BOOK OF LISTS: CHRISTMAS SPECIALS - FROM WORST TO BEST: PART 3

Our end-of-the-year countdown is well underway. We're just plowing through it. We are now moving into Christmas Specials that are, very much, middle-of-the-road. By no means are they breathtaking works of televisual art. But I wouldn't say they were bad, either. Pretty decent stories, overall. 



PART 3: BECOMING HALF-DECENT

By virtue of their lightness, a Christmas Special will seem a bit "vanilla". They're meant to be more of a fun experience on Christmas Day rather than a valuable contribution to the series. In some ways, I do actually lower my standards for stories of this nature. Truthfully, if these were episodes in the actual season, they would get much more harshly criticized.

Taken in their context, however, I can find this particular set of adventures quite enjoyable. Nothing spectacular - but enjoyable, nonetheless.


The Return of Doctor Mysterio 

In my opinion, Moff actually took a pretty big risk in the writing of this tale. As I said in my last entry, part of what works against Voyage of the Damned is the fact that it is trying to pay tribute to a cinematic genre that is, essentially, pretty awful. When the source material you're paying homage to is poor, you stand a good chance of also creating a poor episode of Doctor Who. Stephen Moffat, however, doesn't seem to learn from this lesson.

The very first Superman movie back in the 80s was one of the best of all the attempts to make the comic book hero into a movie franchise (Superman Two is better - But One does well, too). However, it's still a pretty cheesy piece of 80s cinema. Truth be told, I just don't think Superman translates well into film. There are far better movies the Head Writer could have referenced from that era if he really wanted to do a tribute like RTD did.

Having said that, Return of Doctor Mysterio manages to turn out pretty good. Mainly because it only tries so hard to emulate Superman and still remembers to be a Doctor Who story. Voyage probably pushed the disaster movie theme harder than it should. The main mission of Mysterio, however, is to have the Doctor defeat a sinister alien plot to take over the world. It just happens that there is a secondary adventure that involves a superman-like character going on at the same time. The emphasis in this particular tribute story is better skewed.

I also think the Doctor and Nardole work great together in this story. This constitutes the only adventure we see where it's just the two of them. Which is a great pity, really. I love Bill in Series Ten, but I do wish we had seen more of this duo before she joins the crew. Nardole is a greatly underrated companion, in my opinion. I love that he has a whole side adventure in the TARDIS that we never see before he shows up to rescue the Doctor. It's a really fun moment. And he looks great in that outfit!

Another really strong point to this episode is the contribution it makes to the show's canon.   The Doctor is on the road to recovery from losing his wife. This is handled with far more maturity than the incredible angstiness we endured when he lost Rose. I also like that we learn more about the Winter of Harmony Shoal that we first saw in Husbands of River Song. It was great to see them get expanded upon a bit. The tease we get that they might return for a third appearance was very nicely ominous. I would like to see more of them. They're a fun alien species.


The Husbands of River Song


It's pretty evident that this Special and Return of Doctor Mysterio were written in that gap year where Moff was taking time off from Who to concentrate on Sherlock. Both tales are acceptable - but a bit below his standards
. 

Husbands of River Song comes across as a bit of a tribute, too. Although it doesn't try as hard as Mysterio to imitate what it's referencing, it is still attempting to be a bit of a "caper movie". Perhaps, even, a second stab at doing something like Time Heist. It's just not so convoluted and focuses harder on rompiness.


I suppose your enjoyment of such a tale hinges greatly on how you feel about River Song, herself. There are quite a few fans out there who can't stand her. If you're one of those people, you're really going to hate this one. Some River Song stories put her more in the background. Husbands, however, really brings her to the forefront. In many ways, the plot really is all about her. The Doctor almost takes a back seat in the whole thing.


Since I quite like her, the story sits well with me. There's some nice dramatic irony going on throughout the better part of the adventure. River has never met this particular incarnation of the Doctor and he ends up having a bit of fun with that. The Doctor also discovers just how much River gets up to behind his back. This also makes for quite a bit of fun. 


