Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "christmas"

The tenth Doctor Who Christmas Special will air tomorrow, so I decided to go ahead and rank the Doctor Who Christmas specials so far from worst to best. I'll keep spoilers to a minimum.

9) Voyage of the Damned (2007):

There's a lot to like about this one. There's some cool ideas like a shipped based on the Titanic flying through space. It's stylishally designed and it features many interesting characters, who are all killed off depressing ways, while the most unlikable detestable characters are the only ones to survive. This is the most depressing Christmas special ever (And that includes the Dragnet where a boy was shot and killed on Christmas Eve) because it revels in a sort of miserable cynicism which feeds to a very unsatisfactory explanation of why this is all happening. (Insurance fraud? Really?)

I will give it that it gave the Tenth Doctor that great, "Allonsy, Alonzo." moment. There's also a bit of self-aware parody as people in London are all leaving town after two straight Christmases of having the British Capitol ravaged by alien incursions.

8) The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe (2011):

This was okay, but nothing really special. I liked the titular feisty widow and empathized her. Beyond that, this kind of fails as a tribute to Narnia as the main Narnia elements seem to be 1) Children going to an unfamiliar house, 2) stumbling in a Winter Wonderland, and 3) meeting talking trees. That's just not enough. Matt Smith turns a nice performance as the Eleventh Doctor. Overall, the story is fun, but ultimately forgetable.

7) The End of Time (2009):

There's so much good in the Tenth Doctor's epic finale and so much that's over the top bad. The good moments are represented with Bernard Cribbins playing Wilfred Mott and the way he interacts with the Doctor, as well as some honest moments. There's some good action and nice plot twits. On the other hand, the plot also has a lot of problems, and is way too long thanks to over-indulgent script. David Tennant's farewell was powerfully shot, but to me, the simple dignity of Pertwee, Tom Baker, or Christoper Eccleston was far preferable and heroic.

6) Time of the Doctor (2013):

Matt Smith's final episode was a bit of a mess and a comedown after Day of the Doctor. I really thought that the Eleventh Doctor's regernation was handled brilliantly with dignity and reflection. The Doctor himself remained thoroughly likable and heroic throughout. Yet, the story also had problems. The main thing was that it felt like we were only get snippets of the actual story, a few highlights of this 300 year period protecting the town of Christmas on the Planet Trenzalore. While End of Time needed to be not so long, this could have done with a little more time to tell us the story. In addition, the story also seemed to use plot convenience to move along that violated understandings that had been set by Moffat as writer and showrunner. But at the end of the day, I will say that Time of the Doctor left me wanting more and intrigued rather than worn out.

5) The Snowmen (2012)

This special served as an introduction to Clara as companion. It also reintroduced us to the Great Intelligence. Trying to make people afraid of snowmen is a challenge but they did a good job making them look menacing. The special also introduces a fantastic new design for the TARDIS, and Strax had some good moments as well.

4) The Next Doctor (2008):

This was a post-Series 4 special for the Tenth Doctor as he finds a man identifying himself as a future incarnation (David Morrissey). The episode has some nice emotional tension, and a clever mystery at its core, plus Cybermen in Victorian England are a great touch. I liked the ending which was as good as it got for the Tenth Doctor in the "Specials" series between 2008-2010.

3) The Runaway Bride (2006):

The first appearance of Donna Noble, who encounters the Tenth Doctor after he lost Rose. Donna was whisked away by her wedding into the TARDIS without explanation. This was a really fun episode. While there are some repeats from "The Christmas Invasion," I can forgive that for what Donna brought to this episode as a feisty and humorous guest star, who in the final 10-15 minutes would show the type of stuff that would make her one of the best companions of the Revived series. The story has a very dark scene, but it doesn't overwhelm things. This is one story that is underrated in my opinion, and it's too bad that Donna did continue on the TARDIS and star in both Series 3 and 4.

2) The Christmas Invasion (2005):

The Christmas Invasion is good throughout, until the last 20 minutes when David Tennant arrived in pajamas and a bath robe to save the world. In those last 20 or so minutes, the Tenth Doctor saves the Earth, topples the British government, chooses a snazzy new outfit, and has a nice Christmas dinner. In many ways, this was a brilliant stroke by Russell T. Davies because these 20 minutes not only are entertaining, but give us a full preview of the new Doctor and everything his character is going to be over the next 3 + Series: from his playful side, to his, "yo u get one chance" rule, to the fierce anger and arrogance that leads him to bring down the government of Harriet Jones.

1) A Christmas Carol (2010)

If there's one episode of Doctor Who I'm tempted to rewatch on Christmas, it's this one. The Doctor Who take on the Christmas Carol manages to capture the central ideas of the story but take it an entirely new direction in innovative, imaginative, and moving ways. It's a story with beautiful music, and the Eleventh Doctor at his best and of all the Doctor Who Christmas episodes, this is my favorite by a mile.

It's Christmastime and you know what that means....Supervillain showdown and family drama.

***Spoilers Ahead***

Positives...

---Mark Hamill had some great moments as the Trickster even though he got upstaged in the climatic scene by the more powerful Weather Wizard. The scene with the Trickster, the Weather Wizard, and Captain Cold. I liked the scene where he essentially was serving as the Elder Statesman of the super criminals in the fight between Weather Wizard and Captain Cold. His broadcast had a whole, 'Christmas with the Joker' vibe to it.

---Joe's reaction to finding out he had a son were so beautifully realistic and spoke to so many men her with lost Fatherhood, and also showcased the Flash's unique on the importance of Fathers.

---The fight between Flash and Weather Wizard was great particularly with Weather Wizard having figured out to fly. The effects the show has are really astonishing in making these superhuman characters seem very authentic.

---What a great episode for Patti. We got to see her in a light we hadn't all season. This was great for making her a fleshed out well-developed character. I found charmingly endearing when she objected to the Flash picking her up since she was in a relationship.

---The themes of forgiveness and not letting bitterness reign really were well played out.

---Harry coming for kids Christmas presents was hilariously silly.

---When the door swung open, it was so powerful and a great twist that hits like a ton of bricks. It was such a perfect surprise and very well-played by the writers.

Reserving Judgment:

---The deal between Harry and Zoom. If Harry is serious about keeping it, he's an idiot. However, the writers could planning something clever for later so we'll see how that plays out.

Negatives:

---In an incredibly busy episode, the supervillain plot was really an afterthought. Despite the great fight in the sky, the overall plan was really not all that spectacular, and Trickster spends most of the scene sitting down. It's an evil plot but a lame one.

---Captain Cold was so transparently broken out of prison so he could appear in Legends of Tomorrow. His visit to Barry's house was a great cliffhanger to go to commercial break but turned out to be a pointless moment where he revealed that he'd upgrade his cold gun in the few hours he'd been out on the run from the law.

---I usually don't go after swear words in this complaint, but Cisco standing alone, staring at the sky and swearing in triumph after Harry invented a way to fix this. What was that all about?

---And while we're at it, where did Patti get a Flash leg "Bear Trap" from and will those work on Zoom.

Results: Overall, a very solid Christmas episode that explores fatherhood and forgiveness, while also growing the character of Patti. The supervillain portion of the show is a bit below par, but the episode has so many emotionally compelling moments it can be forgiven. A solid episode that leaves me eager to find out what will happen in January 8/10.