Last Christmas (TV story)

 was the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special. It was the 813th episode of the series and the first full Christmas special with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. It brought back Nick Frost as Santa Claus, who was last seen at the end of Death in Heaven.

Casting-wise, it was notable for featuring the first on-screen appearance of Michael Troughton, son of Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton. It also allowed recurring actor Dan Starkey, best known for portraying various Sontaran characters, to appear with minimal make-up as an elf.

The Christmas special saw the return of Danny Pink, Clara Oswald's boyfriend and former Coal Hill School Maths teacher — albeit only in Clara's dream state.

Synopsis
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Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Santa Claus - Nick Frost
 * Professor Albert Smithe - Michael Troughton
 * Shona McCullough - Faye Marsay
 * Ashley Carter - Natalie Gumede
 * Wolf - Nathan McMullen
 * Fiona Bellows - Maureen Beattie
 * Ian - Dan Starkey
 * Danny Pink - Samuel Anderson

Crew
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Story notes

 * This is the third consecutive Christmas special to feature Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, with this number making her the companion actor with the most appearances on Christmas. Catherine Tate, Bernard Cribbins, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are the only other companion actors to have appeared in more than one Christmas special. Although, Gillan's cameo in The Time of the Doctor as a hallucination of former companion, Amy Pond, could arguably be called a third appearance, albeit not a full one.
 * This is also the third consecutive Christmas special to feature Dan Starkey. He had previously appeared in his recurring Sontaran role, Strax, in TV: The Snowmen, then as Commander Skarr and his unnamed subordinate in The Time of the Doctor.
 * Jenna Coleman allegedly had a "change of heart" on whether she wanted to stay on Doctor Who and is going to appear in the ninth series. This change required the Christmas special to be rewritten; "When it came to Clara, they had to tear them up and start again," the source said. "In the original draft of the script, she became an old woman who then died with the Doctor at her side. But after they were rewritten, she will now be seen returning to the Tardis, hand in hand with the Doctor." That source said she would appear in the first half of the series, however a newer source confirm her for the full series 9.
 * The announcement 'The Doctor and Clara will return in - The Magician's Apprentice' appears at the end of this episode. The title of the series 9 premiere was confirmed by Steven Moffat a week prior to this special's broadcast. Shona likened the Doctor to a magician several times during the episode, and Santa made a passing mention of the very same nature.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor is likened to a magician because of his appearance. He previously noted this about himself in TV: Time Heist.

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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