The Matt Smith Review: Part 11 - A Christmas Carol

What We First Thought : That was ok. Going to switch over now, before Eastenders comes on. I don’t want to be depressed at Christmas. I feared the worst when I heard that Steven Moffat was using a story written by a former Doctor Who star as ‘inspiration’. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is re-imagined on stage, TV and film every single year, so there must be something in it that makes it appealing to generations of audiences. But this is Doctor Who and when Doctor Who tries to ‘do’ popular culture, it can sometimes fall into farce. Thankfully the episode, shockingly called ‘ A Christmas Carol ’, is pretty decent as it’s The Doctor that uses Dickens’ story as inspiration, not Moffat completely ripping it off! Set on a planet whose skies are controlled by the Scrooge-like figure of Kazran Sardick (played by Michael Gambon), The Doctor appears and appeals for him to clear the clouds to let a crashing spaceship land safely. It so happens tha...