"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. First broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

on 25 December 2011, it is the seventh ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

and directed by

Farren Blackburn Farren Blackburn is a British film and television director and screenwriter. His work includes Netflix's young adult love story, ''The Innocents'', the French English-language psychological thriller ''Shut In'' starring Naomi Watts, Netflix/Marvel' ...

. Internationally, the special was shown on

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...

in the United States and on

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

in Canada the same day as the British broadcast, with

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

in Australia showing it one day later. In the special, alien time traveller the

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

(

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...

) is the caretaker of recently widowed Madge Arwell (

Claire Skinner Claire Skinner (born 1965) is an English actress, known in the United Kingdom for her television career, particularly playing Sue Brockman from the BBC television series ''Outnumbered (British TV series), Outnumbered''. Early life Claire Skin ...

) and her children Lily (

Holly Earl Holly Earl (born 31 August 1992) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Zoe in ''Cuckoo'', Kela in '' Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands'', Agnes in the Channel 4 TV series ''Humans'' and Nita Clements in the BBC medical dram ...

) and Cyril (Maurice Cole) during their holiday vacation in 1941 Britain. The Doctor plans to take them on a treat to a snowy planet through a portal in a present he has placed under the Christmas tree, but Cyril opens it before Christmas and wanders through. While looking for him, the others learn that the trees of the planet are about to be melted down with

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

for energy. "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" marked the end of

Piers Wenger Piers Wenger is a British television executive who serves as controller of BBC drama commissioning. Early life Wenger was born Piers John Wenger in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England on 29 June 1972. Career Wenger was appointed as contro ...

's tenure as executive producer, and the debut of Caroline Skinner in the same position. Adapting elements of

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

's children's novel ''

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Among all the ...

'', Moffat intended the episode to be the most "Christmassy" of the ''Doctor Who'' Christmas specials, while Blackburn felt there was "magic" in it. It was filmed in September and October 2011, with some scenes taking place in an authentic

Lancaster bomber The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling ...

. "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" was watched by 10.77 million viewers in the United Kingdom, making it the third most-watched programme on Christmas Day. Critical reception to the episode was positive, though some felt that the high-profile comedic guest stars Bill Bailey and

Arabella Weir Arabella Weir (born 6 December 1957) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series '' The Fast Show'' and '' Posh Nosh'', and has written several books, including ''Does My Bum Look Big in This?'' Weir has al ...

were underused.

Plot

Prequel

On 6 December 2011, a prequel to the episode was released online. The

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Docto ...

is seen on a spaceship holding a red button which, when he lets go, will cause the space ship to explode. While holding the button, he has phoned the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...

to speak to

Amy Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886– ...

asking her to rescue him, although he does not have his co-ordinates, Amy cannot fly the TARDIS, and she is not on the TARDIS. The Doctor wishes Amy a Merry Christmas before letting go of the button, and the spaceship explodes.

Synopsis

On Christmas Eve 1941, the Doctor becomes caretaker to Madge Arwell and her children, Lily and Cyril, as a favour to Madge for helping the Doctor find his TARDIS three years earlier. Madge has received a telegram that the children's father Reg disappeared over the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

a few days earlier, but decides not to tell her children yet, hoping to keep their spirits up through the holiday. Doctor Who Experience (13080876903)

That night, Cyril is lured into opening a large glowing present under the Christmas tree, revealing a

time portal Time portals are doorways in time, employed in various fiction genres, especially science fiction and fantasy, to Time travel, transport characters to the past or future. They differ from Time travel, time machines in being a permanent or semi-p ...

to a snow-covered forest. The Doctor shortly discovers Cyril's absence and follows him with Lily; they eventually track Cyril to a strange lighthouse-like structure. Madge, finding her children missing, soon follows them into the forest, but is met by three miners in space suits. The miners tell Madge that the forest of the planet they are on is scheduled to be melted by

within minutes, killing anything within it. At the lighthouse, Cyril is met by a humanoid creature made of wood; it places a simple band of metal around his head like a crown. Lily and the Doctor arrive, followed by another wood creature, but find the creatures have rejected Cyril as he is "weak", as they do the Doctor. The Doctor concludes that the life forces of the trees in the forest are trying to escape through a living creature, with the crown acting as an interface. Madge safely reunites with her children as the acid rain starts. The wood creatures identify her as "strong", and the Doctor realises they consider her the "mothership", able to carry the life force safely. Donning the band, Madge absorbs the life force of the forest, allowing her to direct the top of the lighthouse as an escape pod away from the acid rain and into the time vortex. Reg's plane follows the light of the pod through the time vortex and safely arrives outside the house at Christmas, reuniting Reg with his family. The life force of the forest have converted themselves to ethereal beings within the time vortex. Believing that Amy and

Rory Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", ...

still think he is dead, the Doctor joins them for Christmas dinner.

Production

"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" was written by head writer and executive producer

, who wanted it to be "the most Christmassy Christmas special ever". He stated that "nothing is more fun to write" than the Doctor at Christmas, as he considered it "his kind of day. Everything's bright and shiny, everybody's having a laugh, and nobody minds if you wear a really stupid hat". The story is partly inspired by ''

'' (from ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...

'') by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

. Moffat said that ''Doctor Who'' and the Narnia stories "come from the same impulse that children have of escaping to another world." The scene in which the Doctor is showing the Arwells around the house originally included a scene in a "haunted coal cellar". The characters of Ven-Garr and Billis are named after outgoing executive producers

and Beth Willis, both of whom served with Moffat. The three tree harvesters are from Androzani Major in the year 5345, a planet which features in the serial ''

The Caves of Androzani ''The Caves of Androzani'' is the sixth serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 to 16 March 1984. In the serial, the Doctor ...

'' (1984). The Doctor mentions the Forest of Cheem, which appeared in the

Ninth Doctor The Ninth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston during the first series of the show's revival in 2005. Within the seri ...

episode " The End of the World". He mentions that one of them fancied him; during that episode one sacrificed her life for him. Doctor Who Experience (15083083522)

"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" marks the debut of Caroline Skinner and sees the end of Wenger as executive producers. The two had previously worked together; Moffat commented it "will be the smoothest hand-over we've done". The special was directed by

, who had previously worked with Skinner on ''

The Fades The Fades are an English indie rock band from London, England, comprising Dave Lightfoot on guitar and vocals, James Lightfoot on bass, Jonathan "Jonny" Barnard on guitar and Alastair "Flash" Thorpe on drums. History The Fades were formed 2 ...

''. Blackburn stated that he was "daunted, thrilled and excited at the same time" about the job and that it was "tough". Blackburn's favorite sequences to direct were the opening sequence and the scenes set on the winter planet, where he "really felt like ewas making a movie". When asked about the tone he wished to create, Blackburn replied, The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Plot

Prequel

Synopsis

Production

Casting

Broadcast and reception

Critical reception

DVD release

Soundtrack

Notes

References

External links