Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: A Christmas Carol

In the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special, the Doctor is faced with saving over four thousand passengers on board a space liner (of which Rory and Amy are on during their honeymoon), but a scrooge-like character stands in his way. So he time travels. And it’s awesome. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.

Of all the Christmas specials I’ve seen over the course of this project, “A Christmas Carol” might just be the most Christmas-y one yet. Every one so far seems loosely tied to the holiday, usually in setting and a few thematic elements. Like ash falling to the sky like snow. Totally Christmas-esque. But in hindsight, it now seems really glaring that the show never re-worked Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, given that the show had basically professed its love to him in the first series of the reboot. And really, given that this is a show about time travel, there is certainly no better device to deal with the past, the present, and the future.

I think in many respects, this Christmas special does not take the easy route, is routinely uncomfortable, and is a lot more serious than the five specials that preceded it. I am not ignoring the fact that we first see Rory and Amy dressed in rather familiar outfits in the cold open. I am merely stating that I was in no way distracted by the humor of the situation and then it was really weird thinking of them as a couple in that way and that if this show was super meta, Rory would probably be posting in role-playing communities online and that I definitely did not spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about this. Most certainly did not. No, sir. Right.

The risk is much more ominous and terrifying than in the original story, since Scrooge didn’t have to save over four thousand lives, but this Doctor Who adaptation doesn’t really stray far from the original. Well, at the start, at least. Kazran Sardick runs Sardicktown, a planet engulfed in an ice-and-water type cloud that the spaceship above is caught in. His father long ago discovered a way to control the “fish” that live in this cloud and use it for monetary gain. Thus, we are shown a man completely consumed by greed and selfishness, one who takes family members as collateral in order to give out loans to the impoverished members of Sardicktown. And that Kazran…he’s hyperbolic in his greed, as his character was meant to be. He denies the chance for a specific family member to be thawed for Christmas because Christmas is worthless. It’s just an “excuse to get something for nothing,” he tells them. And look, I personally don’t like Christmas because I don’t have the positive experiences in my past to give it the same meaning and connotation that a lot of other people in the United States may have, but… DUDE. THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT. THAT IS ONE GREAT REASON WHY IT IS AWESOME. SO MUCH FREE STUFF FOR JUST EXISTING. I mean, seriously, what is wrong with that.

Ah, that’s right. Dumbledore—er, Kazran was abused by his father, never encouraged to foster his creativity and imagination, and he’s grown up to believe that because he is on his own, all others should be, too. Which is sad. Did A Christmas Carol have this backstory? I haven’t read it in a long while and I don’t remember. Regardless, I actually liked this small conclusion, which is called into the story later on, because it’s a reason for a person being abusive that actually makes sense. Plus, it doesn’t feel exploitative like “Fear Her” did. (REFUSE TO DROP THAT GRUDGE BITE ME).

And then the Doctor arrives. Oh, glorious Doctor. Even though I watched this just one day after “The Big Bang,” I felt like I hadn’t seen him in so long. How is that even a rational thought. It had been like TWENTY FOUR HOURS. Oh fuck, how am I going to last until April 23? WHY WERE THERE TWELVE SERIES SO THAT I COULD STILL BE WATCHING MORE OF MATT SMITH AND KAREN GILLAN AND ARTHUR DAVRILL.

Ok, anyway, I swear I can stay on topic. The Doctor is a bit out of his element with Kazran, isn’t he? This is where Kazran’s absurd hyperbole is actually a wonderful dynamic for the episode, because the Doctor quickly realizes that Kazran is seriously committed to be a complete and total douchebag. He won’t activate the isomorphic controls to save the space liner simply because he doesn’t want to. Dude is way into this way of life. And that genuinely confuses the Doctor! If you think about it, it makes sense that the Doctor would be flabbergasted at the idea. All Kazran has to do is press a few buttons. He doesn’t lose money. It doesn’t harm him. He loses nothing at all and yet he still won’t do it at all.

This is where the show takes the original Dickens story and twists it to fit what can happen on Doctor Who. We heard, “The past can be rewritten” a lot during series five, and for the next forty minutes or so, we watch that happen to Kazran Sardick. The Doctor uses time travel to become Kazran’s Ghost of Christmas past and show him what made him become such a bitter man. When Kazran is resistant to change, even when being forced to rewatch his own father reject him, the Doctor is quick to make this episode REALLY WEIRD REALLY FAST. Because while the projection of Kazran’s past is still playing, the Doctor VISITS THE MEMORY. And by visiting the memory, the Doctor actually changes it. I mean…how eerie is that?

