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The Doctor theorises that the Dream Crabs took possession of everyone when they attacked from the ceiling, and that Santa coming to rescue them, and everything that has happened since, is part of a shared dream. This is something which doesn’t change throughout the episode, but from this point onwards things get a bit more complicated and reminiscent of Inception with concepts such as shared dreaming and dreams within dreams. It was also a bit like the Red Dwarf ‘Back To Earth’ episodes when the show was revived on Dave where a Happiness Squid induces the characters into a blissful fantasy.Ĭlara is persuaded to come back, and when she does we see that the Dream Crabs disintegrate into dust if their host regains control of their own body.
#DOCTOR WHO LAST CHRISTMAS SANTA TV#
The Doctor trying to tell Clara that what she was experiencing was too good to be true and she was actually dying reminded me of the Red Dwarf novel Better Than Life (more so than the TV episode of the same name), which features the characters lost in a virtual reality video game where their deepest wishes are true, but they are wasting away in the real world.
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This whole section reminded me very much of Red Dwarf, with the Doctor telling Clara how a Dream Crab has “put a straw straight through your skull and is drinking it”, which is the same way the Psirens in Red Dwarf killed their prey. The Doctor then comes into Clara’s dream in person, having allowed himself to be attacked by a Dream Crab. The Doctor is able to communicate with Clara, which manifests itself in her dream as messages on a chalkboard telling her that it isn’t reality and she is dying. Clara is having an idyllic Christmas with her late boyfriend Danny Pink. When Clara is taken over by a Dream Crab we see an example of what their dream states are like. Hundreds of Dream Crabs descend from the ceiling onto the Doctor, Clara and the crew but in what seems like a deus ex machina at first, they are rescued by Santa. They are very like the Facehuggers in Alien, which is even lampshaded by one of the crew at the base. The Doctor explains that the Dream Crabs induce their victims into a dream-like state while devouring their brains. The creatures attack by attaching themselves to someone’s face and taking over their body. They arrive in the North Pole at a scientific research base which has become infested with creatures called Dream Crabs, which resemble a monstrous clawed hand. The Doctor arrives in the TARDIS and he and Clara go to the North Pole. He has two annoying elf helpers and his reindeer have got loose and are flying in the sky. The episode begins with Clara being woken up by the sound of Santa Claus having crashed his sleigh on her roof. However, Santa Claus is a bit of a red herring, as he doesn’t actually appear in the episode very much.
#DOCTOR WHO LAST CHRISTMAS SANTA SERIES#
This time it is Nick Frost who is playing none other than Santa Claus, having already made a cameo appearance in the series seven finale ‘Death In Heaven’. ‘Last Christmas’ as a title is almost certainly referencing the famous Wham!/George Michael hit which is one of those songs that is usually back in the Top 40 around Christmastime.īut while that song means “last Christmas” as in “the previous Christmas”, the title of this episode is more “last Christmas” as in “the final Christmas”.Īs is common for the Doctor Who Christmas Specials, the guest star gets a mention in the opening credits.