Thread by @MrThick96

Doctor Who Christmas stories being about Christmas don’t make them Bad:
A Thread by Magnús Sveneneneneneneneneenenenenenenenenenenenenenene

A lot of people complain about Christmas Stories being too Christmassy and getting in the way of the plot.

This was a lot of people’s problem with the likes of The Husbands of River Song.

My counter argument is that: No, Christmas stories being “in-your-face-Christmas” isn’t the issue. It’s how it is incorporated.

I am going to look at 2 stories in particular that perfectly showcase this idea.

Neither of them are actually Big Finish

SIKE. They both are.

The first story is a story from February 2002. It’s called The Chimes of Midnight.
Written by @ShearmanRobert.
This story HEAVILY features the Christmas theme and is considered to be one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever. Why? Because it is.

Going more in-depth, the reason I believe it works so well is because it’s written in a way that incorporates the theme without making it the story.

What I mean is, it doesn’t say “It’s Christmas” and that is the plot.
It structures the plot around Christmas.

While an inferior story may make the story be just Christmas, Rob Shearman expertly crafts the story around the event and then has it fuel the story.

The inferior story would just have it set at Christmas and have the plot be “The Doctor is at Christmas and does Christmas stuff”

If you removed the Christmas elements from The Chimes Of Midnight it wouldn’t nearly be as effective at setting up the characters or story.

Although removing the Christmas elements from the worse story would mean that you don’t have a story at all. This is the main issue here.

The next subject is possibly the MOST CHRISTMASSY STORY ever released for Doctor Who.
Written by @MrJohnDorney, it is of course
Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg from @bigfinish’s Ravenous 2.
(Worth the price for this story alone, I’d say!)

I love this story because it perfectly incorporates the legends of Christmas and the celebrations and makes it a great st-
“WHAT THE FUCK? YOU SAID THAT IT CAN’T MAKE THE STORY CHRISTMAS DIE IN A HOLE THIS IS THE WORST THREAD EVER. UGH!”
I’m getting to it, imaginary hater. Shh.

As I was saying, John Dorney crafts a perfect Christmas tale, using the main things people think of when they think Christmas whilst having a great story line for its characters to experience.
You know? Just like Last Christmas doesn’t
Anyway, back to the topic.

The reason it works in this story and not Last Christmas is because it explains the presence of its legends in a believable way, and doesn’t rely on the whole “It was a dreeeeeam” approach.

THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS STORY SO FUCK OFF IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD IT!

The story involves Saint Nicholas in the second half. Not Santa, Saint Nicholas.

This one distinction completely improves the story by making it feel almost possible, whilst at the same time keeping that same fantastical, fairytale feel.

The Krampus is included well, explaining the presence and how it is possible.

John explains in an understandable way how it makes sense for it to happen.

He doesn’t just go “Ahaha Santa Lolz what if DREAMS?”

Whilst some stories may be better off not explaining everything.
This story benefitted from helping the audience make sense of the plot and suspend their disbelief instead of alienating them by under explaining.

There is a fine line between not giving away the mystery of a story and under explaining.

Not giving the mystery away means giving hints and leaving the audience to make their own mind up about what happened.

Under explaining just makes the audience confused and alienated.
It doesn’t make them try and figure it out, it leaves them disappointed.

In Conclusion, making a story about Christmas doesn’t make it immediately awful. The way it is worked into the story and how it is written can make the Christmas special a fun and exciting format.
Just do it right for the TV soon?

Also The Feast of Steven.

@threadreaderapp for those who like Blogs and not threads. You damn boomers.

Oh wait. @threadreaderapp unroll.

This is hard I haven’t done this before be nice pls 😢