I think it's clear by now that the Doctor Who Christmas Specials work best when they have a purpose, and they're not trying to just be 'Specials'. Easily the best of the bunch have been 2005's The Christmas Invasion, introducing David Tennant as The Doctor, 2010's The End of Time 2-parter, seeing out David Tennant's Doctor, and now 2012's The Snowmen introducing, or continuing to introduce, the mystery that is new companion Clara Oswin Oswald - played wonderfully by Jenna-Louise Coleman.
Despite her appearance in the brilliant Season 7 opener Asylum of The Daleks this is very much a jumping-on point for the series, post-Ponds. We have a new theme arrangement, new titles, new Doctor costume and new TARDIS interior.
- New theme: fine, but I do miss the powerful diddly-dum because it's not all about the woo-oos.
- New titles: wow! There's a hell of a lot going on there, including (at last!) the Doctor's face appearing briefly. The final section is very reminiscent of the split-screen effect diamond-shaped time tunnel used in the latter Jon Pertwee and the Tom Baker titles. Nice!
- New Doctor costume: another tick for me. I always preferred a longer coat on The Doctor. Again, there's much detail and hidden layers - much like the Time Lord himself I guess.
- New TARDIS interior: Yes, I like this - but then I haven't yet seen one that I didn't really like at all (even the washing up bowl walls used for The Time Monster). My only grumble is probably a standard fanboy niggle: there aren't enough roundels! Just the one line around the walls, not all over the place like they used to be. But it's an interesting design, a bit more regimented than recent efforts, with visible edges and corners, and maintaining the different height levels gives flexibility. It also looks more functional and user-friendly - particularly more so than the Eccleston / Tennant 'coral' version with its ethereal fish tank lighting.
So, the episode itself: it's difficult to say too much really because I really enjoyed it and there's a tendency to gush and be over-enthusiastic to the point of sycophancy. So I'll be brief and only touch on those aspects that really stood out.
The episode had a level of style and visual quality that we've come to expect from recent episodes. Saul Metzstein has already proven himself to be a stand-out director within the current bunch.
Commander Strax, Madame Vastra & Jenny have appeared before but were served much better this time than in A Good Man Goes To War (2011). The humour from Strax is wonderful because it comes directly from his character, and isn't forced. Could this weird triumvirate be the next spin-off now Torchwood has disappeared up its own hell-hole? They certainly look great in Victorian garb.
Richard E. Grant spent a bit too long talking through his teeth for my liking, but he was still generally good value and Ian McKellen was excellent as the disembodied voice of the Great Intelligence, a Classic villain returning after 44 years. It's pleasing that in our high-tech world something that is only a large globe with some plastic snow blowing around in it can be so effective as a visual embodiment of 'evil'; very Jules Verne, I thought.
Having avoided the spoilers it was great fun working out that it was actually the Great Intelligence behind it all - although the episode title becomes an obvious feed once you know (for the uninitiated the original Intelligence story was called The Abominable Snowmen). I particularly enjoyed the scene where Grant became an animated cadaver; such staples of horror are always memorable and his frozen face added to the effect immensely.
The Snowmen monsters themselves were fun, however I think they would have looked scarier with no teeth, just a gaping maw - I felt this when I forst saw the pre-publicity images. But then the show has quite recently done the whole empty mouth effect with the Silents so I can understand them not wanting to go down that road again.
Matt Smith was once again on fire in this episode. Frankly I wasn't that impressed with the prequel shown back in November - it didn't whet my appetite and I wasn't moved by the moody Doctor at all. In the episode proper, though, Smith quickly got out of his funk and gave the usual tour de force - particularly when dressed as Sherlock Holmes and in all of his scenes opposite Richard E. Grant.
Jenna-Louise Coleman stole the show though. There was so much going on in her performance, she was incredibly watchable - full of fun, energy and sparkle. It's no wonder she so easily pulled the Doctor out of his 'retirement'. Her confidence and ability was never more prominent than in the 'one word' scene with Madame Vastra & Jenny. A gorgeously written and perfectly played set-piece where the power shifts wonderfully from Vastra to Clara as the conversation progresses. And yes, the final word 'Pond' was loaded and worked on various levels. But at least any Amy and Rory memories this may have engendered were left to the audience to fill in themselves (should they choose) without the kind of laboured soul-searching that would accompany 10th Doctor memories of Rose, for example.
And amongst all this there's a further mystery for us fans: why didn't / couldn't the Doctor quite remember the Great Intelligence? It was mentioned and almost thrown away towards the end, but this eagle-eared viewer spotted it straight away. Is this a seed for a forthcoming story arc? Tennant's Doctor had no trouble remembering the Macra back in Season 3 and they're contemporaneous with the Yeti and the Great Intelligence. Tricky. Is this another of Moffatt's little games?
Some people have observed that the ending was a bit rushed, or convenient. That's very symptomatic of the series as a whole since its return, and sometimes (as in The Fires of Pompeii) it bugs me but here it didn't seem out of place or sudden.
What was impressive about the ending, though, was the way it set up the mystery for the remainder of this series (and beyond..?) about who or what these Clara / Oswin characters are and how or why they're relating to the Doctor. I'm rather excited about the whole thing - so roll on the Spring!
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