Last Christmas (TV story)

Last Christmas was the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special. It was the 813th episode of the series, as well as being the show's tenth Christmas special since its revival. It was the first full Christmas special with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. It guest-starred Nick Frost as a dream manifestation of Santa Claus, previously seen at the end of Death in Heaven as a lead-in to this story.

Casting-wise, it was notable for featuring the first on-screen Doctor Who 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
The Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas. Trapped on an Arctic base and under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus!

Plot
On a frosty night before Christmas, Clara Oswald awakens to the sound of an object crashing on her rooftop. Putting on her dressing gown, she leaves her room to investigate and discovers Santa Claus, his elves Ian and Wolf, reindeer and sleigh upon her roof, having crashed after an accident. Ian quickly informs Santa that they've been sighted. They weakly attempt to pass themselves off as ordinary people, but after Clara sees the reindeer flying loose in the sky, they reveal their true identities. Clara tries to deny his existence as a fairytale. Santa questions if she still believes in fairy-tales, as the Doctor's TARDIS begins to materialise on the rooftop. The Doctor emerges, and tells the stunned Clara to remain absolutely silent and go into the TARDIS right away. She obeys. The Doctor leans in close to Santa and states that he knows what is going on, and what is at stake. Santas questions if he truly does, and tells him that before the night is through, the Doctor will be glad for Santa's help. The Doctor departs by wishing Santa a "Happy Easter", and tells him that no-one likes his tangerines. Inside the TARDIS, Clara comments on how much she had missed it, as the Doctor takes off. He tells Clara that she should trust nothing and be critical towards everything, concluding that the most important question is if she truly believes in Santa Claus. She answers that right now, she does.

At a base in the North Pole, a group of scientists are tracking Shona as she enters an infirmary. One of the scientists called Ashley tells Shona not to think about "them" and to concentrate on something else. She enters the infirmary, and begins dancing to Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody" which appears to take her mind off the victims. She reaches the end of the infirmary, by which point the Doctor and Clara appear. As Clara wonders what's happened to the victims, they wake up and begin moving. Shona warns them not to think about what they can see, and the Doctor deduces that the creatures attached to the victim's faces are both deaf and blind, but they use telepathy to keep a constant image of themselves in someone's memory, allowing them to 'see'. As the victims close in, the scientists appear with guns ready to attack, and then several crab-like creatures appear from the ceiling and attack the group. They're then seemingly saved by Santa, who is able to send the victims back to bed. He then brings in a captured creature, which the Doctor recognises as a Kantrofarri or "dream crab".

The Doctor asked Ashley to show him CCTV footage of the other crew members arriving on the base. The footage shows the four crew members discovering the creatures, buried in the snow. The footage then shows one of the creatures coming down from the ceiling, which sends the camera static. The Doctor explains that when a dream crab attacks someone, it places them into a telepathically induced dream state. Whilst the victim is 'dreaming', the crab drills into the victim's head and eats away at their brain. And that if you are thinking about a dream crab, a dream crab is most likely coming for you. Clara goes to check on the captured crab, only to find it missing from the container. It appears and begins to stalk her, at which point Clara tries to distract herself by first thinking of maths equations and then of Danny. This however doesn't work and the crab attacks her, putting her into a dream state. She awakens in her dream state, and is surprised to find herself at her house on Christmas day - with a very-much-alive Danny. The Doctor and the group arrive at Clara's side, where the Doctor tries to work out a way to remove the crab without killing Clara. Ashley states that the only way to remove the crab would be to kill Clara. He refuses to do so, and instead allows himself to become attacked, so he can join Clara in her dream. Inside her dream, the Doctor urges Clara to believe that it's all just a dream, so they can wake up. She doesn't believe the Doctor, but after a final farewell from Danny, Clara believes that it's a dream and they wake up.

