Last Christmas (Doctor Who)

"Last Christmas"is an episode of the British science fiction television seriesDoctor Whothat was first broadcast on 25 December 2014. It is the tenthChristmas specialsince the show's revival in 2005. It was written bySteven Moffatand directed byPaul Wilmshurst.

253 – "Last Christmas"
Doctor Whoepisode
The Doctor, with Clara as an elderly woman. Jenna Coleman's reversal of her decision to leave the series determined the ending of the episode.
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi–Twelfth Doctor
Companion Jenna Coleman–Clara Oswald
Others Nick Frost–Santa Claus Samuel Anderson–Danny Dan Starkey– Ian Nathan McMullen– Wolf Faye Marsay– Shona Natalie Gumede– Ashley Maureen Beattie– Bellows Michael Troughton– Professor Albert
Production
Directed by	Paul Wilmshurst
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	David P Davis
Produced by	Paul Frift
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Running time	60 minutes
First broadcast	25 December 2014(2014-12-25)
Chronology
←Preceded by "Death in Heaven" Followed by→ "The Magician's Apprentice"

In the special, the alien time traveller theDoctoris reunited with hiscompanionClara Oswaldas they try to save aNorth Polescience base from creatures called dream crabs that induce dream states whilst killing their victims, with the help ofSanta Claus.

"Last Christmas" was viewed by 8.28 million in the United Kingdom and received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Capaldi and Coleman's performances, and for the "clever" spin on the usual Christmas atmosphere.

Plot

OnChristmas Eve,ClarafindsSanta Clausstranded on her roof.The Doctorarrives to take Clara away. Santa tells the Doctor that he will need his help before the night is over. The Doctor and Clara arrive at aNorth Polebase where four of the crew in the infirmary are being devoured by Dream Crabs – blind aliens which induce dreams on their intended victims as a distraction whilst devouring the victims' brains and which use telepathy to see the surroundings of people thinking about a crab. More crabs attack the Doctor, Clara, and the unaffected crew, only for Santa to rescue them. Clara reveals that during their last meeting,she lied to the Doctor about Clara's boyfriendDanny Pinkcoming back from the dead. The Doctor says that he lied about findingGallifrey.The Doctor sends Clara to recover Santa's crab specimen, but Clara, thinking about the crab, makes it come alive and attack her.

The Dream Crabs, shown here at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular.

Clara reunites with Danny in a dream. The Doctor willingly falls victim to another crab to enter the dream. Clara still resists willing herself to wake up, until Danny tells her that she can miss him while also moving on with her life. Clara and the Doctor wake up, which kills the crabs devouring them. The Doctor deduces that they are not awake, but in a different layer of a multi-faceted dream and have been since the initial crab attack. He explains that Santa is the manifestation of theirsubconsciousminds fighting back. Santa wakes the group up.

Clara reminds the Doctor that they met Santa before arriving, proving that everything else has also been a dream and that none of the scientists are scientists. The affected personnel – manifestations of the Doctor, Clara, and the "scientists'" minds – attack and kill Professor Albert. The Doctor, Clara, and the "scientists" dream of Santa, who wakes them up to their real lives, one by one, until only Clara is left.

Upon waking, the Doctor traces the psychic signal linking their dreams back to Clara. He pulls the crab off, and learns that Clara is now an elderly woman. The Doctor regrets not coming back sooner, when Santa appears. Realising that he is still dreaming, the Doctor wakes up again. He frees Clara, still a young adult, from the crab. Offering her all of time and space, the Doctor implores Clara to join him. Clara accepts.

Production

The scene where the Doctor visits the elderly Clara and helps her open aChristmas crackermirrors a scene from "The Time of the Doctor",when he was too weak to pull a cracker open by himself, at the end of life of hispreviousincarnation.

Casting

In September 2014 announcements were made for a number of the guest cast, includingMichael Troughton,Nick Frost,Nathan McMullen,Natalie GumedeandFaye Marsay.Michael Troughton is the younger son ofPatrick Troughton,who played theSecond Doctorfrom 1966 to 1969, and the younger brother ofDavid Troughton,who appeared inThe War Games,The Curse of Peladon,and "Midnight".

There were numerous rumours circulating that the special would beJenna Coleman's last on the show.Coleman and lead writerSteven Moffatremained quiet on the issue and insisted that people watch the episode to see whether she would be continuing into theninth series.During the episode's climax, Clara decides to continue travelling with the Doctor,and Moffat revealed following the episode's airing that Coleman would appear in all of the ninth series.According to Moffat, Coleman was "to-ing and fro-ing" over her future in the series before ultimately deciding to continue.

