It's got a fairy-tale feel because Moffat was trying to emulate CS Lewis. (The Doctor even quotes him. "What do they teach in these schools?" ) I love this special, but I'm a sucker for CS Lewis.
it is shamelessly optimistic... thats not bad. But not for everyone. "Just this once - everybody lives!" is nice and all... but not all the time, right? Dont misunderstand me though. This one is fine in my book. Soppy, sentimental - yes - but "nice". I dont mind re-watching it every now and again.
I love this episode SO MUCH. Just thinking about it, and the pain Madge is in the entire episode, and how to tell her children they've lost their father... I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I can't imagine how hard that would be. I also LOVE Chronicles of Narnia, Christmas, and most WW2 historical anything, so all facets of this episode hit for me.
A neat little detail I didn't notice the last time I watched this was the callback to The Caves of Androzani, with the Androzani harvesters! I also like how this is one of the times where the aliens aren't the threat.
I personally love this one because although I love doctor who being at its best with phenomenal and heartbreaking stories, the Christmas specials have always felt like a "your parents are drunk and you all just fell out over who won monopoly, sit down and watch some light hearted telly" and also I'm just really childish and love stuff like this.
One of my least favorite parts was the bit when the mother made some comment about how annoying he was and the kids go "I like him" and "I like him, too." Why? In the early scenes he's just pushy and nosy. All I could think was that he should stay out of this woman's business. If she's not ready to tell her kids their father is dead, that's not his call.
It's just so strange how the Christmas specials hardly ever represent what the rest of the series is like. They had the highest viewing figures and never took that opportunity to draw in new viewers. This was one of those episodes I was embarrassed to watch with the rest of the family on Christmas Day
well its an easy viewer pull... hardly anyone working, everyone at home, often with kids around... sure fire "ratings". Shoehorn in some Christmas imagery... and done :D That being said... I always approach(ed) them like that anyway so I was never let down.
I don't know if I agree with that, I think if you take the Moffat era non-regeneration Christmas episodes, it's a fairly good representation of the range of Doctor Who (even though I really don't like The Last Christmas) I think The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe is a great episode to show someone for a representation of what Doctor Who is about - It can be silly, it's got heart, it's optimistic.
@@charlottem7758 Last Christmas failed for me because it was the ...oh...4th? 5th time? that Clara "left" the show with an overblown "goodbye Doctor" scene. I was beyond caring at that point.
I’ve always loved this one. Weird story with odd details, yep, but nitpicks aside, it’s lovely. I like the house decorations, and even 11 silliness. After seeing some really terribly-written Who, the little things just don’t bother me. So happy you didn’t hate it altogether.
This is probably the worst of the Christmas specials which doesn't make it a bad story. I really enjoy this story. The end scene is quintessential Moffat which is why he is such a great writer.
Best mom line was telling her son that by opening presents early "something like this (the entire sequence of events) was bound to happen" There,s no way a corporation would leave such expensive machinery behind while the planet surface became acified though.
Yeah, I'm always the first to jump to Moffat's defence but even I'm thinking he dropped the ball on this one. Blimey, it's a mess! Can't wait for you to re-watch series 7 though, I've gone back to most of it recently and I think it's really underrated.
@Matthew Crook Same here. I like Moffat's era, even through the seasons that many others don't. This one though....yeah, not so much. Overall it's just rather bland and while playing with a known idea can work (A Christmas Carol) it just falls flat here. They even managed to waste Bill Bailey but at least Claire Skinner was good. That's not enough to save the episode though. Not the worst episode of current Who but easily the most forgettable.
@@lwaves Good point! It's perfectly fine, and it's not a total car crash, but it's a bit empty and lifeless and yes, Bill Bailey is horribly wasted here! Haha, it's no Fear Her, fortunately
@Rebecca Woolf I felt a little bit the same at the time; honestly, I've been back over most of the season and they're much better than I remembered. I recommend going back to The Crimson Horror especially, it's become my favourite episode over time and I think it deserves a rewatch :)
As someone who absolutely loves CS Lewis this episode felt like a slap in the face. It has a few good lines like "What's the point in them being happy now if they'll be sad later. The answer of course is because they will be sad later." Aside from some great moments though the majority of the episode was just disappointing.