Despite waking up, Clara complains of a pain on the right side of her head. Shona compares it to the "ice cream pain" and confirms she has the same pain. The Doctor then works out that they are in fact still in a dream, having been attacked when they arrived. With some help from Santa - who is revealed to be a manifestion of everyone's brains telling them something is wrong - the group are able to wake up. The Doctor and Clara then leave, only for Clara to note that they both saw Santa on her rooftop, meaning that they're still dreaming - from different times and places. The Doctor and Clara return to the base where the Doctor questions the scientists on why they only have four base manuals for a crew of eight people. They then come to the realisation that the victims are really themselves, or rather dream constructs of what's coming to kill them. The victims awaken and transport themselves through the CCTV, killing Albert in the process. The group travel outside and try to work out a way to escape, of which the Doctor suggests using the TARDIS to escape. Clara notes that it isn't the real TARDIS, and as they head towards the TARDIS, dream constructs of the Doctor and Clara appear. The Doctor tells everybody to use their imagination to get themselves home, and so they all dream of Santa, who appears in his sleigh and rescues the group.

Having been rescued by Santa, the memories of the group's real lives start coming back to them, meaning that they're waking up in the real world. Shona suggests that they exchange phone numbers so they can meet up once they awaken, but the Doctor states that it's unlikely that they're remember anything that's happened in the dream. One by one, everyone expect Clara awakens, who wants to stay in the dream world forever. The Doctor travels to Clara's house and is successful in removing the crab from her face with his sonic screwdriver, but finds that she is much older than when he last left her. 62 years have passed for her since they said goodbye in the coffee shop after Danny's death. The Doctor apologizes to Clara for not returning for her sooner, but then Santa appears, revealing this to be yet another crab-induced dream. The Doctor awakens for real this time and he travels to Clara's house and removes the crab from her face again. Realising what could have been, the Doctor invites Clara to resume her travels in the TARDIS with him. She happily agrees and he whisks her away. Meanwhile, a tangerine sits on the window sill, and there is the faint sound of sleigh bells...

Cast

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

Story notes

 * This episode saw a one-off modification to the title sequence. The clock faces the TARDIS flies through are blue and icy, and the TARDIS is covered in snow, which both dissipate. The names of the lead actors dissolve into snowy particles, and the subsequent time vortex has flying snowflakes.
 * For the first time for this title sequence, more than two people are credited. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman's names appear normally, then Nick Frost's name appears between the Doctor Who logo and the episode title credit.
 * This is the second episode in a row to feature a notable modification, the first being Death in Heaven, where Jenna Coleman was credited before Peter Capaldi and her eyes were shown instead of his.
 * This is the third consecutive Christmas special to feature Dan Starkey. He had previously appeared in his recurring Sontaran role, Strax, in The Snowmen, then as both Commander Skarr and his unnamed subordinate in The Time of the Doctor.
 * This is also the third consecutive Christmas special to feature Jenna Coleman. She previously appeared as a version of Clara Oswald in The Snowmen, then as the original character in The Time of the Doctor and Last Christmas. Clara is the first companion to appear in three consecutive Christmas specials.
 * According to "series insiders" quoted in the British press, Jenna Coleman had initially planned to leave the series in this episode, but had a late "change of heart" and agreed to stay on for the first half of the new series (other reports, however, have said she's staying for the full series). This meant that the scripts had to be rewritten to keep Clara.
 * To keep the appearance of Danny Pink a surprise, Samuel Anderson was uncredited in Radio Times and on the BBC website.

Ratings
9.63 million (overnight)

Production errors

 * When dream crab-possessed people open their "mouths", the faces of the mannequins used to represent them in those shots are clearly visible, particularly the noses.

