Don’t be fooled by the photos of Nick Frost’s cuddly Santa with his cheeky elves. This year’s Christmas Day offering from Moffat maintains the same scary atmosphere that much of season eight provided. Naturally, like all Christmas Specials, it functions perfectly well as a standalone episode for those who are settling down for their evening viewing after a day of feasting and merriment. Yet it also manages to smoothly tie up those last few dangling threads that were left at the end of Death in Heaven without distracting from the main plot.
There are some impressive guest stars this year; much has been made of Frost’s Santa and Natalie Gumede as Ashley the Polar Station’s head science officer, for example. Both are wholly suited to their roles I feel, turning a performance that you more or less expect to see from them. Dan Starkey (sans his Strax prosthetics) and Nathan McMullen are the bickering and sassy elves, who with Santa provide much of the humour in the episode.
Last Christmas airs on 25th December at 6.15pm on BBC 1 and BBC 1 HD in the UK, and at 9pm on BBC America. Below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then. Don't forget to come back to vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.
“Am I next, is it me now?”
“Your mum and dad wanted me to get you a toy one, but sometimes, take a chance”
“Here comes your earworm”
“That’s really offensive, no wonder everyone keeps invading you!”
“Don’t you dare say that”
“Time travelling scientist dressed as a magician”
“The North Pole isn’t an actual pole”
“In case it’s a lie?”
“We’re going to be with you every step of the way Shona”
“We’ve got ghosts! It’s a skeleton man and a girl in a nighty”
Hmmm... Really starting to wonder if Faye Marsay's character Shona is the new companion and the "Magician's Apprentice" from the first episode of Series 9.
ReplyDeleteI'll take as much Capaldi and Coleman as I can get.
ReplyDeleteClara missed the TARDIS, But did the TARDIS miss Clara ?
"and she believes Santa Claus is real" , you wrote. Does that mean Santa Claus isn't real
You're welcome Suzana :)
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I think Doctor/Widow/Wardrobe got a bit cheesy at times XD But no, this one is certainly more like the last season than the general fluffy Xmas affair. It's scarier and has more depth to it imo. But the laughs are still there too, as are the feels, which is what I wanted to get across in the teasers ;)
Santa is most definitely real, the bumpf that accompanies the episode actually says that I am allowed to reveal that he is a true Christmas hero too! Some parents have been concerned that the show may reveal that Father Christmas is a fairytale and ruin Xmas Day for children, and I think the BBC want to put that idea to bed before it airs. That is not going to happen in the story, they just wouldn't do that in a family show when you really think about it, especially on such an important day.
I wouldn't complain if Faye Marsay was to become a companion in the future at all. She's only got a small role in this but boy does she blow the rest of the guest stars out of the water with what she does have. She makes her character feel far more multifaceted and believable than any of the others, has great comic timing - which is something that always helps from my point of view - and portrays a vulnerability that none of the others seem to be able to do. The other guests, to be quite frank, are very bland in comparison...and I say this as a fan of Michael Troughton and Nick Frost!
ReplyDeleteI am laughing my head off ! I didn't think about the little kid watching. XD
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it would be a bummer for them to find out that way, especially on Christmas Day; I don't think that's something they would ever do either. Although It's not the worth way to find out either. Just not on Christmas Day. ><
Haha yeah, it's not something I thought of either, not being a parent myself, until it came up elsewhere. Twitter was full of it after the CiN clip cos of what was said in it, which is why I think the beeb want to reassure parents, lol.
ReplyDeleteSo, I take it Faye doesn't become the new companion in this episode?
ReplyDeleteNope, she's just one of the scientists at the Polar Base. I hadn't read any other previews before writing mine so hadn't seen that others had praised her too. But I'm not too surprised tbh as she is a very talented actress, I loved her as Anne Neville too. She's very good at showing multiple layers to a character, and gives it her all in the comedy stakes too. I will be watching out for her name in whatever she appears in the future, she going to have a bright career I think.
ReplyDelete