I regard this as a minor story, but as such I quite enjoy it, and I've rewatched it in the past. It's quite pleasant if you don't expect too much. Two of the three comic rangers were not just actors but well-known British comedians (though I'm out of touch and don't know them), so I suppose they felt entitled to a certain amount of time on stage. Even so, I've seen at least one review commenting that they were underused.
As far as the Christmas Specials go, I like this one more than others in Moffat's run and I kind of dig the Narnia vibe even if it fails in places. But I pretty much agree with you on this. Even though it's been a while since I watched it, this feels legit. rofl
I liked some of the modifications The Doctor made to the house. It was a nice ending for the father's plane to get diverted to the house instead of crash landing in the sea somewhere. Although Bill Bailey was wasted as a guest star and the last scene with Amy and Rory was almost pointless considering the events of Pond Life and the worst Dalek episode ever.
Just cheesy, but not in a cheesy fun way just cheesy and not enjoyable. With the guest cast including Bill Bailey I expected so much more and was disappointed. But as it was at the height of the Moffat era, I was not surprised that it was disappointing.
I always think it's funny how the Christmas specials were put with the series after them in the box set (e.g. Christmas Invasion with series 2) and that's clear here as it feels a lot more in line with series 6 than 7, even more so with Christmas Carol. Idk I'm putting it here, but I just needed to say it
I didn't get why the villains were even there, or even the massive robot thing. Could've just done the husband being lost in action. I haven't read the Narnia series yet so that might be why.
Honestly, I like this one more than most people. *It's still not good* but I can enjoy some bits and stuff. I enjoy the mothership concept and really like the emotion in the scene, especially paired with the music (Coming Home for Christmas). It just hits nicely, but yeah, it does kinda feel proud of itself for the connection. That doesn't ruin it for me though. I also really enjoy 11 and children, but the house modifications bit went a bit too far. And it really does feel like Douglas Adams! For me, the CS Lewis/Narnia tissue is a tad weak, but I can roll with it for the most part. This also has one of the best 11 moments ever which is the "because, of course, they're going to be sad later" scene. Lovely, lovely stuff. This is not a good episode, but I enjoy it more than most people. (Also, Marge *is awesome*)
Of course, if you look at the cast and see a lot of sit-com and sketch comedy actors, you can tell going into it, this was always going to be fairly goofy.
This one is defiantly my least favourite Christmas special. However that moment where she tells the kids what happened to their dad. That hit me in the feels.
The 'Three Twerps' included comedians Bill Bailey (Black Books) and Arabella Weir (The Fast Show), the latter playing a female Doctor in one of BF's 'Unbound' range. But yeah, they're not well utilised here, like quite a few comedy cameos in NW.
I really like this one- but I understand that you are either in the mood for it or it is most likely going to strike you as saccharine and cheesy. Personally, at the holidays I like it and I like that it is more Christmassy than the Moffat specials under Capaldi. Don't get me wrong- some of those are great too, but not very Christmassy.
not my favourite christmas special but i liked it it was better than christmas invasion and the super hero one with capaldi i forget the name of that episode
This episode isn't bad. We're not dealing with a "Love and Monsters", a "Hell Bent" or a "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" here. But what we get instead might in some regards be worse - it's just flat boring. I know I saw this when it came out, because I recall bits and pieces of it (the happy/sad line, the mother ship, the ending), but its connecting tissue just falls completely flat. What even was the point of the Three Stooges, other than making Madge look more badass? This isn't the most excruciating episode of Doctor Who, but it just might be the single most skippable one. And for my money, that's kind of worse.
For the life of me, I can't understand this level of hate towards the episode. I adore this episode, I could understand some people saying it's not their cup of tea, but so many people act like the episode is responsible for the death of their parents.
