Doctor Who: Steven Moffat's Timey-Wimiest Episodes

For Christmas 2010, Doctor Who put its own spin on one of literature's oldest time travel stories - A Christmas Carol, the famous novel by Charles Dickens.

In the original, the notorious miser Scrooge is visited by spirits representing his past, present and future, all out to show him the error of his ways. The Doctor Who version features Kazran Sardick, a futuristic variation of Scrooge whose selfishness is dooming a shipload of innocents, including the Doctor’s companions. The Doctor sets out to transform Kazran, not just by showing him the past but by changing it right in front of him.

The story is a whimsical showcase of ideas, taking the timey-wimey nonsense of the series and treating it like magic in the eyes of children--both those in the story and those in the audience.

For example, the Doctor shows Kazran home video of his childhood, and then walks out of the room and straight into the recording, speaking simultaneously to Kazran both in the past and in the present. He then visits young Kazran on every Christmas Eve of his life, taking him on a series of life-changing journeys through the universe. And finally, he shows younger Kazran his older self, turning the elderly miser into his own Ghost of Christmas Future, at last bringing about the change that's needed.