10 Lessons Doctor Who Teaches Us About Christmas
1. Nobody Should Spend Christmas Alone
The Doctor, by his own admission, is not the most honest of characters. And one thing he doesn’t like to admit to is his need to belong. Ever the drifter and a citizen of the universe, he’s not one to settle down. And yet, his most human like quality is that need for relationships.
A repeated theme in the Doctor Who Christmas specials is that of the lonely and sometimes deliberately distant Doctor being adopted into a human family to spend Christmas with them, whether it be the Tyler’s, the Williams’ or the Oswald’s.
As Madge says on both her first and last meeting with the Eleventh Doctor, “no one should be alone at Christmas.”
The Doctor turns down Madge's kind offer to stay with her family for Christmas, and so instead she pushes him into reconnecting with Amy and Rory, He hasn’t seen them since faking his own death over two years ago. The message hits home and the Doctor comes a'knocking – on Christmas day of all days.
He’s amazed to find that a place at the table had already been set for him. When he asks Amy why, she simply says, “it’s Christmas, you moron.”
Of all the lessons that Doctor Who teaches us about Christmas, this is the most important – to always make room for others, even those who have seemingly abandoned us. And if we are the ones doing the running, to swallow our pride and start to mend those broken bridges.
The Doctor might shudder at the thought of carol singers, but there is one song, written especially for him that encapsulates the best of Christmas. Song for Ten by Murray Gold.
What Christmas lessons have you learned from Doctor Who? Share your Yuletide learnings down in the comments.