If it wasn't for The Snowmen, this would be my favorite 11th Doctor Christmas Special. However, I can't, for the life of me, understand why A Christmas Carol is so highly regarded.
I get that this came at the end of 2011 so Moffat had to do this very last minute and didn't have as much time to work on it, but I still don't really like this one that much. It's got good moments and great lines (every Moffat episode does), but this is the only episode of his I don't like.
while xmas episodes were never great not much of 13s run even matchs the level of bad as the xmas specials and it was nice to have something to look forward to every xmas now with the new years special i think about it on xmas day and then its not till jan 3rd or later when i start seeing people roll out reactions for it that oh yea new years special is a thing
For me the biggest sin of this episode is the way it totally wastes Bill Bailey. He's an absolutely brilliant comedian and someone who I'd wanted to make an appearance on Doctor Who for years. Then when he finally shows up they neglect to give him a character or anything to do.
For me, this was the roots of Series 7's whimsy problem. At least it fits with the Christmas tone here. The montage of the Doctor's house tour is one of the worst in all the specials imo. It was at this point that I started questioning Matt's performance. A sad day.
To each their own, but I think Matt absolutely nailed the house tour (and the episode in general). Great comedic timing, and managing to sell silly ideas. For me, the house tour is a lot like him trying food in the Eleventh hour, but it works even better.
For me this my worst Doctor Who story in the history of the show. I feels like the worst Christmas TV with an overly magical and Christmassy feel with terrible villains that lacks the threat of Doctor Who with terrible and cringeworthy acting and feels awfully cheesy and even Matt Smith becomes annoying in this story. It doesn't feel like Doctor Who to me and the scene with Amy at the end is the only scene I can truly enjoy
I really dislike this one. To start with, I don't like the fairy tale vibe--in fact, that there is a fairy tale vibe to many of the stories is one of my biggest beefs with the whole Moffat era. The really bad thing, though, is that it's boring. This thing really drags in places. By the point the boy crawled through the portal, it already felt like I'd been watching for about 3 hours.
The episode is just intensely boring. I legitimately struggled to stay awake when I rewatched it, which I only did as a matter of principle when going through a full-series rewatch. It's the worst kind of bad episode, in that it doesn't even manage to be bad in an interesting way.
I think definitely the worst Moffat story. It has moments but it's z muddled mess really. I can watch it, and it was cool seeing it for the first time in a while. But it's never going to be my top choice.
It's got a fairy-tale feel because Moffat was trying to emulate CS Lewis. (The Doctor even quotes him. "What do they teach in these schools?" ) I love this special, but I'm a sucker for CS Lewis.
it is shamelessly optimistic... thats not bad. But not for everyone. "Just this once - everybody lives!" is nice and all... but not all the time, right?
Dont misunderstand me though. This one is fine in my book. Soppy, sentimental - yes - but "nice". I dont mind re-watching it every now and again.
To me it shurly is a charming Christmas Story.
I love this episode SO MUCH. Just thinking about it, and the pain Madge is in the entire episode, and how to tell her children they've lost their father... I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I can't imagine how hard that would be.
I also LOVE Chronicles of Narnia, Christmas, and most WW2 historical anything, so all facets of this episode hit for me.
I don't care what others think, this one is special (no pun intended) to me because it always makes me think of my dad, who was a pilot in WW II.
A neat little detail I didn't notice the last time I watched this was the callback to The Caves of Androzani, with the Androzani harvesters! I also like how this is one of the times where the aliens aren't the threat.
I adore this episode. It's my favourite Christmas Episode.
I've never understood why there's so much hate for it.
If it wasn't for The Snowmen, it'd be my favorite Smith-era Christmas Special.
I personally love this one because although I love doctor who being at its best with phenomenal and heartbreaking stories, the Christmas specials have always felt like a "your parents are drunk and you all just fell out over who won monopoly, sit down and watch some light hearted telly" and also I'm just really childish and love stuff like this.
Regardless of the overall quality of an episode, I am a sucker for any scene in which Eleven interacts with children.
