Ah the good old British TV schedule: repeats, The Queen’s Speech, repeats, Bond films, repeats, Christmas specials and crossovers, repeats and Doctor Who. The Time Lord graces our screens a little later in the day when people have been plied with rich food and copious amounts of booze. To embrace this giddy state the the Who Xmas Special tends to be somewhat more fantastical and offbeat and what could be more crazy that having him meet Santa Claus for the first time?
The presence of Santa is an oddity, both for the viewer and the Doctor, who whisks Clara away from her rooftop after she encounters the man and his Elves. A sudden turn of events drops the Doctor and Clara on an Arctic base in the midst of an Alien outbreak, with a researcher being attacked by creatures that clamp onto victims faces (sound familiar) and control their hosts. Deemed “Dream crabs” by the Doctor, they induce a dream state while slowly digesting their prey’s brains. The crew of the station find themselves in a situation where it’s unclear if they’re cornered on the station or already in a dream state. Their hope lies with the Doctor and the reappearance of Santa.
Like I said: always something a little more fantastical for the Xmas special. The reality is, the episode could, with the removal of a few elements, have served as a normal episode of the show. It plays out as a cross between Inception, Miracle on 24th Street and Alien. The “facehugger” parallel being so on the nose it’s actually addressed in the episode. “There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.”
Moffat has a tendency to reuse ideas and approaches. He has admirably crafted some threats and monsters where our only defense is to not blink or breathe, and now here we can’t even think. It’s a device used well to bring some humor into the episode but also to open up the main character’s feelings. The creatures feed off of what people think about them, and stronger emotions distracting people from that, so it is notable that fresh in the mind for our pair is the loss of Danny for Clara and of Gallifrey for the Doctor.
And that’s the real purpose of the episode: shared dreams or shared feelings, either way it gets the two of them to open up. We left them last in Death In Heaven, concealing things from one another, neither aware that they both had heartbreaking outcomes to that tale. We get a bittersweet adventure here where they are again thrown together but as the episode progresses, truths come out and they become closer as a result. There is a sense of rebirth in the relationship which bodes well for next season. This was the big question around this episode, with the BBC refusing to confirm if Jenna Coleman has signed on for another season, we were set to discover the possible fate of Clara here. We get a bit of a bait and switch with an aged Clara scene which started to tug at the heartstrings, thinking she was done on the show but no, we get to go again.
It served Clara well in a cathartic sense, her dream illusion being one of blissful reunion with her deceased boyfriend Danny (Samuel Anderson who delivers one final touching performance). Her escape back to reality requires an acceptance of her loss, giving closure. Danny nobly tells Clara it is ok to move on. Of course being all in her head, she was giving herself permission to move on, which is even more important.
The big addition to this episode is Father Christmas himself taken on by the larger than life Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End). The show always treads carefully when bringing in a historical figure and more so when bringing in a fictional one, often treating them with skepticism and turning things on their head, look at the recent Robot of Sherwood as an example.
Frost did well, playing a slightly blustery rather than loveable Santa, with a mysterious edge to leave the viewers guessing as to his true role in events. While obviously an addition to take advantage of the holiday season, it was one that ultimately worked. The writing crafted a mystery his character played into, added wonderful quips (tangerines anyone?) and ultimately Santa saved the day, real or not. That’s what we all expect at Christmas.
Ultimately Last Christmas serves as a device to reveal truths between the Doctor and Clara, uniting them in grief and acceptance and building a deeper friendship. Their partnership was one of the highlights of Season 8 so I, for one, am looking forward to their continued time together in the TARDIS. This more tongue in cheek adventure nods to the past and other sci-fi elements, coupled with some great direction and visuals, made for a festive treat.
