6. The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe
Another misfire, this time from the Steven Moffat era. The full extent of this episode's shortcomings were originally lost on me as it was so hot on the heels of series 6's baffling finale (and I may have had a few whiskies), but on repeat viewing The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe doesn't really hold up. It's a nice trope of Moffat to partially adapt beloved Christmas stories (although he promptly abandoned the premise after this one, which is a shame because I was rather looking forward to Home Alone: Doctor Who Edition), but why take a fantasy world as magical as CS Lewis' Narnia and suck all the life and sparkle from it? Matt Smith is on form, as he invariably always is, and Outnumbered's Claire Skinner is as endearing and enjoyable as ever, but their combined efforts can't salvage a plot-thin, forgettable episode that is about as Christmassy as a turkey sandwich on Boxing Day. As previously mentioned, the tree creatures are forgettable, the syrupy, he's-alive-after-all ending is far too convenient, even for a Christmas episode, and Bill Bailey was used far too sparingly - an admittedly uncommon criticism but a criticism nonetheless. Ooh, would you look at me - I'm whinging an awful lot, aren't I? And at Christmas time! Don't worry, I've got a lot more nice things to say from here on out.