Harry -
Wow, I had almost zero recollection of this story. The only thing I remembered from "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" was the Doctor's running "I know!" gag as he presented the guest characters all the wondrous things he'd put together for them in the big empty house of refuge.
Sarah -
I only thing I remembered was that there was a woman with her two children. I imagine it was challenging to follow "A Christmas Carol", which I consider to be the best of the Christmas Specials.
Harry -
This one adhered to the usual formula for the specials, in that there is little to no continuity and these are stand-alone adventures. It opens with a bang, literally. Some explosive scenes on a spaceship have the Doctor running around before he is pitched into space and plummets to the Earth. That's a familiar image.
Sarah -
Moffat has given us so many father stories that it's time for a mother story, I guess. Madge and her children head off to her uncle's country estate for Christmas. The uncle seems to be missing but the caretaker welcomes the family. The Doctor knows that Madge has received a telegram that her husband has died and he turns the estate into a fun house for the children.
Harry -
Cue the "I know!" sequence. The kids seemed interested but less enthused than the Doctor. So he fires up a Christmas tree complete with a mysterious present underneath. Seeing as it's the only box under the tree, little Cyril can't resist opening it up. Inside is a transdimensional gateway to a snowy landscape (but don't say Narnia! maybe they didn't secure the rights). Cyril wanders off and so begins act two.
Sarah -
Kids are always wandering around and getting lost.
Harry -
With the Doctor and Lily in pursuit, Cyril finds a stone tower guarded by two living-wood creatures. The wooden king and queen were very well realized. Watching this again, it reminded me of The Green Knight, which came along a decade later. The first impulse is to assume they would pose a danger to Cyril, but I enjoyed their slow movements and hoped for the best.
Finding the entire house empty, Madge follows everyone into Don't-Say-Narnia. She encounters someone completely unexpected and so the Moffatty twist arrives.
Sarah -
Madge has had enough of this situation and will save her children with the "mothership."
Harry -
I also forgot the blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by Bill Bailey, who had a much more prominent role in Black Books, one of my all-time favourites. Here he plays one of three crew of said mothership, which is there to deploy acid rain to disintegrate every living tree on Don't-Say-Narnia, before Madge takes control of the situation.
Sarah -
Madge absorbs the life force of the forest, allowing her to direct the top of the lighthouse as an escape pod away from the acid rain and into the time vortex.
To get them home, the Doctor directs her to think of memories of home, allowing Madge to revisit her fond memories of Reg. The Doctor urges her to continue to show even Reg's death, revealing to Lily and Cyril what happened to their father. The Doctor steps outside while Madge starts to explain Reg's death to Lily and Cyril, but he returns to interrupt her and to tell her to come outside. There stands Reg after he had followed the bright light of the escape pod into the time vortex and came out safely along with the pod at Dorset. The family has a tearful reunion as the Doctor watches.
The family is united and the Doctor is off to Christmas with Amy and Rory, who haven't seen the Doctor in two years.
Harry -
Nice to see the Ponds again even though they've barely been away from the Doctor's life as we continue along this marathon.
Sarah -
"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is probably the least of the Christmas specials. I didn't remember much of the story but it's not a bad story.
Harry -
It was okay. Nothing really stood out. Bill Bailey seemed wasted in a tiny role, like Olivia Colman.
Sarah -
Best Line:
Lily: I don’t understand. Is this place real? Or is it fairyland?
The Doctor: Fairyland? Oh grow up, Lily! Fairyland looks completely different.
Favorite Moment: Cyril and Lily find the Christmas surprise from the Doctor.
Lasting Image: Cyril entering the snowy landscape.
3/10
Harry -
Best Line: "I know!"
Favourite Moment: "I know!"
Lasting Image: the wooden king and queen
5/10
Our marathon continues with Story #226: Asylum of the Daleks...
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