A Christmas Carol discussion and grading thread

[Jax]

Then they just try fit Katherine Jenkins singing it anyway possible.

They probably picked her because the story had a musical component to it not the other way round. Seems some people wanted a big budget CGI laden bang bang affair but what we got was good I felt. I voted Not a classic, but jolly good fun though to be fair it probably a little bit better than the rating headline suggests.

I thought it struggled at first but the 2nd half was much better, it felt like a proper christmas story, instead of one just set during that festive period. It was easily one of the better acted episodes we've ever had and it was very charming and immensley funny .

I LOVED how the bridge of that ship looked a little TOS trek-ish and always had lens flares...very J.J of Moffat

 

[DimesDan]

this christmas special was boring. Only half understood what was going on most of the time.

So you found it boring because you didn't understand it, right! Does that mean if you did understand it, you would have enjoyed it more?

Me, I loved it, but then again I understood what was going on and like the something blue/wedding scene in The Big Bang, I was guessing what was going to occur mere seconds before it happened!

Gamborne and Jenkins were fantastic and as soon as I saw the bridge at the beginning, I thought "someone has seen too much Star Trek recently" and of the five/six christmas specials before hand (it depends on if you count End of Time as just one big event or not) this was the most christmassy which I bloody loved.

On the whole, I found it fun and I had a smile on my face and was laughing out right throughout most of it.

On a final note, I loved how Gamborns character (Kataran) begins wearing a bow tie and the painting changes through out the story and for him, christmas was rewritten.

 

[WillsBabe]

When they said Galaxy class starship I did chuckle though.

Me, too. I said, "Didn't look like a Galaxy Class to me!"

I thought is was bloody excellent. It did seem to veer onto RTD territory. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. And it almost made me cry. I felt very melancholy at times.

 

[Phily B]

I'm a big RTD fan, but I generally didn't enjoy his Christmas specials strangely enough.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ I wooped at the Galaxy class reference!

I also loved it. A proper Christmas special, with not a million Masters in sight. I did groan when Katherine started singing, but bollocks, it's Christmas! The SFX seemed really good on this one too, though I thought the shark-sleigh was a bit much.

Amy and Rory are a saucy pair, eh? (wink wink nudge nudge say no more). I was worried they weren't going to get much involvement, as they are barely heard from during the first half, but the holograms and the end scene made up for it.

I also loved they got him into a fez again! And next year: a stetson! Running-joke-tastic. And was that an Ood?

 

[WillsBabe]

I'm a big RTD fan, but I generally didn't enjoy his Christmas specials strangely enough.

Me either. I thought they were all pretty poor.

 

[VDCNI]

Having almost not watched it live I really enjoyed it in the end. It helped that Amy was sidelined for most of it though to be fair she wasn't annoying when she was around.

Dragged a little during the Christmas eve(s) section but otherwise very good and some nice performances even from Jenkins.

Oh and Matt Smith must be the first doctor since Tom Baker that I can happily just watch no matter what is going on with the story. He was fantastic, as ever.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ Agreed. He is incredibly brilliant.

 

[Phily B]

Matt Smith has really grown into the role, I didn't rate him at first as it felt a bit too Tennatish and I don't think he has the same chops as the last two, but once he developed his own style it really shows how good he is.

 

[captcalhoun]

50 mins or so to go. I will be having dinner watching (after having fairly stuffed myself for the rest of the day with Terry's Chocolate Orange!)

BTW, did anyone see the Dalek on the BBC One ident this Christmas?

i saw the one with the White one trundling along with its duty free bag...


oh, and the episode was good, aside from the fact that the music was too bloody loud in places and i couldn't hear all the dialogue

 

[Angel4576]

Probably not one of the proper high-end Who episodes, but easily the best Christmas special so far.

For all their respective merits, the Moffs just taught RTD how to do Christmas!

 

[ITL]

Started good, but took a nosedive after a while. Meh. Roll on S6!

 

[wamdue]

I would go as far as to say this was an unusal episode, for one Amy & Rory are majorly sidelined, the best part for them being the fact they were in there "uniforms".

Moving on, I think the show got away with the Chrsitmas Carol theme, and I liked the "Ghost of Christmas Future" twist, however im really not sure about the Doctor rewriting somebodys life bit, but Matt Smith & Michael Gambon together were both was great, and really carried the episode, heck Matt Smith does alot of the heavy lifting during the "Christmas Eves".

no question an unusual bordering on bizzare episode, but one I enjoyed it, got totally lost in the episode.

Confidentail, god they really need to find something new to to with it, other than the "Matt & Karen Show", but I would like to see Moffatt read a audio book for Doctor Who at some stage.

Despite what I said earlier, I think they got away with the flying sharks.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I loved it. Sod you all!

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ Bloody Grinches!

 

[Rowan Sjet]

I was left in a bit of a bad mood at the beginning as my family had started watching the recording without me, so I found it a bit hard to enjoy at first. Still, while not perfect it was a jolly good yarn in the end. Certainly some ambitious story telling from Moffat, could have used some room to breathe.

 

[Count Zero]

do you mean this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyfAEgCyjLE

(should work outside of GB)

That's awesome. Little Britain + Doctor Who = WIN!


Well, I really liked this one. There were a lot of jokes in it, I loved the allusions to new Star Trek, the setting was just great, really steampunky and the story was good, too. As usual with the Moff, it did miss the last spark for some reason but maybe that's just how it will be for me from now on. I think I still prefer The Christmas Invasion for its crazy finish but this is definetely in 2nd place.
The trailer for next season looked excellent, too. America, huh? And those puppets looks really scary.

 

[wamdue]

do you mean this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyfAEgCyjLE

(should work outside of GB)

That's awesome. Little Britain + Doctor Who = WIN!

not looking to nitpick, but its actually a mix of Come Fly With Me & Doctor Who.

ok it has the same stars (Matt & David) as Little Britain, but it isnt Little Britain, it largely spoofs the old BBC One show "Airport"

 

[TedShatner10]

Hmmmm, Steven Moffat is getting better as a show runner and his Christmas Special is another blast of fresh air after the explosions and cheesy deaths associated with RTD Christmas Specials, but I wouldn't say it was the best episode ever. 8/10? It was a very well done blending of "The Next Doctor", "The Girl in the Fireplace", "Gridlock" and "The Beast Below". Highly entertaining, but nothing too deep and groundbreaking.

I like how the Doctor can occassionally directly or indirectly succeed in redeeming evil characters into doing good (like the lone Dalek in "Dalek", Dalek Sec in "Evolution of the Daleks", the Master in "The End of Time", and now Gabon's corporate villain in "A Christmas Carol").

 

[Count Zero]

do you mean this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyfAEgCyjLE

(should work outside of GB)

That's awesome. Little Britain + Doctor Who = WIN!

not looking to nitpick, but its actually a mix of Come Fly With Me & Doctor Who.

ok it has the same stars (Matt & David) as Little Britain, but it isnt Little Britain, it largely spoofs the old BBC One show "Airport"

Oh, I didn't know there was a new series with the two. Cool. I'll definetely check it out.


I forgot to say that I loved the three's Christmas trips and how they apparently found Four's collection of scarves.
And as for next series' trailer, I'm a bit worried about the inclusion of Nazis. That often goes wrong.