The Christmas Conundrum

Guest contributor Ryan Fleetwood examines if there is an ideal type of Christmas special.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Come the 25th it will have been a year since we bade farewell to Matt Smith’s Doctor, four since we began David Tennant’s farewell story and eight since Mr Tennant blew up a deadly Christmas tree. Of course, it’s the time of the year where that same question arises (nope, not why you’re singing along to a Christmas song that you were loathing with every fibre of your being in the crowded supermarket the other day, the other question): what will this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special be like?

Doctor Who Christmas specials have come in a variety of forms with a variety of goals. Since the revival, we’ve seen Doctors arrive and depart, new companions introduced and Katherine Jenkins sing at a flying shark. As such, they have taken on a variety of tones, some effectively and some less effectively, and the Christmas conundrum I shall attempt to deal with here is whether there is an ideal form for a Christmas special, and how Last Christmas looks set to fit into it all.

The Non-Christmassy Christmas Special

Clearly, none of these categories are black and white, and every episode balances a degree of each. Nonetheless, I shall try to sort these episodes in as simple a way as possible. Three stories fall into this category, in which the fact that the episode is being broadcast at Christmas is essentially irrelevant. There may be an exchange of ‘Happy Christmas’-es , some snow in the air, a setting relating to the holiday, but at the end of the day it wouldn’t feel particularly out of place if you watched it at a different time of year, and the point is not stressed. The stories in question are Voyage of the Damned, The End of Time (due to the Christmassy themes appearing in both parts, I shall treat the story as a whole) and The Time of the Doctor.

The most striking thing here is that two of the three stories are the farewell stories of their respective Doctors, and so that this tone is most effective for an episode with a less cheerful edge, as well as needing time for important developments and events. Voyage of the Damned is the story with the weakest claim to membership of this group with more of a festive air about it, but the death toll and story in general are notably contrasting to this. This hints at a potential drawback of this type of episode, that it opens the door for a storyline perhaps less suitable for Christmas Day, through creating too dark a feel. This is especially a danger if coupled with the serious plot advancement as well, as it begins to run the risk of alienating the casual viewer, who’s probably just hoping to relax and enjoy the evening. Personally, however, this is my favourite, as it avoids sacrificing good and serious storytelling in favour of excessive festiveness, which I can’t say I’m much of a fan of.

The Fairly Christmassy Christmas Special

This category is a step up from the previous, maintaining the elements of Christmas but starting to integrate them into the plot more, rather more creating the feel of a Christmas special to the episode in question. The two episodes that fit in here are The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride, the common link between the two being those creepy ‘Pilot Fish’ Santas. One sees a Christmas tree go berserk in the Tyler’s flat, the other sees baubles bomb a wedding reception. Nonetheless, the plot still ultimately works independently of any overbearing Christmassy (that doesn’t look like a word anymore, though I’m not too sure if it ever was…) themes, with very separate alien invasions and spider infestations alongside. I still rather enjoy these episodes, and they seem to strike a good balance between plot and festive cheer, achieving a good compromise.

The Victorian Christmas Special

Identifiable by their settings, The Next Doctor and The Snowmen fall under this heading. While not necessarily explicitly festive in nature, the Victorian winter settings still paint a picture with a distinct Christmas feel to them, and so don’t really lose the atmosphere so much as alter it from their counterparts in the modern era discussed so far. If anything, it ensures the setting is near permanent, and does allow for greater flexibility in integrating different elements into the plot. Personally, I find the pair of episodes here to be rather uninteresting, though how far this stems from their nature rather than their individual plots is hard to say.

The Christmassy Christmas Special

At the other end of the scale from our non-Christmassy specials, the Christmassy ones take on not just the festive imagery and settings, but will utilise more whimsical plots and take on board the typical Christmas themes and messages. In this category we find A Christmas Carol and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. Instantly, both can be seen to be based on novels, and both take on board more fantastical stories, featuring flying fish and tree people respectively. These episodes are the full blown Christmas specials, where the plot can even feel like it comes second to the festive atmospheres and cheerful tones they set out to provide, and they certainly succeed in their provision of these. Nonetheless, call me Scrooge or Sardick, but I can’t say I’m a fan of such episodes at all. A Christmas Carol certainly seems to be popular among the fans as a whole, though it seems The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe is lacking in the fandom-love department. In my opinion, the sacrifice of a strong plot for the Christmassy feel is not a worthy one, and goes way beyond achieving the level of camp and cheer that probably should be expected on Christmas Day. However, it may not be so off-putting to the casual viewer, or those less grumpy than me.

Last Christmas (as in the next one)

All we can say with relative certainty about Last Christmas is that it doesn’t look set to be a Victorian Christmas special, which leaves the other three options open. As it stands, on mere speculation and the few glimpses we’ve had the episode looks set to have elements from both ends of the spectrum, with nasty face monsters on the one hand and Father Christmas with his army of toys on the other. While one end of the spectrum definitely does appeal to me, I’m not sure how well it works for the rest of the viewership if taken too far, but it concerns me that if the Santa side of the story is too prominent or too festive (festivity is probably a given with Santa Claus, but still) it won’t so much balance the other side out as juxtapose and clash. Obviously, with speculation we can only wait and see, but it looks doubtful that a position firmly on either side of the spectrum is likely. The question is, if the contrast is so great, can it achieve a healthy balance and compromise between the two (and give us something more along the lines of our fairly Christmassy Christmas specials) or will it become something of a mess?

Of course, it is important not to prejudge, particularly after so few glimpses and with so little knowledge. Additionally, I am but one man, and the views in the fandom shall be as broad and diverse as the specials I’ve glanced over here. We will never all be thrilled, which is a shame, but does have the bonus of an unlikelihood that we’ll ever all be disappointed. So, is there an ideal type of Christmas special? Well, it’s subjective, so that’s entirely up to you. Who knows, eh? Who knows…