as the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special and the James Bond film were in my childhood.

[*In the 1990s and early 2000s we had only Virgin books and Big Finish audios for new Who. But Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without listening to The Chimes of Midnight at least once.]

So here is my reflection on the specials of the past 14 years in order of brilliance:

1	The Christmas Invasion The debut of the best Doctor ever, in pyjamas, with killer Christmas trees, epic Star Wars style space duel, and ending in time for the Doctor to enjoy a family Christmas dinner.  Perfection!	2005
2	The Unquiet Dead Not strictly a Christmas special, but set at Christmas, with Charles Dickens and ghosts, so it counts.  And it’s brilliant.	2005
3	A Christmas Carol Doctor Who’s take on the classic Dickensian Christmas tale.  With giant space fish and a haunting carol.	2010
4	The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe This Narnia-like story gets a high place for sheer Christmas schmaltz.  Ideal for family viewing after overdosing on the mince pies.	2011
5	The Runaway Bride The introduction of the fabulous Donna Noble, with Sarah Parish eating the scenery as the Empress of the Racnoss, and the most wonderful chase scene.  Would have scored higher, but the Christmas flavour seems a bit tacked on (probably due to filming in July…)	2006
6	Voyage of the Damned A glossy disaster movie for Christmas, with lovely cameo from Bernard Cribbins.  But why employ Kylie Minogue and get someone else to sing the song?	2007
7	Last Christmas Disconcerting mix between Christmassy and very bleak, marked higher because of the Rudolph’s nose gag.	2014
8	Twice Upon a Time Two (well, three, just) Doctors for the price of one.  Scores highly for David Bradley’s First Doctor and Mark Gatiss’ displaced soldier, but the whole Testimony thing was rather annoying.	2017
9	The Return of Doctor Mysterio A superhero movie - good family entertainment, but not very Who-like.	2016
10	The Next Doctor Good Dickensian Christmas vibe, but scored down for Russell T Davies’ evil tease and the cybershades.  Also the plot was weak.	2008
11	The Husbands of River Song Some very funny moments, but Nardole was annoying and the monsters were too revolting for post-Christmas lunch viewing.	2015
12	The End of Time Lovely performance from Bernard Cribbins (and I want to be June Whitfield) but I am too sad about this being Ten’s swansong to mark any higher. Also, the farewell tour at the end was unnecessary.	2009
13	The Snowmen The Doctor sulking on a cloud, before joining forces with Mary Poppins-lite - really?	2012
14	The Time of the Doctor Sounds of the bottom of the barrel being scraped with a town called Christmas.  The festive bird being cooked in the TARDIS was not the only turkey in this episode.	2013

Settling down now

18 November 2018

 Demons of the Punjab was a return to form.  It was a lovely piece of Sunday evening family entertainment. It's a pity that the eponymous demons turned out to be not so different from Testimony - perhaps they need to get in touch and discuss joint working arrangements?
Phew!

In other news this week, we have learned that the Christmas Special this year is going to be a New Year special.  Frankly I don't mind the loss of a Christmas Special, as it gives me an excuse to watch The Christmas Invasion again. No subsequent special has surpassed this one. The problem is that broadcasting on New Year's day limits my options for a birthday treat for the husband, who will obviously want to watch it live.

Still, maybe there's hope.  We have arranged to meet a friend this evening and will therefore need to watch tonight's episode on catch-up.

Two for the Price of One

28 December 2017

I have watched Twice Upon a Time a couple of times now, but am still trying to decide what I think about it.

As a regeneration story, it works well. Unlike previous regeneration episodes, the Doctor knows from the start that he is dying, and the focus of the story is how he comes to terms with his impending regeneration(s).

There are some wonderful performances, particularly from Mark Gatiss as the Captain, as he realises the implications of the Doctor's passing reference to World War I. David Bradley is wonderful as the First Doctor, though the script perhaps overdoes the sexism a bit.  Simply asking Bill to make some coffee would have been more in keeping than the lines about cleaning the TARDIS and the threat of a smacked bottom.

As a Christmas Special, I'm not so sure. Yes, it's snowy, and Christmas comes into it, in the form of the Christmas Truce, but the mood is scarcely festive.  On one level the story is all about impending death: the Doctor's, the Captain's and those of the members of Testimony, even if it comes with a typical Steven Moffat 'no-one actually dies' sort of twist.

I'm not even sure about the nobody really being dead bit.  When we last saw Clara, she might not have had a heartbeat, but she was off, zooming around the universe with Ashildr/Me, and Bill was similarly last seen flying off with Heather.  If they are both part of Testimony now it seems rather more final.

All in all though, it's time for a change, and it will be fascinating to see what Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker will bring to the series.

Top Ten (and a bit more) Christmas Specials

Only two sleeps to  Twice Upon A Time  so I  have updated by league table of Christmas Specials.

1	The Christmas Invasion	2005
2	The Unquiet Dead*	2005
3	A Christmas Carol	2010
4	The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe	2011
5	The Runaway Bride	2006
6	Voyage of the Damned	2007
7	Last Christmas**	2014
8	Doctor Mysterio	2016
9	The Next Doctor	2008
10	The Husbands of River Song***	2015
11	The End of Time*****	2009
12	The Snowmen	2012
13	The Time of the Doctor	2013

.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio

26 December 2016

Well that's another one over (Christmas specials, that is.)  I'm not sure yet what I think of The Return of Doctor Mysterio, having only seen it once so far.

