okay so i know he was busy but at a certain point a line must be drawn

Completely nonsensical, and I normally don’t mind that in Doctor Who (sometimes I love it) as long as it’s well written and well executed. Sadly, this is neither. Also some of the worst CGI.

The ending is very sweet, though.

This is why Steven Moffatt eludes me, because he can write one of the most ass Christmas specials in the history of this show, but then also write one of the most heart-wrenching lines of dialogue about the nature of grief, and then embed it in sed special.

The first episode that Tricia and I would see together as boyfriend and girlfriend! What an experience!

I suppose my experience of watching this story is not untypical: spending the first 45 minutes wondering why fans are so hard on it, then the next 10 minutes remembering how clumsy the resolution is. Following series 6, which all too often resolved proceedings with “the power of a father’s love”, we are given one more limp, gender reversed effort at mining this trope.

This perceived failing leads a lot of people to unfairly dismiss this story though, a story that, while not matching A Christmas Carol in terms of quality, has a tonne of heart and an emotive, perfectly Christmassy quality to it.

Seeing the way The Doctor responds to Madge's act of kindness at the beginning of the episode, by being there in her family’s hour of need is a beautiful thing. The ways he “improves” the house and tries to provide the best Christmas ever is as heartwarming as it is iconic.