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In what has become a Christmas tradition in its own right, Doctor Who will be airing its 12th (!) Christmas special on Christmas Day, titled 'The Return of Doctor Mysterio'. In celebration, let's look back at the previous eleven and look at which one is the best! They've brought us killer Santas, destructive Christmas trees, murderous angels and mind eating dream crabs. They've also brought us the introductory adventure for the 10th Doctor and two regenerations. Companions wise, they've introduced us to Donna, one of Clara's splinters, Kylie and gave us a goodbye to River Song. Which is your favourite though?

Definitely 'Last Christmas' for me! I was unsure of all the promotion surrounding Santa being in the episode but his involvement in the plot was actually really well done. I LOVED the whole premise of the episode and how you thought you understood what was going on until the rug is pulled under your feet again and again. The monsters were really inventive and one of the best (if not the best) new monsters of the 12th Doctor era. I loved that they kept Clara's return to Series 9 a secret so there was a real chance that she might leave in this episode which made the ending really sad until you realise you're on the back foot AGAIN! Shona was excellent as well and she's one of my favourite guest characters, it was really sad when she remembered who she really was and wanted to keep in touch. The episode is full of twists and turns but retains an important Christmas element with the appearance of Santa in a clever plot point and it features excellent characters and monsters. It really is one of my favourite episodes ever!

 

01. Last Christmas

02. Voyage of the Damned

03. A Christmas Carol

04. The Snowmen

05. The Runaway Bride

06. The Christmas Invasion

07. The End of Time

08. The Husbands of River Song

09. The Next Doctor

10. The Time of the Doctor

11. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

 

Voyage of the Damned is really good entertaining episode, you can really feel the movie influences. A Christmas Carol is an episode I didn't appreciate at the time but I've really grown to love it. It's really beautiful and the perfect watch at Christmas time! The Snowmen is another episode that really works together an interesting plot with the Christmas influences. The TARDIS on the cloud may be a bit silly but it makes for beautiful sequences. Victorian Clara should have been the actual companion too! The Great Intelligence being a giant snowglobe with hardly any snow in it didn't really work though.

 

The Runaway Bride a really fun episode, obviously largely down to Donna and it improved on the influences from the previous Christmas special. The Christmas Invasion is now very reminiscent of that era and I thought that it was a very good choice to have the Doctor unconscious for most of the episode as it increases the drama! The End of Time was a good dramatic final episode for the 10th Doctor but I've always felt that there's something a bit empty around it, or perhaps a lack of engagement from me but I can never place my finger on it. I loved the Doctor revisiting everyone though at the end.

 

The Husbands of River Song was a really much needed fun episode and I wouldn't change it from that. I loved the ending as we and the Doctor say goodbye to River. The Next Doctor is something I've always found a bit cheesy with that stupid giant Cyber King. I don't think David Morrisey was a very good 'Doctor' either. The Time of the Doctor is an incredibly weak final episode, the Doctor just decides to stay in a small town basically. I did enjoy the final moments with the regeneration though. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardobe is kind of just a nice watch at Christmas but nothing particularly special beyond that. There's not really any sort of exciting plot behind it!

I don't remember all of these to do a full ranking, I've always just seen them as fun, throwaway episodes to keep me entertained on Christmas than my absolute favourites and not a lot stick in my mind BUT Last Christmas was fantastic, loved the twists and turns and the darker side of Christmas shown, certainly not expected from an episode starring Nick Frost as Santa Claus!

 

The Time of the Doctor was the worst, just a big unfocused mess.

Edited December 18, 20168 yr by Wombanta Claus

My rank:

 

1. The Runaway Bride

2. The Christmas Invasion

3. Voyage of the Damned

4. The Husbands of River Song

5. Last Christmas

6. The End of Time

7. The Time of the Doctor

8. A Christmas Carol

9. The Next Doctor

10. The Snowmen

11. The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe

 

A definite mixed bag! The first three were top notch for me, just a lot of Christmas fun. The Runaway Bride had everything I wanted in it - an interesting story and a memorable villain, alongside some great comedy moments courtesy of Donna. Voyage of the Damned has improved a lot with age, I wasn't totally sure at first but it was a great episode with a strong guest cast. Husbands was a perfect change in tone after the misery at the end of series 9! :lol: The Time of the Doctor gets a bit of a hard time I think, like Voyage it's aged quite well for me, but I think it's a bit too busy and hard to follow at times? A Christmas Carol has also grown on me but it's still not a huge favourite of mine I must admit. The bottom two I think I've only watched twice oops.

Oh this is TOO DIFFICULT. The Christmas specials range from fluffy one-offs to integral episodes (i.e. The End of Time / The Time of the Doctor).

 

I think Christmas specials generally work better as stand-alones, but I don't tend to prefer those ones. I am a complicated being.