Specials, Episode 1 | 1 part | First broadcast: 25 December 2010 | Writer: Steven Moffat | Director: Toby Haynes
Cast
- Matt Smith as the Doctor
- Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
- Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams
- Michael Gambon as Kazran Sardick
- Katherine Jenkins as Abigail
Summary
With a crashing spaceliner carrying Amy and Rory unable to land safely through a cloud belt controlled by a miserly old man named Kazran Sardick, the Doctor takes a leaf from Dickens and travels back through Kazran’s own past to change the bitter man he became. Rewriting Kazran’s childhood memories one Christmas Eve at a time, the Doctor entwines his fate with a beautiful young woman named Abigail, hoping to soften a heart hardened by isolation and cruelty before it’s too late to save the ship.
Interesting Facts
- The story is explicitly modelled on Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” with the Doctor taking on a role akin to the visiting spirits.
- Michael Gambon’s dual performance as the young and old Kazran anchors the episode’s emotional core across decades of the character’s life.
- Opera singer Katherine Jenkins made her acting debut in the role of Abigail, also performing an original song within the episode.
- This was the first Doctor Who Christmas special to premiere simultaneously in the UK and the US.
No Responses