Plot:
The Doctor is reunited with Clara a while after they parted company, each having lied to each other that they were fine. The Doctor imagined that Clara was happy with Danny Pink, but doesn't know he's dead; Clara thinks the Doctor's happy on Gallifrey, and doesn't know it's still lost. (Had anyone else completely forgotten about all of this stuff, like I had? It seemed more important at the time.) Anyway, they're reunited on Clara's snowy roof when Clara catches Santa and two elves after they crash their sleigh. Later, the TARDIS travellers take a trip to a futuristic North Pole science base. (Why do they do this? Well, it's a long story.) The team based there are having trouble. They discovered something buried in the snow, which turned out to be hostile, and now some of their colleagues have been taken over by Kantrofarri, commonly known as Dream Crabs; these creatures scuttle around, spin down from the ceiling, and when they get you, they hug your face - rather like face-huggers - insert a proboscis through your skull, and drink your brain. In order that you let them do this without fighting, they put you into a dream state. Multiple crabs attack, but the Doctor, Clara and the four remaining members of the base team are rescued by Santa and the elves.
Despite being the subject of much scepticism from everyone, it does seem that this Santa is the real deal. While people are distracted, though, Clara is attacked while on her own in another part of the base, and taken over by a Dream Crab. She dreams that she is enjoying Christmas Day with Danny Pink. The Doctor allows himself to be crabbed so he can enter her dream world and get her back. They escape back to the base, the crabs that were on their faces turning to dust, but they realise that they are still dreaming - the original attack that they thought Santa saved them from must have been successful, and Santa is part of the dream - representing their collective unconscious trying to wake them up to their fate. Working together, they all break free and wake up again.
The Doctor is just leaving when Clara reminds him that they saw Santa, a figment of their imagination, on her roof back home. They are all still dreaming, and the zombified crew members, staggering towards them with crab-heads, are twisted reflections of the parts of their brains already succumbing to the dream. Surrounded, the Doctor urges them to use their imagination to save themselves, and Santa appears with his sleigh. They take an airborne sleigh ride and one by one they vanish, reappearing in the real world - none of them are scientists, they're just living ordinary, marvellous lives. The Doctor wakes up on some planet somewhere, and races to Clara's house. Removing the dead crab from her face, it looks like she had been taken into the dream when a lot older, having spent a life without the Doctor. But Santa arrives again - it's another dream: Clara's her usual self, and can rejoin the Doctor for adventures in time and space...
Despite being the subject of much scepticism from everyone, it does seem that this Santa is the real deal. While people are distracted, though, Clara is attacked while on her own in another part of the base, and taken over by a Dream Crab. She dreams that she is enjoying Christmas Day with Danny Pink. The Doctor allows himself to be crabbed so he can enter her dream world and get her back. They escape back to the base, the crabs that were on their faces turning to dust, but they realise that they are still dreaming - the original attack that they thought Santa saved them from must have been successful, and Santa is part of the dream - representing their collective unconscious trying to wake them up to their fate. Working together, they all break free and wake up again.The Doctor is just leaving when Clara reminds him that they saw Santa, a figment of their imagination, on her roof back home. They are all still dreaming, and the zombified crew members, staggering towards them with crab-heads, are twisted reflections of the parts of their brains already succumbing to the dream. Surrounded, the Doctor urges them to use their imagination to save themselves, and Santa appears with his sleigh. They take an airborne sleigh ride and one by one they vanish, reappearing in the real world - none of them are scientists, they're just living ordinary, marvellous lives. The Doctor wakes up on some planet somewhere, and races to Clara's house. Removing the dead crab from her face, it looks like she had been taken into the dream when a lot older, having spent a life without the Doctor. But Santa arrives again - it's another dream: Clara's her usual self, and can rejoin the Doctor for adventures in time and space...
