Everyone loves a top 10 list and everyone whose name isn’t Ebenezer loves Christmas so I thought it would be a great time to do the top 10 Christmas Doctor Who episodes. Enjoy!
10) The End of Time Part One (25th December 2009- Written by Russell T. Davies)
The first part of the Tenth Doctor’s demise was set on Christmas day but that was a fairly irrelevant plot point. The story itself has nothing to do with Christmas as the Master comes back and converts all humans into himself. Plus the Time Lords are returning and it looks like we’re all doomed. And the Doctor is going to die. Happy Christmas!
On a plus note though, we did have some really Christmassy Doctor Who idents that year. The Doctor, the TARDIS and some reindeer. If only that could have found it’s way into an episode:
9) The Runaway Bride (25th December 2006-Written by Russell T Davies)
The Doctor has just lost his beloved Rose and in the best cliff-hanger ever Catherine Tate suddenly appears in the TARDIS in a wedding dress. This episode has some great features including a TARDIS chase, the return of the robotic Santa’s and deadly baubles but whilst we come to love Donna in series 4, here she’s mostly annoying. Plus the giant spider and Christmas star thing is ridiculous even for Doctor Who.
8) The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe (25th December 2011- Written by Steven Moffat)
The Doctor is rescued by the Mum from Outnumbered and then proceeds to help her and her kids out by sending them to a forest that is about to be destroyed. Good work Doctor. It has some great moments- I loved the Doctor showing the family around the house- but the plot is weak and the ending is too sickly sweet.
7) Attack of the Graske (25th December 2005- Written by Gareth Roberts)
This was an interactive episode which aired via the red button. It’s very Christmassy and you get to be the companion. It’s a Who fan’s dream come true. You even get to fly the TARDIS. It’s great fun and you can now play it online here. There are few things more pleasing than the Doctor telling you that you’d make a good companion.
6) Voyage of the Damned (25th December 2007- Written by Russell T. Davies)
I love Voyage of the Damned- the Doctor running round a space version of the Titanic trying to stop it hitting the Earth and fighting off robotic angels along the way. For the most part it works brilliantly but seeing as though most of the cast die off it’s hardly cheery! And don’t get me started on Kylie’s ridiculously unnecessary death- maybe RTD felt Titanic had to have silly deaths after the James Cameron film.
5) The Unquiet Dead (9th April 2005- Written by Mark Gatiss)
This was the Ninth Doctor Christmas special that never was. It was early on in “Series One” and saw the Doctor and Rose fight off gas monsters with the help of Charles Dickens. It’s a great episode and much more Christmassy than some of the specials. It’s great when the Dickens decides to use the ideas for The Mystery of Edwin Drood and although a bit scary for the young ones, this is brilliant stuff!
4) The Next Doctor (25th December 2008- Written by Russell T Davies)
The Next Doctor is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand the Cybermen are rubbish here with a giant Cyberking and the awful Cybershades. But on the other hand you’ve got David Morrissey as a man claiming to be the Doctor but is actually some bloke called Jackson Lake who is just a bit confused. Although there’s some dark moments everything turns out OK in the end and hardly anyone dies! Plus it has a great ending with crowds saying thank you to the Doctor who then goes for Christmas with Jackson Lake and his family.
3) The Feast of Steven (25th December 1965- Written by Terry Nation)
The first Doctor Who Christmas special, although unofficially, this was part of the epic First Doctor saga The Dalek’s Master Plan. It has sod all to do with the plot though as the Doctor and his companions run round contemporary Earth and then sit down for Christmas dinner. The First Doctor even turns to the camera and says “Incidentally a happy Christmas to all of you at home!"
2) The Christmas Invasion (25th December 2005- Written by Russell T Davies)
The first official Doctor Who special, this sees the aftermath of the Doctor’s regeneration as Rose (and the audience at home) try to cope with his new face and personality. He’s asleep for most of it, only waking up when there’s killer Santa's and Christmas trees around (best line in a Christmas episode from Jackie Tyler here: “I’m going to get killed by a Christmas tree!”). Eventually the Doctor wakes up in time to have a sword fight with the aliens and save the world as per usual. Everyone’s happy and Christmassy!
1) A Christmas Carol (25th December 2010- Written by Steven Moffat)
The Doctor is inspired by Charles Dickens’ tale and changes an old miser (played by Dumbledore) into a better man. Which is weird when you think about it because Dickens only came up with the story because of his adventures with the Doctor- see above! Anyway, we get a bit fun romp as the Doctor, Kazran and Katherine Jenkins meet up every Christmas and do fun stuff and then it gets all sad. A beautiful, fun, sad, emotional and awesome story. Plus there’s a great snowman near the end.
I’m sure you instantly disagree with my ratings so please let me know what you think in the comments below. Fingers crossed that The Snowmen will be worthy of coming high in this list. I’ll be here next week with a full discussion on it!