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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Written by

Steven Moffat

Directed by

Farren Blackburn

Runtime

60 minutes

Story Type

Christmas

Time Travel

Past

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth

UK Viewers

10.77 million

Appreciation Index

84

Synopsis

Christmas Eve, 1938. Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel, the Eleventh Doctor, who promises to repay her kindness – all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidated house in Dorset. Crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over the English Channel, she wishes to give her children the best Christmas ever. The Arwells are greeted by the Doctor, who acts as their madcap caretaker. However, a mysterious Christmas gift from him leads them into a wintry, magical world. Madge must learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible... and that wishes can come true.

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9 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

Eu odeio criança cara


GGVICTOR

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This review contains spoilers!

Why do I always weep when Madge steers the trees home?????? One of the best scripts Moffat ever wrote. So charged full of sweet tender emotion, my heart flutters with every scene. Almost every line is either a funny joke or a cutting human truth packaged perfectly. Just absolute banger after banger of lines where Moffat goes "huh have you noticed the underlining meaning of this old phrase we say all the time?" And it works on me every time!!!! Everyone is acting aces throughout. Matt Smith does a beautiful wacky performance and knows how to undercut it at the right time. And Madge. Oh, Madge. The best mom there ever was. Madge remains the only person to be absolutely unimpressed with the TARDIS taking off.


zachbot3000

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


ThePlumPudding

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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.


silvertongue

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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.


goblinikov

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Statistics

AVG. Rating768 members
2.42 / 5

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AVG. Rating596 votes
3.90 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

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Favourited

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Reviewed

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Quotes

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DOCTOR: Because every time you see them happy you remember how sad they’re going to be. And it breaks your heart. Because what’s the point in them being happy if they’re going to be sad later? The answer is, of course, because they are going to be sad later.

Transcript Needs checking

[Prequel]

(On a spaceship, the Doctor is making a phone call to the TARDIS.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Amy. Amy? Hello? Amy, it's me, the Doctor. Hello. Bit of a situation.
COMPUTER: Intruder alert.
DOCTOR: I've got my finger on a button, which is fine, but as soon as I take my finger off the button the spaceship is going to explode. (Sparks.)
DOCTOR: Argh. Which is good in one way, because the spaceship in question is about to attack the Earth, but bad in another way, because I'm on the spaceship and I'm going to get all smithereened. Now, plan. I'm going to send you the coordinates so you can fly the TARDIS here and rescue me. Only three flaws in this plan as far as I can see. One, I don't have the coordinates. Two, you can't fly the TARDIS. Three, oh dear, you're not even there. You left ages ago. Oh, well. I think I just wanted a chat before all the smithereens. Merry Christmas, Amelia.

(He closes his eyes and releases the red button. The spaceship starts to go KaBOOM!)

[Earth orbit]


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