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A Christmas Carol discussion and grading thread

How do you rate A Christmas Carol?


  • Total voters
    183
I'm gonna give that a solid "Meh." Something about this last season, and continuing with this special, makes it really hard for me to care about the stakes. Scrooge (whatever his name was) didn't care about this ship crashing, and honestly, I didn't either. I have absolutely no investment in Amy or Rory, so if they suddenly died, I would not be at all bothered by it. Plus, this is yet another example where the Doctor's companions aren't doing anything. They aren't even with him. It's hard for me to care.

Parts of the special were well done, but like much of Season 5, I just found most of it really dull.
 
I thought it was OK; not up to par with season 5, but certainly better than the last couple of Christmas specials.

Did I miss something though? The TARDIS can supposedly pull a ship out of a black hole and tow a planet - why couldn't he just use the TARDIS to save the ship? Changing a man's entire past is a bit extreme.

Matt Smith was as adorable as ever though. :adore: And loved the season 6 trailer - it looks like losing hats to River's weapon of choice will be a recurring theme in the Doctor's future. :guffaw:
 
Am I missing something because I thought the Doctor couldn't rewrite history, as shown in the Tennant late specials. Maybe I'm just confused but I was trying to figure out why they went to this extreme. I guess the question I'm asking is if he's able to change history or not?

As for the episode, I did get a nice Christmas vibe from it, and had fun watching it. It's new Doctor Who, it's on Christmas day and it brought a smile to my face. Loved the actress who played Abigail, but I wish we had seen more Amy and Rory. As for Smith, there really is one thing I don't like about Smith. He speaks so dang fast you can't understand a lot of what he says. It's just a bundle of energy that takes a lot of work to figure out I suppose.

Still, I enjoyed it even though it's not my favorite episode of Doctor Who. I will say thank you BBC America for this gift of the Doctor Who christmas special on Christmas day. Despite the commercials, what a way to end a wonderful day and no matter how this episode would have turned out, I'm happy.

Looking forward to Series Six.
 
Did I miss something though? The TARDIS can supposedly pull a ship out of a black hole and tow a planet - why couldn't he just use the TARDIS to save the ship? Changing a man's entire past is a bit extreme.
I think the Doctor is trying to save the ship with the TARDIS in the pre-titles sequence but it doesn't work. During the phone conversation with Amy he makes the comment "Can't use the TARDIS cause it can't lock-on".
 
It was quite Christmas-y, which was good. Overall, not spectacular, but I liked it. Some very touching moments in it all, although I can't say they all clicked for a great episode. Still, very good Christmas episode.
 
Am I missing something because I thought the Doctor couldn't rewrite history, as shown in the Tennant late specials. Maybe I'm just confused but I was trying to figure out why they went to this extreme. I guess the question I'm asking is if he's able to change history or not?

You're thinking of the colony on Mars, which was a "fixed point in time." And even that the Doctor was able to alter to a degree, so generally speaking, yes, he can rewrite history.
 
Simply put, loved it. The throwback to the Fez and the Fourth Doctor were nice touches, and I thought the flying shark bits were hilarious. I'll give it another viewing tomorrow, but for now, I'm happy with it.
 
Am I missing something because I thought the Doctor couldn't rewrite history, as shown in the Tennant late specials. Maybe I'm just confused but I was trying to figure out why they went to this extreme. I guess the question I'm asking is if he's able to change history or not?

You're thinking of the colony on Mars, which was a "fixed point in time." And even that the Doctor was able to alter to a degree, so generally speaking, yes, he can rewrite history.

Maybe the person has to have a major effect on the timeline of the universe (and Rose certainly did that when she was with the Doctor) before the Reapers see fit to get involved?
 
Moffat sure loves toying with time and casting children.

-THANK YOU MOFFAT! Modern London was spared this Christmas day

-The Doctor actually having Christmas dinner without having to twist his arm or repeat his catchphrase( No, I don't do that kind of thing)

A breath of fresh air from the last few Christmas specials
 
For all you who were swooning over the "Galaxy Class" references, please be aware that this was a Doctor Who reference, not a Star Trek reference.

"Galaxy Class" ships were first mentioned in (IIRC) The Frontier in Space, way back in 1973. ;)

Yours Truly,
The Sci-Fi Grinch
 
For all you who were swooning over the "Galaxy Class" references, please be aware that this was a Doctor Who reference, not a Star Trek reference.

"Galaxy Class" ships were first mentioned in (IIRC) The Frontier in Space, way back in 1973. ;)

Yours Truly,
The Sci-Fi Grinch

Why can't it be both. Everyone is more happy that way. ;)
 
I thought it was lovely. I think it was a nice change from the previous Christmas episodes. This definitely had more a "fairly tale" feel to it.

It reminded me, a little bit, of Terry Pratchet's Hogfather, at least in tone.

I'll vote 'Very Good.'
 
I thoroughly enjoyed it as well...watched bits of The Next Doctor this afternoon and A Christmas Carol just blows it away...

So many good bits and lines..."Get your coat, Marilyn"... :D
 
Was a bit down after a sucky christmas but this cheered me up. Great episode. Really like a fairy tale. Loved the scene where the Doctor had to get married to Marilyn Monroe. This Doctor really has fun with time travel.
 
I thought it was good. There was good moments of humor and then Doctor 11 realizing the problems with the temporary situation he made in order to save the crashing ship way at the end.
 
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