The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Sep. 18th, 2015 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecatOh hi there Victorian Christmas Planet!! Obviously, set during WWII, this story isn't actually on Victorian Christmas Planet but it is mining the same nostaligic tropes to the extent that it might as well be. The episode has a lot in common with A Christmas Carol (unsurprisingly given it's Moffat's second Christmas Special, I suppose). It's bringing his fairy tale aesthetics to the fore, its exploring themes of family, loss and grief (though from a radically different angle), and it wraps it all up into a package that is almost saccharine. Obviously The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe is also deliberately riffing on the Narnia books, so much so, that I was momentarily surprised that there wasn't a lamp post on the other side of the box.
I think it is a better, tighter, and more coherent story than A Christmas Carol though that may largely be because A Christmas Carol is rather weighed down by the character of Abigail and the limitations of a guest star cast for her singing rather than her acting ability. I also prefer Claire Skinner's turn as Madge Arwell to Michael Gambon's turn as Karzan Sardick but it's a close run thing.
I had forgotten that this story introduces magical space trees, so much maligned for their appearance in In the Forest of the Night. This is interesting, in that they appear far less jarring here, than they do in the latter story, despite being very, very similar. I think there are several reasons: one is more forgiving of magic at Christmas; one is also I think more forgiving of magic masquerading as science when it happens on an alien planet rather than on the Earth; lastly these magical space trees have rather fewer randomly plot convenient magical powers. NLSS Child is, incidentally, currently struggling with the realisation that the Internet as a whole (and her cousins and school friends in particular) do not share her love of Eleven and Amy, Twelve and Clara, nor In the Forest of the Night. I've pointed out that there are plenty of people who do prefer Amy to Rose, but I think at the moment she feels a little like the world is ranged against her. Earnest conversations are being had at the dinner table about how you can't (generally) be wrong in liking something even if you disagree with some element of it; said conversations seems to be ranging out from Doctor Who to cover Feminist Criticism of Moffat's stories, Feminist Frequency and Gamergate (NLSS Child not a fan of either), and tame layman's love of Hudson Hawk.
I like the ending of The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe as well. The Doctor has been "home" for Christmas dinner before, of course, but in the context of redefining his relationship with Amy and Rory, it is good to see him forced into a realisation that he does not need to cut all ties indefinitely.
I'm moderately tolerant of Moffat's Christmas specials. Individually I think they tend to be fairly strong standalone stories. It's only taken as a group that they gain a certain homgeneity that doesn't do them any favours.
I think it is a better, tighter, and more coherent story than A Christmas Carol though that may largely be because A Christmas Carol is rather weighed down by the character of Abigail and the limitations of a guest star cast for her singing rather than her acting ability. I also prefer Claire Skinner's turn as Madge Arwell to Michael Gambon's turn as Karzan Sardick but it's a close run thing.
I had forgotten that this story introduces magical space trees, so much maligned for their appearance in In the Forest of the Night. This is interesting, in that they appear far less jarring here, than they do in the latter story, despite being very, very similar. I think there are several reasons: one is more forgiving of magic at Christmas; one is also I think more forgiving of magic masquerading as science when it happens on an alien planet rather than on the Earth; lastly these magical space trees have rather fewer randomly plot convenient magical powers. NLSS Child is, incidentally, currently struggling with the realisation that the Internet as a whole (and her cousins and school friends in particular) do not share her love of Eleven and Amy, Twelve and Clara, nor In the Forest of the Night. I've pointed out that there are plenty of people who do prefer Amy to Rose, but I think at the moment she feels a little like the world is ranged against her. Earnest conversations are being had at the dinner table about how you can't (generally) be wrong in liking something even if you disagree with some element of it; said conversations seems to be ranging out from Doctor Who to cover Feminist Criticism of Moffat's stories, Feminist Frequency and Gamergate (NLSS Child not a fan of either), and tame layman's love of Hudson Hawk.
I like the ending of The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe as well. The Doctor has been "home" for Christmas dinner before, of course, but in the context of redefining his relationship with Amy and Rory, it is good to see him forced into a realisation that he does not need to cut all ties indefinitely.
I'm moderately tolerant of Moffat's Christmas specials. Individually I think they tend to be fairly strong standalone stories. It's only taken as a group that they gain a certain homgeneity that doesn't do them any favours.