Doctor Who: Last Christmas

It's incredible to think that Last Christmas is the tenth Doctor Who Christmas special. The Tenth! I remember back in 2005 when we thought it was lucky to be getting only one. Not many shows get that luxury, and it's not guaranteed to continue in the future. Perhaps its because he's used to it that Steven Moffat has written a story that has quite a different tone from previous specials.Having drawn inspiration from the likes of Charles Dickens and C.S Lewis for previous specials, this year, Steven has borrowed from a whole variety of sources. We start off with a scientific arctic base form The Thing under siege from monsters that look like the facehuggers from Alien. The Doctor and Clara arrive and it turns out that everyone is trapped in a dream, like in Inception. It's true to the spirit of original series writer Robert Holmes. Unlike the former, Steven has actually written a justification in that the crew have imagined this scenario based on the films.

Fortunately, the Doctor, Clara and the base crew have assistance in the dream in the form of  Santa Claus. Before watching this story I was a bit unsure about the idea of Santa Claus appearing in Doctor Who. The character is often associated with a warm cosiness that I'm not a big fan of in fiction. Fortunately there was a good justification for him being there, in the form of a helpful dream. Some members of the audience have been moaning that Santa referring to himself as a dream will make the character seem less real to children. I would say those people need a reality check. Those kids are going to find out the harsh truth soon enough, and no one above the age of 6 should really be believing in Santa. Nick Frost did pretty good job in the role and I enjoyed his 'tough guy' persona as an alternative to the traditional kindly old man. The elves were also pretty funny too.

The introspective nature of dreams allowed the Doctor and Clara to address the lies that they told each other at the end of Series 8. It was especially nice to have Danny Pink return briefly. Allowing Clara to say goodbye to Danny and having the Doctor admit he was wrong means they can both start
the next series free of baggage. Peter Capaldi's Doctor was less abrasive this time around. He is almost apologetic when Clara berates him for insulting Danny Pink. His glee at piloting Santa's sleigh is another sign that he is a good man deep down.

The base crew were fairly uninteresting in themselves. Shona was funny when she was dancing to Slade but I don't particularly care whether or not I ever see her in the show again. It was nice to see Michael Troughton, son of Patrick, in the role of the Professor, although it has to be said that it wasn't much of a character to work with. The other crewmembers, Bellows, didn't do very much at all. These characters provided exposition and functioned as victims for the Doctor to save, but weren't that interesting in and of themselves. The monsters of the show, the Dream Crabs, were effective, in spite of having a naff name. The Sleepers were more creepy. The twist that they were actually the sleeping crew themselves as a good one.

The very best scene in this story occur towards its end with the Doctor rescuing the older Clara, It was a nice mirroring of Clara comforting the ageing Eleventh Doctor in The Time of the Doctor, especially when they both try and pull the cracker and the Doctor has to help the older Clara.
There were rumours that this would be Clara's last appearance and in a way it was slightly disappointing that this wasn't Clara's proper ending. At the same time, I like it when companions stick around for the long run. Clara's dynamic with the Twelfth Doctor has been more interesting than with the Eleventh and I want her to stay around for a while, becoming the Sarah Jane Smith to Twelve's fourth Doctor.

To sum it all up I would say this was a fairly middling episode. Not quite up to the standards of The Christmas Invasion or The Snowmen, but not as dull as Voyage of the Damned or The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe.

7/10

Next: The Doctor and Clara will return in The Magician's Apprentice. More importantly, how will Missy return from the dead? Will the Doctor find any more clues about Gallifrey? And will the show be celebrating ten years since its return? Series 9 should be interesting, indeed.