# What's the best Doctor Who Christmas Special? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000 "2019-12-17T18:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/1 "2019-12-17T18:39:22Z")
Poll incoming Had a little mini-marathon over the weekend. My vote goes to **A Christmas Carol.** I know Dopers aren’t the biggest fans of Moffat, but I think the two best things he did for Who was actually include time travel in the stories and make the Christmas Specials about Christmas. A Christmas Carol is the best mash-up of the two. I think **Last Christmas** would have been the best if they followed through with the end and kept Clara an old lady. The rest of the story doesn’t really make sense with her coming back in the end. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/2 "2019-12-17T19:17:22Z")
I have to go with “Voyage of the Damned.” Not really about Christmas all that much, but a damn good adventure story, with great characters and a bittersweet ending. Plus, it has the Doctor’s best [statement of who he is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSFwMqKIu8) in the entire show. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/3 "2019-12-17T19:19:50Z")
Voyage of the Damned (10th) is the one I remember the most fondly. I think the Snowmen (11th) is probably #2 for me. We had Clara as Mary Poppins. Gandalf as The Great Intelligence and Strax, Jenny & Madame Vastra. It was a lot of fun. I think that may have been the first time someone noted the TARDIS was smaller on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/4 "2019-12-17T20:35:56Z")
A Christmas Carol for me too. I didn’t like that season much overall, and Ten is by far my favourite Doctor, but that episode is perfection. The song is beautiful, Katherine Jenkins can actually act, the little boy was adorable, and Michael Gambon nearly made me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/5 "2019-12-17T23:55:53Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > A Christmas Carol for me too. I didn’t like that season much overall, and Ten is by far my favourite Doctor, but that episode is perfection. The song is beautiful, Katherine Jenkins can actually act, the little boy was adorable, and Michael Gambon nearly made me cry. Plus fish swimming in air, which for some reason always fascinates me. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/6 "2019-12-18T12:01:16Z")
Voyage of the Damned is my favorite. Kylie Minogue was a pleasant surprise and worked well with David Tennant. I enjoyed the story because it’s classic Who with the Doctor blundering into a dangerous situation and saving the day. My 2nd favorite is the Next Doctor. I enjoyed being fooled into believing that we were seeing The Doctor. The reveal that he wasn’t but still helped fight was very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/7 "2019-12-18T15:14:12Z")
Voyage of the Damned is my #1 pick. Second would be The Next Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-doctor-who-christmas-special/845000/8 "2019-12-18T20:14:20Z")
FWIW, [this video of Abigail’s Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Radrh60tAUk) is one of the reasons I love that episode. And the whole episode retells a Christmas Carol pretty much perfectly. The ghost of Christmas Future, in particular.