"The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe" (2011 Christmas Special)

[KSiteTV]

Count down to the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special here and talk about it LIVE here while it airs if you want. But either way, once it's done let this be the episode thread!

[MissWofflez]

Seriously cant wait for this, it seems too long since the last new Doctor Who ep so this is literaly like the highlight of my night...:o:lol:

[quinny06]

Just saw it. Bit let down, if I'm honest. The ending was very silly and over-sentimental. And don't get me wrong, because I love me some cheesy-happy-scenes at Christmas (Want proof? Yesterday I cried watching the end of Muppets Christmas Carol, and I've already seen it at least 15 times). So if I found it to be overly-sentimental, that's saying something.

As well as that, I just didn't find it very Christmassy. Other than it being set at Christmas, there was nothing particularly festive about it, aside from the alien baubls and Christmas trees, which I thought were a great idea, and I think that concept could have been taken a bit further. Something else that I wish we'd seen more of was the Androzani Major harvesters, who were hilarious. (Btw, I'm guessing that's a Caves of Androzani reference. Haven't seen that serial yet, only recently finished Peter Davison's first season.)

On a more positive note, Matt Smith continues to be awesome. He hasn't had a less-than-fantastic performance yet. Lovely also to see Amy and Rory, but (sorry to be negative again) I found myself wishing they could have been in the whole episode. I should also point out that when I said the episode was overly-sentimental, I was talking about the Madge character, and certainly not that last scene where the Doctor finds himself crying with happiness. That was beautiful.

All in all, probably at the bottom of my list of the Christmas specials, and nowhere near the brilliant-Christmassy-ness of last year's episode.

It's very strange to not have any clue whatsoever when we'll all sit down to watch a new Who episode again. They haven't started shooting again yet, so there wasn't going to be a trailer, but a simple "Doctor Who will return later in the year" would have been nice.

[MissWofflez]

This is by far the sweetest christmas episode i have ever seen!! :D Ok so at times it did get a little cheesy, and not particularly scary "monsters" but it was a heartwarming, pretty christmassy story and an excellant feature of the Doctor to tap onto, happy tears. Amazing acting from Matt Smith too btw, like that ending where he is just overwhelmed with happiness and the fact that he has someone where he is welcomed and awaited for by friends - oh and btw was great seeing Rory and Amy, i hadnt even heard they were gonna be in this special! But yeah was great seeing different dynamic with the Doctor, found it particularly cute when he could the lady mum when she was 'commanding' him to visit friends - it would be real cool to have that sorta figure around for the Doctor sometime i was thinking!

Anyways i really enjoyed this, i think after such a detailed and heavy plot the past series has had was amazing what a lighthearted episode like this can do to bring back my love for Doctor Who...lol cant wait for new series!!! :)

[Austin 3:16]

Yeah I was just going to ask if they had something where it said "Doctor Who Will Return In 2012". They didn't though? Was hoping they would. They always do with 007 where it just says he will return at the end of his movies so kinda shocked they didn't do that here.

What a great ep. I had tears in my eyes when she was remembering near the end. Then when the family had their ending I had tears running down my face. Loved what Matt said. Humany Wumany I think?

[starflower69]

I love Matt Smith, he can do no wrong in my eyes but I have to agree with you Quinny, it was over the top cheese with bells on! I would like to watch it again though as I missed some bits as certain family members, always talk at crucial moments and things get missed. :lol: I did find it predictable, I was pre-empting what was going to happen next but I find myself doing that with a lot of Dr Who episodes. I did enjoy it though despite the cheese and seeing Amy and Rory at the end, could have done without that! However, seeing the Dr cry, makes you realise how much humany womany more he is becoming!

[liana]

I liked it a lot. It wasn't the most amazing episode ever, but I was able to enjoy it and laugh. It wasn't surprising or anything, but it was nice and cute, I do appreciate this kind of episodes every once in a while. It is good to see the Doctor not ruining someone's life for a change, and to see one episode where nobody dies and everyone is happier by the end of the episode than they were when it begun. I mean, I can't even remember the last episode where no one died in the show, and that says a lot.

So, as predictable and as cheesy as it was, I was able to enjoy a happy ending kind of episode, with the Doctor allowed to feel good with himself for a change. I think that every once in a while, in a show like this one, there is a place and a moment for a cheesy episode, when you get to see the main characters happy, and reminded that sometimes, good things happen to good people.

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However, seeing the Dr cry, makes you realise how much humany womany more he is becoming!

Of course he is. He is lonely, old, and the closest he gets to his people are humans. So, at some point, they are bound to influence him in some level. He seems to become more human with each regeneration. I felt 10th was more human than the 9th, for example, and 11th certainly is more human than 10th. Of course all of them had their terrible moments, when they seem completely disconnected from any emotion and act almost like they were distant gods. But still, it seemed to me that those moments were more frequent with 10th than they are with 11th. The very fact that 11th is so fond of children seems to showcase how human he is becoming, IMO.