OK, so its been long enough since the Doctor Who christmas episode aired (and indeed long enough since I last blogged!), so what did I think?
Well, at risk of turning this blog into a) a Doctor Who comment blog and b) a Steven Moffat love-in, I really enjoyed it. Was it the huge action adventure of the Tennant-era Christmas episodes? No. But damn me it was Christmassy with a capital CH! It focused primarily on the Doctor (let's face it, that's what we want) but giving Amy her moment to shine and still kept Rory just hanging in there, as was (for the most part) the way things went during season 5. It was nice to see a more feel-good, character-driven piece for Christmas for a change, especially after last year (just how do you top the return of the Master, the return of the Time Lords and Gallifrey, and the death of the Doctor himself? Certainly not with an attempt at action - Moffat gets this!).
Once again, Moffat was clever - he used his intuitive grasp of how time travel actually works to have the Doctor change the future in a number of subtle ways, without ramming them down our throats.
Was it perfect? No - there were definite things I'd have liked to have improved. Wasn't sure about the whole shark thing (although I did like the whole Santa & his sleigh approach!), and I particularly didn't like how the Doctor and the young Kazran weren't shown getting away from the shark when it first attacks them in the cupboard - it kind of felt like Moffat was saying "Hmm, really backed the Doctor into a corner here. How are we going to get him out of this? No idea - he just will, he's the Doctor". (Yes, I know that it verbally explained what he was going to do, but that whole bit was rather "meh"). I also wanted to have more Amy (don't we all?!), especially after her lack of appearance with the Doctor in the last series of Sarah Jane Adventures, and considering Amy's star-turn in the Season 5 finale, but I can see why Moffat couldn't give her too big a part without diluting the rest of the story. I suspect this is partly why RTD kept his Christmas stories with one-off companions after the first year. Still, Karen Gillan AND Katherine Jenkins together? Bliss!
Overall, I was nicely pleased. A nice character piece that fitted perfectly at teatime on Christmas Day.
Think I'd like an action adventure next year though please, Mr Moffat.
Still, looking forward to the new series starting in the Spring, although not sure I can cope with them splitting it up to show half the season in the Autumn! Argh!
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