"A Christmas Carol" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

''. It is the sixth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special since the programme's revival in 2005, and it was broadcast on 25 December 2010 on both

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...

, making it the first episode to premiere on the same day in both the United Kingdom and United States. It was written by

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

and directed by Toby Haynes. In the episode, a crashing space liner with more than four thousand people on board has been caught in a strange cloud belt. The alien time traveller the Doctor (

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series ''House of the Dr ...

) lands on the planet below and meets the miserly Kazran Sardick (

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

), a man who can control the cloud layer but refuses to help. Inspired by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

's 1843 novella ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'', the episode has the Doctor attempting to use time travel to alter Kazran's past and make him kinder so that he will save the spaceship. Moffat enjoyed writing the episode and was a fan of Dickens' story himself. The story features flying sharks and fish, which were things Moffat was afraid of as a child. The episode features the acting debut of Welsh singer

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.

Plot

Synopsis

A space liner carrying more than four thousand passengers loses control when passing through strange electrified clouds over a human-inhabited planet. The

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC Science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as fi ...

discovers the clouds are controlled by the bitter old man Kazran Sardick, who refuses to allow the ship to land safely. Discovering Kazran's fear of his father, the inventor of the cloud controlling machine, and his wish to never be like him, the Doctor travels to Kazran's past to change it. Meeting Kazran as a young boy, the Doctor uses his

sonic screwdriver The sonic screwdriver is a fictional multifunctional tool in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, used by the Doctor. Like the TARDIS, it has become one of the icons of the programme, and spin-o ...

to summon a shark that swims in the clouds and fog. The shark eats the screwdriver, wounding it, and is unable to swim back to the clouds. To save the shark, Kazran takes her to a

cryogenics In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “c ...

storeroom where Kazran's father has kept people in storage as "security" for loans, including a woman called Abigail. Abigail, once released, sings to soothe the shark while the Doctor uses Abigail's storage unit to transport the shark back to the skies. As the Doctor and Kazran return Abigail to storage, Kazran promises her they will see her every Christmas Eve. The Doctor keeps this promise, and romance blooms between Kazran and Abigail. However, after one such visit, Kazran requests the Doctor end the practice, keeping Abigail in storage indefinitely as Abigail has an incurable illness and one day left to live. Though old Kazran in the present is pleased with his new memories, he remains bitter at Abigail's fate and refuses to help save the ship. Old Kazran is soon visited by holographic images of the ship's crew and passengers in the present, imploring Kazran's help, but he waves away the holograms. The Doctor appears, bringing young Kazran with him to show the child Kazran his future; the realisation of how much his bitter future self now resembles his feared father causes Kazran to change his mind and decide to save the ship. The Doctor finds his changes to Kazran's past have locked him out from the controls of Kazran's father's machine. The Doctor instead has Abigail sing through one half of the broken sonic screwdriver; the other half, still in the shark, resonates in the atmosphere, disrupting the storm to allow the ship to land safely. Kazran releases Abigail knowing this will be the last time, but Abigail understands and believes it is time for them to share a Christmas Day.

Continuity

Several nods to earlier outfits in the series appear in "A Christmas Carol".

Amy Pond Amelia "Amy" Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Amy is a companion of the series protagonist the Doctor, in his eleventh incarnation, played by ...

wears her kissogram policewoman's outfit from

Series 5 Series 5 may refer to: * Aston Martin V8 Series 5, an automobile model * BMW 5 Series, a line of automobiles * GeForce 5 Series, a line of video cards * Psion Series 5 The Psion Series 5 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It ...

's " The Eleventh Hour", while

Rory Williams Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Having been introduced at the start of the fifth series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) ...

wears a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

centurion's outfit as seen in " The Pandorica Opens" and "

A Good Man Goes to War "A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011. It served as a mid-series finale. The episode was written ...

". In one of the many Christmas Eves the Doctor and Kazran spend with Abigail, they present themselves to her in long, stripy scarves, the

Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...

's trademark accessory. The two also appear in fezzes, an item of clothing the Doctor became fond of in "

The Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

". Kazran's controls are "isomorphic", which means that only he can use them. In ''

Pyramids of Mars ''Pyramids of Mars'' is the third serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer under the pseudonym of "Stephen Harris" and directed by Paddy Russell, ...

'' (1975), the TARDIS's controls are said to be isomorphic, though in subsequent adventures this feature was retained or ignored as the plot demanded.

