11th Day of (TV) Christmas: Doctor Who
How could we, dear readers, write about our favorite Christmas TV shows and not talk about an episode of Who? We could never show our faces at another Comic-con!
So of all the Doctor Who specials, I want to talk about "The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe". Mostly because I didn't expect it to be my favorite. Don't get me wrong, this episode is a delight. But my Doctor has always been 10 but this is the episode that hits all the best points for me. It's got delightfully precocious children, some big literary allusions, and an ending that makes me cry like a small child.
So the episode revolves around the Doctor making a point of taking a family on a magical adventure because the mother helped him out when he was stuck in a space suit. Typical Whovian set up. But this episode gets to me in a real way because it follows my favorite Whovian theme (and a very appropriate one for Christmas) Hope.
The episode follows a family during WWII. The mother, Madge, is trying to give her children one last Happy Christmas before she tells them that they're father has died in the war. Unwilling to let someone who had previously been kind to him struggle through the Holidays, the Doctor swoops in to help. Then plot plot plot, alien forest that is filled with danger, environmental subplot but BANG the doctor pulls of the biggest Christmas miracle when he rescues the children's father's malfunctioning war plane, bringing it safely back to England and Saves Christmas! Well actually he is sort of incidental. Madge does all of the saving, while the doctor stands in the background shouting out exposition. Whatever, Christmas gets saved!
Listen, the biggest emotional anchor in this episode comes from Claire Skinner, who gives a delicately nuanced portrayal of a mom barely holding it together. Matt Smith is his usual hyperactive, scene-stealing self but this episode it feels like he gets to be the fun foil to Claire's weighty center instead of his usual trick of being both of those things at once.
Bonus points for this episode giving us one of CT's favorite lines "You think this is Fairyland? Grow up Lily! Fairyland looks completely different!"
Happy Watching,
Little C
So of all the Doctor Who specials, I want to talk about "The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe". Mostly because I didn't expect it to be my favorite. Don't get me wrong, this episode is a delight. But my Doctor has always been 10 but this is the episode that hits all the best points for me. It's got delightfully precocious children, some big literary allusions, and an ending that makes me cry like a small child.
So the episode revolves around the Doctor making a point of taking a family on a magical adventure because the mother helped him out when he was stuck in a space suit. Typical Whovian set up. But this episode gets to me in a real way because it follows my favorite Whovian theme (and a very appropriate one for Christmas) Hope.
The episode follows a family during WWII. The mother, Madge, is trying to give her children one last Happy Christmas before she tells them that they're father has died in the war. Unwilling to let someone who had previously been kind to him struggle through the Holidays, the Doctor swoops in to help. Then plot plot plot, alien forest that is filled with danger, environmental subplot but BANG the doctor pulls of the biggest Christmas miracle when he rescues the children's father's malfunctioning war plane, bringing it safely back to England and Saves Christmas! Well actually he is sort of incidental. Madge does all of the saving, while the doctor stands in the background shouting out exposition. Whatever, Christmas gets saved!
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| Source IMDB |
Listen, the biggest emotional anchor in this episode comes from Claire Skinner, who gives a delicately nuanced portrayal of a mom barely holding it together. Matt Smith is his usual hyperactive, scene-stealing self but this episode it feels like he gets to be the fun foil to Claire's weighty center instead of his usual trick of being both of those things at once.
Bonus points for this episode giving us one of CT's favorite lines "You think this is Fairyland? Grow up Lily! Fairyland looks completely different!"
Happy Watching,
Little C
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