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“Crying when you’re happy? Ah, good for you. That’s so human.”
Oh, go on, admit it. That was a bit good, wasn’t it? I mean, obviously there wasn’t nearly enough Bill Bailey, but as a slice of Christmas TV it hadit all: snow, naturally occurring Christmas decorations, a Narnia reference or two, and a whole lot of charm.
My only real problem with the episode was the fact that this was all the Doctor’s fault; if he hadn’t decided to give them this present, they would never have been in danger. I know that’s the basis for pretty much all Doctor Who ever, but it just niggled that he didn’t seem to feel guilt over it. And yes, Reg was saved because of the Doctor’s present, but he wasn’t to know that, was he?
Still, it feels churlish to complain much when the rest of the episode was just such a delight. I should have known we were on to something good from the second welearnt the wonderful period-appropriate names of the Arwell family. Cyril and Lily, Madge and Reg? Sheer bliss. I love the Narnia books, so I was in heaven with the Christmas forest, but it was given enough of an edge by the World War Two setting to stop it becoming too soppy.
Giving young actors such a central role is always a bit risky, but Holly Earl and Maurice Cole had pulled off the right balance between being bewildered by theDoctor, and being in complete awe of him. Bill Bailey, Arabella Weir and Paul Bazely made the most of their short screen time, ably aided by Moffat’s brilliant script for them, which gave them both comedy and characterisation.And as a serious Pointless fan (I watch repeats of episodes I’ve already seen), I loved seeing Alexander Armstrong be... Alexander Armstrong, but in a period costume.
But what really made the episode work was Claire Skinner. In a short time, she had to play so many different facets of Madge’s character, from the woman unfazed by the Doctor’s weirdness to a wife secretly grieving for her husband and then a bad-ass mother determined to save her children. In less sure hands, this might have all felt a bit disjointed, but Skinner brought it all together to create a very sympathetic, very real character. And honestly, I can never resist a parent giving hell to anyone stopping them from saving their children, so this episode was practically made for me.
Keeping the story small, focusing on one family, meant that the ending of ‘The Wedding of River Song’ wasn’t forgotten. It was lovely to see the Doctor in an entirely new mode, acting as the Caretaker rather than the Saviour of the World. His joy at the Christmas he was preparing was nicely undercut by Madge’s grief and uncertainty about whether she was doing the right thing keeping Reg’s death a secret; Matt Smith and Claire Skinner were simply breathtaking in their scene together in the children’s bedroom. The “forest in my head” scene was marvellously odd and a bit sad, and the resurrection of Reg felt just right.
Oh, Ponds, I hadn’t realised just how much I missed you until you turned up in my life again. I just loved Amy’s Christmas jumper, and Rory being slightly late to the party as usual, and the TARDIS-blue front door, and the Doctor and Amy’s hug-stare-off, and Rory’s shirt, and the fact that they had a place set for him because it was Christmas, and Rory just being there, and the Doctor’s befuddlement and the way he wiped the happy tears from his divine face. Happy tears: so human, so Time Lord, so Christmas.
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