"Last Christmas"

Doctor Who has never been shy of taking inspiration from other sources. However, what elevates some of these stories far beyond mere plagiarism is the way in which ideas have been used to tell wonderfully fresh stories. The layered dream saga that is "Last Christmas" is clearly inspired by Christopher Nolan's Inception, and there are obvious nods to Alien - so blatant, that the script has to acknowledge it ('There's a horror movie called Alien?! That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!') - but it is what the layers consist of that really make the story stand out.

The state of dreaming is vitally important to the presentation of the story. Events and motivations are understandable, but have a fuzziness that often happens in dreams. The key scene here is Shona’s initial infiltration into the sick bay. What she is trying to accomplish is unclear, but the characters treat the situation with complete sincerity, as does director Paul Wilmshurst who masterfully creates fear and tension in the Dream Crab scenes that are not invalidated by Santa and his elves making a completely incongruous appearance. The supporting cast is outstanding – Michael Troughton makes an appearance where more than one member of his family has been before, and the excellently steely Maureen Beattie makes an immediate impression as Professor Bellows. Natalie Gumede shows a maturity and authority I never realised she possessed, which leaves the adorable Faye Marsay in the junior role – her hilarious dancing has to be seen to be believed. Then, as the ultimate unreality of the season we have Nick Frost, who makes Santa into the jolly, bearded deus ex machina that we need him to be – and, if there is any justice, ‘Nick Frost’ will now become an actual nickname for the Man in Red. Alien, wrapped in Inception wrapped in Doctor Who makes an interesting three-bird roast, but it is the appearances by a, seemingly, completely real Father Christmas that make the irresistible pigs-in-blankets. This is a truly extraordinary script by Steven Moffatt not only managing to be a truly terrifying monster story and a jolly Christmas story at the same time, but also examining the notion of Christmas as a dream state that we must all wake from. The supporting characters are scientists in the base, but all wake up to a more mundane reality and, vitally, get on with their lives.

Anchoring all of this is a beautiful pair of performances from the two regulars. The Doctor is, as always, the man in charge, but keenly protective of his companion. Clara is still in mourning and the way they share their loss is very touching, as is the scene with the apparently aged Clara. ¤The dynamic changed after Danny died, but it still exists and it will be interesting to see how it will progress.

I (jokingly) wondered when Steven Moffat would do his version of The Box of Delights, but this thrilling tribute to the necessary dream of Christmas (to which an extra layer is added when the viewer watches it on Christmas Day) goes a good way to fulfilling this.

NEXT: "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar"

"In the Forest of the Night"

Getting Frank Cottrell-Boyce as a writer is a coup as big as the hiring of Neil Gaiman and Richard Curtis. His screenplays are constantly surprising, whilst still managing to tell a story and, indeed, the plot progression in this story is very different from anything we have seen before. However, it seems to me that Cottrell-Boyce's method of telling a story without adhering to tried-and-tested plot structures produces some decidedly mixed results.

The problem, such as it is, is not the basic story line or the quality of the writing, but the fact that it is uses many of the devices of magical-realism without a thought as to how they can be made to work in the context of a Doctor Who story. "Kill the Moon" used a story that was superficially far fetched, but exploited its mythic resonance with clear roles for the regulars and therefore managed to work as a Doctor Who story. For "In the Forest of the Night" to have worked, it really had to have a child as its point-of-view character – in other words had the story revolved around Maebh, it would have worked much better as it is in the viewpoint of a child that magic and science fiction can really combine. Doctor Who is hardly hard science fiction, but questions that can be ignored in such a story may require answers when the Doctor is involved - magic trees need a more logical explanation, Maebh's 'Red Riding Hood' run through the forest seems forced, rather than archetypal and Maebh's sister hiding in the bushes is now a contrived ending, rather than a fairy tale happy ending. There is also the rather disturbing view taken of psychiatry which seems like it is verging on Hubbardism without the filter of a child's point of view. On a fannish and crudely scientific note, it could also be argued that the 'tree-line defence' fits in rather uneasily with the Doctor Who mythos – unless it is (despite the claims made by the tree spirits) only a comparatively fleeting phenomenon that is extinct by the time of The Ark in Space, to say nothing of not preventing the mass extinctions that allowed the dinosaurs to conquer the earth and then ended their reign.

This does not take away from the fact that Cottrell-Boyce is a fantastic writer and the concepts, although they sometimes clumsily fit together are still striking. There is also the dialogue, which is fantastic throughout 'If you remembered how things felt, you’d have stopped having wars … and stopped having babies...' and, of course, the Doctor's unexpected retort to Clara's rebuke from "Kill the Moon". Director Sheree Folkson, with the assistance of cinematographer Mark Garrett, creates some stunning visuals, with the backlit glade where the tree spirits talk to the Doctor and the wonderful scenes with the wolves and the tyger, where the story almost manages to succeed. However, it has to be said that she sometimes struggles with Cottrell-Boyce's methods of storytelling. The cast she marshals, however, is excellent – the Coal Hill Kids are an unusual and welcome addition and the regulars are on fine form, none more so than Peter Capaldi gives a performance of grouchiness, humour and real sympathy – witness the scene where he tries to convince Clara to save an ever dwindling set of people. However, the Doctor's place in the plot is purely as an observer. Such stories have worked before, but, with neither the Doctor being the driving character, nor Maebh being the point-of-view character, the story loses an important personal focus, another critical flaw in the story.

Despite the considerable talent behind its realisation and some truly great moments, "In the Forest of the Night" barely works as a Doctor Who story and it is probably one that I won't revisit too often.

NEXT: "Dark Water"/"Death in Heaven"