Doctor Who: The Snowmen (2012)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I always look forward to the Christmas episodes and found this one ultimately disappointing. I found it even more disappointing when it was written by Steven Moffat.The weakest part about this episode, was that it reverted to a stale, classic Doctor Who formula we have seen so many times before. This formula is as follows: Strange alien appears on Earth>Plan to destroy earth with magic is revealed>Everything is completely hopeless>Some random magic fixes the problem. Here are just a few examples of episodes that have applied this extremely overused formula: Partners in Crime, The Poison Sky, The Lodger, and more recently The Power of Three.Moffat has always broken the mold with interesting plots but this episode was an exception. One thing he did right was add some new twists to the fascinating overarching plot and a very interesting new Character, Clara Oswin Oswald.

Since Steven Moffat has taken the helm after RTD left producing the show, I have been repeatedly disappointed in the direction of the series. Of all actors that have played the Doctor, I find Matt Smith on the same level as Colin Baker in "entertainment value." I should clarify my favorite actors as the Doctor were Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and David Tennant in that order. The scripts are also hit or miss as well. That said; I enjoyed this episode more than others from the past season. First, the opening credits are FANTASTIC! The orchestration is wonderful coupled with a return of the image of the Doctors' face in the very well done graphics! The story was okay although I expected Clara to say "Spit Spot" to the kids at some point and pull a tall lamp out of her bag. Also, using a Sontaran as comic relief seemed a bit silly. Killer Smowmen from outer space with a floating spaceship (TARDIS) in the clouds seems like a bad B-Movie plot from the 1950's and the conclusion to the episode is a bit confusing. And if we must have a villain, I don't think the "cute, sexy and lick-the-mirror handsome" Doctor Richard E.Grant was the best choice.I am sure there was an intent of a cliff hanger but it was more of a "what in the heck just happened" moment (IMHO). There was good action, great music and Clara (Oswin) is really a perfect companion for the Doctor. Hopefully, she can hang on for a regeneration and a better Doctor will be cast in the role...soon! I long for the days when RTD brought excellent stories every week, or even when John Nathan Turner was in charge. I should clarify that Steven Moffat has had some good episodes such as "Blink" but nothing consistent.Doctor Who is something I look forward to on Christmas Day, and I am hopeful that future episodes will improve. I would not want to see the Doctor go back on the shelf like it did in 1989.

As this Christmas special opens in 1842 as a young boy makes a snowman alone as the other children play; he thinks they are silly... and so does the snowman! Fifty years later the boy has grown up to become Dr Simeon and he still has the snow from his snowman; it is kept in a glass globe and together they are plotting something that will mean the end for humanity. Clara, a barmaid, sees a snowman appear where thee wasn't one moments before and mentions it to a passing stranger; he tells her how she can get rid of it then heads off; she follows wondering who he is... he is of course The Doctor. Following the loss of Amy and Rory he has vowed to stop helping humanity. Clara isn't just working as a barmaid; she is also acting as the governess to two children; their previous drowned in the now frozen pond and coincidentally Dr. Simeon is very interested in something in the pond; something that will emerge on Christmas day. If the world is to be saved Clara must persuade The Doctor to help humanity again!Before this episode started the thing that most intrigued me was how the new assistant could be the same person who was actually the personality of an insane Dalek... previous assistants may have had minor roles before but it seemed unlikely that Jenna-Louise Coleman would be cast as a one off character after it had been announced as the next assistant... this episode didn't exactly answer that but it did let us know that the upcoming series would be about answering that question. It is too soon to say whether or not she will make a good assistant but going by what I've seen so far I feel she will do just fine. The story involving the snowmen was okay but not the strongest we've seen; it was clearly secondary to introducing the audience to Clara. The snowmen themselves were suitably creepy as was Dr. Simeon who was played by the always reliable Richard E. Grant. The 'ice woman' wasn't as scary as she could have been but I suspect she was scary enough for younger viewers. Talking of younger viewers there were a decent number of laughs; mostly provided by Strax, a Sontaran associate of The Doctors with a fondness for grenades! Overall I'd say this was an improvement on last year's Christmas special; it had the right blend of scares, laughs and even tragedy but most importantly it set up a mystery that makes me eager for the next series to start.

A new Steven Moffat written Dr Who episode introducing his new companion, the sassy Jenna-Louse Coleman, made for a fine festive treat this Christmas. Moffat continues his predilection for making inanimate objects dangerous, after the previous season finale with the statues, this time making the protagonists sharp-toothed snowmen - next series can we expect to see the attack of the killer garden-gnomes?!Naturally the Doc is still in a period of mourning for the loss of Rory and Amy and indeed takes some time to make an appearance and snap back into his old self but when he does the action picks up and of course he gets to save the world again. The meeting with his new co-traveller Clara (in fact a reunion, for those who saw the previous series' Daleks episode) was neatly got over with the crisp sharp dialogue we've come to expect and some clever in-jokes too, not least the references to Moffat's other recent successful creation Sherlock Holmes and later the nod to Amy Pond. It shouldn't be forgotten that a Christmas perennial in the UK at this time is Raymond Briiggs' animated story "The Snowman", "Walking In the Air" and all that, Moffat making a monster out of a snow-hill to good effect.The special effects were excellent, especially the "Stairway to Heaven", ice-monster governess and Richard E Grant's transformation into a freezing ghoul just before the end. Along for the ride are Vastra and wife, plus potato-head Sontaran Straxa for comic effect. I must admit I got a little lost with how Clara came back to life and by crying a tear destroyed the alien menace, but I'll allow Moffat his McGoffin. Everyone acts well, Matt Smith far from bored and boring and Coleman, with her crush on the Doc, adding even more sexual chemistry than Karen Gillan's Amy Pond. This one-off episode bodes well for next year's new series, where interestingly the preview trailer showed no sign of River Song at all, but thankfully the return of my favourite Who monsters the Cybermen.