10 Best Doctor Who Characters Only In One Episode

Just when you think you've seen every possible iteration of Santa Claus that the human race could conceivably portray, along came Nick Frost's snarky, self-aware take on the jolly red do-gooder that stole the show in the 2014 Christmas special.

With some of the best one-liners and burns a Doctor Who character has ever had, Frost is simply a delight to watch, owning every scene he appears in to such an extent that the episode starts to drag whenever he vanishes for an extended period of time.

That said, the fact that he's used so sparingly probably heightened his effectiveness, ensuring that the Santa banter didn't become too grating and that Frost's amusing jabs at Christmas tropes didn't start to detract from the festivities at hand.

Doctor Who could've easily done a bog-standard Santa and that would've worked just fine, but in an episode all about twisting expectations, Frost's cheeky, edgy portrayal was a fitting move, turning Santa into someone you could easily have a pint and a laugh with down the pub. He was just so bloody cool.