The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

Episode aired Dec 25, 2011
TV-PGTV-PG
59m

7.2/10

S7.

Adventure Drama Family

It's Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home. He promises to repay her kindness - all she has to do is make a wish. Three year... Read allIt's Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home. He promises to repay her kindness - all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, a devastated Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidate... Read allIt's Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home. He promises to repay her kindness - all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, a devastated Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidated house in Dorset. She is crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over t... Read all

7.2/10

5.3K

Director
- Farren Blackburn
Writers
- Steven Moffat(showrunner)
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

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Videos1

Trailer 1:07

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe

Matt Smith and Spencer Wilding in Doctor Who (2005)

Alexander Armstrong in Doctor Who (2005)

Holly Earl and Maurice Cole in Doctor Who (2005)

Holly Earl, Claire Skinner, and Maurice Cole in Doctor Who (2005)

Holly Earl, Claire Skinner, Matt Smith, and Maurice Cole in Doctor Who (2005)

It's Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home. He promises to repay her kindness - all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, a devastated Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidated house in Dorset. She is crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over the channel, but determined to give Lily and Cyril the best Christmas ever. The Arwells are surprised to be greeted by a madcap caretaker whose mysterious Christmas gift leads them into a magical wintry world. Here, Madge will learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible. And that wishes can come true... —BBC Publicity

christmas world war two eleventh doctor time traveler christmas tree forest 79 more

Trivia
There were numerous references to Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," namely: (a) the three-part name itself ("The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe"), (b) the family (children) going to a large mansion in the country to escape the bombing in London, (c) "Digby" sounds a lot like "Digory," Professor Kirk's first name, (d) the Doctor refers to the TARDIS as his "wardrobe," (e) there is a snow-covered woods on the other side of the box, (f) time moves differently on the other side of the box, (g) the line "What do they teach these children...?", (h) the door knocker on the tree house resembled a lion (Aslan, perhaps?), and (i) the spirits of the trees were sentient in Narnia as well.

Goofs
When Madge first meets the doctor after he crashed to earth in his spacesuit, it was 1938. The passage of time revealed 3 years. When Madge received the telegram her husband was lost, it was dated 20 December 1940. Finally, when Madge was interrogated by the Androzani miners, she stated the year was 1941. Either the telegram is incorrect, or the year of the first meeting as well as the response to the Androzani interrogation was incorrect.

Quotes
The Doctor: A fairy land? Oh, grow up. A fairy land looks completely different.

Crazy credits
In season seven's opening credits, the Doctor Who logo is textured in a way that is relevant to the current episode.

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

Soundtracks
Silent Night
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Xaver Gruber

Top review

6/10

Festive Fantasy

This is a pleasant, feel-good Christmas story based around the C.S. Lewis classic story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Moffatt tried to repeat his gimmick of using Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol as the basis for the previous Christmas episode but it does not work as well this time (as well as seeming a lazy way to write Christmas episodes). Despite being very nice and warm-hearted this story feels contrived and lacks anything especially good in the plot or script.

The acting is good with Claire Skinner strong in the role of the 'widow' and the children performing well. Matt Smith is zany and enjoyable and brilliant comedic performer Bill Bailey is perfect in a cameo which is far too small. Bailey deserves a bigger part in Doctor Who.

The production values are high with a Star Wars style opening and a beautiful forest world accessed through a portal. The story has fun and a magical fairy tale feel that Moffatt enjoys bringing to the series. Unfortunately this unreal fantasy aspect goes a bit too far for my liking and it just feels lacking in any believable science fiction.

I cannot say there are plot holes as such it is just overly synthetic with yet another Moffatt convenient re-writing of a character death. It is a nice fantasy tale but not really what I want from Doctor Who.

Overall 5.5/10.

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