Doctor Who: Ranking Each NuWho Christmas Special
2. Last Christmas
The first Christmas special of the Twelfth Doctor era takes inspiration from classic sci-fi horror movies such as “The Thing” and “Alien” – and somehow manages to include Santa Claus (played by Nick Frost) in a way that fits the narrative and doesn’t feel stupid.
Trapped in an Antarctic base, The Doctor, Clara and a team of four researchers find themselves up against the Dream Crabs, Face Hugger-like aliens which latch onto their victims faces and put them in a state of dreaming to distract them whilst the crab digests their brain. Four members of the base’s crew have already been caught and now lie in the infirmary slowly dying.
The episode takes an Inception-like twist as we come to realise there are dreams within dreams within dreams. The crabs are suitably intriguing enemies and their ability to see themselves through their prey’s own thoughts is an interesting development. The episode keeps you guessing throughout and has some genuinely chilling moments (the scene with the base manuals comes to mind). The show was initially preparing for Jenna Coleman to exit the show at this point and so another potential companion was introduced in the form of Shona. That remains a road untaken however, as Jenna Coleman eventually agreed to return for season 9 of the show.
The episode also draws a nice epilogue to the Danny Pink storyline from season 8, providing some touching moments between him and Clara. The episode is also on-point with it’s comedy, particularly The Doctor’s indignant reaction to discovering there is a horror movie called Alien. “There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!”