The great thing about the Steven Moffat-era Doctor Who Christmas specials is that they actually have something to do with Christmas. The earlier Russell T. Davies episodes only kind of took place on or near Christmas. Sure there were murderous Santa robots and Donna’s wedding reception was decorated for Christmas, but they lacked that special Christmas magic that Moffat captures so well as the show-runner. Not to mention the obvious homages to Christmas stories past. I already picked Moffat’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ episode as one of the best Christmas episodes ever on TV.

So it’s no surprise that the follow-up, ‘The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe’ is just as good!’

TV Rating: 4/5: Good!

What's in the box? Come and find out!

This episode contains a lot of the best parts of the Moffat and Smith-era Doctor Who. It’s whimsical, emotional and has some downright fantastic one-liners from the witty and banterish Doctor. It doesn’t reach the heights of the very best episodes, lacking in true character depth and badassery, but it’s still a very good episode. We even get a wonderful epilogue that ties the episode back into the regular series instead of just being a stand-alone Christmas episode. Paying homage to not just Narnia, but a lot of mystical, fictional realms, this episode has an adventure that is a lot like typical Doctor Who episodes. We’ve got a strange alien world, a ‘villain’ who isn’t what they initially seem and a death-defying race through time!

Plus the family element really grounds the episode and forms its emotional core. This wouldn’t be Doctor Who if we didn’t have one of those.

Follow me after the jump for a synopsis and more review of one very awesome Christmas special. And of course: Spoilers!

No seriously, full spoilers.

I automatically assume that not all of my readers know or follow Doctor Who, or know why the Christmas special is just so special. So allow me a moment to explain, because frankly I like explaining all the cool pop culturey stuff that I like. First of all, his name isn’t ‘Dr. Who’. He calls himself ‘The Doctor’ and the ‘Who’ part is just sort of mysterious. The Doctor is a time traveller, a member of an immortal alien race called the Time Lords. He just happens to look human. As the Craig Ferguson song so wonderfully puts it, the great thing about the Doctor is that he relies on his wits, charm and intelligence to win the day. He favors intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.

And a thick forehead

So that’s generally what any episode will container: the Doctor outwitting some bad guy. But since he can travel to any time, past or present, or any planet, the Doctor goes on some of the wildest adventures in all of science fiction. Like the planet made entirely out of crystal, or the planet where the middle class spent their entire lives driving on an underground highway, or back in time to help Vincent Van Gogh fight a monster. You’ve got to see it believe it. And seeing usually means loving.

The Doctor is aided by a companion, usually a cute girl with a third friend along for the ride in the time machine. And they all go on awesome adventures together! For a great understanding of the appeal of the Doctor, read this article on Cracked.com. Brilliant piece.

Cute redheads are also appealing

The show is famous for running for several decades, possibly the longest running show in television history. The original series came to an end in 1989, managed to avoid a cheap made-for-TV movie in the 90s and was then brought back fresh and new by a writer named Russell T. Davies in 2005. Davies was in charge for four years before one of his writers, Steven Moffat took over as show-runner. Moffat’s run has been brilliant, working in quirky ideas, one-liners and a whole lot of heart.

He’s helped by Matthew Smith as the Doctor. Just like all new actors playing the Doctor, Matthew Smith took some getting used to, but he’s more than earned his place as far as I’m concerned.

So that brings us to the Christmas special, which debuted Christmas Day, as I suppose is the tradition. Separate from the regular season, the Christmas episode of Doctor Who is usually a stand-alone episode that takes place between seasons. It’s a British tradition, I believe. Davies had some good ones, but Moffat’s two Christmas episodes have been spectacular so far. Last year, like I said, was a take on ‘A Christmas Carol’, though not exactly the cliched visit from three ghosts. This year, the Doctor helps out a lonely British family on Christmas circa 1941, in the middle of World War II. It’s quiet, simple and full of heart, which is exactly what you want in good/subtle sci-fi.

We open with a prologue that I don’t think made the actual episode:

Of note, before we continue, the ‘Amy’ he mentions is his last companion from seasons 5 and 6, the cute redhead from that picture. The Doctor had to abandon Amy and fake his own death in order to avoid the bad guys. So she thinks he’s dead and he’s kind of keeping a low profile – except for the blowing up of that alien spaceship. I’m sure he had a very good reason.

