Christmas Special

In my opinion, another solid dud, but a surprising one. This story was written by Marc Platt, so I expected a little something more special for Christmas Special. Instead, this short story features the Sixth Doctor having a very disturbing encounter with a television set.

It actually works at first. Unlike other shorts in The Christmas Treasury, Christmas Special actually takes its time and fills up a bit of a page count (more on that shortly). In doing so, there is a genuine sense of dread and mysteriousness going on. Then, all too abruptly, the whole thing turns into some jokes about old British television and the John Nathan Turner era of Doctor Who. Something like this could have worked if you had a master of parody like Dan Harmon or Grant Morrison, something like that who could have at least done something clever with the premise, but no, it instead is a nightmare I could barely force myself to finish.

The jokes don't feel funny, and the tone takes this almost bitter, angry attitude towards the BBC and the general cancellation of the show and the climate surrounding Doctor Who post-cancellation. It felt ugly and jaded, more than amusing, which is about the worst trait a parody can take on without being full-on hateful.

What is most frustrating is this felt like a much longer and more developed Short than the others in Christmas Treasury. Why the comedic Christmas Special feels like it gets more attention over the more dramatic and thoughtful stories in the Treasury like Water's Edge or Last Christmas, or even one of the more funny shorts like UNIT's First Christmas, is beyond me, but I think it reflects how Paul Cornell didn't make for the best editor here. We will have to see with the rest of the anthology, but it serves as a nice reminder for now that just because one is a good writer, does not make them a good editor.