It’s almost time for Matt Smith’s final hour as the Doctor, so let’s take a look back at Doctor Who‘s best festive specials and see what ‘The Time of the Doctor’ has to beat…
5. ‘The Runaway Bride’ (2006)
The story: Catherine Tate’s surprise appearance in the TARDIS leads the Doctor to fighting an alien spider queen who plans to overthrow the Earth. And the only help he has is a seriously ticked off temp from Chiswick in a wedding dress (with no pockets).
Best moments: The TARDIS engaging in a motorway chase with Donna’s taxi is a stand out sequence, and a special mention must go to Donna’s awe at seeing the creation of Earth and the solar system.
Guest stars: Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Don Gilet (EastEnders) as Lance, Sarah Parish (Cutting It) as the Empress.
Best quote: “Doctor… you can stop now!” says Donna to a Doctor so angry at the world for losing Rose that he can’t control himself against the Racnoss. A lovely fleeting moment that reinforces the idea that the Doctor should never travel alone.
Trivia: ‘The Runaway Bride’ is the third time that Sarah Parish and David Tennant had worked together, following Blackpool and Recovery.
4. ‘The Next Doctor’ (2008)
The story: Christmas Eve in London, 1851 and the Doctor is confused by the actions of a man claiming to be The Doctor himself, complete with companion and his own TARDIS (a gas balloon), who is on the hunt for the Cybermen. Believing that he could be a future incarnation of himself, the Doctor follows him and faces off against a 60ft Cyberman.
Best moments: The opening sequence when a confused Doctor meets Jackson Lake’s ‘Doctor’ for the first time, and also the snowy funeral sequence with Miss Hartigan in her red dress surrounded by Cybermen.
Guest stars: David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) as Jackson Lake, Dervla Kirwan (Ballykissangel) as Miss Hartigan, Velile Tshabalala as Rosita.
Best quote: “I am nothing but a lie.” Lake’s final realisation that he isn’t the Doctor but is the victim of a Cyberman infostamp is genuinely heartbreaking and does make you think he’d have been a great Doctor.
Trivia: The Torchwood Hub set was redesigned and used as the children’s workshop.
3. ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2010)
The story: When a spacecraft containing the honeymooning Ponds is crashing into a planet, the Doctor must convince Scrooge-like figure Kazran Sardick to help him, even if he has to travel back in time and convince him as a young boy.
Best moments: Katherine Jenkin’s beautiful singing, the Doctor and young Kazran’s encounter with a shark, and Kazran and Abigail’s Christmas adventures, including one where the Doctor inadvertently gets engaged to Marilyn Monroe.
Guest stars: Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) as Kazran, Katherine Jenkins as Abigail.
Best quote: “Time can be rewritten” … “People can’t!” shows just how bitter Sardick is over his wasted life.
Trivia: This episode is the first in Doctor Who history to be broadcast on the same day in America.
2. ‘The Christmas Invasion’ (2005)
The story: David Tennant’s Doctor is in bed in a post-generation coma, just as the Earth is being invaded by the Sycorax.
Best moment: The Doctor emerges from the TARDIS just in time after some much-needed tea, and the swordfight with the leader of the Sycorax where the Doctor loses his hand.
Guest stars: Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey) returns as Harriet Jones.
Best Quote: “Don’t you think she looks tired?” shows the new Doctor’s dark side in a few choice words.
Trivia: David Tennant’s Doctor’s accent was originally going to be explained with a line that the newly regenerated Doctor had imprinted on Rose’s accent, “like a chick hatching from an egg”.
1. ‘The Snowmen’ (2012)
After losing the Ponds, a reclusive Doctor is brought back to life by a young barmaid named Clara who helps him encounter killer snowmen, a lady made of ice and the Great Intelligence.
Best moment: Matt Smith’s Doctor hands the TARDIS key to Clara, only for her to be killed by the Ice Governess moments later.
Guest stars: Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I) as Dr Simeon, Tom Ward (Silent Witness) as Captain Latimer, Sir Ian McKellen (The Hobbit) as the voice of The Great Intelligence.
Best quote: “Run you clever boy… and remember.”
Trivia: Jenna Coleman was cast in the role of Clara as she was able to talk faster than Matt Smith. Director Saul Metzstein has revealed that the first design of the snowmen looked like Zippy from Rainbow.
Which Christmas special is your favourite? Let us know below…
> Buy the 50th anniversary special on DVD on Amazon.
> Buy the 50th anniversary special on Blu-ray on Amazon.
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