As we all writhe with excruciating anticipation for Dec 25 and the airing of the Fifteenth Doctor's Christmas Special, it seems not only appropriate but imperative to take a look back at some well-loved gems from previous regenerations. I mean after all, it would be very Kazran of me not to.
Beginning with the Tenth Doctor and up to and including the one we are looking forward to more than a visit from the Big Guy in red and his eight tiny reindeer, there have been 15 Doctor Who Christmas Specials. These are episodes of the show that take place during Christmas but may not necessarily always have a Christmas theme ala Die Hard and aired on Dec 25 on the BBC.
Technically it could be said there are 16 but I am counting "The End of Time" parts one and two as one entity, and it has Wilf. When I say I cried for an hour... But I digress and those episodes aren't even on the list!
Dry your eyes soldier, Wilf wouldn't want us to be maudlin. It's Christmas after all, and so in no particular order, here's a few favorite episodes of some prime television that is scientifically proven to improve your mental health. Or at least that's what Professor of Biostatistics Richard D. Riley thinks, and I am fairly inclined to agree, but more on that later.
"The Runaway Bride"
Our introduction to Donna Noble, the icon, the moment, and the queen happens right here in "The Runaway Bride", and it is glorious. Airing on Dec 25 2006, this Christmas Special written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Euros Lyn is hilarious. I don't even mind the spiders, it's just that good and it establishes the chemistry that David Tennant and Catherine Tate showcase in later episodes as Doctor and Companion.
What's also awesome about this particular episode is if you watch "Turn Left" later in the series you see the alternate ending that happens if they had never met. Extra points for doing the entire thing in a wedding dress, Julia Roberts, eat your heart out.
"The Next Doctor"
Airing on Dec 25, 2008, "The Next Doctor" was written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Andy Goddard. During a solo trip in the TARDIS, the Tenth Doctor lands in Victorian London and bumps into himself. Or does he?
The interplay between Tennant and Morrissey is light-hearted and witty, but the underlying tones as Doctor 1 discovers the truth about Doctor 2 are poignant and you can't help but feel for them both. Oh! and we can't forget about the Cyberman invasion (Don't these metal heads ever give up?) and the beautiful and villainous Miss Hartigan. Extra points for Rosita and Doctor 2's personal TARDIS. We all float here David.
"A Christmas Carol"
Speaking of Kazran, 2008's offering "A Christmas Carol" could only be better if it had the Muppets in it. Flying fish, a beautiful frozen woman, a hopeless love story, and Amy and Rory's HONEYMOON?? I swoon, I swoon. This gorgeous episode was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes. Extra points for Abigail's song and the Doctor getting married to Marilyn Monroe.
"The Time of the Doctor"
Airing Dec 25, 2013, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Jamie Payne. By Grathbar's hammer, "The Time of the Doctor" messed me all the way up. There is something about seeing a timeless Time Lord get incredibly old that just shatters your soul. And he gets old because he is protecting the town of Christmas on Trenzalore (Don't go to Trenzalore).
He refuses to leave these people to their doom and spends hundreds of years protecting them knowing he himself will die. My heart! By all the saints in all the heavens, I lied, this may be number one.
Extra points, not that it needs them, for Clara flying through time and space clinging to the outside of the TARDIS like a spider monkey, the Weeping Angels in the snow, and the subtle innuendo between the Doctor and Tasha Lem.
"Last Christmas"
Well well well, would you look at that: face-hugging monsters on Christmas Day, and Nick Frost as St. Nick. To quote Chandler Bing "Could it be any better?" Yes, it can! The dream-not dream sequences in this episode are wild and let's be honest, relatable. I know I'm not the only one who has dreamed she got up and went to work only to wake up again.
Airing on Dec 25, 2014, "Last Christmas", written by Steven Moffat and directed by Paul Wilmshurst, takes Clara and the Twelfth Doctor to a strange planet where your dreams can literally kill you - and this time Santa is the hero!
He doesn't actually try to eliminate you, it's the alien-monkey-thingies that you have to watch out for, if you're awake to watch out for them that is. 1000 extra points for the cracker scene with the Doctor and old Clara because it's a throwback to "The Time of the Doctor" and it's so dang beautiful.
Christmas specials and mental health
Now! About our mental health, studies have shown that watching the Doctor Who Christmas Specials and festive shows like them have actually lowered mortality rates. Don't believe me? Listen to someone much smarter than me then.
Biostatistics Professor Richard D. Riley writes in a BMJ journal that since 1963, during festive times of the year, mortality rates dropped by a small margin in England, Wales, and the UK when shows like Doctor Who have special episodes.
I mean it makes sense, I know they make me happy and they are always hopeful, even if they have tense elements. Because he is the Doctor after all, and in addition to always being kind and never cruel, he never gives up hope and never ever at Christmas. So have an apple, watch a Who, and take care of yourselves everyone, and have a Happy Christmas.