Context:
It was very nearly Christmas 2019, the tree was up, the lights were on. I popped on the Blu-ray, from the new series 9 box set (despite the story very clearly being the culmination of the series 8 plot lines, it was for some reason held back to be on the series 9 box set). This time, all the family (Better Half, boys of 13 and 10, girl of 7) watched. The youngest found a couple of sections too scary, and ran out of the room for a bit (there's no room to hide behind our sofa as it's hard up against the wall). At least one of children still believes in Father Christmas, so I'm glad the story hedges its bets somewhat, and doesn't destroy all their illusions!
First time round:
First time round:
It's been five flippin' years since Last Christmas was shown; time has flown by. As it seems only like yesterday, I have no excuse for not remembering any details of watching it for the first time. This was the last regular Doctor Who broadcast before I started this blog, so I can't look back on any posts from the time for clues of what I was up to. I searched the internet for the TV schedules of the day, and nothing leapt out at me, to help me place things in context. I searched my memory, but - as long as they remain blissfully undramatic - one Christmas Day is very like another in our house. I expect I would have been enjoying the company of relatives at 6.15pm, and would have watched Last Christmas time-shifted later in the evening with the Better Half, when people had gone home, and the kids were abed. This era was notable for being a bit scarier than before, so we would have made a decision after that first watch as to whether it was suitable for the younger of the children to see. I can't believe we would have let anyone but the eldest see it back then, as it is jolly frightening in parts; however, all of them claimed to remember it.
Reaction:
Last Christmas was the tenth consecutive Doctor Who Christmas special since the series had returned in 2005. The only comparable festive run on British TV was for the sit-com Only Fools and Horses in the 1980s and 1990s, and the makers of that show dispensed with the straitjacket of having a seasonal theme quite early on. Neither of the showrunners of Doctor Who for those ten specials (first Russell T Davies, then the writer and exec of Last Christmas, Steven Moffat) wanted to give up that easily. Davies had done contemporary Christmas, space Christmas, Victorian Christmas; he had introduced killer Christmas trees, exploding baubles, robot Santas; he had sampled screwball comedies and disaster movies. Moffat sampled even more, riffing on specific texts such as A Christmas Carol and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; he did future Christmas, wartime Christmas, and created killer snowmen, sentient baubles and trees, and a village called Christmas where nobody can lie. What was there left to do? Well, how about Santa - the real Santa, the actual deal? The trouble is, how can that person / concept exist within the "everything must have a scientific explanation" rigour of Doctor Who. A couple of Yuletides later, Moffat got even more desperate for thematic ideas, and faced the similar problem of how to integrate superheroes into Doctor Who. His solution for Santa Claus is a lot neater.
Because it's all just a dream, innit?! Now, normally this would be a cop-out, but luckily the film Inception was relatively fresh in everyone's mind, and dreams nested within dreams as a concept was a reasonably hot property, waiting to be plundered. In the best Doctor Who tradition, Moffat nicks it shamelessly, and makes it his own. As well as giving free rein to embrace the descending level of dreams idea, the humans' subconscious sampling allows riffs on other films like Alien and The Thing. None of this would be up to much if the casting of the big man was anything but perfect, but Nick Frost is a marvel. He wasn't the most obvious choice, but the Claus on the page is a sassy and sarcastic one, and Frost performs this with aplomb, and an added sprig of meta slyness. He doesn't go as far as winking at the camera, but he does seem to be enjoying the danger of dancing up to that line and not quite crossing it. Given the nature of the character, this is apt, and in no way indulgent: Santa is the secular collective idea of a guide through nightmares, as outlined in one of the many excellent dialogue exchanges: "You're a dream who's trying to save us?" "Shona, sweetheart, I'm Santa Claus. I think you just defined me."
