"Doctor Who" The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)

Director:

Farren Blackburn

Writer:

Steven Moffat (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

25 December 2011 (Season 7, Episode 0)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

It's Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home...

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Halo | Acid Rain | Animate Tree | Missing In Action

Cast

Matt Smith	...	The Doctor
Karen Gillan	...	Amy Pond
Arthur Darvill	...	Rory Williams
Claire Skinner	...	Madge Arwell
Maurice Cole	...	Cyril Arwell
Holly Earl	...	Lily Arwell
Alexander Armstrong	...	Reg Arwell
Sam Stockman	...	Co-Pilot
Bill Bailey	...	Droxil
Paul Bazely	...	Ven-Garr
Arabella Weir	...	Billis
Spencer Wilding	...	Wooden King
Paul Kasey	...	Wooden Queen

Directed by
Farren Blackburn

Writing credits
Steven Moffat		(written by)

Produced by
Diana Barton	....	line producer
Steven Moffat	....	executive producer
Denise Paul	....	associate producer
Caroline Skinner	....	executive producer
Piers Wenger	....	executive producer
Marcus Wilson	....	producer

Original Music by
Murray Gold

Cinematography by
Stephan Pehrsson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tim Porter

Casting by
Andy Pryor

Production Design by
Michael Pickwoad

Art Direction by
Karl Probert

Set Decoration by
Adrian Anscombe

Costume Design by
Edward K. Gibbon

Makeup Department
Julie Davies	....	makeup artist
Vivienne Simpson	....	makeup artist
Barbara Southcott	....	makeup designer
Rob Mayor	....	prosthetics supervisor (uncredited)

Production Management
Phillipa Cole	....	production manager
Nerys Davies	....	post-production supervisor
Rhys Griffiths	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Dehaviland	....	second assistant director
Danielle Richards	....	assistant director
Matthew Scrivener	....	first assistant director
Heddi-Joy Taylor	....	third assistant director (as Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch)

Art Department
Helen Atherton	....	stand-by props
Tom Belton	....	prop hand
Austin J. Curtis	....	prop hand
Bernard Davies	....	props master (as Bernie Davies)
Michael Elkins	....	prop hand
Scott Fisher	....	construction manager
Steven Fudge	....	scenic painter
Bryan Griffiths	....	stand-by rigger
Richard Hardy	....	art department assistant
Penny Howarth	....	prop maker
Brian Jones	....	construction chargehand
Dan Martin	....	assistant art director
Holly McCarthy	....	petty cash buyer
Ben Morris	....	art department production manager
Will Pope	....	stand-by carpenter
Nicholas Robatto	....	prop maker
Phil Shellard	....	stand-by props (as Phill Shellard)
Sophia Stapleton	....	stand-by art director
Christina Tom	....	graphic artist
Mathew Tooher	....	prop chargehand
John Whalley	....	scenic painter
Lizzi Wilson	....	props buyer

Sound Department
Abdulqader Amoud	....	sound assistant (as Abdul Amoud)
Darran Clement	....	dialogue editor
Matthew Cox	....	adr editor (as Matt Cox)
Robert Flanagan	....	sound recordist
Paul Jefferies	....	sound effects editor
Paul Naughton	....	boom operator
Tim Ricketts	....	dubbing mixer
Jamie Talbutt	....	foley editor
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Mark Ayres	....	sound remastering (uncredited)
Brian Hodgson	....	sound effects (uncredited)
Dick Mills	....	sound effects (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Mark Hutchinson	....	snow effects technician (uncredited)
Russ Perkin	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Joel Skinner	....	visual effects editor
Tim Barter	....	on set visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
Rubén Bautista	....	fx technical director: The Mill (uncredited)
David Birkhill	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Rick Bovill	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Darren Byford	....	senior look development and lighting artist (uncredited)
Jacob Flint	....	matchmove artist: The Mill (uncredited)
Kwai Keung Ip	....	matchmove artist: The Mill (uncredited)
Gary Kelly	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Nicholas Lambert	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Ruben Mayor	....	visual effects technical director (uncredited)
Dan Newlands	....	matchmove artist (uncredited)
Jenna Powell	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)
Natalie Reid	....	visual effects production assistant (uncredited)
Tamsie Thomas	....	visual effects artist (uncredited)
Matt Wood	....	visual effects supervisor: Space Digital (uncredited)

Stunts
Tracey Caudle	....	stunt performer (as Tracy Caudle)
Crispin Layfield	....	stunt coordinator
Gordon Seed	....	stunt coordinator
William Willoughby	....	stunt performer (as Will Willoughby)

Camera and Electrical Department
Owen Charnley	....	assistant grip
Tom Hartley	....	camera assistant
Mark Hutchings	....	gaffer
Albert James	....	practical electrician
Gary Norman	....	grip
Becky Pescod	....	camera assistant (as Rebecca Pescod)
Gafin Riley	....	electrician
Joe Russell	....	camera operator
Gareth Sheldon	....	electrician
Steve Slocombe	....	best boy (as Stephen Slocombe)
Owain Thatcher	....	camera assistant
Jonathan Vidgen	....	focus puller
Simon Walton	....	focus puller
Matt Wilson	....	electrician
Paul Duffy	....	electrician (uncredited)

