How I love the (almost) annual tradition of Doctor Who holiday specials. Mostly Christmas with a few New Year’s specials thrown in, plus Easter and Thanksgiving during the Tenth Doctor’s final mini-year of specials. They’re usually at least a little corny and the plots don’t always make what you’d call sense, but they’re still fun and, like with multi-Doctor specials, you often forgive their faults. Here are my favorites.
“The Runaway Bride” (Series 3 – Christmas 2006)
Donna! After the angst of the series 2 finale, we were in need of some fun, and even though this special still has its share of emotion and drama, you also have Donna suddenly appearing in the TARDIS in her wedding dress and then her and Ten proceeding to have all kinds of wild adventures. We needed this, and Ten did too – even if the Rachnoss empress remains one of the most scenery-chewing things I have ever seen with my two eyeballs.
“The Waters of Mars” (Tenth Doctor Specials – Thanksgiving 2009)
Not strictly a “Thanksgiving” special, but that’s close to the time that it aired, and I do love this episode. In a way, it has a similar structure to a celebrity historical, except it’s set in the future. I like Ten going all fanboy over the crew of the first manned base on Mars, even as it’s wrenching to watch him struggle against the bad end he knows is coming for them. Great mix of scary and emotional, and Lindsay Duncan is great in her performance as Capt. Adelaide Brooke.
“A Christmas Carol” (Series 6 – Christmas 2010)
Come on, where else are you gonna find a bowtie-wearing alien in a Santa hat flying through the night sky in a shark-drawn sleigh? I appreciate a properly-Christmasy special, and this is an enjoyable sci-fi take on A Christmas Carol, with creative spins on the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. There’s handwavy stuff that doesn’t make sense and Abigail ultimately isn’t well-used by the plot, but it also has Eleven as the universe’s wildest babysitter, a haunting rendition of “In the Bleak Midwinter,” and Amy and Rory roleplaying on their honeymoon. You’ve gotta give it up!
“Last Christmas” (Series 9 – Christmas 2014)
I always enjoy a good base-under-siege story, and here, on an Arctic base beset by dream crabs, we get a good mix of creepy, funny, and festive (and a heaping dose of dream illogic, but whatcha going do?) Nick Frost gives a fun performance as Santa, “a dream who’s come to save us.” And most importantly, this was one of the first times that the Twelve-Clara relationship really worked well for me. After being disappointed with a fair amount of the writing in series 8, this special gave me hope for series 9.
“Twice Upon a Time” (Series 11 – Christmas 2017)
Multi-Doctor Christmas special! David Bradley still does a fine job as One, even if the writing for him leans to hard into the “old-fashioned Doctor is sexist” angle (why?) Still, he and Twelve are a lot of fun interacting with one another, it’s wonderful to see Bill again after “The Doctor Falls,” and I like the resolution of the central mystery. Also, first glimpse of a new Doctor: always a good thing. Thirteen in that suit!
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