BBC Studios/James Pardon

Best Doctor Who Christmas Special

Since Doctor Who returned to Britain’s television screens in 2005, viewers have been treated to 14 Christmas specials (along with an oft-derided one-off entry in 1965). With 2024’s entry, ‘Joy to the World’, airing this Christmas, here are my seven favourites from Christmases gone by!

 

  1. ‘The Snowmen’ (2012)

One of the staples of Doctor Who at Christmas is a strong festive monster, and this episode features a veritable menagerie of villains befitting the colder climes of the wintry season. While the eponymous Snowmen do not feature extensively in the episode, their absence is offset by the menacing Ice Governess, whose physical appearance deliciously compliments the episode’s festive aesthetic.

‘The Snowmen’ also re-introduces the Great Intelligence, a villain first encountered in the Second Doctor serial ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ (1967), set in the wintry Tibetan mountains. This episode draws on classical Christmas literature, as Matt Smith’s Doctor occupies a Scrooge-like role. His hunched, gloomy performance helps to generate both the story’s Victorian and Yuletide atmosphere.

The episode’s visual and audio aesthetic captures the magic of a Victorian Christmas; gone are the restricting summer shooting schedules of prior Christmas specials (2006’s ‘The Runaway Bride’ is particularly egregious). ‘The Snowmen’ boasts cobbled streets caked with snow and windows steamed up from a cosy indoor fire. ‘The Snowmen’ therefore, is an episode that wears its Christmas origins on its sleeve; aesthetic, villain, and Doctor combine to perfectly embody the festive season.

 

  1. ‘The Husbands of River Song’ (2015)

‘The Husbands of River Song’ shows the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) reuniting with River Song as she steals a diamond embedded within a decapitated head (played by Greg Davies no less). This may not sound like an episode that embodies Yuletide festivity, however, the final reunion between the Doctor and River, before River’s inevitable demise, captures the family spirit of Christmas perfectly. The Doctor and River celebrate their relationship, despite the tribulations that await them in the future.

Writer Steven Moffat beautifully evokes the traditional healing power of Christmas despite the heady science-fiction content of the episode. When the Doctor gives River her very own sonic screwdriver, it reminds us of the emotional meaning which can lie behind the oft commercialised tradition of gift giving. ‘The Husbands of River Song’ is perhaps one of Doctor Who’s more divergent Christmas specials, particularly in its middle 30 minutes. However, it boasts a glorious final scene that perfectly encapsulates the continuing resonance of Christmas.

 

  1. ‘Voyage of the Damned’ (2007)

‘Voyage of the Damned’ is a landmark celebration in the history of Doctor Who, as David Tenant rides high on the back of two enormously successful seasons in the title role. It remains the episode with the single highest viewing figure since the show returned to screens in 2005 and justifiably so: the episode stars Kylie Minogue, providing a stirring sense of flamboyance that aptly marries with the celebrations of the festive season.

The plot itself (containing a replica Titanic that is set to crash into Buckingham Palace) riffs on the action films that clog Christmas television schedules, providing a plethora of thrills that will interest the broader Christmas Day audiences. Furthermore, the episode’s festive villain, the angelic Heavenly Host, helped to solidify Doctor Who’s unique presence in the Christmas schedules by creating an unusually high body count.

‘Voyage of the Damned’ is a special that truly has it all; packing a huge amount of entertainment into its extended runtime, it is no wonder that this episode was initially so popular and continues to be so.

 

  1. ‘Last Christmas’ (2014)

‘Last Christmas’ is dark. There is no avoiding that conclusion. Whereas ‘Voyage of the Damned’ is violent in an almost laughable fashion, ‘Last Christmas’ is psychologically concerned with the futility of the brain, as virtually the entire story takes place within Lynch-esque dream sequences. Yet it’s perhaps a testament to the strengths of ‘Last Christmas’ that, despite its ephemeral narrative, it has placed so high on my list.

For example, this episode stars Nick Frost as Santa Claus himself, yet transcends and contorts traditional depictions of the cultural icon in amusing and creative ways. But, beyond the humour, ‘Last Christmas’ is also a deeply emotional story; for both the Twelfth Doctor, played beautifully as ever by Peter Capaldi, and companion Clara, this is a story about letting go and new beginnings, befitting the beginning of the new year. While this episode’s ending is often criticised it is difficult to be too harsh when it is so strong on the whole.

 

  1. ‘The End of Time’ (2009/2010)

‘The End of Time’, David Tennant’s final adventure as the Tenth Doctor, is a Doctor Who extravaganza of the highest measure. Its ties to Christmas may seem limited but, like ‘Last Christmas’, this is a story that celebrates what has been, while also looking forward to what is to come. And what a celebration ‘The End of Time’ is.

While featuring the return of Doctor Who royalty in the villainous Master, this adventure also marks the first prominent appearance of the Time Lords since the show’s 2005 revival, spearheaded by a mighty performance from James Bond star Timothy Dalton. The late Bernard Cribbins is also on fine form, blessing us with an exclusive turn as the Doctor’s companion for this story.

As if this weren’t enough, this adventure also features the return of many familiar faces from across the Tenth Doctor’s entire era, granting Doctor and viewer alike one final goodbye to these beloved characters before a new era is ushered in. Fundamentally, this is what ‘The End of Time’ is all about; endings, yet the hope of a new beginning.

 

  1. ‘The Time of the Doctor’ (2013)

Just missing out as my favourite Christmas special is Matt Smith’s swansong, ‘The Time of the Doctor’. While this is a polarizing instalment for many Doctor Who fans, I’ve always adored it, primarily due to the emotions inherent in having to bid farewell to my favourite actor to play the title role. The Eleventh Doctor is  (and likely always will be) my favourite Doctor, and this is an episode that revels in its emotional beats.

The final 15 minutes in particular features one tear-jerking scene after another, culminating in a beautiful speech from Smith regarding the virtue of change – a particularly important message in its festive context.

To top it all off in celebratory style, this episode features the return of multiple villains through fast-paced cameos, all amidst a wonderfully festive aesthetic. One could almost criticise it as messy or ill-thought-out, but with all the emotions the episode stirs in me, I have little space for thinking critically about ‘The Time of the Doctor’.

 

  1. ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2010)

Is it really any surprise that an episode named after Charles Dickens’ seminal 1843 novella – a novella without which Christmas as we know it would likely not exist – should take the top spot? This is an episode that ranks amongst Doctor Who’s very best, Christmas special or otherwise.

Adapting Dickens’ text to fit the Doctor Who mould, writer Steven Moffat plays with themes of redemption, generosity, and kindness, appealing to the programme’s core themes. Like ‘The Snowmen’ or ‘The Time of the Doctor’, this special also features a magical festive aesthetic, but now in a setting that is noticeably and quintessentially science-fiction, thus reinforcing the episode’s perfect marriage of Doctor Who and Christmas.

Its ending also visually embodies the healing power of Christmas; as viewers are treated to an exclusive operatic performance by Jenkins, the previously tempestuous sky calms and snow begins to fall, beautifully demonstrating the traditionally celebratory, stressless quality of Christmas and harking back to the unceasing joviality of Dickens’s original ending.

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