Doctor Who 2012 Christmas Special: The Snowmen Review [SPOILERS]

Doctor Who 2012 Christmas Special “The Snowmen”

Of the three most recent Christmas Specials with Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, this special was perhaps the most enjoyable of them all. This episode did not attempt to be holiday-ish like the other two, overflowing with saccharin and cheer, but it remained Doctor Who-ish instead. The villain, the enemy, also was not ambiguous as the other two specials, A Christmas Carol and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

After the dire “fixed” deaths of Amy Pond and Rory Williams in The Angels Take Manhattan episode, the Doctor becomes a recluse in his TARDIS, now suspended above the clouds in 1892. Meanwhile, the squad of Doctor Who consisting of Vastra, her partner (in more ways than one) Jenny Flint and Strax are on the streets of London, solving mysteries that the Doctor would otherwise solve.

In a fashion, for the villain, we have the return of Torchwood’s 456 alien from Children of Earth in a giant snow globe now calling itself “The Great Intelligence.” Yeah, I said it, GIANT snow globe. Much like 456, the Great Intelligence feeds off of children, but instead of their bodies, it feeds off of their hearts, their emotions, their imagination. The army of the Great Intelligence is composed of snowmen, and the Great Intelligence’s cohort is one Dr. Simeon.

Clara Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, is a governess and eventually uncovers one of these snowmen in the pond in the front yard of the estate — whereupon the Doctor and his squad arrives to save the day. Clara and the Doctor confront Dr. Simeon and the Great Intelligence. The Doctor kills Dr. Simeon intentionally, and Clara kills the Great Intelligence unintentionally.

Much like Donna Noble before her, Clara Oswin Oswald is bound to the Doctor and will most likely be the Eleventh Doctor’s next companion. This was implied as the present Clara was briefly shown in the graveyard beside her gravestone. Clara obviously resurrects in every period of time, and her deaths are not fixed. I would be very impressed with Clara as a companion as she has the intellect of Martha with the beauty of Rose with less baggage than either of them.

This special is family-friendly — to an extent. With its slightly darker themes and dashes of sexual innuendos, it may be favored toward tweenagers than the youngsters. Overall, a very enjoyable Doctor Who Christmas special.