I've got to say that I'm amazed how well this episode seems to have been received, unfortunately for me it was the worst episode of Doctor Who since its return.

I'm not a Moff hater and I think that the performances given by Peter Capaldi has been amazing but I just want to watch a good adventure story. Not a tired love story between the companion and her dead boyfriend.

I think that the BBC are possibly trying to create a series that is based more along the lines of a U.S. series for sales purposes but are missing the point that it doesn't really work. Doctor Who has been running for 51 years because the format essentially stays the same and works. There are enough soap operas on TV and I choose not to watch them, unfortunately if series 9 continues in this vein then I will no longer be watching.

I liked it, but it seemed far to similar to the much better Dream Lord episode. So good but not excellent.


I think I'm also struggling to get over my disappointment that it wasn't set during the Christmas Truce, with Thomas Brodie Salinger reprising his role from Family of Blood.

On broadcast I gave up 20 minutes in as I couldn't follow a word. The usual sound problems on our (otherwise superb) TV and the only thing we have ever had problems with (movie BluRays do need to be louder for the cinema mastering but Doctor Who is unwatchable - I'm sure I could get it working after half an hour in the settings, but then we'd miss half the show).

Dad turned off well before the end.

On my (now usual) iPlayer watch after the fact:

- Thought Frost was a terrible 'Santa' (not in acting terms, just in casting - seems I'm in the minority here).

- The direction was pretty dire at times.

- Bit concerned at the 'devil's horn' hand signal Capaldi's Doctor uses so often. Yes Moffat/Peter we get that you're probably well into the occult like Gaiman et al, no need to make it so screamingly obvious every single bawldy episode.

- THAT theme is still the worst ever imho and needs changing for series nine. Now we have the 'true' Capaldi perhaps we can finally get back to a 60s/70s minimalistic rendition.

All that said, as derivative as it may have been (I don't watch much other TV as others here do), and problems with 'Santa' and direction apart, I thought on the whole it was superb, and the type of Who I love (e.g.s The Dreamlord, and yes - Logopolis).

Christmas episodes are usually rubbish imo (A Christmas Carol was very promising but unfortunately totally collapsed under the weight of its paradoxical garbage, while the tone was spot on for me) but this was super despite the flaws.

I'd vote 'excellent' apart from the fact 100% of us (a sample of two!) gave up well before the end on broadcast - that's not good enough.

So a point knocked off for me, but the best one since Christmas Invasion

Looks to be life in the old Moff yet!!!



Clara could have been 'under the influence' for just a short while (after all she talked of her busy life experiences) and the Doctor just got things wrong.

But, as E_F says, it was all just a dream so things get 'lopsided'!

That orange tangerine is a bit of a mind-granade,acting like an explosive!
The writing the series has been surreal and fascinating at times.
"The long story" that is Doctor Who....and now with so much world wide appeal.
Interesting, isnt it, transcending national boundaries?

The only other show with similar impact across time and space was Patrick McGoohan's"The Prisoner", also created in the psychedelic 60's. That has cult status now.

"Doctor Who" and "The Prisoner" have universal appeal.

Also, loved the Shona dance. What is this thing with dance this series. It was there with Missy too when she did a sort of Moriarty twirl,as in "Sherlock"....and the Doctors dance.
"...and Ill lead you all in the dance,said he"...ha!

I love this new dark doctor because he brings a sense of comedy and tragedy together...and that hurts because he is neither one thing nor the other.

I found it rather boring tbh. I've stuck with dr who this year, even though I've not been impressed with the last series, but this may have tipped me over the edge. It comes to something when a programme knows it is copying ideas and then references the source material in the narrative! That, and the dodgy cgi, and a sleigh ride so contrived to give a bit if Christmas spectacle - made for a rather disappointing hour. The programme needs a rest, re-think and a refresh.

Now if we could only throw a tangerine granade into the format of modern TV Documentaries Id be double happy!

The theme is awful. Why do they have that huge long bass just before the credits start and then it's all tiny and treble.

A nice episode with a few cool moments, Shona dancing being a highlight. Capaldi was flawless, Jenna continues to turn in good performances despite Clara being a dullard. Third time lucky for series 9 then.

What the episode lacked in excitement it made up for it in it's humour.

Pleasant enough just about sums it up.

So at the end of "Death In Heaven" when Santa was knocking at the door of the TARDIS before appearing inside the Doctor must have been dreaming after smashing the console.