Continuity

 * This is the second time the Doctor has an adventure which is almost entirely a dream. Similarly, the Dream Lord manifested in a dream due to psychic pollen. He taunted the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams to try to distinguish between dreams and reality. (TV: Amy's Choice)
 * By the end of the episode, it becomes clear that the mid-credits sequence in which Santa barges into the TARDIS to ask what the Doctor wants for Christmas in TV: Death in Heaven is happening after he was first attacked by the dream crab.
 * The Doctor is likened to a magician because of his appearance. He previously noted this about himself. (TV: Time Heist)
 * Both Clara and the Doctor reveal that they previously lied to each other to stop the other from worrying. (TV: Death in Heaven)
 * Clara lets it slip that Danny Pink is still dead, something she'd withheld from the Doctor. Danny appears in a crab-induced dream later, in a Santa suit and slightly taller.
 * The Doctor admits that he didn't find Gallifrey.
 * The Doctor, in Clara's dream, tells Clara that Danny died saving the world, but Danny says that he died saving Clara. (TV: Death in Heaven)
 * During the dream, the Doctor helps an elderly Clara pull a cracker. Clara had previously done the same for the elderly Eleventh Doctor, (TV: The Time of the Doctor) and the Tenth Doctor pulled one with Rose Tyler in TV: The Christmas Invasion. For some reason, however, the Twelfth Doctor seems to have forgotten about this human custom.
 * A nightie-clad Clara leaves in the TARDIS in the dead of night. Amy Pond's travels with the Doctor began in similar fashion. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
 * Clara is wearing a nightie for the entire episode. Amy wore one (without a dressing-gown on top, though) in her first trip in the TARDIS. (TV: The Beast Below)
 * The Doctor has Clara concentrate on doing sums to distract her from the crabs, something she later does again when trying to avoid the escaped crab in the lab. The Third Doctor used the same technique - albeit with simpler sums - to force Jo Grant to focus on something except the brainstorm being experienced by Axos. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
 * Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which Shona is listening and dancing to in order to distract herself from the crabs, was playing in the garage where Mickey worked when the newly-regenerated Tenth Doctor crashed into the Powell Estate. (TV: The Christmas Invasion) It was also playing at Donna Noble's first wedding reception (TV: The Runaway Bride) and was later on the radio. (TV: Turn Left, The Power of Three)
 * When the Doctor gains himself access to Clara's dream and meets Danny, the Doctor greets him "Merry Christmas, PE." He had previously mockingly called Danny "PE". (TV: The Caretaker et.al.)
 * When the Doctor questions how Santa can have all those presents in his bag, Santa claims that it's "bigger on the inside", to the Doctor's annoyance. (TV: An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who, Rose'' et.al.)
 * Clara hugs the Doctor, which annoys him. The Doctor previously told her that this self doesn't like hugging. (TV: Deep Breath, Listen, Death in Heaven) He doesn't seem to like joining hands, either.
 * In Clara's Christmas Day-dream, while standing in the hallway, she becomes suspicious about something not being right and sees blackboards all over the hallway telling her that she's dying. Previously the Doctor used chalk and blackboards to write notes in his TARDIS. (TV: Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, Robot of Sherwood, Listen)
 * Santa was able to tell the Dream-infected people to get back in their beds, telling them it was Christmas Eve and they should go early to bed. The Ninth Doctor was previously able to tell all the Empty-people to go to bed by acting as their requested "Mummy" and grounding them. (TV: The Doctor Dances)
 * When Rudolph acts up Santa uses a remote key to "park" him, which calms him down and turns his red nose off. The Tenth Doctor previously used his TARDIS key to lock his TARDIS like a car. (TV: The End of Time) Vastra also locked her carriage in a similar fashion with a device kept on her hat. (TV: Deep Breath)
 * The Doctor states that all the people affected by the dream crabs could very well be from different times and places, as time travel is possible within dreams. Madame Vastra once told Clara something similar when explaining the psychic conference call. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)
 * The First Doctor previously met Santa Claus (COMIC: A Christmas Story), though it was later insinuated that the encounter was all in his head. (COMIC: The Land of Happy Endings) The Second Doctor also prevented him from inadvertently tearing the fabric of space. (PROSE: The Man Who (Nearly) Killed Christmas) The Ninth Doctor cryptically implied to Rose Tyler that he might himself be Father Christmas. (TV: The Doctor Dances) The Eleventh Doctor showed a child in Sardicktown a photograph of himself with Santa Claus and Albert Einstein, and claimed that Santa's real name was Jeff. (TV: A Christmas Carol)

DVD releases
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