Somehow the Doctor is able to survive in space, and has enough time to pull on a spacesuit before he crashes to Earth in London in the late 1930s. We meet the ‘Widow’ from the title, named Madge Arwell. She’s bicycling by when the Doctor falls, and she goes to help out the ‘spaceman’. It’s convenient that he has his helmet on backwards, so she can’t see his face and she can’t get it off. Madge seems pretty unfazed about the whole thing, and she offers to help the Doctor. There’s a funny scene where she tells her son, “I found a spaceman in a field, possibly an angel, but he’s injured, and I can’t get his helmet off. So I’m having to take him into town to find a police telephone box.”

When the dad asks the son where his mother went, the boy replies, “Out.”

Madge takes the spaceman back to his spaceship/time machine, which is called the TARDIS. And since this is 1930s England, we get the first ever joke in the modern series where the Doctor mistakes a regular old police box for his TARDIS, which just happens to look like a police box. Comedy!

Best. Time Machine. Ever.

The Doctor also tells Madge that should she ever need his help, all she has to do is wish. That usually works. When Madge goes home again, she sees her husband reading a newspaper about the coming war. She sighs and makes a comment about how, “if people keep reading about war, then it will actually happen. And then where will you be?”

Turns out he’ll be in the pilot seat of an Allied aircraft losing power over the English Channel. Cut to three years later, and the father, Reg Arwell is a pilot in the war effort. He loses his engines and can’t see where he’s going over the Channel, so he crashes. Cut to Madge in bed, crying after she received the telegram that her husband is dead. She can’t bear to tell the children, not yet. She has a daughter, Lily, and a younger son, Cecil. They are excited because they expect father home for Christmas, and they’re going to spend Christmas out in the countryside in a manor. Maybe they’re not that excited. Madge still can’t tell them the truth about their father, and boy she could use some help.

Hey guys, you're looking a little glum...oh, right.

So who should turn out to be the caretaker of the manor but the Doctor!

Using his superior intellect and lack of understanding of how a typical house should be, the Doctor has turned the manor into a funhouse! The chairs in the sitting room are motorized, because a sitting room just seems silly without a TV. The kitchen has cold and hot water on tap, as well as lemonade. The children’s bedroom is full of toys and fun, and the Christmas tree is spinning and all around awesome. There’s even a giant mysterious present underneath the tree that seems to be whispering…

But more on that later. The Doctor is cheerful and weird. The kids like him, but Madge isn’t so sure. She tells the Doctor about her husband’s death and how she doesn’t want to tell the children just yet because then Christmas will always be linked with their father’s death. Sounds fair to me, but the show definitely makes this out to be a very bad idea. Still, the Doctor as ‘The Caretaker’ is quite fun. Smith is in fine form when he’s showing off for children, since Doctor Who is traditionally a show for kids. His one-liners and snappy banter as he shows off the house are delightful.

Delightful in a scary sort of way

Come nightfall, it’s time for the plot to pick up. Lily sneaks upstairs to find the Doctor working on his TARDIS, since something’s wrong with it. She tries to get him to open up, but the Doctor doesn’t fall for it. He doesn’t explain who he is or what the TARDIS is…though he does tell her that it’s his ‘wardrobe’, so that fulfills the episode title.

Downstairs, Cecil has decided that he ca no longer ignore the big mysterious present underneath the tree. He opens the box – somehow without tearing the wrapping paper – and crawls through into a different world! It’s a winter wonderland, where Christmas bulbs actually grow on pine trees! The Doctor later explains that this was his planned present for the family, as this foresty planet is one of the nicest, most peaceful planets in the galaxy. But his plan was to take them on a guided tour, not have the boy run off on his own. Also, there’s something in the woods, something big.

In short order, the Doctor and Lily follow Cecil into the world, as does Madge. The Doctor gets some great lines as he and Lily discover the world. She’s amazed at Christmas bulbs naturally growing on Christmas trees. And the trees are whispering to each other. The Doctor is also amazed, but he explains that it’s likely just a coincidence. “It’s a big universe, everything happens somewhere.” The girl also asks if they’re in some kind of fairyland, and the Doctor tells her, “Fairyland? Oh grow up, Lily. Fairyland looks completely different.”

Didn’t I say he was funny?

