Christmas Who?

Thomas and I had a wonderful anniversary!  We couldn't go out, since I'm still sick, so it was take-out Italian and Netflix, but I can't complain.  Fettuccini tastes better in your jammies, I think.  Thomas joked about our "classy" anniversary--plastic forks, paper napkins--but considering how utterly awful I've felt this week, it might as well have been sterling silver and bone china.  I loved it.

I've spent a lot of time watching television lately.  Not much else I could do, really.  I mean, besides get addicted to Farkle.  So, with that, I thought I'd do a few reviews for you, starting with the Doctor Who Christmas Special:  A Christmas Carol.  (It was either that, or product reviews of Mucinex and Zicam.  This seemed like more fun.)

Let me start by saying that I am a huge David Tennant fan.  I like Eccleston, okay, but Tennant was the first Doctor I saw, and is, therefore, my Doctor.  When he left, I was devastated.  When photo and audio leaks of the new guy started trickling, I was...nervous.  Alright, I was terrified.  What had they done to my Doctor Who?!

They made it awesome.  That's what.  Matt Smith is a revelation.  You could say, "he had me at hello", but it's more like, "he had me at fish custard".  Daft, goofy, socially awkward, but brilliant and full of life, Smith is a charming and delightful Doctor.  He's also not one to trifle with.  You, especially, don't want to mess with his friends, which brings us to the special.  (Oh, and if you haven't seen it, yet, don't read ahead.  Spoilers, my dear.)

It's Christmas Eve, and the Doctor's newlywed companions, Amy and Rory, are on a doomed interstellar cruise ship (yes, it has an actual spacey, scientific sounding name, but let's just call it what it is).  It's going down, and even the Doctor can't save it.  Only one man can, and it's not that he doesn't want to, it's just that...well, actually, it is exactly that he doesn't want to.  He hates Christmas.  He hates people.  He just doesn't care. 

Oh, that doesn't sit well with our Doctor. 

In this clever and exceedingly entertaining riff on Dicken's A Christmas Carol, the Doctor pits himself as Ghost against a futuristic Ebenezer Scrooge, in the hopes that he'll see the error of his ways and save the ship, it's passengers, and especially Amy and Rory.

I don't know where to begin.  I will say that this was, easily, my favorite Christmas special to date.  Instead of some massive invasion threatening an entire planet, we had one man and a small cruise ship.  Michael Gambon (Dumbledore!!) was pitch-perfect as Kazran Sardick, the Scrooge-like misanthrope.  This could have been a two-dimensional character, but Gambon's richly layered performance brought a depth and warmth to the character that made sure you not only understood his actions, but sympathized with him, as well.

This was recording star Kathryn Jenkin's first acting role, but you could have fooled me.  Granted, the role didn't call for her to do much more than look like an angel (and sing like one, too--and boy, did she!), but she managed to melt her way into your heart, and I'm sure she caused more than one tear to be shed. 

Then, of course, we have Stephen Moffatt, the writer and showrunner.  We all know that the Doctor loves Christmas, and this was one of the most Christmassy specials, yet.  Bounding down chimneys, flying through the sky in a sleigh (okay, rickshaw, but it's close), snow, carols, Dickens, and a marathon of Christmas Eves, all set in a futuristic Victorian setting.  With a shark.  It's brilliant.

What else is brilliant is the way Moffatt uses time.  I've always enjoyed his episodes (The Girl In the Fireplace is one of my favorites), and the use of the TARDIS to allow the Doctor to be the Ghost of Past and Future (and that reveal!!  I won't spoil that!) was no disappointment.  There was also a great deal of humor to this episode that I didn't expect.  Here we have the Doctor killing the psychic paper with too big of a lie (about being a mature and responsible adult, no less), advice on kissing a girl, and even a near-marriage to Marilyn Monroe!  And Smith's portrayal is spot on.  You truly believe he's a 900 year-old man in a 28 year-old body.  He lends such gravitas to his performance--even at his silliest--that you never doubt the character. 

And I will never doubt again.