Doctor Who: Every Christmas Special Ranked From Worst To Best
9. The Time Of The Doctor
Tinsel Factor: 2
Star Quality: 1
Laughter Lines: 2
Thrill Meter: 7
Christmas Spirit: 8
Soapy Spoilers: 10
Total Score: 30
The second time the Christmas special coincided with a Doctor's final story, was slightly more successful than the first, largely because it avoided the same mistake of being a two-parter. But it carries a different set of problems.
By pulling together many disparate threads from the Eleventh Doctor’s era, this one is more of a present for the invested fan than the casual viewer. The extra audience gained by the holiday timing will probably have been completely bemused.
Steven Moffat’s Christmas specials give more narrative and symbolic prominence to the holiday festivities than his predecessor’s, which rely on gratuitous (though fun) set pieces to tick the boxes, and this is no exception. From Clara’s Christmas dinner disaster to the Victorianesque snow laden Christmas Town, there is no sense of Christmas being cancelled here: a remarkable achievement given that the setting is Trenzalore, the place where the Doctor is supposed to finally die.
The Doctor announces himself as the defender of Christmas, and though he is speaking of the town, he is also looking after the spirit of the season itself. The Time Lord who stayed for Christmas, fixing toys and fighting monsters for hundreds of years, models peace and good will to all.
There is also a strong message about how to deal with change, which resonates well at this time of year, coming as it does with the inevitable reminders of Christmases past, of the people we have lost, and the people we have become.