The Snowmen is possibly my favourite of the Christmas specials.  I certainly remember getting to the end of its original airing with an immense feeling of satisfaction.  It has a lot of great elements; Matt Smith on form as always; the Paternoster Gang; a return of an old enemy; scary monsters and a great debut (or re-debut) of the new companion (sort-of).

When I settled down to watch this for my marathon, though, I don’t think I’ve been in the right frame of mind.  I got about halfway through my first watch and decided I wasn’t giving it my full attention so stopped and tried again a few nights later.  The second time I made it to the end, but found myself rewinding various sections because my attention had wandered.  I’m not blaming the story at all.  I purely think my brain wanted to be doing things other than watching Doctor Who.

So, a third attempt was made.

There is a lot I like about this story but the main thing is probably Jenna Coleman (or Jenna-Louise, as she was then).  She is wonderful as Clara.  Her first appearance in full-on Nancy from Oliver mode sets a high bar which she manages to maintain throughout the episode.   Clara’s determination to get mixed up in the Doctor’s world, whether he wants her to or not, is fun.  I like when she transforms into the governess and throws on the airs and graces.  Her interaction throughout the episode with all the different characters from Vastra to the maid, from  the children to the Doctor himself, is spot on and really well-scripted by Moffat.  I know some fans don’t like her because she is too knowing; too meta – but DWM did a similar sort of thing yonks ago with Izzy S in the comic strips – a character who would say things like  ‘Cool!  Robot Monsters!’ when confronted with the Daleks for the first time.  This is what Clara is like – in all her various incarnations.  To be honest, with my dislike for Capaldi in the earlier part of the season, it was my affection for Clara that helped me engage in the stories.  I prefer her to Amy (although not to Rory – never to Rory).

One of Clara’s best scenes in atop the house being pursued by the Ice Governess when she works out that the Doctor has a plan and she cooly pulls down the TARDIS’ ladder with the umbrella and later realises that the Doctor meant her to follow him because only she would have needed the umbrella, being much shorter than the Doctor himself.

Matt Smith continues to delight me.  Potentially this is a version of the Doctor I wouldn’t like – the grumpiness and detachment which has been turned up to the nth degree for Capaldi is here in the first scenes.  However, it doesn’t last long and the scenes with Strax quickly dispense any doubts that this is a long term situation.  By the time of the Punch and Judy sonic scene, the 11th Doctor is back and twirling around.  I love it!  I also really like the way the Doctor is introduced out of focus and walking through the shot.  It is a complete contrast to the usual arrival in the TARDIS, arms flung open, breathing in a new atmosphere (particularly from the 11th Doctor).

The Paternoster Gang are also on top form.  It’s quite difficult to remember that this was their first full appearance as a trio after being introduced in A Good Man Goes to War.  Doing the marathon in the way I have means I have already had their relationships and modus operandi established in The Crystal Throne and The Devil in the Smoke (as well as the two prequels to this story).  All three are confident and feel like they’ve been part of the Doctor’s world forever.  My personal favourite will always be Strax.  Dan Starkey is a genius and the memory worm scene is a Doctor Who comedy classic.  I know a section of fandom doesn’t like how Strax has lead to Sontarans being written as a comedy race of aliens (Big Finish have picked up on it a little in some of their releases, notably Heroes of Sontar) but I really like his character and I think its good to show a bit of diversity within alien races rather than some homegenous mass of terrifying killers.  The groundwork was laid for Strax’s character in A Good Man Goes to War so everything has followed fairly naturally (aside from his surprise resurrection which is obliquely referred to here (the minisode ‘explaining’ it wasn’t actually released until after this episode had aired).

To be honest, I’m not a massive fan of Vastra – I find her arrogance a little off-putting; but at least her relationship with Jenny, in this story, isn’t written as badly as it is by the time of Deep Breath.  I can’t remember how it is portrayed in the gang’s next outing, The Crimson Horror, but as that’s next up in my marathon, I’ll soon be able to comment.

It’s also fun having an old enemy back in the fold for a Christmas special.  A return for the Great Intelligence was something I don’t think many were expecting and it’s perfect for the new series.  There isn’t a need to appease fans with the creature design (like with the Ice Warriors or Zygons) because it’s a disembodied intelligence.  The instruments of its plans can be whatever the scriptwriter decides.  Yes, in previous encounters (including the Reeltime spin-off Downtime) they are ‘Yeti’ but they look different each time anyway and wouldn’t fit into the Victorian setting of this story at all.  The Snowmen are a natural extrapolation of the original stories (even though this is technically a prequel).

Ian McKellen is wonderful as the voice – it’s a shame he isn’t actually on screen because I imagine he would be phenomenal.  Richard E Grant does really well too as Dr Simeon, the Padmasambhava/Sergeant Arnold of this story.  He is chilling and restrained and when he finally goes full-on possessed at the end he must have been having a huge amount of fun.  I was never particularly enamoured by Grant’s ‘Shalka’ Doctor performance, but Dr Simeon is the perfect role for him.

There are a whole host of beautiful images and set pieces in this story.  The Ice Governess is a good piece of CGI and I adore the spiral staircase leading to the cloud (including the cheeky ‘taller on the inside’ line).  I love the idea of the Doctor isolating himself on a cloud.  The Great Intelligence’s sphere is a great creation (and looks good close-up too; I’ve seen it at the Cardiff exhibition).  The whole concept of alien snow is great and fits into the ‘traditional’ Victorian idyll which has already been referenced visually in The Next Doctor and The Unquiet Dead.

Historically we are still firmly entrenched in the cobbled, snow-laden streets and foggy, gaslit alleys of a filmic Victorian world.  Real historical characters are not required in this sort of world and there are just the references to Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.  Fan lore would have it that this story states that Vastra is the real Sherlock Holmes but, actually, the dialogue is much less definite than that.  Dr Simeon tells Vastra that Doyle is ‘almost certainly’ basing the exploits of Holmes on a woman (he avoids commenting on her reptilian features).  Simeon is taunting Vastra; pointing out the absurdity of her life.  He is suggesting that her efforts are so ridiculous that an author is using them as a starting point for fanciful detective stories.  I think we can reasonably assume that Conan Doyle is not basing his stories on Vastra and that the potential issues this throws up for whether Holmes is real or not (as per All-Consuming Fire; Happy Ending; Jago and Litefoot) are not really a problem.

Despite a number of false starts on this story (which were more to do with my mental attitude at the moment to my marathon rather than any failings in the episode) I really do like this one and think it is one of the strongest Christmas specials.  The ending is a little abrupt with the Doctor dashing off to find ‘the impossible girl’ and I’m not entirely sure the ‘tears at Christmas Eve’ resolution is convincing (although it definitely fits into the magical/fairy tale world Moffat prefers for his version of Doctor Who; one which I am mostly on board with as I’ve always seen Doctor Who as science fantasy rather than science fiction (a debate for another time, methinks).  However, I remember enjoying this immensely on first broadcast and it didn’t disappoint this time round.