Ranking the DW Xmas specials

[Lonemagpie]

I guess I'd rank them from best to worst as:

1- Voyage Of The Damned
2- A Christmas Carol
3- The End Of Time (not sure whether to count this technically as a Xmas special or a regeneration/finale)
4- The Next Doctor
5- The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe
6- The Runaway Bride
7- The Christmas Invasion

 

[Starkers]

Really tough call, especially given there's at least one I have very little recollection of (The Runaway Bride)

I'd be very tempted to place the Christmas Invasion top, if only for the last 20 minutes...hmm, this'll need some thought!

 

[Sadistro]

Well, I only really like 'The Christmas Invasion' and 'Voyage of the Damned'. I'm not a huge, huge fan of Voyage, but I think it is good, and certainly much better than most seem to think IMO. So I guess I'd go with:

1) The Christmas Invasion.
2) Voyage of the Damned.
3) The End of Time.
4) The Runaway Bride.
5) The Next Doctor.
6) The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.
7) A Christmas Carol.

It just goes to show how strong my hatred for 'A Christmas Carol' was, that I placed this year's utterly dire episode above it. Both have been truly awful, but again its not like I had much love for most of the others either.

Its particularly frightening how high 'The Runaway Bride' is in this list, because its a dreadful episode - which again just highlights how terrible most of the Xmas specials are. I didn't even watch the 2nd part of 'The End of Time', because I didn't enjoy the first part at all. And yet, it still somehow managed to be better than the ones below it.

 

[Dick_Valentine]

Doctor Who at Christmas is always a different beast to Doctor Who at any other time of the year, its broader and even more family friendly.
Everyone is sitting around with their Christmas tipple half-snoozing so anything too arc heavy will go over the heads of the wider audience sitting down for a Christmas adventure.

To me I've enjoyed every minute of them, to me the Doctor ascending with Angels, giant cybermen stomping around London and the TARDIS flying down the M1 is part of the fun of a Christmas episode and it frustrates me that fandom seems to get itself worked up into knots about stuff like that.
(And the Doctor shedding a tear tonight, I imagine that'll be a big deal too, they hate The Doctor showing emotion )

Tonights ep was a great adventure, shouldn't be over analysed, just pure entertainment.

 

[Sadistro]

I assure you that 'something arc heavy' was the very last thing I wanted, seeing as how I can't stand the arcs in Seasons 5 and 6 (Season 5's began well, but ended terribly, and the season 6 arc was just awful from start to finish). I just wanted a good episode first and foremost, and this absolutely wasn't. Moffat's continued overeliance on fairytale atmospheres kills any sort of credibility. Its yet another 'magical' episode, full of wonder and tragedy... Zzz.

RTD's episodes were (comparitively) better because they were stories that took place at Christmas, but weren't constantly thrashing you with how magical and wonderful and a time for healing etc Christmas is. Indeed the only episode where this comes into one of RTD's Xmas specials in any substantial way is 'Christmas Invasion' which ends with a act of vengeance that disgusts the Doctor.

Of course the episodes should try to work in some reference to Christmas and its values, but these last two specials have been absolutely insufferable. The sentiment is so cloying and sickly that it kills any attempt at serious drama. I winced so many times at the characters as they gushed about how amazing and precious Christmas is, and then of course there was the Miracle of Mother Christmas...

I practically burrowed my way through the back of chair, I was trying to physically put as distance between myself and this cheesy schmaltz. Whether written by Moffat or someone else, I don't care - just give us good episodes instead of this claptrap!

 

[Canadave]

It's tough to pick some over the others, as they're very close in my mind, but I think I'd go with this ranking:

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Christmas Invasion
3. The End of Time
4. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
5. Voyage of the Damned
6. Runaway Bride
7. The Next Doctor

 

[Chess Piece Face]

End of time
Christmas Invasion
Runaway Bride
Voyage of the damned
Next Doctor
Xmas carol
This years.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe
3. The Next Doctor
4. The End of Time
5. Voyage of the Damned
6. The Christmas Invasion
7. The Runaway Bride

"The Next Doctor" would be ranked higher (possibly even first place) if wasn't for the horrible second half of the episode. After the terrific mystery behind Jackson Lake was solved, the story took a nosedive by shoving Jackson to the background (Jackson should have saved his son, not The Doctor!), degraded the wonderful Mrs. Hartigan to a one-dimensional, cackling villainous, and the less said about the giant cyberpunk Cyberking the better.

I don't really regard "The End of Time" as a Christmas special, but I ranked in the appropriate spot nonetheless. In a rare case, the second episode was actually much better than the first, but the overall production still had a lot of flaws. The last 15 minutes is pure brilliance. Also, Wilf is amazing.

Before "A Christmas Carol" came along, I hadn't been impressed by any of the Christmas specials (although, again, "The Next Doctor" came close). This is amplified by the fact "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe," which was just a simple romp and not much more, is in second place. Alas.

