From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated   
   From Address: jphalt@aol.com   
   Subject: Re: jphalt's Doctor Who reviews   
      
   A CHRISTMAS CAROL   
      
   1 episode. Approx. 61 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by:   
   Toby Haynes. Produced by: Sanne Wohlenberg.   
      
      
   THE PLOT   
      
   Amy and Rory are enjoying their honeymoon on a starliner... which, of   
   course, means that their ship is subject to disaster. The ship is   
   caught in a field of clouds that surround the planet owned by Kazran   
   (Michael Gambon), who controls not only the planet but the planet's   
   weather. If Kazran doesn't use his machine to part the clouds and   
   allow for a safe landing, then the ship will be destroyed within the   
   hour.   
      
   There's only one problem: Kazran is a cruel, miserly old man, whose   
   bitterness only increases with the holidays. When the Doctor is unable   
   to use his machine in spite of him, he focuses on transforming   
   Kazran's character. He decides to mimic the plot of A Christmas Carol,   
   using his TARDIS to not only show the old man his past, but to   
   actually change it. But when the Doctor's manipulations in the past   
   backfire, he will have to desperately draw on Kazran's present and   
   future in order to salvage the situation.   
      
      
   CHARACTERS   
      
   The Doctor: This story is largely a romp, so it's unsurprising that   
   the Doctor is in "manic mode" for the bulk of it. To his credit, Matt   
   Smith keeps a core of sadness in his performance. When the young   
   Kazran suddenly shuts him out, the Doctor recognizes that there is   
   something wrong. He urges Kazran to tell him, and is genuinely sorry   
   when he's unable to get through to the young man. When the old Kazran   
   thunders at him that he should try experiencing genuine loss, the   
   Doctor simply stands mute and stares back at him - a reminder to the   
   audience that any loss Kazran might feel is trivial next to the ones   
   the Doctor has felt. That melancholy is never overplayed. It feels   
   lived-in, as much a part of the Doctor's wardrobe as his bow-tie.   
   Speaking of which, we finally get a proper explanation as to exactly   
   why the 11th Doctor's bowtie is "cool." That explanation, when it   
   comes, is perfect.   
      
   Amy/Rory: Largely sharing the "damsel-in-distress" role, with their   
   jeopardy on the starliner giving urgency to the Doctor's mission while   
   also sparing the script from having to deal too much with their   
   presence. Still, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill retain their usual   
   energy. Their presence may be expendable, but their participation is   
   as agreeable as ever.   
      
      
   THOUGHTS   
      
   A direct riff on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This was done by   
   Doctor Who once before, when 1986's Trial of a Timelord saw the Sixth   
   Doctor defending his past, present, and future. Still, this is the   
   first time the story has been directly used by the series for a   
   Christmas special. Given that this is the series' sixth Christmas   
   special, that's actually something of a surprise.   
      
   It's a rather fun piece. Not Earth-shattering by any means... but   
   then, it's a Christmas special, so it's not really supposed to be.   
   Writer Steven Moffat has penned a briskly-paced holiday pastische,   
   which director Toby Haynes and the BBC special effects department have   
   filled out with some eye-catching visuals.   
      
   Key to the episode's success is the central figure in any version of A   
   Christmas Carol: Scrooge. Michael Gambon's Kazran makes a terrific   
   stand-in for Ebenezer. Like any Scrooge, it's most fun watching him   
   while he's still in full-bore "nasty" mode, but Gambon does imbue the   
   character's gradual transformation with genuine emotion. Moffat's   
   script also gives the narrative a clever turn by having the Doctor's   
   manipulations of Kazran's past backfire, making the old man more   
   bitter than ever before.   
      
   Kazran Sardick is a well-written character. He's not really evil. He's   
   just bitter, to a degree that his bitterness has become like an old   
   coat he shrugs on every morning. Faced with the deaths of so many   
   innocents, deaths he can prevent by simply flicking a switch, Gambon's   
   Kazran remains impassive. It's not that he hates these people. As he   
   explains to the Doctor, he simply doesn't care. When Gambon spits out   
   that line - "I don't and never, ever will care!" - he puts such venom   
   into it that it chills the spine.   
      
   Casting Gambon as both Kazran and his father seems, at first, to be   
   simply a money-saving device. Having cast a high-profile actor, the   
   production is by God going to use him. But there is method in the   
   double-casting. We see, in the past, Kazran's father strike him. That   
   scene is bookended by two moments, however, ones which show how Kazran   
   is different from his father. He catches the Doctor's eye as a   
   salvageable human being at the start, when he raises his hand to hit   
   the boy but does not actually strike. Then, at the end, he is   
   confronted with his own younger self. Again, he raises his hand to   
   strike, more furious than we have seen him at any moment in the   
   production. The sin his younger self committed? Recognizing the older   
   Kazran as "Dad." Once again, Kazran does not strike. The first failure   
   to strike marks him as redeemable; the second pushes him the rest of   
   the way "out of the dark."   
      
   Substantially less good is the teaser. The bizarre, "Christmas is   
   cancelled!" line had me sure for a moment that such a ridiculous   
   statement must surely be meant as some form of code. But nope - turns   
   out it's just a bizarre line, there apparently to remind the viewers   
   that they are watching a Christmas episode. As if the recycled Dickens   
   plot, or indeed the viewing date of December 25, would let them   
   forget.   
      
   Then there's the ending, in which the Doctor doesn't even attempt to   
   help Abigail (Katherine Jenkins). He learns that she is dying, has one   
   day left to live, and... does nothing. He doesn't even try to help,   
   doesn't even ask what it is she's dying from. OK, fair enough that   
   "everything has its time and everything dies." But... shouldn't he at   
   least see if this really is her time? For all he knows, she's dying of   
   something easily within his power to cure! Without confirming that   
   point, one might as well apply "Everything ends" to the passengers on   
   the crashing ship. The only difference between them and Abigail is one   
   of numbers!   
      
   These gripes aside, I find A Christmas Carol to be one of the series'   
   better Christmas specials. A light romp with some suitably sentimental   
   bits thrown in, this is well-made and very well-acted. Not a triumph,   
   perhaps - but certainly an enjoyable and energetic romp.   
      
      
   Rating: 7/10.   
      
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