Feels like there was a lot less effort put into them. At least writing wise.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Doctor Who
ginnyjinxedandhanshotritafirst — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 03:07 AM)
Feels like there was a lot less effort put into them. At least writing wise.
Well, maybe not all of them. But Christmas Carol was certainly the best. Why couldn't Moffat make them all like that? -
SharonTheHarper — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 04:38 AM)
I agree that
A Christmas Carol
was a particularly magical Special, and
The Doctor, the Witch and the Wardrobe
the following year didn't quite work as I think Moffat intended. But partly, it suffered from the comparison.
But then
The Snowmen
was very good, and very popular,
The Time of the Doctor
was too ("I'll always remember when the Doctor was me"
), as was
The Last Christmas
, and last year's was the silly knockabout we all thought it was going to be from the trailers . which then turned into something heartwrenchingly beautiful!
Don't mean to get all RTD-bashy, but Moffat still has an excellent record and reputation for Specials compared to his predescessor. -
Scruffy-Blessedtwinz — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 02:29 PM)
I agree on A Christmas carol being one of a kind magical ( so far, though I think that has to do partially due to its links to Dickens original story, as well as Moffat's writing being at the top of his peak that time )
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strawberry_switchblade — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 05:03 PM)
I never much rated A Christmas Carol to be honest. I think it's the most coherent of his efforts because he used the model of Dickens' original. But even then I found it a rather inflexible and impenetrable effort for that.
Inevitably I think the problem is after Series 5, the deadlines and pressure of writing both shows began to take their toll on his creative process. I think he probably was in a state of immersion in his own fictional world when writing The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, but before he could get any deeper or any interesting, spontaneous events could be imagined, his deadline was probably up and he had to half-ass it.
The Snowmen I thought was one of his better efforts, but really could've been a lot stronger and again felt half-finished with too many underutilized elements.
Time of the Doctor particularly seemed to suffer for having to cram a season's worth of events, revelations and resolutions into an hour. It also came off as terribly pat, with the Doctor's invincibility taken ridiculously for granted for all the centuries he manages to successfully defend a village of primitive luddites against the greatest military power in the universe.
Last Christmas was just awful. Husbands of River Song (aside from the final ten minutes) made me realize the Christmas specials should probably be dropped now, especially when a curmudgeonly Doctor like Capaldi doesn't really suit them.
Paul McGann IS the War Doctor in my fic
http://dalekwars.blogspot.co.uk/ -
strawberry_switchblade — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 05:14 PM)
Thanks
Paul McGann IS the War Doctor in my fic
http://dalekwars.blogspot.co.uk/ -
jberning — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 12:27 AM)
Agree. The only one I haven't cared for during Moffat's era has been The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe.
Christmas Carol and The Snowmen were great. And Time of the Doctor had some great moments and overall good but too rushed at times with too much thrown in to try to cap off 11's arcs. Last Christmas was decent and flowed well but was't as strong as I had hoped for but still good. I would place Doctor Mysterio alongside Last Christmas. Decent but not amazing. -
keekosdoctor — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 05:52 PM)
I think a Christmas Carol and Husbands of River Song are the only good Christmas Specials, and the main reason I can think of for why that is is that they're actually telling character driven stories with some depth.
All the other Christmas Specials amount to generic, "face the alien threat, point A to point B, shallow fun romp" with Christmassy trappings.
Granted, Time of the Doctor was trying to be more than a Holiday distraction, but it didn't really work as the conclusion of a character arc since the big conclusion of Eleven's character progression was the previous episode so all that was left to do was spin his wheels til he regenerated.
Doctor Who: The Best Christmas Carol -
RedFaerieGirl20 — 9 years ago(December 25, 2016 07:24 PM)
A Christmas Carol is special, as is The Snowmen. I also like Time of the Doctor and Last Christmas. The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe, Husbands of River Song, and tonight's are the problems. So 4-3?
Everyone sees what you seem to be, few know what you really are. Machiavelli