A Christmas Carol
- Episode aired Dec 25, 2010
- TV-PG
- 1h 2m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
8.5K
YOUR RATING
Festive edition of the time-travelling drama. The Doctor has one hour to save a crashing spaceship and a miser's soul - but what lurks in the fog?Festive edition of the time-travelling drama. The Doctor has one hour to save a crashing spaceship and a miser's soul - but what lurks in the fog?Festive edition of the time-travelling drama. The Doctor has one hour to save a crashing spaceship and a miser's soul - but what lurks in the fog?
Meg Wynn Owen
- Old Isabella
- (as Meg Wynn-Owen)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAndy Pryor, the casting director, did not believe Michael Gambon would be available, and was surprised when Gambon accepted the role. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill were very honoured to work with him.
- GoofsWhen The Doctor travels back in time to visit Kazran in his bedroom, the TARDIS is hidden behind two large doors, with the TARDIS windows clearly visible even when the doors are closed. When he does travel back, he appears in Kazran's recording, but you can still see the TARDIS's window between the doors.
- Quotes
The Doctor: [Pointing to frozen Abigail Pettigrew] Who's she?
Kazran Sardick: Nobody important.
The Doctor: Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing. You know that in nine hundred years of time and space and I've never met anybody who wasn't important before.
- Alternate versionsThere are two different versions of this story. The original edit airs for 80 minutes with the second edited down to 60 minutes. The scene where the Doctor takes Abigail to see her family is one of several edited out.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Breakfast: Episode dated 6 December 2010 (2010)
- SoundtracksDoctor Who Theme
(uncredited)
Written by Ron Grainer
Arranged by Murray Gold
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Featured review
Christmas Special 2010: So well done that even a flying shark pulling a sledge doesn't spoil it
Without any Wallace & Gromit and robbed of "big" movies by virtue of everyone seeing them already, the BBC continue to put all their festive spirit on the back of reality dancing shows and the annual outing for Doctor Who. This is not the place for people such as myself that watches Doctor Who for the occasional darkness and engaging plots and just puts up with the kiddie-friendly silliness that it will always have; no, the Christmas special is usually full of colourful, noisy nonsense and Bernard Cribbins in a Santa hat. So there was a certain amount of "strapping in for the ride" when I heard the plot of this years special (which it took me till now to watch – happy Christmas!).
The plot is essentially that Amy and Rory are on a spaceship crashing onto a planet but trapped in a thick cloud layer which is controlled by one man on the ground. Kazran Sardick is a real sour dick though and decides to just let the ship crash and kill everyone. Unable to do it without his help, the Doctor decides to travel back in time and show Sardick the miracle of Christmas, thus changing him into a good person and getting him to allow the ship to land. Meanwhile though, the Doctor cannot help but also be mystified by the cloud layer, in which fish freely swim and live. So it is a version of A Christmas Carol with flying sharks basically – sounds like a recipe for silly spectacle and easy sentiment right? Well, a little, but far less than I expected.
The viewer does have to deal with the image of a shark harnessed like a reindeer flying through the sky, but otherwise the special is actually very engaging and smartly done. The Christmas Carol aspect is actually pretty good and it even held my interest even though I'm not one for the whole "what a special day Christmas is" thing. Gambon plays his scrooge really well and I thought he gave the special a lot of heart. I had assumed that Jenkins would be a novelty but, while not brilliant, she was reasonably OK. Smith worked the thing as well as one would expect while neither Gillan nor Darvill (who really should not be in it in my opinion) didn't have much to do other than be the plot device – but weirdly the special was better for their absence.
Overall this was a really enjoyable Christmas special which (unlike the Poseidon in Space one the other year) actually feels festive due to its content rather than its trimmings. Engaging, quite clever, quite touching while also having the silliness that kids need – much better than I expected it would be.
The plot is essentially that Amy and Rory are on a spaceship crashing onto a planet but trapped in a thick cloud layer which is controlled by one man on the ground. Kazran Sardick is a real sour dick though and decides to just let the ship crash and kill everyone. Unable to do it without his help, the Doctor decides to travel back in time and show Sardick the miracle of Christmas, thus changing him into a good person and getting him to allow the ship to land. Meanwhile though, the Doctor cannot help but also be mystified by the cloud layer, in which fish freely swim and live. So it is a version of A Christmas Carol with flying sharks basically – sounds like a recipe for silly spectacle and easy sentiment right? Well, a little, but far less than I expected.
The viewer does have to deal with the image of a shark harnessed like a reindeer flying through the sky, but otherwise the special is actually very engaging and smartly done. The Christmas Carol aspect is actually pretty good and it even held my interest even though I'm not one for the whole "what a special day Christmas is" thing. Gambon plays his scrooge really well and I thought he gave the special a lot of heart. I had assumed that Jenkins would be a novelty but, while not brilliant, she was reasonably OK. Smith worked the thing as well as one would expect while neither Gillan nor Darvill (who really should not be in it in my opinion) didn't have much to do other than be the plot device – but weirdly the special was better for their absence.
Overall this was a really enjoyable Christmas special which (unlike the Poseidon in Space one the other year) actually feels festive due to its content rather than its trimmings. Engaging, quite clever, quite touching while also having the silliness that kids need – much better than I expected it would be.
helpful•306
- bob the moo
- Jan 16, 2011
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK(Kazran's bedroom)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color
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