Christmas is here again and you know what that means... Death, destruction and divorce. But enough about Eastenders, it also means we get a brand new Doctor Who story! And there have been some great stories in the past involving flying Sharks, giant spiders and living Snowmen. So in this article, I will discuss my top 5 Doctor Who Christmas Specials (including this Christmas's Last Christmas). 5) The Time of the Doctor. First of all, I'm not big on regenerations at Christmas - I don't need that kind of emotion at Christmas which is why The End of Time didn't make the list. I thought this story handled regeneration much better - it wasn't soppy but still had feelings. There were problems on the arc front - everything was dealt with but it just involved you noticing everything (which people in the evening at Christmas can't do) and maybe meant you had to watch it more than once. There was a good mix of Christmas themes, arc and comedy and Matt Smith was just fantastic but it did feel restricted by the time.
4) The Runaway Bride. Most people feel Donna is a bit over the top in this story which I can understand, but for me she is why this story is in fourth place. I just LOVE Donna, the gobby temp from Chiswick and in her first story a year before she would become a companion she is hilarious - I can certainly tell Russell T Davies wrote this. I love how she sort of becomes a better person because of the adventure and she has some great scenes in the story such as her disappearing walking down the isle and jumping from a taxi into the TARDIS. The monster (a giant spider) was certainly terrifying though not something that was new to Doctor Who, it certainly makes you want to hide behind the sofa. The story wasn't a classic but was good enough to get into fourth place. 3) The Snowmen. This story had quite a dark tone, especially the scene where the group of Snowmen feast on the workers of Dr Simeon. Dr Simeon himself was very formidable and frightening fellow played to perfection by Richard E. Grant. And to add to the dark tone, the eleventh Doctor - usually a fun adventurous person is here a broken man after the loss of the Ponds. So after reading this, why is it third? Well all these dark themes are beautifully written with a great plot to introduce a new Clara which further adds to the mystery of the 'impossible' girl arc. There are also some great moments such as The Doctor as Sherlock. And the Snowmen are one of the most visually scary monsters in series 7. 2) Voyage of the Damned. A fun Christmas romp is how I would sum this story up. When I first watched this I was at first intrigued (a flying Titanic replica with a host of aliens on board, which was definitely appealing for my young self) then after about the first 20 minutes I was absolutely terrified. The "Heavenly" Host seriously scared me, which I loved - not to mention Max Capricorn. It had a good balance of action and emotion. On the one hand there were lots of explosions and effects and on the other hand there was Astrid's tragic death - played excellently by Kylie Minogue who was another good element to the story. The story could have maybe done with more Christmas themes though to get it into first place. 1) Last Christmas. Firstly, this isn't number one because its just aired which I see lots of fans doing - liking a story just because it's recent. No. This was perfection. Christmas stories I feel are always a bit iffy and this was probably the only story which was the perfect Doctor Who Christmas Special. In the past they've either been too Christmas (to the point where the arc is just completely ignored for a bit of snow eg: The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe) or too Doctor Who (Time of the Doctor) I feel they've never found the right balance until now. This story was scary, (the sleepers) funny (Shona), smart (Dream within a dream within a dream) and made perfect Christmas viewing (Sleigh ride over London, Santa). Overall and enjoyable watch!
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January 2015
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