There is just a bit of Runaway Bride effect going on in places. The comedy does feel like it's being pushed a little too hard sometimes. Hydrofax is the biggest culprit, here. He's just a little too over-the-top in places. But it's hard not to go there when you're being asked to play an angry decapitated intergalactic tyrant. The role lends itself to campiness
. 

Like Mysterio, this tale also earns extra points for what it does for the Greater Scheme of Things in the show. This one's a doozy. The famous last date of the Doctor and River is finally upon us. The Time Lord gifts her the sonic screwdriver that will save her (quite literally) during his first encounter with her. The cycle is finally complete.


It's a genuinely touching ending. Which makes it beat Mysterio in this particular ranking system. Up until that final scene, I consider the stories to be of about equal quality. But Husbands of River Song does get me to mist up ever-so-slightly as its reaches it conclusion. The fact that it plucks at my heartstrings gives it that extra edge and causes me to like it that little bit more.    



The Snowmen 

This one almost shouldn't be in this category. In fact, it is nearly strong enough to measure it by "normal episode standards".

The Snowmen has a cracking little pace with a lot of fun characters in it. Clara is magnificently introduced in this story and is made into a very colorful and interesting character. Doctor Simeon is a magnificently chilling villain. And, while it's sad that Sontarans are now more of a comedy act, Strax is a great laugh, too.

The story is also chocked full of really imaginative and amusing sequences. Clara discovering the Doctor's secret base in the clouds is quite enchanting. The Doctor failing miserably at being Sherlock Holmes is hilarious. But my favorite moment is, easily, the Doctor saving Clara and the kids through puppetry. I love how he even smacks the puppet for kissing him. It's one of those beautiful scenes that works almost exclusively for that particular incarnation of the Doctor. Matt Smith is an absolute delight during that sequence.

Again, we have the Doctor going through a grieving process. Broken by the fact that he has lost Amy and Rory, the Time Lord seems to have withdrawn completely from the Universe. Once more, it's the Doctor dealing with difficult feelings in a way that doesn't seem like complete histrionics. Thankyou Steven Moffat for handling a personal loss in the Doctor's life in a way that doesn't get us to cringe.

Then, finally, we have the wonderful surprises of The Snowmen. This was supposed to be the proper introductory story of Clara but it's not. This version of her dies at the end and it's revealed that another Clara, somehow, exists in our time period. It's quite the shock and we need to learn more....

But, for this fanboy, the even bigger shock was the revelation that the Great Intelligence was behind it all. There it was, under my nose the whole time, and I missed it. The "GI" logo. The actual title of the story! The clues were everywhere and I did not catch any of them. As far as I'm concerned, that's some really damned clever writing. I was genuinely impressed.

So why is The Snowmen only considered half-decent if I'm singing so much praise for it? There are probably two key factors that drag it down into this category:

Like most Christmas Specials, the plot is just a little too simple. The Great Intelligence is about to build an army that will take over the world. He needs to be stopped. There's also the Doctor grieving the loss of two beloved companions. That's all we really get for a story. It's just not quite enough to make it a genuinely solid episode.

The other big problem is how the Great Intelligence is finally dispatched. It's a bit over-contrived and even slightly confusing. I think the Doctor's trick with the memory worm should have been the proper solution. After Doctor Simeon is drained, the Great Intelligence becomes a disembodied consciousness that will eventually find its way into Padmasambhava. Clara can still die and we can head into the second half of Series Seven with her mystery to solve. I really do think this would have been the better way to conclude it. All the other stuff that does happen seems just a bit "off" - for lack of a better term. It's not a terrible ending. But when you can clearly see a better one it does weaken the whole adventure.

These two problems are just bad enough to bring what was otherwise a great story down to something not quite as amazing as it could have been. It's a bit of a harsh judgement, I know. There were still a lot of awesome aspects to this story. But, in the end, it's ranked where it is because of a few crucial mistakes. It was still pretty good. But I am forced to admit: it could have been so much better. 




And thus concludes our reviews of the Half-Decent Stuff.  We have two more tiers to tackle in this countdown. Both of them will deal with stories that I felt were genuinely strong. So, as we move on, there will be  far more praise than criticism. 


Part 1: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-of-lists-christmas-specials-from.html

Part 2: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-of-lists-christmas-specials-from_24.html