One of my least favorite parts was the bit when the mother made some comment about how annoying he was and the kids go "I like him" and "I like him, too." Why? In the early scenes he's just pushy and nosy. All I could think was that he should stay out of this woman's business. If she's not ready to tell her kids their father is dead, that's not his call.
The one Moffat era episode I once literally forgot even existed. A few saving graces, including of course Claire Skinner as the mother.
@Herbi Varsawus She was great but Bill Bailey was completely wasted.
It's just so strange how the Christmas specials hardly ever represent what the rest of the series is like. They had the highest viewing figures and never took that opportunity to draw in new viewers.
This was one of those episodes I was embarrassed to watch with the rest of the family on Christmas Day
well its an easy viewer pull... hardly anyone working, everyone at home, often with kids around... sure fire "ratings". Shoehorn in some Christmas imagery... and done :D
That being said... I always approach(ed) them like that anyway so I was never let down.
I remember several family members falling asleep while this was on, which never normally happened.
I don't know if I agree with that, I think if you take the Moffat era non-regeneration Christmas episodes, it's a fairly good representation of the range of Doctor Who (even though I really don't like The Last Christmas)
I think The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe is a great episode to show someone for a representation of what Doctor Who is about - It can be silly, it's got heart, it's optimistic.
@@charlottem7758 Last Christmas failed for me because it was the ...oh...4th? 5th time? that Clara "left" the show with an overblown "goodbye Doctor" scene. I was beyond caring at that point.
Well, _someone's_ a humbug! This is one of my favourite xmas specials. I love rewatching this every December!
Yup, it's pretty much the perfect Christmas episode for me.
When I saw the Santa hat in the thumbnail I had a mini heart attack thinking what month it was
I think it's a sweet little story with a lovely ending
I’ve always loved this one. Weird story with odd details, yep, but nitpicks aside, it’s lovely. I like the house decorations, and even 11 silliness. After seeing some really terribly-written Who, the little things just don’t bother me. So happy you didn’t hate it altogether.
This is probably the worst of the Christmas specials which doesn't make it a bad story. I really enjoy this story. The end scene is quintessential Moffat which is why he is such a great writer.
I could’ve sworn I already watched this video and then I remembered that I followed your live tweet rewatch the other day on twitter 😂
Aya Beydoun haha same, I was like “is this a reupload because of copyright or something??"..
>.> checks calander.. nope not December,
Best mom line was telling her son that by opening presents early "something like this (the entire sequence of events) was bound to happen"
There,s no way a corporation would leave such expensive machinery behind while the planet surface became acified though.
If it wasn't for The Snowmen, this would be my favorite 11th Doctor Christmas Special.
I love all Doctor Who, even bad episodes. I'll even watch Peter Davidson & Collin Baker era. I enjoy your reviews.
Yeah, I'm always the first to jump to Moffat's defence but even I'm thinking he dropped the ball on this one. Blimey, it's a mess! Can't wait for you to re-watch series 7 though, I've gone back to most of it recently and I think it's really underrated.
@Matthew Crook Same here. I like Moffat's era, even through the seasons that many others don't. This one though....yeah, not so much. Overall it's just rather bland and while playing with a known idea can work (A Christmas Carol) it just falls flat here. They even managed to waste Bill Bailey but at least Claire Skinner was good. That's not enough to save the episode though. Not the worst episode of current Who but easily the most forgettable.
@@lwaves Good point! It's perfectly fine, and it's not a total car crash, but it's a bit empty and lifeless and yes, Bill Bailey is horribly wasted here! Haha, it's no Fear Her, fortunately
@Rebecca Woolf I felt a little bit the same at the time; honestly, I've been back over most of the season and they're much better than I remembered. I recommend going back to The Crimson Horror especially, it's become my favourite episode over time and I think it deserves a rewatch :)
As someone who absolutely loves CS Lewis this episode felt like a slap in the face. It has a few good lines like "What's the point in them being happy now if they'll be sad later. The answer of course is because they will be sad later." Aside from some great moments though the majority of the episode was just disappointing.