Squatting in a Winter Wonderland

At any rate, Cecil finds a mysterious tower in the middle of the forest, having followed a pair of tracks. He heads inside and finds a statue of a king made out of wood and sitting on a throne. As he heads up to the top of the tower, the king ‘statue’ turns its head. Dun dun dun! Eventually the Doctor and Lily also find the same tower, and they head upstairs to follow Cecil. The Doctor soon discovers that the tower is made out of wood. In fact, the tower is just an illusion created by several trees growing into the shape of a tower. It’s a people trap!

Upstairs, Cecil finds a ‘statue’ of a queen made of wood. The queen comes to life and places a crown on Cecil’s head, which connects him to the forest. The Doctor and Lily make it inside but can’t immediately get Cecil free of the crown. They also see out in the forest that a bunch of lights seem to be growing off the trees and heading into the sky. What’s it all mean?

We’ll find out with Madge’s side of the story. Madge has been walking through the forest when suddenly she’s approached by three people dressed up like Halo’s Master Chief crossed with a logging crew.

"Why are we here?"

Funny, funny scene coming up as Madge is scared out of her wits and crying, and the three visitors start getting all wishy washy about a crying woman. First one guy starts crying, because crying mothers always sets him off. He tries to man up, but he just starts bawling. Then the woman lowers her weapon out of respect for Madge as a fellow woman. She just won’t point her gun at the clearly frightened and lost Madge. The leader tries to get them to soldier up, but his two compatriots won’t have it. So finally all three of them place their weapons on the ground and step away. Can they interrogate Madge now?

Nope! Because she stops crying and pulls out a gun! Madge tells them that she’s from England 1941, and there’s a war on, bitches!

Yippee Ki-Yay motherfuckers!

The leader scoffs and tells Madge that there’s no threat she could give and nothing she could say that would convince him that she’d actually fire the gun.

So Madge replies that she’s a mother looking for her children!

Pretty badass scene, and kudos to actress Claire Skinner for pulling it off. Madge has just been delightful in this episode, and she really shines in this scene. But her moments of glory are not over yet. Madge takes the trio back to their ship, where she ties up the two men and trusts the woman enough to help her – but the woman doesn’t know how to pilot the ship. So Madge is stuck. They are able to scan for lifeforms and pick up the children and the Doctor several yards away in the tower. They can also hear the children and the Doctor discussing the issue with the tree people.

The three workers reveal that the forest is about to be melted down with acid rain, because the wood is the most powerful fuel source in the galaxy. They teleport away, leaving Madge in the their ship. In 5 minutes, everything on the planet is about to get pelted with acid rain and die!

So that’s why the tree king and queen are trying to get human help, and why all the lights are leaving the trees – it’s life essence! The spirits of the trees are trying to evacuate the planet, but they need help.

That is a face that is crying out for help. I mean the one on the right

But Cecil isn’t good enough, so the Doctor takes off the boy’s crown for himself. But the crown completely rejects the Doctor before he can put it on. He’s not good enough either. The tree people try Lily, but she’s not good enough either. It looks like all hope is lost…

Until Madge comes roaring to the rescue, piloting the spaceship! Booyah!

The ship doesn’t fly, it’s a walker. Picture a three-legged AT-AT from Star Wars crossed with an industrial strength logging machine, sort of like the loader that Ripley uses in Aliens. Madge comes stomping through the forest towards the tower as the children and the Doctor cheer her on! Also, she tells the Doctor that he’s fired as their caretaker! Awesome moment. Everything has been sort of sad and low key up until this point. You knew Madge would find the children, but you didn’t know it’d be this awesomely!

Madge Arwell: Tank Buster!

So Madge heads into the tower and is reunited with her children. But they’re still stuck in a tower on an alien planet in the year 5345, and the entire planet is being melted by acid rain. What are they to do? Help the trees, of course! The tree king and queen place the crown on Madge’s head and she’s perfect! The Doctor figures it out. Who would be worthy enough to take on an entire forest of tree children who need help? Why, a mother, of course! It’s why we call them ‘motherships’ after all!

Madge takes all of the tree spirits into her brain? Soul? Body? Who really knows. But it doesn’t hurt, at least. Once she has them, they blast off! The top of the tower detaches and leaves the planet, then (somehow?) enters the Time Vortex! I don’t really know if it’s explained how or why the tree people are able to travel through time, but they do! But where to go? Back home, of course! The Doctor tells Madge that she’s piloting the ship, and she just has to think of home and they’ll go. Memories of Madge and her husband show up on the window like a movie, and everybody gets to watch how they met, how they fell in love. Fond memories of children.

