S5E14: Christmas Special (SPOILERS)

That's what I like about Moffat: in order to do something big, he doesn't have to pull out all the stops and have a big alien invasion, or kill off a bunch of people. Take how he did The Big Bang, and how it actually had a very small cast for most of the episode.

Amy in a Cop Outfit and Rory in Roman Centurion Garb.

Kinky.

Rust wrote:

Amy in a Cop Outfit and Rory in Roman Centurion Garb.

Kinky.

I loved how the Doctor genuinely found their costumes confusing at the end. He genuinely had no idea.

Was it just my imagination, or was Matt Smith really wearing a Tom Baker styled scarf in one of those PoV shot as the cryo door is opened? It happened so quick it was hard to confirm.

Sincerely,

Bill

I admit, I squeed when I saw that!

I also enjoyed the little nods to Star Trek scattered in the episode. The guy on the bridge with an eye-piece (Geordi), Azran is told the ship crashing is "Galaxy-class", the design of the bridge is a take off of the JJ Abrams Enterprise bridge, and as the ship is crashing later in the episode there are lens flares all over the place.

OK, I guess I'm not insane. Well, probably I am, but at least that was one of my lucid moments! Even cooler, I see Kazran appears to be wearing a more authentic design. (And so those who'd argue Davison's Doctor unraveled the scarf, that was the series 18 burgundy version, not the introductory series 12 design. I choose to believe that one "survived" simply getting lost in the Doctor's wardrobe.

Sincerely,

Bill

@RedFern Don't we catch a glimpse of the scarf in the TARDIS Wardrobe during Christmas Invasion? It's just hanging on a hatstand if I recall?

Yes, I believe we do. It's just this is the first time a character has been seen wearing it since the end of the Baker years.

Sincerely,

Bill

Redfern wrote:

Yes, I believe we do. It's just this is the first time a character has been seen wearing it since the end of the Baker years.

Sincerely,

Bill

I believe not...

Am I the only one who really loved Abigail's story?

Apparently, she was dying of this illness, and supposedly, Mr. Sardick having her frozen was a blessing in disguise: she could stay frozen until a cure could be found. But in the end, she gives her life so that the people on the ship can live.

And this blog posted the lyrics of her song...


Wait... Silence?

kcooper76 wrote:

Rust wrote:

Amy in a Cop Outfit and Rory in Roman Centurion Garb.

Kinky.

I loved how the Doctor genuinely found their costumes confusing at the end. He genuinely had no idea.

It's part of the Eleventh Doctor I absolutely adore. His brain's lighting quick and he sees the big picture fairly clearly, but its the small things that fly right past him. It just reinforces the concept of being Old despite his body. He's not "current" on small things, so it kind of sails right over his head.

Frankly it makes me kinda wish Eleven and Captain Jack would meet up. Mainly because I'm fairly certain if Jack tried to make a pass at Eleven, it'd just go right over his head. Eleven just comes across as the kind of guy who would bring a bucket of popcorn to a Sex Ed class.

jaredofmo wrote:

Am I the only one who really loved Abigail's story?

Apparently, she was dying of this illness, and supposedly, Mr. Sardick having her frozen was a blessing in disguise: she could stay frozen until a cure could be found. But in the end, she gives her life so that the people on the ship can live.

And this blog posted the lyrics of her song...

"When you’re alone, Silence is all you see,
When you’re alone, Silence is all you’ll be.
Give me your heart to come to me.

"When you are here, music is all around.
When you are near, music is all around.
Open your eyes; don’t make a sound.

"Meet in the shadow! Meet in the shadow!
Meet in the light of your bright shadow!"

Wait... Silence?

I was thinking the same thing.

Also, the lyrics kind of relate to the 'Half way out the dark' quote, too.

But yeah, Silence Will Fall.

I wouldn't put it past Moffat to throw in some hints. I mean, just look at how interconnected Series 5 was when everything was said and done.

The paradox that Scarazn had been so changed by the Doctor's meddling that he couldn't use his isometric machine bothers me a lot.

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

The paradox that Scarazn had been so changed by the Doctor's meddling that he couldn't use his isometric machine bothers me a lot.

An excuse to get Abigail to sing, but not a great one. If he'd changed so much that his father wouldn't have given him control, then how was he able to refuse to help the Doctor? Who has been controlling the clouds since his father passed away? You're right that there is an unsatisfying paradox here. Much the same problem I had with the paradox of 11 being able to get himself out of the Pandorica. I think whenever Moffat wants to start playing with time like this you just need to turn off your brain to enjoy it (also like Bill+Ted's Excellent Adventure).

I think the paradox is supposed to be that no matter what the Doctor did to make Kazran a better person the ship was going to crash, which is a bit like "No matter how nice Scrooge got, Tiny Tim was still poor."

I liked the whole montage of christmas adventures...marylin m...the photos-
just a crazy whirlwind of silly time travel mischief. marvelous.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I need BBCAmerica.

Whoosier Whovian wrote:

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I need BBCAmerica.

Yes you do. Is it that your cable provider doesn't carry it? If that's the case, that sucks. Great channel and not just because of Who.

I am poor so cant afford cable. And a lot of the broadcast channels that I like arent carried by the cable provider here, which is kinda weird.

Ooooh. That sucks, too. So sorry...

Christmas is not in the middle of winter. It's at the beginning.
The solstice is the first day of winter.

Calixar wrote:

Christmas is not in the middle of winter. It's at the beginning.
The solstice is the first day of winter.

Christmas is at the middle (well, really close) of the solar cycle. Very close to the shortest day of the year. I thought the comment wasn't too far off, but I'd need to rewatch the episode. Did the Doctor really say "middle of winter"? Perhaps winter comes earlier on that planet such that the solstice is at the middle?

Or maybe it's yet another slip on a show that has a history of playing loose with science?

i admit i did shed a few tears when the 2 kazrans hugged. michael gambon was great!