Last Christmas was the best Christmas Special since The Christmas Invasion.

It worked as a standalone story but also neatly tied in loose threads from the series. It was visually stunning (as indeed all Doctor Who has been during the Moffat era) and cleverly plotted. I liked the elements of both Alien and Inception, but also thought Nick Frost was excellent as a sarcastic but lovable Father Christmas.

I also wonder why he woke up on that volcano planet (where Cl;ara had threatened to destroy the keys )

Thought this episode was excellent. 12 was great (as he mostly is). The episode got into the story straight away, all the elements worked, the ending was as good as the rest of the story, and also it was one of the rare episodes where Clara seemed likeable and her relationship with 12 actually felt real like they liked each other rather than feeling forced as it often has done for me.

As someone who sometimes moans about the Moffat era and Clara as a character, I have to say that episode shows both of them at there very best. The writing needs to be at that quality every episode.

After re watching Dark Water I noticed it wasn't the same place. Looks more like the time war Gallifrey to me.

Money.

I was trying to work out where the Dream Crab had claimed him. Certainly there was more than a hint of fire which suggests either the volcano or war torn Gallifrey.

It's unusual for the Christmas episode to be stronger than the series preceding it but, in the most part (maybe excluding Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline) this one was. I loved the danger element, the clever use of the dream worlds which was beyond that used in Amy's Choice and the much tighter scripting and production - maybe because they only had to focus on one episode rather than a series?

The orange at the end is interesting though - I was looking out for a clue as to who was behind putting them back together (previously it was The Master/Missy) but are they still dreaming? And does that mean Series 9 could be a dream too?

^Agree.
I've enjoyed series 8...
I love Capaldi and Coleman...
...and I usually find Moffat-penned episodes the best.......

But this was a pile of steaming CBBC craaap!
Utterly unoriginal and derivative (e.g. Alien and Inception) and clearly aimed for the under-8's.
What a waste of TV licence money!

First time I watched was Christmas Day - at 10pm....bad time!! I thought WTF????

Watched again today - with a bit more sobriety! But I again thought WTF???

Nice Christmassy -touch and all that, but what's with all the dream-within-dreams-within dreams thing\?? That can be used (and has been used - many times!!) It's getting to be as bad as the (dare I say it?) "Timey-Wimey" clause (excuse the pun!).

No, sorry - not impressed. Bring back Voyage of the Damned!!

(I still love Peter Capaldi........just not this one!!)

Well. I enjoyed it. It resolved loose ends properly and was fun and had a legitimate explanation for the incredible Santa Claus. I loved it when one of the elves reversed the usual belief in Santa Claus "logic".

There's just one thing, though (and I apologise if it has been mentioned already) doesn't the death of Troughton's character mean there's still a live dream crab in the UK somewhere?

Father Christmas was talking about the chimneys, noticed some of the chimneys did have smoke, fine detail.
Rudolph had a red nose, the other reindeers didn't, why Rudolph?
Doctor on a roof
Shona dancing
Springy toys don't work like that, they should have known something was up when the springy toys appeared.

The moment when The Doctor and Clara were on Father Christmas's sleigh and Clara hugged The Doctor, there was a nice moment, not the before or the after but the just there moment.

I thought it was an interesting concept fairly well executed and on the whole I enjoyed it. NIce little ensemble cast as well. The only issue for me was that the "old Clara" scene felt like a dream twist too far, and felt rather superflious to requirements really. But all in all, went down well in my household. 7/10

One of the Worst Doctor Who episodes ever I felt.. A shame as 2 of the final 3 episodes of Series 8( the forest(Perhaps he best doctor who episode I have ever seen.) and the finale) were the best episodes of Moffat's reign and I thought he was turning a corner but then this dirge was aired. More of the end of series 8 and less complex crap please.
A shame as was really looking forward to It.

Was interesting that The Doctor and Clara did pull a Christmas cracker, for The Doctor to say he is sorry, for him to awake to find that was a dream, then to help Clara from her dream as she then held his hand, helping Clara help The Doctor, then what next?

I think you're really trying to shoehorn "it was all a dream" into this critique when it doesn't really apply. Dreams were as integral to the plot as they were in Inception. As for it being hackneyed, the whole idea was that the characters had subconsciously brought elements of the dream with them. "They're a bit like face huggers" told me we were meant to notice how everything was borrowed from something else.