“Your mother is flying a forest through the Time Vortex, be a little impressed!”

But then Madge starts thinking about how her husband died! She can’t stop herself, and the Doctor tells her to keep going. She has to concentrate if they’re going to get home. So she and her children are forced to watch their husband and father’s last flight over the English Channel. And this is how the kids find out that their father is dead.

This is probably going to scar them for life...in a good way

But all hope is not lost! They’re traveling through time, after all! We cut back to the flashback of Reg over the English Channel, with his engines dying. It’s pouring down rain, and he can’t see a thing…but then suddenly he can see this bright light! he doesn’t know what it is, but it’s better than nothing so he uses the light as a guide!

Cut to the English manor where we began. The towership sets down, with the tree people turned into something sciency. The souls of the trees are now out among the stars. Madge starts to tell her children about what happened when their father crashed in the Channel, how he had no lights to guide his plane in to a safe landing. The Doctor heads outside to give them some privacy…but there’s something very special outside. Reg did have a light to guide his path, the time-traveling towership piloted by his wife! Reg is alive! He never died, he simply traveled through time to Christmas Day and joined the family there at the manor!

Everybody hugs and it’s a happy ending! Everybody lives!

Family hug under the time-traveling airplane

The family has a nice Christmas dinner, and Madge says goodbye to the Doctor. She’s come to realize that he’s her spaceman, the one she rescued at the start of the episode. She invites him to stay for Christmas, but the Doctor doesn’t really want to. He’s always a bit fidgety about getting cozy with people. He’s been hurt before, and his current closest friends think he’s dead. So he keeps brushing off Madge’s invitations until she finally agrees to let him go. The Doctor hops back in to his TARDIS and is gone. Madge remains pretty much unfazed by the time-traveling spaceman and his magic box.

She will cut you

But the episode isn’t over yet! The Doctor gets a fun little epilogue in which he travels through time to the home of companion Amy Pond. If you recall the beginning of my write-up, I told you that Amy Pond currently believes the Doctor to be dead. I won’t spoil the ending to Season 6 with details, but that’s how it ended up. Yet here he is, knocking on her door one random Christmas Day about two years since the last time she saw him. She sort of knew he was still alive, but still he was out of her life pretty much permanently. She’s cross with him, and he’s too proud…but soon they break down and hug. And Amy’s husband Rory comes and hugs, since he was part of their adventure crew.

Amy and Rory tell the Doctor that they already have a place set for him for Christmas dinner. They weren’t expecting him, but then they always set a place for him just in case. The very thought of that puts a tear in his eye.

The Doctor is happy.

Tears of Frankensteiny happiness

Hooray Christmas episode! Full of heart and fun character moments, ‘The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe’ is a pretty good example of a solid Doctor Who episode. It’s not a typical episode, since it doesn’t involve the Doctor and his companions, but the Arwell family more than carries the slack. It’s fun watching the Doctor interact with new people, and Madge was utterly fantastic. Full of vim, vinegar and the ability to totally accept a time-traveling spaceman from beyond the stars. Plus Madge gets more than a few badass moments in this episode.

The Doctor, unfortunately, does not. In the end, the Doctor was little more than a guide in this episode, providing answers and explanations for the Arwell family. He didn’t save the day in the end, nor did he do anything particularly instrumental the happy ending. That was all Madge. The Doctor just sort of helped her to understand everything that was happening. Not that I need the Doctor to do everything, but it’s a little weird in hindsight that he’s not the one saving the day. Still, he more than makes up for the lack of action with witty one-liners and cheerfulness.

And the epilogue is rather touching. Though for my money, the real emotional moment came when Madge started remembering her past as they flew through the time stream. The pain and heartache of having to watch her husband die, coupled with the children finding out that he’s dead, was a pretty powerful moment. I didn’t tear up, but it was still damn good.

So a solid Doctor Who episode all around. Funny, smart and emotionally pleasing, with more than a little Christmas magic and a message about the importance of families. Definitely a great Christmas special. No wonder some people celebrate Christmas by watching a marathon of Doctor Who Chrismtas specials. They’re good TV.

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What did you all think of the episode? How does it stack up against the other Doctor Who Christmas specials? Tell me in the comments!