In a 2015 interview, Moffat confirmed that he had initially written two endings for "Last Christmas". One of them would be Clara's exit from the show, and in the other she would stay for the next series. After Coleman decided to stay, Moffat kept the latter version of the script.Marsay's character of Shona was considered by Moffat to be Coleman's replacement as the companion for theninth series,though nothing was fully formed. With Coleman electing to stay on the show, this would mark Marsay's only appearance. Elements of Shona were later reworked into the character ofBill Potts,who was the companion when Coleman left after series nine.

Filming

Filming on "Last Christmas" was scheduled to start two weeks after theSeries 8World Tour Promotion.Paul Wilmshurst, who had directed two episodes in thepreviousseries, directed the special.Theread-throughfor the episode took place on 3 September 2014, and filming began on 8 September in the BBCRoath LockStudios in Cardiff.Scenes set at Clara's house were filmed atVaendre Hall,a late ninteenth century house in the Cardiff suburb ofSt Mellons.The scenes involving ice plains were filmed in a constructed set inRAF St Athan.Filming took approximately four weeks, ending on 3 October.

Promotion

A preview was shown duringChildren in Needwhich featured The Doctor, Clara,Nick Frostas Santa Claus, andDan Starkey(who also playsStraxof thePaternoster Gang) and Nathan McMullen as elves.On 11 December 2014, the BBC released a 30-second trailer for the episode onYouTube.

Broadcast and reception

The episode was watched by 8.28 million viewers, the lowest Christmas Day rating since the show's return in 2005, and was the sixth most watched programme onBBC Onefor Christmas Day 2014.The early figures for overnight viewing estimated that the episode was watched by 6.34 million viewers, making it the eighth most watched event on television for Christmas Day 2014.However, it received a total of 2.62 million viewers onBBC America,beating the previous record established by "The Time of the Doctor",and became the most watched episode of the revived series in the channel's history.It also got 1.07 million requests onBBC iPlayerfor the nine-day period over Christmas.The episode received anAudience Appreciation Indexof 82.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes(Average Rating)	8.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes(Tomatometer)	92%
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	A
SFX Magazine
TV Fanatic
CultBox
IndieWire	B+
IGN	8.8
New York Magazine
Radio Times
Digital Spy
The Daily Telegraph

"Last Christmas" received positive reviews. 92% of 13 critics gave the special a positive review, and an average rating of 8.8/10, according toRotten Tomatoes.

Alasdair Wilkins fromThe A.V. Clubawarded the episode the highest grade of the site, commending Moffat's script as "inordinately clever" in using the trappings of a "fluffy, silly Christmas special" to make the story scary. He also praised Capaldi's performance in the special for depicting the unabashed joy common in theTenthandEleventh Doctoreras but was "never really" seen in series 8.Writing forDigital Spy,Morgan Jeffery found the episode to be an "absolute cracker" that refused to be "throwaway" or "light on substance". He believed the influences ofAlienandInceptionon the script provided viewers with "both food for thought and fuel for our nightmares".

Michael Hogan ofThe Daily Telegraphcalled it "marvellously merry" and stated that it "had heart as well as head, so ended like a festive special should: happily, with a cockle-warming cosy glow".Chris Pyke of theDaily Mirroralso praised the "Doctor Who spin" the various film references had. He also expressed praise over Clara's continuation, saying it was "the icing on the cake".

Radio Times's Patrick Mulkern thought the "storytelling is clever, if guessable – depending on how addled you've become on Christmas evening" and was "peculiarly touched by Clara's sentiment, 'Every Christmas is last Christmas' and her admission that the Time Lord is her very own Father Christmas".IGNdeemed the episode "Excellent", as Matt Risley labelled the episode "An entertaining and satisfying slice of Who that combines festive face-huggers with a Christmas miracle". He criticised the ageing Clara make up, but praised the episode as being bothDoctor Who's most "festive and least yuletide-y" Christmas special.Simon Brew ofDen of Geekheavily praised the episode for its writing, acting, direction and music, and considered it an improvement over the previous Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor".He felt that" Last Christmas "capped off what he felt was" one ofDoctor Who's strongest years in recent times ".

Home media

"Last Christmas" was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 26 January 2015,in Australia on 28 January 2015,and in the United States on 17 February 2015.

The ten Christmas specials between "The Christmas Invasion"and" Last Christmas "inclusive were released in a boxset titledDoctor Who – The Christmas Specialson 19 October 2015.

Soundtrack

Further information:Doctor Who: Series 8 (soundtrack)

Selected pieces of score from "Last Christmas", as composed byMurray Gold,were released on 18 May 2015 by Silva Screen Records as the third disc of the soundtrack coveringseries 8.

References

Bibliography

Ainsworth, John, ed. (2018). "Last Christmas and The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar".Doctor Who: The Complete History.80.Panini Comics,Hachette Partworks.

External links

• "Last Christmas"at theBBCDoctor Whohomepage
• "Last Christmas"onTardis Wiki,theDoctor WhoWiki
• "Last Christmas"atIMDb