I regard this as a minor story, but as such I quite enjoy it, and I've rewatched it in the past. It's quite pleasant if you don't expect too much.
Two of the three comic rangers were not just actors but well-known British comedians (though I'm out of touch and don't know them), so I suppose they felt entitled to a certain amount of time on stage. Even so, I've seen at least one review commenting that they were underused.
This is my mother’s favorite Christmas episode, if not episode in general
Not the worst story featuring Annabelle Weir.
As far as the Christmas Specials go, I like this one more than others in Moffat's run and I kind of dig the Narnia vibe even if it fails in places. But I pretty much agree with you on this. Even though it's been a while since I watched it, this feels legit. rofl
I liked some of the modifications The Doctor made to the house. It was a nice ending for the father's plane to get diverted to the house instead of crash landing in the sea somewhere. Although Bill Bailey was wasted as a guest star and the last scene with Amy and Rory was almost pointless considering the events of Pond Life and the worst Dalek episode ever.
Just cheesy, but not in a cheesy fun way just cheesy and not enjoyable. With the guest cast including Bill Bailey I expected so much more and was disappointed. But as it was at the height of the Moffat era, I was not surprised that it was disappointing.
Ian Samuels yeah, Bill Bailey was definitely the worst part.
I absolutely love Narnia, and Bill Bailey is hands down my favourite comic, but I remember utterly hating this episode.
I always think it's funny how the Christmas specials were put with the series after them in the box set (e.g. Christmas Invasion with series 2) and that's clear here as it feels a lot more in line with series 6 than 7, even more so with Christmas Carol. Idk I'm putting it here, but I just needed to say it
Lots of great British people agree to be on doctor who but they're always underused. Unless you're Greg Davies. He killed in his episode
I haven’t watched this episode in years, watching this video makes me want to rewatch it in a weird sort of way
I didn't get why the villains were even there, or even the massive robot thing. Could've just done the husband being lost in action. I haven't read the Narnia series yet so that might be why.
I can assure you, there are no robots in Narnia
Honestly, I like this one more than most people. *It's still not good* but I can enjoy some bits and stuff. I enjoy the mothership concept and really like the emotion in the scene, especially paired with the music (Coming Home for Christmas). It just hits nicely, but yeah, it does kinda feel proud of itself for the connection. That doesn't ruin it for me though. I also really enjoy 11 and children, but the house modifications bit went a bit too far. And it really does feel like Douglas Adams! For me, the CS Lewis/Narnia tissue is a tad weak, but I can roll with it for the most part. This also has one of the best 11 moments ever which is the "because, of course, they're going to be sad later" scene. Lovely, lovely stuff. This is not a good episode, but I enjoy it more than most people. (Also, Marge *is awesome*)
Of course, if you look at the cast and see a lot of sit-com and sketch comedy actors, you can tell going into it, this was always going to be fairly goofy.
4:25 Christmas Invasion? Did you mean Runaway Bride? I thought that one was worse.
This one is defiantly my least favourite Christmas special. However that moment where she tells the kids what happened to their dad. That hit me in the feels.
I honestly dont even know if I ever seen this episode.
The 'Three Twerps' included comedians Bill Bailey (Black Books) and Arabella Weir (The Fast Show), the latter playing a female Doctor in one of BF's 'Unbound' range. But yeah, they're not well utilised here, like quite a few comedy cameos in NW.
Christmas and Pantomime..... The two are made for each other. But then I'm a Brit of a certain age.
Not my favorite, but still better than Christmas Invasion and some of the other Tenant Christmas episodes.
Well humany wumany
I really like this one- but I understand that you are either in the mood for it or it is most likely going to strike you as saccharine and cheesy. Personally, at the holidays I like it and I like that it is more Christmassy than the Moffat specials under Capaldi. Don't get me wrong- some of those are great too, but not very Christmassy.
