Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

studioAT Steven Moffatt delivers a typically festive and timey wimey Christmas special that asks us all to question when we are actually dreaming, and how well we really know Father Christmas.Peter Capaldi seems to have now settled firmly into his role as Doctor number 12, and there are some lovely moments throughout this episode. It took me a while to warm to Nick Frost as Father Christmas (and quite what kids thought of his interpretation would be interesting to know), but in the end it won me over.There are some hangovers in terms of plot from the last series, which for casual viewers will be confusing, but for the most part its easy enough viewing.Full of drama and heart this was a good festive outing for The Doctor and Clara.

Voyou Nobodysbusiness If, like me, you don't like the pre-titles scene, do not switch off your TV. It turned out to be the only part I didn't enjoy. In fact, the next scene immediately turns into excellence, and the following story, if not exactly new, is told in perfect Dr Who fashion.The Doctor and a group of scientists face a creature straight out of Mr Moffat's bestiary, one which comes alive when you think about it. Or so it seems. The reality is more complicated, but not so complicated that you'll be lost in it. This episode doesn't so much try to manipulate you, as it makes you enjoy being knowingly manipulated. To many, this might remind of the movie Inception, which is likely one source of inspiration. To me, it goes much earlier than that, as it plunged me back into countless RPG sessions in the Call of Cthulhu oneiric universe. Me happy.There's plenty of mystery, spooks and laughs in here. There's subtext as well, for others to analyse. Plenty of emotions, done well this time: they fix what didn't work for me in the season's finale (or earlier). And this episode has a simply superb ending, so much so that I decided to skip fridge logic time and stay in the dream as much as I can.

mcguin71 Yes it was cheesy but thankfully never ridiculous or worse still outright stupid. Essentially it was what a Doctor Who Christmas special episode should be, and a far cry from the cartoonist plots and scenes that I felt dragged down much of the Tennant era, and threatened the enjoyment of Matt Smiths version - although he at least seemed to carry off the 'Scooby-Doo- esque' comedy much more naturally. Peter Capaldi finishes his first season with head held high.Peter Capaldi's one flaw is he sometimes comes across as too dour, but fortunately his acting prowess overcomes the urge to shout at the TV regarding his attitude - although its close at times. I had expected the lifting of some of the burden following the 'Day of the Doctor' episode but again he spends too long seeking the negatives - but I don't blame the actor alone, he only interprets the scripts...thank goodness for Jenna Colemans down to earth and generally positive Claro Oswald. Another fine set of acting.Nick Frost as was also good as Santa Claus, however he would have come to naught without his wisecracking Elf's who probably had the best moments and lines. Maybe not overly funny throughout, and certainly questionable as to whether it was full of Christmas spirit, I am at least glad to say what true humour there was did hit the mark - and so did the downers.It's already been said the episode feels like a combination of the Alien and Inception and I don't doubt these subconsciously played a part somewhere in its writing, and for the majority of the viewing it worked well - right up until the last twists and turns which I at least felt was almost too easy to figure out in advance. Sorry Doctor you lose a star for signposting once too often!So overall not a bad effort, and I feel Dr Who has bounced back well after going through a 'not essential viewing, I'll wait for the repeat' phase. Once again I automatically set the EPG for it above other programmes rather than umming and arr'ing...Now please Mr/Mrs writers...just lift The Doctors spirits a little and be kind to is poor folk who looks to smile occasionally without having to take a happy pill! (Another -1 star for too much annoyingly negativity)

Scott Baldwin (Meven_Stoffat) I'll admit my expectations weren't particularly high for this episode; I enjoyed Season 8 a good deal but have always been rather iffy on the Christmas specials, and was not particularly knocked over by last year's Time of the Doctor rubbish. So the whole day I was worried as to what Moffat could possibly dream up this time for the episode. Sure, a bad special is never enough to ruin a whole Christmas for me but even then, after being not so thrilled by some of the promotional materials, one of which included a scene of Santa car- locking Rudolph the Reindeer, and Clara waking up to find Santa and his elves on her rooftop. For a while I got bad flashbacks of that The Doctor, The Widow and The Painful Childishness, so I sat down to watch this trying not to feel that same pain. As a result, my low expectations were not only met but greatly exceeded. Sure, we did start off with that rather unsavoury opening but from there on, as the episode unfolded it quickly became more involving and engagingIt's a pretty simple plot- on paper. The Doctor and Clara are whisked away to an arctic base and are faced with a threat of deadly aliens that much resemble the Facehuggers from "Alien". But there's a twist. The aliens put their victims to sleep and use their subconscious to keep them trapped there to kill them. Clara finds this out the hard way when she gets attacked by one. But when she wakes up, things suddenly get a lot more tangled and hard to distinguish. The very problem is that concept would be, on paper, very easy to mess up and make all timey-wimey, but thankfully this isn't the case; it's very easy to follow constantly shocking. Moffat mixes influences from Inception and 1980s horror flicks such as Alien and The Thing. The creatures themselves are absolutely terrifying and well done; Nick Frost's performance as Santa Claus is fantastic and though he isn't in the episode long, he does a killer job. But in particular the last 20 minutes are gripping and intense, ws The Doctor and the crew race to get themselves out of the dreamOf course there are a few things that prevent it from being perfect- for one, the Danny Pink dream sequence does feel a bit unnecessary and shoehorned in to pander to the fangirls. Also, who on earth is paid to do the aging effects? While not quite as bad as Time of the Doctor's awful aging effects that made J. Edgar's aging effects look tame by comparison, old!Clara still absolutely was cringe-worthy and at times you could even see Jenna's real skin poking through But thankfully these flaws were very minor and few and in between, and weren't in many shape or form enough to ruin what was a very solid and fun Christmas special. This Christmas special was, for the most part, a success, and I had lots of fun watching it, and thankfully I won't feel embarrassed to recommend it tomorrow at work. It was the perfect way to wind down a very fantastic Christmas and I am greatly looking forward to re- watching it when it hits blu-ray. Now if you excuse me, I'm off to have a tangerine