Animation Department
James Farrington	....	lead animator
Martin Lanzinger	....	animator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Alice Purser	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rebecca Duncan	....	costume supervisor
Gemma Evans	....	costume assistant
Lloyd Middleton	....	costume assistant
Claire Polydorou	....	costume assistant
Stephen Kill	....	costume prop maker (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mark Bright	....	on-line conformer
Marie Brown	....	post-production coordinator
Jeremy Lott	....	on-line editor
Matt Mullins	....	on-line editor
Becky Trotman	....	assistant editor
Mick Vincent	....	colorist

Music Department
Ben Foster	....	orchestrator
Ron Grainer	....	composer: original theme music
Jeremy Holland-Smith	....	additional orchestrations
Jeremy Holland-Smith	....	conductor
Jake Jackson	....	music mixer
Gerry O'Riordan	....	music recordist

Other crew
Sandra Cosfeld	....	production assistant
Rhys Evans	....	assistant production accountant
Caroline Henry	....	script executive
Claire Hildred	....	production coordinator
Caroline Holder	....	script supervisor
Beccy Jones	....	location assistant
Richard McNeill	....	production accountant
Iwan Roberts	....	location manager
Julie Scott	....	production executive

Production Companies

• BBC Cymru Wales

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2011) (UK) (TV) (BBC1)
• AXN (2012) (Hungary) (TV)
• Fox (2012) (Germany) (TV)
• Syfy Universal (2012) (Belgium) (TV) (limited)
• Syfy Universal (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)

Special Effects

• BBC Wales Graphics (additional visual effects)
• Space Digital (additional visual effects)
• The Mill (visual effects)
• Real SFX (special effects)
• Millennium FX (prosthetics)

Other Companies

• BBC Wales Graphics  graphics
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales  thanks

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England, UK

Company:

BBC Cymru Wales

Trivia:

The story partly takes place on Androzani Major. In the original series of Doctor Who, the fifth Doctor's final storyline takes place on Androzani Minor.

Quotes:

Amy Pond:Well, I'm not gonna hug first.
The Doctor:Nor am I.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Graham Norton Show: Matt Smith/Gillian Anderson/Harry Judd/Dougie Poynter/Hilary Devey/Russell Kane/Gareth Malone/Military Wives Choir (#10.9)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

Doctor Who Theme

Christmas Special 2011: Poor and with no substance to support the silliness

A year ago I watched a Doctor Who Christmas special that retold A Christmas Carol on an alien world with the Doctor racing to change an old man's mind to save his companions while a flying shark threatened; it could have been nonsense but it captured the heart of the tale really well and was moving and engaging to the point that the silliness had enough substance to support it. I mention this special because the 2011 one was billed as being similar and had enough in common to make me hope it would be good. Moffat using the CS Lewis world of Narnia as inspiration I presumed he would be able to pull it off again in a way that was satisfying. I could not have been more wrong.

The special starts with silliness that I forgave because I thought that we had that out of the way – the Doctor falling to Earth through space in a backwards spacesuit was just a plot device to get to the meat of the special. This is the case as it introduces the characters and sets up the reason for this return – the death of a husband in the war and the woman trying to find the strength to get through Christmas and then tell her two young children. Problem is that, when the script needed to find character and emotion, it instead found a messy plot filled with almost nothing. The heart of the story, of the characters is nowhere to be found and instead we get a few brief moments of peril and a corny denouncement that is so convenient and so empty that it robbed me of what little good will I had when I reached that point.

The previous year's special was so enjoyable because it focused on the people, on the heart and placed that within a sci-fi context. Here there is no such thing and unfortunately the plot isn't enough to fill this gap with anything like tension, thrills or spectacle. It doesn't help either that the effects are surprisingly clunky and that the ideas are so half-assed throughout. The cast are solid and one can only imagine what they could have done with a better script and better characters. Smith overplays the comedy because he has been directed to do so. He didn't convince me and didn't make me care and his "emotional" conclusion was nothing of the sort. I liked Skinner but there was nothing for her here. Likewise I though Earl was really good as Lily and could have done more – although Cole is only a typical cute kid. Bailey and Armstrong are just names with no time to justify a mention. I suppose at least it was a positive that Gillan is limited to the last few minutes – the next season is thankfully her last before she heads off into the lucrative world of signing photos at sci-fi conventions.

A really disappointing special – we were thinking of watching It's a Wonderful Life tonight and instead watched this special – mainly off the back of the hope that it could be as good as last year's, that was a bad decision it turns out. Such a shame to see such a poor, heartless mess being presented as a finished product – even those just looking for basic sentimental, festive heart-warming will be left disappointed. Heartless, manipulative, messy and lacking in anything to really hook the viewer. Supposedly the jewel in the crown of the BBC Christmas schedule? Not this year.