I’m glad that Moffat doesn’t ignore this, either. The Doctor ends up spending a whole lot of time in young Kazran’s past, changing the present Kazran’s memories. And I think it is inherently fucked up, in a way, though I do get that by altering this one man’s past, the Doctor can save FOUR THOUSAND PEOPLE. So he’s probably weighing the odds and Kazran Sardick might not be that worth ignoring. I GET THIS. So I appreciate that Moffat doesn’t ignore the ramifications of this. As we watch Kazran’s memories change and his present become altered as well (Abigail’s painting appearing was a great example), I became confused as to what the Doctor was doing with Kazran and Abigail. There are a couple conflicts presented here, the first which I did not understand until it was spelled out by Kazran: the dial on her freeze tank. I thought it was counting down to a moment when she could be set free but NO, MOFFAT CANNOT GIVE US SUCH JOY.

In that context, the Doctor was unknowingly creating a disaster, one that led directly to conflict #2: The Doctor could not change the present by (dramatically) changing the past. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this (“The Waters of Mars” comes to mind), but here, it seems all the more devastating because the Doctor’s actions have inherently shortened Abigail’s life. Actually…yeah, that’s pretty fucked up. Yes, he didn’t know, but it’s still fairly sad.

And I think this is where “A Christmas Carol” doesn’t take the easy route. The scenes of the Ghost Of Christmas Present (otherwise known to us as a projection of Amy Pond aboard the very ship that is crashing) represent a contrast of hope. Those aboard the space liner are singing, as the Doctor told them to, in the hope it may stabilize the ship. Of course this is absurd and their chances are slim-to-none. Kazran, on the other hand, has given up all hope that he’ll ever be able to be changed or “rewritten.” There’s no reason for him to save anyone aboard the crashing space liner and today is as good a day as any for them to die. Clearly, Kazran lives by the philosophy of Puppy Dogs and Unicorn Clouds.

In a moment, the Doctor’s plan is revealed. Knowing that his present self is not understanding the direness of the situation, the Doctor announces that he will show Kazran his future. Kazran, unsurprisingly, goads the Doctor into doing so, claiming he already knows he will die “cold, alone and afraid as we all do.” Which is one bleak statement to have on Doctor Who.

Oh, except the Doctor is showing Kazran his future already. Young Kazran took a little trip on the TARDIS and is watching the whole thing. And the cycle of abuse rears its head again, but after all he’s seen over the course of this night, Kazran relents.  It is resolved rather quickly, but it’s nice to see that the Doctor goes after what helped caused Kazran to turn out the way he did: Elliot Sardick. (Young Kazran actually believes his future self is his father.) Ironically, though, after having finally succeeded in changing Kazran Sardick, he actually changed the man’s brainwaves so much that the isomorphic controls no longer responds to his touch. Soooo….ok, I do have a limit to the amount of cheesy plot devices I can tolerate. My toleration is much higher for this show, but using Abigail’s last day to sing the ship to safety is just a tad too much for me. Only a bit, but it was just….awkward? Right? I think it was meant to feel redemptive and emotional and intense and I just sat one my couch and wished someone else was watching this with me so I wouldn’t feel so weird on the inside.

But that’s really my only major complaint. This was an entertaining and interesting re-imagining of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, done in a way that only Doctor Who could do. BRAVO.

THOUGHTS

• Ok, so I couldn’t figure out who played Kazran/Elliot for the first five or ten minutes of the show, and then Elliot showed up and yelled something and my brain instantly went to HARRY POTTA DID YA PUT YER NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAH and then it was really obvious. Also, MICHAEL GAMBON RULES.
• Sky fish. I love this show.
• I wish the Doctor had been my baby sitter. :: tears ::
• THE DOCTOR GOT ENGAGED TO MARILYN MONROE. LOL.
• So is this the second special/episode that deals with making it snow at the end?
• THE DOCTOR MADE A SNOWMAN!!!!
• “Sorry, Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, ‘What the hell?’ Don’t worry; fat fellow will be doing the rounds later, I’m just scoping out the general chimney-ness.”
• “It’s got my name written all over it. Well, not actually., but give me time. And a crayon.”
• I loved the scenes of the Doctor playing cards with Eric.
• “I’ve never kissed anyone before—what do I do?” “Well, try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky.” “Why?” “Because you’re going to be like that, anyway. You might as well make it part of the plan, then it will feel on purpose, off you go then.” “Now? I kiss her now?” “Kazran, trust me, it’s this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don’t make my mistakes. Now go.”
• “Got any more honeymoon ideas? “Well, there’s a moon that’s made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey, and it’s not actually a moon, and technically it’s alive and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views.”
• Ok, so, last full episode of sorts of Doctor Who is this. Here’s how this is going to work. Tomorrow, I start my new project for Mark Watches. Doctor Who airs on Saturdays, starting April 23, so I am going to set aside the Monday following each new episode to be the day I do Doctor Who. We will be doing a liveblog of Doctor Who: The Movie on Saturday, April 9^th, at 11am PST. (2pm EST and 7pm in the UK) because I have to see this beautiful atrocity, and then the review will go up on Monday, April 11. I’m posting this today (and earlier than usual) so those with Netflix can send out their discs ASAP to get the movie by Saturday. THEN IT WILL BE PARTY TIME.
• I LOVE YOU, DOCTOR WHO.