Clara (Jenna Coleman) wakes to the commotion of finding Santa (Nick Frost) on her roof, Santa with his sleigh which has crashed and his two elves, ordering them to pick up the tangerines. Big clue were the tangerines, as everyone says, nobody wants them, but they find their way into stockings and the like. Which nobody likes. Moments later the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) arrives telling Clara to go into the TRADIS cos she's not safe.
On a base in the North Pole, a woman, Shona (Faye Marsay) prepares to enter the infirmary after being told what to do, but she's reluctant to do so. She's also forgotten what she was trained to do. So they play music for her, the music being Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody, of course! She's to get past the other four on the bed, but we don't know what's happening, or why she was even in the infirmary to begin with. The Doctor and Clara arrive and find the things on the bed are waking up as they're honing in on their thoughts. She has to get distracted or they will find them. He asks Clara to think of maths problems and then to think of Danny (Sam Anderson). He's probably texting some other woman, which she hates cos he's dead. This reminded me of guess what, the weeping angels, don't blink, or you'll miss 'em, which I added. Then again there was, "listen" as well. Now we had don't think of them, or they'll get you. Take over you mind and your thoughts.
There's an explosion and who saves the day, you've guessed it, or dreamed it more like, Santa. But Santa isn't real and doesn't exist. Why the Doctor asked Clara if she believed in Santa cos lives were at stake. This Christmas the invasion involved dream crabs, well if you like that sort of thing, personally I hate crabs! So the crabs fall from the skies and we're to believe Santa saves the day, as he asks, "who you gonna call?" In the North Pole. In march the armed robots and the tangerine and that's the end, short Christmas ep I've ever seen. Of course it's not the end, it's just the beginning.
The dreamcrab is caught and jarred in a specimen bottle, as the Doctor asks Ashley (Natalie Gumede) and the others why they're here? Each one responding, 'it's a long story'. Yeah it is, cos they're answers were identical and that's where you should have got your guard up, since when is Christmas complete without a good horror story. Clara is angry at the Doctor for saying those things about Danny cos he's dead and she lied. She wanted him to get home to Gallifrey and he admits he lied too since he wanted her to be happy with Danny. It seems they were both at cross purposes with each other, as we saw from the last Doctor Who ep Death In Heaven. Clara admitting that she lied (lies) as we know the Doctor does too.
Prof Bellows (Maureen Beattie) shows them surveillance footage of the crabs and how they took over the others. As Shona talks with Santa making notes about the North Pole having a candy cane striped pole running through the centre and how he's not the Easter Bunny but he can call him. He doesn't get to deliver so many millions of presents himself, thus he has two sleighs. Perhaps the one scene many would have enjoyed is when the Doctor asks Santa how he gets to fit all the presents into the sleigh, "bigger on the inside." Naturally! Ho, ho, ho!
The Doctor needs to examine the crab and asks Clara to retrieve it for him, as well as a cup of tea too and slap in the face, cos he deserves it, leaving her alone like that. But the crab has escaped and is on the prowl, getting Clara as she can't stop thinking about it, even maths problems don't help and neither does Danny, as she finds herself back home, with Danny as Santa. He tells her to come down and as she walks through the hall, a blackboard appears with her name written on it. As she tries to rub it out, it changes to 'dying', Clara is dying, you are dying' and many other boards appear. She runs through and thinks she's past them, but there's one that appears behind her on the stairs. As she tells Danny she knows he's wearing pyjamas under his Santa suit cos he's too shy and needs a second layer of clothing.
The Doctor tries to awaken Clara but she doesn't get up. He asks Santa if he can help cos he ordered the others in the infirmary to obey him and get back into bed. He can help of course but this involves the Doctor getting a crab on his face too. He knocks on the door and Danny says that'll be her dad then. He tells her Danny's not real but she's not listening. Danny tells him he is real, cos he knows she's dreaming. He wants her to get on with her life, be sad for him or five minutes cos that's what he wants, but then get on with her life. They come out of the dream, as both the crabs fall from their faces.
