Doctor Who: Ranking The Christmas Specials From Worst To Best

5. The Snowmen (2012)

Coming halfway through Series 7, unlike most of its predecessors, €œThe Snowmen€ has the double job of both continuing the series from where €œThe Angels Take Manhattan€ left the Doctor bereft of companionship as well as serving as a solid, standalone piece of Christmas entertainment. Thankfully, it€™s an excellent episode that delivers on both counts. Moffat takes a Dickensian Christmas adventure in a completely different direction than his predecessor. He establishes his Victorian London as darker, much more mysterious and almost gothic, with hints of enchanting otherworldliness via some beautiful imagery, exemplified by the winding staircase leading to the TARDIS on the cloud, something which is both intrinsically Who and adds a bit of Christmas wonder to the attractively dark Victorian atmosphere. Meanwhile, the Doctor is a reflection of the city he watches from above, with Matt Smith€™s usually exuberant incarnation doing a one-eighty in the wake of losing the beloved Ponds. It€™s a refreshing change to see the Eleventh Doctor have to fight for his own good cheer as well as that of everyone else€™s, a dimension that Smith portrays wonderfully. New-ish companion Clara Oswald€™s Victorian incarnation is her best yet, as she goes from cheeky barmaid to prim governess with Poppins-like pluck and inventiveness, and Jenna Coleman plays opposite Smith with confidence and chemistry. The supporting Paternoster gang - that's Madame Vastra, Strax, and Jenny - are still fun at this point in the series, providing the episode with some much-needed humour. The classic villain The Great Intelligence, voiced by the illustrious Ian McKellen, is a nice throwback, and Richard E. Grant as the calculating Dr. Simeon is an effective villain, along with the suitably creepy evil snowmen €“ like Frosty gone dark side €“ but the focus on characterization comes as a detriment to the hasty plot. Overall, though, €œThe Snowmen€ is an episode that is at once beautiful and highly entertaining, with just enough Christmas joy to pull through.