Production

Writing

Writer

, who was also head writer and executive producer of the series, wanted to make the special "really Christmassy" because the previous Christmas special, " The End of Time", had been darker than usual as it led to the

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

's (

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

) regeneration. He stated that he had "never been so excited about writing anything. I was laughing madly as I typed along to Christmas songs in April". Moffat stated that ''

'' was "probably isfavourite Christmas story" and that it lent itself to ''Doctor Who'', as there was an aspect similar to time travel in the story. He also pointed out that the Doctor intentionally based his reform of Kazran on

' story; Dickens exists as a character in the ''Doctor Who'' universe, having appeared in the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

episode " The Unquiet Dead". The concept of the sky shark was based on Moffat's childhood fear of sharks which had evolved to swim outside the water. Moffat noted that Kazran was unlike other villains found in ''Doctor Who'', as he was not completely "wicked". Instead he was more of a "damaged" character; the Doctor recognises this when Kazran demonstrates his inability to hit a little boy, due to it reminding him of when his father beat him. This allowed the Doctor to want to change his past and "defrost" his soul. The phrase "halfway out of the dark" is used in the episode, a reference to the fact that the hard winter is almost over as well as a metaphor for Kazran.

Casting

Starting with this episode,

Arthur Darvill Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ''Legends of Tomorrow'' ...

achieved regular status as companion Rory. British actor

was cast in the role of Kazran. Andy Pryor, the casting director, did not believe Gambon would be available, and was surprised when Gambon accepted the role.

(the Doctor),

Karen Gillan Karen Sheila Gillan (; born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her work in British film and television, particularly for playing Amy Pond, a primary companion to the Eleventh Doctor in the science fiction ser ...

(Amy Pond), and Darvill were very honoured to work with him. Moffat stated, "Michael Gambon is as distinguished an actor as I can imagine and the fact that he was

Dumbledore Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. As part of his backstory, it is revealed that he is ...

means that he is already known to millions of children". Kazran was played as a boy by

Laurence Belcher Laurence Joseph Belcher (born 27 December 1995) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Young Kazran in ''Doctor Who'' and as Young Professor X, Charles Xavier in ''X-Men: First Class''. He also starred as Maurice Dumont in ''The Shadow ...

and as a young adult by Danny Horn. Director Toby Haynes said that acting came naturally to Belcher and he "captured the story" and drew the audience in. The episode also features the acting debut of Welsh singer

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns. Moffat was unaware that Jenkins had no former acting experience. Jenkins originally was not interested in acting, but thought that she would "like to try" ''Doctor Who'', as it was "such an iconic show". Producer

Sanne Wohlenberg Sanne Wohlenberg (sometimes known as Sanne Craddick) is a German-born television producer working primarily in the United Kingdom. She has produced or co-produced episodes of television including ''Wallander'' and the revived series of ''Doctor W ...

believed that Jenkins was "a perfect fit" for the role, though she was nervous.

Filming and effects

read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted. In addition to the ca ...

took place in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

on Thursday, 8 July and production started on 12 July 2010 and lasted into August 2010. The episode marked the debut of Michael Pickwoad as the new set designer. Pickwoad and Haynes worked together to create the town, incorporating elements that would be needed in a society that shared its daily life with fish. Nearly all windows in the town are round, reminiscent of submarines. The structures were made out of metal, filmed at a local steel works. Kazran's study was designed to be very large, as Kazran spent several scenes in there alone and would feel "dwarfed" by it. The walls were intended to look like copper that had turned green, which when combined with the red drapes created the Christmas colours of red and green. The painting of Kazran's father was created by taking a picture of Gambon, lightly printing it on a canvas, and painting in the details. Kazran's controls were inspired by a

church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...

. The Doctor's first scene in the episode is falling down the chimney and presenting himself to Kazran. Smith was pleased with the entrance of his character, noting similarities between the Doctor and

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

. However, a stuntman performed the scene. For the scene in which a sky fish nibbles on the sonic screwdriver, the screwdriver was dangled in front of a

greenscreen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and displa ...

and tapped with a pen to create the effect of the fish nudging it. To maintain secrecy of the episode's plot, the model shark was given the codename "Clive". The scenes in which the characters ride through the air in a sleigh pulled by one of the flying sharks was filmed in front of a greenscreen. The sleigh was in fact a

rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (als ...

which crew members rocked back and forth as a wind machine created the effect of flying through the air. As it was impossible to film underneath the rickshaw, a miniature model of the sleigh was used for the shots underneath the sleigh rather than computer-generated effects.

Music

The episode features a song specifically written for Jenkins, titled "Abigail's Song". In the script it was written that the song was unique and specific to ''Doctor Who'', and composer

Murray Gold Murray Jonathan Gold (born 28 February 1969) is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for ''Doctor Who'' from 2005, unti ...

was contacted to write the song. Jenkins did a demo and then sang the song while filming the actual scene, as she thought it would look more natural. Afterwards she sang the final version and a new, lighter arrangement was composed by the National Orchestra of Wales. Selected pieces of music from this special, as composed by Gold, were released on a soundtrack 21 March 2011 by Silva Screen Records.