The Doctor asks if they're still awake or are they dreaming, why do they still have that ice cream pain at the side of their heads. They're still dreaming. Explaining it with why they would think of Santa coming to their rescue. Their battle is still going on and they're still being attacked, so it's not too late for them yet. He gives them the manuals to read and Clara chooses three random page numbers where the words should have been identical, but they're not. Finally reading, "we are all dead." As well as mentioning again why they would all say their story is too long for them to tell it. They need to wake up. I was going to ask where Santa had disappeared to? And his elves.
They find the others are waking up and he tells them there are only four manuals for eight of them, why? Well obviously cos they are the others in the infirmary and as they come for them through the monitors, Prof Smithe (Michael Troughton) is pulled through. Their only hope is to get out, but they manage to come out behind them. The Doctor asking who they would call for help, cue Santa once again on his sleigh. He can get them back to their homes and he eventually does this. When the Doctor gets to see Clara and manages to remove the dreamcrab from her face, she's aged. It's been 62 years and she tells him about her life, how she travelled. How their were other men but none of them were Danny he asks. She replies, there was one, but he "was impossible." Which has more than one meaning. They should celebrate this Christmas like last Christmas. Of course there's many a meaning to that too isn't there. Last Christmas as in Christmases gone, or last as in THE last one they will celebrate. He wishes he hadn't left it too late and Santa asks him if that's what he really wants. As Clara finally returns to normal. Clara said she always believed in Santa, so she had to come back.
As a Christmas ep it wasn't really ranked there with all the others, at least for me it wasn't. It could turn out to be confusing in places since he comes for Clara but she asks if it was a dream why was Santa already on her roof and why or how was the Doctor affected by the dreamcrabs too and managed to get hold of him. Though they were trying to clear up the question of why the Doctor and Clara took so long in admitting the truth to each other. SO if they had been honest this one time, they wouldn't have been alone. Than again, life isn't that straightforward. Not in this show.
Not much can be said about this ep, so just watch it and enjoy it, if you do. Cos Santa is real and yes, Santa did save the day. So how do we know that they were still awake and we weren't still dreaming when Santa made Clara young again? Ha. However rest assured as it said at the end of the ep, the Doctor and Clara will return in 'The Magician's Apprentice.' How do we know that wasn't written in dreamlike induced state? Ha. Best line maybe, when he finds out there's a film called Aliens and replies, "no wonder everyone keeps invading you." That's not nice. Had to be mentioned though, once the facehugging mask from Alien was brought into the picture.
Clara was staying and I'm just glad it's been put out there now for everyone to see, cos she's a big part of the show now and a great companion to have around. Especially now she's over her 'love' for him in the romantic sense. We need more of their fights and arguments. Could have had a good one there when the Doctor was about to get into his TARDIS and leave, problem solved, when nothing was quite over yet.
As for Clara getting a cup of tea for him, that was reminiscent of Jo Grant and how Doctor Three (Jon Pertwee) would always ask her to do this, look she's a companion, not the tealady! Ha. Commander Strax (Dan Starkey) was also visible this time as he played the elf, Ian. We've blinked, or not, breathed, or not, and now we're not meant to think, what's next, "don't watch!" That'll never happen. Guess this ep follows hot on the heels of Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) mentioning in A Christmas Carol, that "Father Christmas is real, I've met him." Also his name was Geoff. So he had to appear. Mind you we also get a reference to his portrayal of the Doctor when Santa mentions, "dreamy weamy." As Steven Moffat revealed, all but the last seen was a dream, well that much was apparent, cos the clue that gave it away, the tangerine in the window at the end, which is why he asked the Doctor if he really wants things to change and want Clara back! But also it's what Clara said, why was Santa already on her roof, setting things into motion! Plus she wasn't in her PJ's for nothing.
The Doctor it was said was dressed as a magician, well that pre-empted the next ep! Ha.
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