Frost is just one of a great cast. Both actors playing the elves get lots of fun stuff to do, and it's great to see Dan Starkey, who had played Strax the Sontaran regularly for the the last few years, get to do work sans a latex face. It's also good to see Michael Troughton, second Doctor Patrick's other thespian son, finally appear in Doctor Who, after his brother David had landed three speaking parts over the years. The regulars are firing on all cylinders too, particularly Samuel Anderson in his last appearance as Danny Pink, being heroic and self-effacing even as an imaginary version of the character. Best of all, though, is Faye Marsay as Shona. Sparky, funny ("I will mark you Santa!"), tough, vulnerable, and with all the best bits to do (her dancing to Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody is very special). It's as if she's auditioning to be the new companion. Of course, that's exactly what is happening. Jenna Coleman was all set to depart the show with this Christmas special, and Shona was intended to become the new regular.
I've seen rumours that the decisions - and rewrites - were made very late in the day, but nothing confirming exactly when. It's definitely on record that the original ending would have been pretty much what is presented as a false ending in the final finished piece: Clara aged, having lived a full life of her own before the Doctor arrives back, decades too late. In some ways, it's a shame that this never came to pass: the Clara character felt like she stuck around one series too long, and there was nothing significant plot-wise for Coleman to do in the following run of episodes; the presence of Shona, and presumably Marsay (depending on whether she'd have been cast or accepted it as a regular role) would have breathed life into what were a mostly lacklustre set of stories to come next. The confusing way Coleman was eventually written out (she's both alive and dead, and she's roaming the universe in her own TARDiS with someone else who's both alive and dead) was also nowhere near as dramatic and effective as the Last Christmas ending. But, even though it could have been superior in lots of ways, I'm glad it turned out the way it did. Can you imagine how depressing Last Christmas would be with Clara exiting at the end as an old woman? A hell of a downer, that, and it's already been one of the scariest, grimmest Christmas specials ever; plus, the melancholic "Every Christmas is Last Christmas" theme wasn't exactly light relief to begin with. On Christmas day, there's got to be hope.
And this way, Shona gets a very strong ending for herself too, simple but affecting. We see her wake up on Christmas Day, her handwritten itinerary in her lap, which explains whose imagination has been creating the dreamspace in which the previous hour's action has unfolded; it reads "1. DVD (Alien) 2. DVD (The thing from another world) 3. Dad comes round. 4. DVD (Miracle on 34th Street.) 5. THRONES marathon. 6. Forgive Dave???". I think we have to assume that Shona never got as far as number 5 (though Marsay would later have a regular role on GoT, which is nice). Then, she picks up her pen, thinks for a moment, and puts a big tick next to point number 6: lovely.
Connectivity:
Frost is just one of a great cast. Both actors playing the elves get lots of fun stuff to do, and it's great to see Dan Starkey, who had played Strax the Sontaran regularly for the the last few years, get to do work sans a latex face. It's also good to see Michael Troughton, second Doctor Patrick's other thespian son, finally appear in Doctor Who, after his brother David had landed three speaking parts over the years. The regulars are firing on all cylinders too, particularly Samuel Anderson in his last appearance as Danny Pink, being heroic and self-effacing even as an imaginary version of the character. Best of all, though, is Faye Marsay as Shona. Sparky, funny ("I will mark you Santa!"), tough, vulnerable, and with all the best bits to do (her dancing to Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody is very special). It's as if she's auditioning to be the new companion. Of course, that's exactly what is happening. Jenna Coleman was all set to depart the show with this Christmas special, and Shona was intended to become the new regular.