Broadcast and reception

"A Christmas Carol" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on

on Christmas Day 2010. According to overnight figures, "A Christmas Carol" was tied with '' Come Fly with Me'' as the second most-watched programme on Christmas Day in the United Kingdom, behind ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', and with an average viewership of 10.3 million peaking at 10.7 million. The final rating for BBC One was 12.11, making the episode the fourth highest rated of the entire canon since the series was revived in 2005, behind previous specials "

Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell. The story was inspired by actual events co ...

" (13.31 million, 2007), "

The Next Doctor "The Next Doctor" is the first of the 2008–2010 specials of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' that was broadcast on 25 December 2008, as the fourth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special of the revived series. During ...

" (13.10 million, 2008), and Part Two of " The End of Time" (12.27 million, 2010). "A Christmas Carol" was the third highest rated show on all UK TV for the week ending 26 December 2010. In addition, 716,000 watched the show on the BBC's iPlayer, making it the eighth most downloaded show for December 2010. This special had an Appreciation Index of 83. "A Christmas Carol" is the first episode of ''Doctor Who'' that was broadcast the same day in the United Kingdom and in the United States on

. In the United States, 727,000 viewers watched "A Christmas Carol", an 8% increase on the previous holiday special, part one of "The End of Time". The special was broadcast in Canada on

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

on 26 December and in Australia on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

on the same day, where it had overnight ratings of 880,000 viewers.

Critical reception

The episode received generally positive reviews. Dan Martin of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' described the episode as a "sumptuous triumph". Website Den of Geek's Simon Brew applauded Moffat for "not taking the easy way out" with the adaptation, saying it was "really quite mad, undoubtedly festive, and it treats the Dickens source material with respect". However, he also wondered if young children "would have enjoyed 'A Christmas Carol' quite as much" as adults. Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the special an A−, naming it the "best ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special" he had seen. He praised Gambon, Smith, both actors playing the younger Kazran and thought Gillan and Darvill "

ade Ade, Adé, or ADE may refer to: Aeronautics *Ada Air's ICAO code *Aden International Airport's IATA code *Aeronautical Development Establishment, a laboratory of the DRDO in India Medical * Adverse Drug Event *Antibody-dependent enhancement * AD ...

the most of what they're given", though he commented that "Katherine Jenkins is more an ethereal presence with a lovely voice...than an actress". Dave Golder of '' SFX'' gave the episode four and a half out of five stars, explaining that, although there were "creaky" moments, it was "the most ''adult'' Christmas special we've yet been given, with some complex story-telling techniques, a plot driven by the characters and some quite mind-bending concepts". He praised Jenkins' debut and Smith, whom he described as "a force of nature unleashed on screen". IGN's Cindy White rated the episode 8 out of 10, describing it as a "clever remix" of ''A Christmas Carol'' and praising Smith, Gambon, and Jenkins. Brad Trechak, writing for

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

, praised Moffat's "expertly woven story".

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Rick Marshall called it "easily one of the best episodes of the series' modern era...populated with just the right amount of humor, drama, scares, and sentimental reverence for the classic story that inspired its narrative". Sam McPherson of Zap2it said that he "enjoyed 'A Christmas Carol' more than I have almost any other special that has aired since the series restarted in 2005", but thought that "some parts were absolutely silly, and others were absolutely incoherent" due to the frantic pace. While he considered Amy and Rory "criminally underused", they were responsible for "heavy laughs" and left the Doctor to be the "delight of the episode". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' Chris Harvey was less enthusiastic about the episode, saying that it "started nicely", but that "by the time she was singing to the shark, I'd had enough," while thinking that, "It's not really for old curmudgeons like me, who got more of a kick out of Michael Gambon's miserly Kazran Sardick when he was sneering and snarling at the beginning of the episode than when he had been thoroughly heartwarmed by the end." "A Christmas Carol" was nominated for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form), but lost to the preceding series finale " The Pandorica Opens"/"

DVD and Blu-ray release

"A Christmas Carol" was released on DVD and Blu-ray as a standalone in Region 2 on 24 January 2011, followed by Region 1 release in the two formats on 15 February 2011. It contained the associated ''

Doctor Who Confidential ''Doctor Who Confidential'' is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Each episode was broadcast on BBC T ...

'' for the episode, as well as a cut-down version of the Doctor Who Prom. The special was also included in the ''Complete Sixth Series'' box set released on 21 November 2011 (Region 2) and 22 November (Region 1). The ten Christmas specials between "

The Christmas Invasion "The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2005. This episode features the first full-episode appearance of David Te ...

" and "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records International, CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side and B-side, A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK ...

" inclusive were released in a boxset titled ''Doctor Who – The 10 Christmas Specials'' on 19 October 2015.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the episode was released in the United Kingdom on 21 March 2011 and digitally in the United States on 22 November 2011. The soundtrack features classical music star