Since 2005, a festive Doctor Who special has become a staple of BBC One’s Christmas Day schedule.
But before ‘The Christmas Invasion’, there was ‘The Feast of Steven’; the missing-believed-wiped seventh episode of Season 3’s epic twelve-part ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ serial, broadcast on Saturday 25 December 1965.
50 years on from its debut, ‘The Feast of Steven’ now only survives in audio form and is known to be the missing episode least likely to be found.
Yet it remains significant as the first ever Christmas showing for Doctor Who in an episode that ditches the Dalek run-around of the previous six episodes in favour of something altogether more bizarre.
For the six preceding weeks, viewers in 1965 had watched a dramatic and often terrifying story unfold with a number of unexpected twists. Just three weeks earlier Doctor Who had shocked audiences by killing off its latest companion, Katarina, after a mere five episodes in the show.
‘The Feast of Steven’ is something of a departure and plays into Terry Nation’s strengths as a comedy writer.
The TARDIS lands in present day England and, shortly after arriving, the Doctor is arrested and taken to the nearest police station. Whilst Sara remains behind at the ship, Steven disguises himself as a policeman and enters the station where the Doctor is being interrogated.
Seizing his opportunity, Steven rescues the Doctor and the pair head back to the TARDIS to see another policeman now attempting to arrest Sara. After Sara disentangles herself from the policeman, the three time travellers enter the ship and take off.
The Doctor, Steven and Sara appear on a film set and from here the episode takes on a rather slapstick approach. Immediately upon arriving, the travellers witness a man attempting to tie up a woman to a saw mill and, not realising they’re actors, Steven punches the man in the face.
Discovering their mistake, they run off and are pursued by the film’s furious director and star. A chase through the set then ensues with the three travellers also running into Charlie Chaplin.
Shortly afterwards they’re split up and Sara hides inside a prop on an Arabian-style set whilst the Doctor, also on the same set, is mistaken for being a professor of Arabic culture. Meanwhile, several assistants attempt to force Steven into a costume.
As the episode nears its conclusion, the Doctor, Steven and Sara are reunited but before they can return to the TARDIS, the Doctor encounters an aspiring singer named Bing Crosby. The final scene of ‘The Feast of Steven’ is perhaps its most remembered with the famous fourth-wall breaking moment in which the Doctor wishes a merry Christmas to everybody at home.
Without the opportunity to watch this episode as it was intended, it’s difficult to judge ‘The Feast of Steven’ fairly. It’s certainly an unusual episode for Doctor Who and feels significantly out of place when experienced as part of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ due to its one-off nature.
50 years later, certain parts of it have certainly aged better than other; however, it’s fair to assume that there was no deliberate malice. A Christmas Day outing for the Doctor meets with all the hallmarks of overindulgence and is clearly not meant to be taken too seriously.
Once you look past the scenery-chewing acting and the in-your-face comedy of the writing, ‘The Feast of Steven’ is simply great fun.
It’s not serious sci-fi drama and it has no interest in trying to be; this is Doctor Who having a whale of a time on Christmas Day and it’s hard not to let yourself get swept along with the ride.
Do you remember seeing ‘The Feast of Steven’ when it originally aired? Let us know below…