I've seen rumours that the decisions - and rewrites - were made very late in the day, but nothing confirming exactly when. It's definitely on record that the original ending would have been pretty much what is presented as a false ending in the final finished piece: Clara aged, having lived a full life of her own before the Doctor arrives back, decades too late. In some ways, it's a shame that this never came to pass: the Clara character felt like she stuck around one series too long, and there was nothing significant plot-wise for Coleman to do in the following run of episodes; the presence of Shona, and presumably Marsay (depending on whether she'd have been cast or accepted it as a regular role) would have breathed life into what were a mostly lacklustre set of stories to come next. The confusing way Coleman was eventually written out (she's both alive and dead, and she's roaming the universe in her own TARDiS with someone else who's both alive and dead) was also nowhere near as dramatic and effective as the Last Christmas ending. But, even though it could have been superior in lots of ways, I'm glad it turned out the way it did. Can you imagine how depressing Last Christmas would be with Clara exiting at the end as an old woman? A hell of a downer, that, and it's already been one of the scariest, grimmest Christmas specials ever; plus, the melancholic "Every Christmas is Last Christmas" theme wasn't exactly light relief to begin with. On Christmas day, there's got to be hope.And this way, Shona gets a very strong ending for herself too, simple but affecting. We see her wake up on Christmas Day, her handwritten itinerary in her lap, which explains whose imagination has been creating the dreamspace in which the previous hour's action has unfolded; it reads "1. DVD (Alien) 2. DVD (The thing from another world) 3. Dad comes round. 4. DVD (Miracle on 34th Street.) 5. THRONES marathon. 6. Forgive Dave???". I think we have to assume that Shona never got as far as number 5 (though Marsay would later have a regular role on GoT, which is nice). Then, she picks up her pen, thinks for a moment, and puts a big tick next to point number 6: lovely.
Connectivity:
One more story where the alien threat uses subterfuge to get away with their naughtiness undetected, though this time they're operating at a subconscious level. In both Last Christmas and Aliens of London / World War Three, the Doctor uses a fire extinguisher as a weapon against the bad guys.
Deeper Thoughts:
The distribution of stories was fairly level this year, without any one Doctor or era dominating. Four stories apiece from David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker. Three for Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi. Two each for William Hartnell (one semi-animated), Patrick Troughton (one wholly animated and jolly good it was too) and Jon Pertwee. Only one each for Sylvester McCoy (The Curse of Fenric, although I did watch it twice, see the Deeper Thoughts section of the New Earth post for more details!) and Christopher Eccleston. This is okay, as both have shorter tenures as measured by number of stories, so would need to be rationed if future selection were going to stay as varied. Alas, I saw another two of a Doctor with very few stories left, Colin Baker. I finished my first season, having blogged all the stories in Colin's Trial of a Time Lord year, and now only have four of his stories remaining to watch (including Timelash!). Still, Mindwarp live at the BFI was a blast, and The Twin Dilemma was probably my favourite story to write about (though not to watch) this year. Finally, the addition of K9 and Company (my first and possibly last spin off episode watched for the blog) makes it up to 31.
High and low points? 2019 only had one new broadcast episode, so Resolution obviously stood out; it was also good to get a veritable dollop of new old Who in the form of the previously referenced Macra Terror animation. Of the remaining stories covered for the blog, probably a couple of Russell T Davies productions - bookends of his era in fact, being the first and last produced during his time as showrunner - worked best for me: David Tennant swansong The End of Time, and early Christopher Eccleston story Aliens of London / World War Three. Both tend to divide audiences, but the family and I enjoyed them very very much. Silliest story award goes to Black Orchid, which - considering K9 & Company was also in the running - says something about the very many different levels upon which Black Orchid is so very wrong. I also am starting to question whether I've just watched all the Tom Baker four-parters too many times now, or whether they are secretly all, well, a bit dull. Sorry for the almost blasphemous pronouncement, but none of his were particularly interesting this year. The three that came up (The Creature from the Pit, The Face of Evil, The Horns of Nimon) are certainly not top drawer, so it might just be that. I hope for some great Tom Baker stories next year to prove my theory wrong. I'm also looking forward to a nice new Jodie Whittaker series, a couple more animations, and some more Blu-ray box sets. On top of all that, it's the long-awaited final season of Brexit - this time next year, it'll all be over, so they tell me. What an eventful finale that will be.
In Summary:
If every Christmas is Last Christmas (which seems needlessly depressing), then every Christmas is also First Christmas (much better!). So, let's accentuate the positive with a Season's Greetings, and - incidentally - a Happy First Christmas to all of you at home!
No comments:
Post a Comment