Christmas Eve, 1892, and the falling snow is the stuff of fairytales.
When the fairytale becomes a nightmare and a chilling menace threatens Earth, an unorthodox young governess, Clara, calls on The Doctor for help. But The Doctor is in mourning,
NOTES
This is not the first time The Doctor has been depicted wearing the trademark style of Sherlock Holmes, the Fourth Doctor previous wore the outfit in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”.
This episode is the prequel/origin of an enemy from the Second Doctor’s era, The Great Intelligence. The disembodied entity appeared in two episodes in the 60s, “The Abominable Snowmen” and “The Web of Fear.” However, its origins were never explained in canon until now.
With this special, a new opening sequence featuring flames and swirling energy streams highlighting the Eeleventh Doctor’s face, is used along with a rescored variant of the series theme.
This special marks the debut of a new interior for the TARDIS. The new console room is far smaller than the Eleventh Doctor’s previous one and features a console which is more high-tech, similar in appearance to the consoles of the original series.
The logo reflects the theme of the special: this one consists of a snow-filled pattern.
The special is loosely based on an outline by Douglas Adams that he wrote during his time as Script Editoron the series in 1979, describing The Doctor retiring from his ole as saviorof the universe.
Clara’s birthday, November 23, is the same day of the month as the “birthday” of Doctor Who: the premiere of the first episode, “An Unearthly Child,” on November 23, 1963
