Doctor Who: The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe Review (4.5/5)

Your enjoyment of The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe could quite possibly have depended on just what you expect from Doctor Who nowadays: do you want a complex time-orientated thriller packed with deceptive twists and special effects setpieces, or a more basic yet emotional story of love and loyalty, two feelings which lie at the heart of the show's core appeal? I've always liked a bit of both, but tend to veer more towards the latter as I had in Series Six with great episodes like The Doctor's Wife, The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex, and so in this respect I loved Steven Moffat's festive special. Matt Smith truly shone in his role as the 'Caretaker', a mad and whimsical character who was determined to provide the Best Christmas Ever for the Arwells after their heartbreaking loss of a father figure to the Second World War. Claire Skinner was a great temporary companion as Madge Atwell, still a little overdramatic at times for my taste, yet ultimately uplifting in her final moments where she tells her old protector to find his friends once more rather than (supposedly) let them think he was dead. Before I get on to the beautiful denounement with its cameos from Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, let me get back to the episode's plot: eerrmm...Moffat has often had a tendency for convoluted time-bending storylines, yet this was not the case here. Instead, we got a plot which doesn't really make much sense if you think too hard about it, something to do with the Doctor taking the Arwells to an icy forest where the trees have souls, which have created a building containing creepy wooden people who will initiate a halo ring relay on a human's head that will allow the tree souls to escape being harvested by a robot from Andronanzi Minor- I'm sure I wasn't the only Peter Davison fan who loved that reference to Caves- and which Madge is deemed strong enough to put on due to her being a woman. At this point, she piloted the building through the time vortex, shining like a star which eventually guided her seemingly deceased husband home and saved his life. Yep, in reality it makes very little sense, but to be honest, it's Christmas, and given what Russell T Davies did in some of his festive romps, I'll give the Moff the pleasure of going crazy at this one time a year when he can still provide such chilling, atmospheric and ultimately tear-jerking moments in the space of just an hour. Farris Blackburn, a new director for Who, steps on to the scene with a lot of experience underneath his belt and does wonders with the episode's tone, providing a gothic and edgy adventure that, while far apart from CS Lewis' magical novel that merely inspires the ep's title, feels totally at home in this brilliant science-fiction drama adventure. I think that the episode was lacking a little depth underneath its comedic surface, and guest star Bill Bailey wasn't exactly put to as good use as Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins were last year and Claire is here, and these gripes do hold this back from being as successful a special as A Christmas Carol (that was always going to be a hard one to beat), but as the first episode of Series 7, The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe is a warm romp sure to capture the hearts of families everywhere. Now, if only we didn't have to wait until Autumn for the first half of the next run...