On the plus side, it has returned to the Russell T Davies approach of a pastiche of a popular holiday blockbuster film (see The Christmas Invasion and Voyage of the Damned) rather than visiting yet another alien planet of the Dickensian Christmas people (see A Christmas Carol, Time of the Doctor and The Husbands of River Song.)  On the negative side, I'm not a great fan of superhero movies.

Another good point is that Matt Lucas' Nardole was considerably less annoying than I had anticipated.  In fact, I found myself looking forward to his appearances. I was less pleased to see the reappearance of the aliens with the zip-up heads and gloopy brains.  I think that they are uncalled-for when the nation is digesting its Christmas dinner.

I'll need to see it again a few times to come to a final conclusion, but I watched The Christmas Invasion again afterwards, and I can exclusively reveal that it is still number one.

My All New Top 10 (and a bit) Christmas Specials

Sunday 18 December 2016

Two years ago I did a series of posts on my top ten Doctor Who Christmas specials.  There have been two more since then, so an update is in order.  I am still finding it weird that Doctor Who now occupies the Morecambe and Wise spot as the traditional Christmas Day entertainment for all the family (and the Prime Minister.) However, it's been 11 years now, so here is my revised ranking, with 2014's Last Christmas and 2015's The Husbands of River Song slotted in.

1	The Christmas Invasion	2005
2	The Unquiet Dead*	2005
3	A Christmas Carol	2010
4	The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe**	2011
5	The Runaway Bride	2006
6	Voyage of the Damned	2007
7	Last Christmas***	2014
8	The Next Doctor	2008
9	The Husbands of River Song****	2015
10	The End of Time	2009
11	The Snowmen	2012
12	The Time of the Doctor	2013

* Yes, I know that this was technically not a Christmas Special, but it should have been.
**My new team member thinks this one is terrible, but at least it's properly Christmassy. We do agree about Nardole, though, so I'll let him off.

***Marked up for the Rudolph's nose car alarm gag

****Marked down for excessive continuity references and Matt Lucas.

There is still no change at number one.  How can you beat David Tennant, revived by a cup of tea, saving the world with a satsuma whilst still in his pyjamas, then having time to bring down the (female) Prime Minister before tucking in to turkey and all the trimmings?

I wonder which one is Theresa May's favourite?

PS Has anyone ever managed to solve the Watcher's Christmas Quiz in Doctor Who Magazine?  This year I don't even understand the questions.

PPS Have had a breakthrough with the Quiz.  Once we worked out the key, it isn't actually as hard as usual.  Woo hoo!

It was a funny old Christmas...

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Owing to a lack of forethought on my part, we spent Christmas abroad in a place with no Doctor Who, but fortunately no internet access either, so at least we avoided spoilers.

As a result, we didn't see The Husbands of River Song until a couple of days ago.  I need to watch it again, but on first viewing, it seemed rather a strange choice for an episode that is likely to be watched by a family audience including people who are not regular viewers.  There were a lot of continuity references, some of which go back to River's first appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead back in 2008*.

And there were some bits that were rather revolting for a post-Christmas lunch viewing.

Still, I might pinch the idea of a 'Carol Singers will be Criticised' notice.

*Update: I have just read the review in the excellent Doctor Who Magazine. If their reviewer missed the significant of the visit to the Singing Towers, what hope is there for the casual viewer?

Top Ten Christmas Specials: Number 10

Hard as it is to believe that it's almost ten years since the programme returned to our screens, it's even harder to believe that the Doctor Who Christmas Special has now become as much an integral part of the festivities as over-cooked sprouts.

In order to celebrate, I'm going to do my own personal top ten of the Christmas specials. 

So, in reverse order, here we go with number 10:

Time of the Doctor (2013)

I'm sorry, but I don't think this one worked. My diary for Christmas Day 2013 says "Time of the Doctor was depressing and longwinded. Didn’t enjoy it at all. Even after having watched it again."

Particular problems were:

• Clara's family: We had never really met Clara's own family before. Now they were parachuted in for Christmas.  To the Powell Estate (or somewhere suspiciously like it).

• The nudity: Don't get me wrong.  I don't mind the Doctor being naked, but there is a time and a place for it. (Generally in the TARDIS, when the Tenth Doctor is having a metacrisis). But in this story it just seemed like an excuse for cheap jokes.

• The turkey: I thought the turkey that they were cooking in the time rotor was going to turn out to save Christmas (the place), or at least Christmas (the celebration), in a sort of Three Doctors  recorder kind of way, but it wasn't.

• A town called Christmas: a town. Called Christmas. On Trenzalore. I ask you!

• Handles: the Doctor has a pet Cyberman head?

• The Doctor ageing to death naturally: a new idea, but a very depressing one for Christmas. 

Overall the programme seemed too long, too downbeat, and rather hampered by the number of hanging plot threads from previous episodes that needed to be tied up.  I'm still not entirely clear why the Silence were trying to blow up the TARDIS, who Prisoner Zero was or where the Leadworth ducks went.

Christmas Factor: 2/10 - too bleak
Dickensian/Victorian Factor: 5/10 - spurious Victorian atmosphere in implausibly-named town on a distant planet.
So that was number 10. What will be number 9?