 

[davejames]

Can't believe people are ranking "Voyage" so highly. I thought it was the dullest and most uninspired of all of them. And Christmas Invasion only got good after the Doctor finally woke up in the last 10 minutes. Lol

My list:
1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Next Doctor
3. The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe
4. The End of Time
5. The Runaway Bride
6. The Christmas Invasion
7. Voyage of the Damned

 

[Skywalker]

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Next Doctor
3. The End of Time
4. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
5. The Runaway Bride
6. The Christmas Invasion
7. Voyage of the Damned

"A Christmas Carol" and "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" get bonus points for having a genuinely Christmastime feeling to them. The only one of Davies' specials that captures the same feeling, at least in my opinion, is "The Next Doctor" (mostly in the first half, before it degenerates into a "The Doctor is awesome, everybody cheer for the Doctor!" wankfest). The rest of the specials are mostly good, but they just feel like standard adventures that happen to take place around Christmas rather than genuine Christmas specials.

 

[tomalak301]

From best to least favorite

1. Christmas Invasion
2. The Doctor, Widow, and the Wordrobe
3. End of Time
4. A Christmas Carol
5. Runaway Bride
6. The Next Doctor
7. Voyage of the Damned

 

[Trubinator]

I've only seen the most recent two ...

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Doctor, Widow and the Wardrobe

 

[intrinsical]

I tend to prefer a christmas special to, well, focus on christmas itself hence the more christmassy specials rank higher. The only exception is End of Time because I'm still feeling somewhat sentimental over Ten's departure.

1. A Christmas Carol
2. The Next Doctor
3. The End Of Time
4. The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe
5. The Runaway Bride (Quite simply, Catherine Tate wins over Kylie Minogue)
6. Voyage Of The Damned
7. The Christmas Invasion

 

[Saul]

1 A Christmas Carol
2 The Next Doctor
3 The End Of Time
4 The Christmas Invasion
5 The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe
6 Voyage Of The Damned
7 The Runaway Bride

 

[Cutter John]

Mine.

1. The End of Time (wasn't on my original list)
2. A Christmas Carol
3. The Runaway Bride
4. The Christmas Invasion
5. The Next Doctor
6. The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe
7. Voyage of the Damned

A Christmas Carol just made me a weepy mess last year. This years definately suffers by comparison.

Voyage: Despite a nice first few minutes, and a lovely ending. I just found it too damn depressing for a Christmas tale. I really loathe stories where everybody dies.

"The Next Doctor" would be ranked higher (possibly even first place) if wasn't for the horrible second half of the episode. After the terrific mystery behind Jackson Lake was solved, the story took a nosedive by shoving Jackson to the background (Jackson should have saved his son, not The Doctor!), degraded the wonderful Mrs. Hartigan to a one-dimensional, cackling villainous, and the less said about the giant cyberpunk Cyberking the better.

I didn't mind the Cyberking. It quite appealed to my inner 12 year old, but I agree with your Jackson Lake comment. the Doctors attention whoring made me downright crazy. Its funy how such a small plot detail would have so immeasurably improved the story.

 

[davejames]

I guess I'm one of the few who thought Next Doctor was fantastic all the way through. Yeah it gets a bit crazy and over the top at the end, but it's a freakin Christmas special-- a giant steampunk Cyberking stomping around London is exactly the kind of thing I WANT to see in an episode like that.

I figured everyone would be geeking out as much as I was over that. I guess most people were too busy taking this show waaay too seriously again, like always. Lol

 

[Skywalker]

I actually liked the Cyberking a lot. I thought that was fun, and I love steampunk stuff like that. But I agree with Emh and Cutter John that Jackson Lake should have been the one to save his son, not the Doctor. And then the whole "Everybody cheer for the Doctor! Hurray for the Doctor!" scene was just ridiculously obnoxious.

The rest of the special was great, though.

 

[davejames]

I actually liked the Cyberking a lot. I thought that was fun, and I love steampunk stuff like that. But I agree with Emh and Cutter John that Jackson Lake should have been the one to save his son, not the Doctor. And then the whole "Everybody cheer for the Doctor! Hurray for the Doctor!" scene was just ridiculously obnoxious.

The rest of the special was great, though.

That never seemed like that big an issue to me. After taking a backseat to Jackson for pretty much the entire episode, I thought it felt right that we finally see the "true" Doctor take over and be the one swinging around and saving the day (and frankly, the father being heroic and saving the son seems JUST as gooey and cliched to me).

And I agree RTD went overboard with the Doctor worship at times, but this was towards the end of Tennant's run, so it was clearly supposed to have a double meaning. I thought it actually felt somehow appropriate myself.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, I'm sure the Doctor worship was very intentional because it was the beginning of the end of Tennant's run, but it just seemed a little too overindulgent to me.

 

[Admiral_Young]

1. A Christmas Carol
2. Voyage of the Damned
3. The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe
4. The Christmas Invasion
5. The Runaway Bride
6. The End of Time Parts 1 and 2
7. The Next Doctor