In the Christmas special of Doctor Who, Dr (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) potentially face their Last Christmas, while trapped on an Arctic Base. Can Santa Claus (Nick Frost) help save them from a group of horrific creatures?

The show opens in a disaster for Santa, who has dropped all of his presents and tangerines, which happens to be his signature gift. Santa and the elves are uncovered by Clara, despite attempting to explain away the coincidences. Santa explores Clara’s history and discovers she has stopped believing in Santa, which she explains as a fairy tale. The Doctor arrives and confronts Santa, after whisking Clara away. Before laving, the Doctor tells Santa nobody likes tangerines.

The Doctor and Clara escape to Tardis, where Clara admits to believing in Santa Claus. Next, Shona (Faye Marsay) is sent into the infirmary. Ashley (Natalie Gumede) attempts to use music to clam Shona’s nerves and help her get past the sleepers. As Shona makes her way toward the door, she encounters the Doctor and Clara. Their presence wakes up the sleepers. The team is almost captured, before being saved by Santa and his gadgets. Surprisingly, Santa has full control over the Sleepers.

After a little revelation about Clara’s obsession with My Little Pony, Santa shows the Doctor a captured Dream Crab. While the Doctor and Ashley investigate the creature, Santa reveals their location, The North Pole. The Doctor insists they could potentially be stuck in a dream, but Ashley refuses to detail their reasons for being at the base. Meanwhile, Clara and The Doctor discuss the possibility of Danny (Samuel Anderson) being dead. Next, Shona continues to interrogate Santa and his elves. The group watch footage from a week before, which shows the awakenings of the Dream Crabs. At the same time, the imprisoned crab breaks free of its container.

The Doctor explains that the Dream Crabs keep the victim happy, until they finally die, before sending Clara after the now escaped creature. When she checks on it, she discovers it has escaped. Clara experiences a dream, in which she sees Danny dressed up as Santa. She catches a message, which is written on a blackboard. The message warns her that she is stuck in a dream and is dying. The dream seems to be repeating itself, as The Doctor, Ashley and Santa discuss their options.

The Doctor comes up with a plan to enter Clara’s dream, where he tells her about the situation and admits both of them area dying. Inside the dream sequence, Danny reveals he didn’t die saving the world, but died saving Clara. Danny admits this will be their last Christmas together and insists the pair escape the dream, by coming to terms with the fact that the dream isn’t real, which they do and wake up.

Next, the team discovers that the creatures die, if their feed fails. They all agree to have the “ice cream” pain within their heads. The Doctor suggests they’re having dreams within dreams. He reveals that they never had a chance, when ambushed at the infirmary, before discrediting the rescue of Santa. An ingenious plan from The Doctor allows the team to discover they’ve been dreaming all along. Santa and the elves enter and admit they’re in a dream and need to wake up, before they die. They question why their brains would use Santa, as the face that is keeping them alive. He insists the team believe in Santa.

The team prepares to wake up, as The Doctor insists they’re likely still under attack in the real world. When they awake, they’re able to escape the sleepers. Clara insists Santa was on her roof, before the Doctor can escape to the Tardis. The Doctor discovers that no one can remember why they came to the North Pole, which likely means they’re stuck in a dream. The pain within their brains continue to grow worse. As the team watch the sleepers, The Doctor insists the sleepers are each of them. They’re being networked into the same dream, by the Dream Crabs. Professor Albert (Michael Troughton) is pulled into the screen by the sleepers and is likely killed.

The group attempts to make their escape into the Tardis, but are trapped by sleepers. The Doctor suggests dream their selves home, when Santa arrives and whisks them away on his sleigh. On the sleigh, Clara finally admits to believing in Santa, before the Doctor takes over the sleigh and guides it through London. As the group begins to wake up, they start to remember what they did, before they entered the dream. Bellows (Maureen Beattie) wakes up in the comfort of her own home and happens to be in a wheelchair.

Ashley is the next to wake up. Next, Shona disappears and awakes in her cluttered apartment. Clara stays behind, as the Doctor wakes up and enters the Tardis. The Doctor arrives at Clara’s and removes the Dream Crab. It turns out that Clara has been asleep for a long time and has grown old. The Doctor puts her Christmas hat on her, which makes her younger to him. The Doctor apologizes and wishes he would have come back earlier, when Santa enters and grants his wish. This time, The Doctor removes the Dream Crab and Clara is still young.

The pair give each other Christmas wishes, before escaping into the Tardis.

Review


The Doctor Who Christmas special was definitely a fun ride and a dark look at the holiday, in which Clara and The Doctor become trapped in a dream state, which places them inside of a base on the North Pole. During their state, they encounter a group of trapped sleepers, who join their fight to discover the truth about their situation. With a little help from dear old Santa Claus, The Doctor is able to solve the puzzle of the dreams and save almost everyone.

Overall, there were some funny moments and some heartfelt moments, which made this a memorable episode of The Doctor Who. Nick Frost played jolly old Saint Nick perfectly. His sarcastic interactions with The Doctor were fun and helped to drive the episode, despite many creepy moments. The episode deserves an 8 out of 10.