Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol

[raven]

I was completely, ridiculously, utterly charmed by this. It's the brightest spot in an otherwise mega-depressing Christmas Day. I loved the feel, the colours, the unabashed weirdness (two major themes, Christmas and fish!) and the way it's a remix rather than a retelling of Dickens. Things I liked particularly:

-Doctor Who does kinky roleplay! Oh, Amy, oh, Rory. One would think he was profoundly sick of the centurion's outfit after wearing it for two thousand years!

-"Halfway out of the dark", a lovely theme. One thing that broke my heart a little bit about this episode: the opening voiceover bit about giving everyone a hug, done by the old Kazran Sardick, where he says "On Earth, it's Christmas. Or the winter solstice" - oh, why didn't he say "or Diwali" there. Why, why. I wanted it so badly. I wanted the whole Earth not to celebrate Christmas. Oh. Yeah.

-Time-travel! I say this over and over, but Moffatt can do time-travel waaaay better than RTD. I absolutely loved the scene where the Doctor appears in the tape made by Kazran's younger self, with that delicious grace note where he flashes forward to get the code for the door! And it's beautifully filmed, too: there's this one bit where the Doctor appears, leaning against the TARDIS, with the backdrop of the projector showing where he's just been. Clever.

-"There's a shark in my bedroom." A SHARK. Oh, Doctor Who, so wonderfully, wonderfully weird. And oh, young Kazran, sure that the shark is female.

-"In The Bleak Midwinter". It's my favourite Christmas carol, I am a sucker for Christmas carols generally, and I loved the notion that carol-singing - that spine-chilling, voices-soaring, vox-humana kind of singing - itself can save people.

-Amy Pond, Ghost of Christmas Present. "You turned into a Roman!" Well, quite. And Karen Gillan is lovely: she did chilly, contemptuous defiance very well.

-Abigail. I wish she had more to do than die. But she does, after all, save the world, and I guess that's something more. She's lovely, though - she gets a surprising amount of character for surprisingly little screentime.

-The bit where the Doctor says, "I am showing you your future", and he turns around - yes. Perfectly done. That's what you do with time-travel, that's what you do with science fiction - tell the same stories in new ways.

...and yes. I really, really liked that. The less said about the rest of the day the better, but yes. Lovely.

Comments

[gavagai]

Waaaaaaaaaahhhh.

S'all.

Oh no, I did actually say "or Diwali" in my head. *squish*

[silverhare]

"Or Hanukkah!"

Then I facepalmed. But then Rory and Amy had kinky outfits on, so I was distracted and amused.

[keeva]

I loved it too!

[forthwritten]

I said "or Diwali!" in my head too.

The time-travel was delicious - "I am showing you your future" was very well done. Although wouldn't that cause a time paradox?

Also, there was a shark. A flying shark. Amazing.

I like Christmas carols too (I have to admit that it's because so many have good descants written for trebles) and the Harold Darke setting of In The Bleak Midwinter is one of my favourites.

[magnetic_pole]

Raven, I always feel terrible for the poor person who receives a small gift from me because every year it's the last to go up, and I always worry my recipient has given up. But it's been posted at last! Rose71 had some health issues this month and passed your prompts on to me, and I was delighted to write for you. We both wish you a happy, happy 2011. Sorry for the wait! M.

[raven]

Many many thanks! I apologise for not getting to this sooner - I've been away for a few days, and have just now staggered in - but I look forward very much to reading the story in the morning. :)

[magnetic_pole]

No rush at all! I just didn't want you to think you'd been forgotten. M.

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

One thing that broke my heart a little bit about this episode: the opening voiceover bit about giving everyone a hug, done by the old Kazran Sardick, where he says "On Earth, it's Christmas. Or the winter solstice" - oh, why didn't he say "or Diwali" there. Why, why. I wanted it so badly. I wanted the whole Earth not to celebrate Christmas.

I thought, when watching that, that he was going to - that he was going to go on to list a number of winter festivals (not that Christmas as it's celebrated now even is one in the southern hemisphere) of which Christmas was just one - and was pleased for a split second and then deeply disappointed when it didn't happen.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I liked the episode. Amy and Rory playing dress-up was fun.

[vampire-kitten.livejournal.com]

I assumed Amy and Rory had made a deal where they each got to pick the other's outfit.

[vampire-kitten.livejournal.com]

I assumed Amy and Rory got to pick each other's outfits.

And yes yes yes on the diwali. I thought the exact same thing.

We can only assume that once again we have visited one of the world's populated by the descendants of ukip. None of the sensible multicultural planets let/ need the doctor to visit.

[tau_sigma]

Is it wrong that I am, certainly not glad, but relieved, that I am not the only one to have had a less than awesome Christmas day? It makes me feel less of a failure and an outcast. I am sorry that you had a sucky day, though, and I hope today has been better.

'In the Bleak Midwinter' is my favourite carol too! In particular, that setting (which is by Darke), rather than Holst's over-used one. I was very much gleeful at its use.

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

I was completely, ridiculously, utterly charmed by this.

Likewise.