There are a couple of Christmas specials that I think are better than this one, and they are still to come. But this one is my favourite, which I think is always a distinction to make. Is Flash Gordon the best film ever made? Course not. But it’s great fun, camp as Christmas, has some out of this world performances and a kick-arse soundtrack, all of which make it my favourite. It’s no Citizen Kane, but then it’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be pulp sci-fi, which is what it does.
Likewise, TDTWATW (as I’m going to call it from here on in to save ink) isn’t setting out to be anything other than something fun you can sit down to & enjoy with your family on Christmas day. It’s not wanting to be the tearjerking, high drama of Turn Left or Doomsday; nor is it wanting to be the high stakes End of an Era blowout that is End of Time. It has a very specific slot to fill: the Christmas Special.
The Christmas Special has been the staple of British TV since as long as I’ve been alive; from Morecambe & Wise through Only Fools & Horses, the idea that a favourite show of yours was doing a Christmas Special was something to be excited about when flicking through the Christmas Radio Times to see what was on. It would be something above the norm; either big budget crammed with guest stars in the case of M&W, or taking your beloved characters & putting them in a situation you wouldn’t otherwise expect -like taking the Trotters to Miami.
So when RTD said he was doing a Doctor Who Christmas Special, it was just as exciting. The TV standard for Christmas had slipped it seems since my childhood – that Mrs Brown’s Boys is a festive highlight now is a stain on the BBC I’m afraid – so having Doctor Who on Christmas Day was just fantastic. Rusty gave us 5 Christmas Specials, and if none of them make this list it’s probably because he put the SPECIAL into Christmas Special, but missed the CHRISTMAS. The Moff made no such mistake.
TDTWATW is probably his second most Christmassy Special, after – unsurprisingly – A Christmas Carol. It’s Christmassness is woven into the story: it’s a tale that can’t happen at any other time of year, unlike most of the others. The snow covered forest that the bulk of the story takes place in, plus the decorations of Uncle Digby’s home leave us in no mistake when this story is taking place.
To start though, we have an unfestive amuse bouche to introduce us to Madge. Madge is a fantastic character, one that I have dubbed the un-companion: you’d love to see her travel with the Doctor, but realistically every story would be wrapped up 15 minutes after she stepped out the TARDIS and we’d be left with nothing to do. So she’s be rubbish. As The Doctor falls from the sky & Matt Smith pratfalls around – reminding us what a gifted physical actor he is – there’s a warm, comfortable feel in the pre-war little village we find ourselves in. Fast forward to the next act, we come to probably my favourite scene in the whole of Doctor Who.
As he’s playing “The Caretaker” and showing the Arwell’s around the house, he is pure Eleventh Doctor: the eccentric manchild, ever so wacky as he misjudges what makes humans tick. But the minute Madge pulls him up in the bedroom, Smith turns on a sixpence and delivers one of my favourite lines in the whole of Doctor Who1: “Because what’s the point in them being happy now if they’re going to be sad later? The answer is, of course, because they are going to be sad later.” It’s such a beautiful line and it’s delivered so perfectly by Matt Smith: The Doctor goes from wacky manchild to wise old TimeLord in a (double) heartbeat. You can see what Moffat saw in Smith when casting him right here. It’s everything you want The Doctor to be in a moment; not just the man who fights the monster, but the one that is there to look after you & make things better (or feel better) when they go wrong. This empathy, this ability to reach out & comfort while still being dangerous & manipulative at times is why the Eleventh Doctor remains my favourite. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that this scene sums up the character of The Doctor across all 15 versions, and if not a mission statement for the show then certainly an ideal to reach for.
But of course it takes more than one scene to make a story, and we have our Christmas: what about the special? The extra bit of difference here comes through Lily. Taking The Ponds out of this & giving The Doctor a child as a companion is great fun. You couldn’t have a child companion all the time as you’d never credibly maintain the illusion of danger, but as a one off it works well in the confines of this story.
That’s the something different, but what about the guest stars? Well that would be Bill Bailey & Arabella Weir! Wasted in a small role? It’s called a cameo, dear. No one complains that Angela Rippon only got the one scene in Morecambe & Wise, do they – so why here? It’s a fun part of a fun story; they fit perfectly.
By the end of the story we have some nice emotional beats. Madge reunites her family through the Power of Love, saving Reg & his plane, while The Doctor reunites with his. It’s an unexpected end to a ostensibly breezy episode, but it’s totally touching. Yeah, it’s a bit “Love Conquers All” but that’s what you want at Christmas – you wouldn’t want an episode of Only Fools & Horses where Uncle Albert pops his clogs after your turkey, so lets celebrate a feelgood Doctor Who on 25th December too. After all, if you want drama & misery on Christmas Day you’ve got Eastenders. Or Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Christmas dinner with the family: that for me is what Christmas is about. That’s what we get in this story. It’s not “End of the World” stuff, it’s just a simple tale about the people we love. It’s the first Christmas Special I watch every year, and I’m already counting down the days until I can watch it again.
COMING TOMORROW: “Sometimes this team structure isn’t flat…”
- Yup. Lot of favourites in this one. ↩︎
Skies Full of Diamonds 