Yada yada yada?...full spiel please lol😁🎩
not my favourite christmas special but i liked it it was better than christmas invasion and the super hero one with capaldi i forget the name of that episode
I don’t even think Moffat liked this special.
Ugh... Don't like this Xmas special. Possibly the worst.
There was a plot?
This episode isn't bad. We're not dealing with a "Love and Monsters", a "Hell Bent" or a "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" here. But what we get instead might in some regards be worse - it's just flat boring. I know I saw this when it came out, because I recall bits and pieces of it (the happy/sad line, the mother ship, the ending), but its connecting tissue just falls completely flat. What even was the point of the Three Stooges, other than making Madge look more badass?
This isn't the most excruciating episode of Doctor Who, but it just might be the single most skippable one. And for my money, that's kind of worse.
This is for me THE WORST christmas episode ever. I hate it so much
I dislike Husbands and Mysterio more but this one is just flatout boring
For the life of me, I can't understand this level of hate towards the episode.
I adore this episode, I could understand some people saying it's not their cup of tea, but so many people act like the episode is responsible for the death of their parents.
If it wasn't for The Snowmen, this would be my favorite 11th Doctor Christmas Special. However, I can't, for the life of me, understand why A Christmas Carol is so highly regarded.
I get that this came at the end of 2011 so Moffat had to do this very last minute and didn't have as much time to work on it, but I still don't really like this one that much. It's got good moments and great lines (every Moffat episode does), but this is the only episode of his I don't like.
while xmas episodes were never great not much of 13s run even matchs the level of bad as the xmas specials and it was nice to have something to look forward to every xmas now with the new years special i think about it on xmas day and then its not till jan 3rd or later when i start seeing people roll out reactions for it that oh yea new years special is a thing
For me the biggest sin of this episode is the way it totally wastes Bill Bailey. He's an absolutely brilliant comedian and someone who I'd wanted to make an appearance on Doctor Who for years. Then when he finally shows up they neglect to give him a character or anything to do.
This episode was just boring. I can’t remember which Christmas this aired but I remember basically wandered off when this aired.
Sometime can you explain why you hate child actors? They’re at about the same level as me and I’m 25.
For me, this was the roots of Series 7's whimsy problem. At least it fits with the Christmas tone here.
The montage of the Doctor's house tour is one of the worst in all the specials imo. It was at this point that I started questioning Matt's performance. A sad day.
To each their own, but I think Matt absolutely nailed the house tour (and the episode in general). Great comedic timing, and managing to sell silly ideas.
For me, the house tour is a lot like him trying food in the Eleventh hour, but it works even better.
For me this my worst Doctor Who story in the history of the show. I feels like the worst Christmas TV with an overly magical and Christmassy feel with terrible villains that lacks the threat of Doctor Who with terrible and cringeworthy acting and feels awfully cheesy and even Matt Smith becomes annoying in this story. It doesn't feel like Doctor Who to me and the scene with Amy at the end is the only scene I can truly enjoy
I really dislike this one. To start with, I don't like the fairy tale vibe--in fact, that there is a fairy tale vibe to many of the stories is one of my biggest beefs with the whole Moffat era. The really bad thing, though, is that it's boring. This thing really drags in places. By the point the boy crawled through the portal, it already felt like I'd been watching for about 3 hours.
The episode is just intensely boring. I legitimately struggled to stay awake when I rewatched it, which I only did as a matter of principle when going through a full-series rewatch. It's the worst kind of bad episode, in that it doesn't even manage to be bad in an interesting way.
A complete waste of both Bill Bailey and Alexander Armstrong.
Well look out for trouble when you criticize children acting, but anyway i going on the same way as everyone the special sucks.
I think definitely the worst Moffat story. It has moments but it's z muddled mess really. I can watch it, and it was cool seeing it for the first time in a while. But it's never going to be my top choice.
I don't like the Christmas Specials at all. This one is especially awful.
One of the worst episodes of NuWho imho
This episode was unoriginal and dumb.
It was boring found all the characters except the doctor dull.