New Who Review #117

Last Christmas ❄️

This story was pretty boring. It's doctor who's take on Alien and with that description you'd think it would be good. But it's a whole lot of nothing. The doctor and clara are trapped in a never ending dream and slowly dying to a creature called a Dream Crab. There are some funny scenes in this with Santa and the doctor having the best chemistry and it was entertaining to watch it's probably the highlight of the episode. The scene where the doctor is flying a sleigh was cool and led nicely into everyone waking up. The ending with clara was beautiful and was intended to be the way she left the show but obviously she didn't but it's still beautiful none the less. The music in that scene was great and worked so well. Ending on a tangerine was nice because as 10 once said "you go through all those gifts and right at the end is a satsuma" even though in this case it's a tangerine...anyway. overall an ok Christmas special that was intended to be a companion exit until it wasn't. 5/10

The beginning of Moffat's run where he tried to subvert all the tropes that he spent so long mastering. It leads to some real clunkers but for now, this special feels fresh and fun and does a great job of focusing on Clara and The Doctor's relationship. I think it's also the rare Christmas special where it moves the plot of the show forward.

Last Christmas stands as one of Doctor Who’s most tonally mismatched episodes. It vacillates awkwardly between a festive, family-friendly Christmas special and a brooding horror pastiche – unsure whether to emulate The Santa Clause or Alien. The Series 8 shift towards darker storytelling feels particularly jarring against the seasonal cheer it half-heartedly pursues.

Faye Marsay, as Shona, emerges as the story’s undeniable star. Her performance balances physical comedy and emotional sincerity effortlessly, particularly in her awkward dance sequence – a highlight that shows she would clearly have potential as a companion. By contrast, Nick Frost’s Santa Claus grates quickly. Played as a “bit”, the gag wears thin over the hour-long runtime. The humour never really lands.

The premise – a layered dreamscape riffing on Inception with face-hugging “dream crabs” – lacks sufficient depth to sustain its length. Repetitive questioning of “Are they awake?” and over-explained rules drain tension, leaving the plot feeling stretched. A tighter 30-minute edit might have salvaged the pacing, but as is, the story’s ideas feel undercooked.

Ultimately, the episode epitomises a broader fatigue with the Twelfth Doctor’s “sullen edge” by this stage. While Series 8’s finale hinted at a shift towards lightness, Last Christmas doubles down on gloom – I have an appetite for something different at this point.

For whatever reason when I watched this episode for the first time a decade ago I wasn't very impressed. My opinion has grown over that time, and it stands as a critical turning point for the Twelfth Doctor. I have not become a full Last Christmas die-hard but it's a tidy piece of work. It's a fantastic supporting cast headlined by Nick Frost as Santa Claus and Shona the companion that never was (who reads as a proto-Thirteenth Doctor now).

The theme that every Christmas is the last for somebody is something that's stuck with me more as the years have gone on. Capaldi and Coleman of course have fantastic chemistry, and it is genuinely thrilling to see them get a second chance together. Maybe we do need to make a Last Christmas reunion one of these years, because they've certainly all earned it.

A pivotal bridge between the Series 8 and Series 9 versions of the Twelfth Doctor, and always a comforting rewatch.

I always have a lot of fun with this episode. It's silly, it's a bit convoluted, and it's got some super fun bits to it. It's probably one of my favorite earlier Capaldi episodes.