In fact, the teaser itself provides evidence of the episode’s lucid dream structure.

Ashley asks, “Is it possible I’m about to work with someone who might be a dream?” The Doctor responds, “If it helps, so am I.”.

am I dreaming?” when first rescued by Santa Claus.

Clara asks the Doctor if she is “really back” in the TARDIS.

The script’s first act includes many recurring jokes (“beardy-weardy,” “It’s bigger on the inside”) and familiar bits of the Santa Claus mythology as a way to distract viewers from realizing the dream-within-a-dream twist however, having seen the episode once, it becomes easy to spot some of the more prescient lines: To his credit, Moffat is careful to weave several clues – some more blatant than others – throughout the episode, foretelling the narrative’s biggest twists. While it would be easy to criticize showrunner Steven Moffat’s utilization of previous motifs as hackneyed pastiche, here, it actually enhances the episode’s dream-like qualities. Even the Kantrofarri are barely differentiated from Doctor Who’s ever-growing stable of “don’t blink/breath/move” monsters while the Weeping Angels are dangerous when you don’t look at them, the Dream Crabs become active when you do, making them the anti-Weeping Angels, in a sense, and requiring characters to repeat actions from “Flesh and Stone.” The thrilling sleigh ride from “A Christmas Carol” is revisited, this time with actual reindeer, before the episode mirrors the epilogue from last Christmas’ “The Time of the Doctor.” Imagery from “The Idiot’s Lantern” and “Listen,” themes from “Robot of Sherwood,” and landmarks from “Rose,” “Aliens of London,” and “Dark Water” feature prominently. The oft-used under-siege-by-monsters-in-a-remotely-located-science-station set up (most recently seen in “Kill the Moon,” but also in “Cold War,” “The Waters of Mars,” “The Impossible Planet”/“The Satan Pit,” etc.) is again utilized.

The basic plot – the Doctor and his companions must differentiate between induced dream states, in order to escape death in reality – is pulled directly from “Amy’s Choice,” right down to the revelation that the TARDIS crew are trapped in a dream-within-a-dream. Though several real world films, especially Alien, are referenced within the narrative, “Last Christmas” seems more a tapestry of plot points woven together from previous episodes.

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Reddit Share on WhatsApp Share on E-mailĬlint Hassell gives his verdict on this year’s special.

Doctor who last christmas ending