Doctor Who/2010 CSA Christmas Carol/Recap

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Amy: Time can be rewritten. Kazran Sardick: Well, you tell the Doctor. Tell him from me. People can't.

The 2010 Christmas Special, written by Steven Moffat and based in part on his first Doctor Who story, "Continuity Errors".

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The episode begins on a spaceship's bridge, while the ship is crashing. Amy and Rory enter, wearing their police officer and centurion outfits respectively. (They've come directly from the honeymoon suite. Draw your own conclusions.)

On the planet below, the local Scrooge, a very rich man named Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon), is ruining people's Christmas. Sardick is a moneylender, and he routinely takes people's family members as security deposits and freezes them in his basement. One of those families is begging him to unfreeze a young woman named Abigail just for one day. She loves Christmas so dearly, and she's been frozen for years and years and years. Sardick ignores them, and also ignores the local president, who phones in to ask Sardick to rescue the crashing spaceship.

He's soon interrupted, however, by someone falling down the chimney. It's the Doctor, who knows that Sardick is the only one who can stop the crash, and who just couldn't resist a good Christmasey chimney entrance. He finds a machine that is generating the cloud layer that's preventing the aforementioned ship from landing. But the only one who can turn it off is Kazran Sardick, who is being very uncooperative. So uncooperative, in fact, that he has the Doctor thrown out of his house. He also throws out the begging family, but he can't bring himself to hit their small child. The Doctor sees that as a clue.

Sardick's cloud-controlling machine is bio-linked to him individually, and the Doctor can't land his TARDIS on the crashing ship because he can't lock on. He brings Amy up to speed via phone... right up until he notices that fish on this planet can swim in the fog, geeks out over this and utterly fails to notice an ominous shadow slip through the mist behind him. After being reminded that, oh yeah, the ship is going to crash in about an hour if something isn't done, he's again distracted by a broadcasting christmas carol...

"What!?" "A Christmas Carol!" "What!?" "A Christmas Carol!" "What!?" "A CHRISTMAS CAROL... Oh!"

And Charles Dickens' biggest fan has a magnificent lightbulb moment when he decides to re-enact "A Christmas Carol" to change Sardick's life.

First, the Ghost of Christmas Past. Confronting Kazran Sardick once again, the Doctor uncovers a particularly unhappy Christmas Sardick experienced as a boy. When young Kazran's abusive father (also Michael Gambon) completed the cloud-control machine, fish could no longer roam freely through the air in schools. Kazran missed out on seeing them raid his school once, because he was sick that day, and now he could never see the schools of fish again. He felt left out and alone, and when he tried to film himself going fish-exploring one day, his father caught him and hit him, hard.

Old Sardick is amazed, then angry, when the Doctor plays that video in his living room, and even more amazed when the Doctor steps out for a moment and appears in the video. The Doctor travels back in time to meet young Kazran, thus changing history — and, much to his bewilderment, Sardick's memories. Although the psychic paper fails to convince Young Kazran that the Doctor is his new babysitter (apparently "the Doctor is universally recognized as a responsible and mature adult" is one blatant lie it is just not capable of supporting), the Doctor nevertheless manages to entangle Young Kazran in a scheme to lure in a fish. He learns in the process that Kazran's issues stem from loneliness and isolation, and befriends the young boy. Old Sardick, mesmerised by the video, is horrified to realise that his memories are being altered while he watches.

After a few moments of bonding, the Doctor manages to lure a fish in with his sonic screwdriver as blinking lure. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that these fish have predators. The good news is, Young Kazran now has a story to tell his school friends. The bad news is, it'll probably involve the Doctor and Kazran being eaten by a shark in Kazran's bedroom closet. The inverse, the Doctor presumes, is possible but unlikely. And to make matters worse, the shark has also swallowed the screwdriver. The Doctor fortunately manages to extract half of it and keep all his limbs, but sadly the shark has been stunned, and will not survive for long outside the fog. Young Kazran is particularly affected by the suffering of the shark, who had no malicious intent but just wanted something to eat.

The Doctor cannot get the shark back to the skies alive without some sort of freezing pod. Fortunately, Kazran's father has lots of them downstairs. All of them, however, are full of people who have been kept frozen by old Mr. Elliot Sardick as 'security' against the loans of their families, not to be freed until those loans are repaid. Still, they can certainly borrow one for their purposes, and young Kazran is particularly intent on freeing Abigail (Katherine Jenkins), an attractive young blonde. He doesn't know the security code, but old Kazran Sardick, still watching with tears in his eyes, is repeating it in his present day room. The Doctor pops in to hear it, then back to young Kazran to enter it. Old Kazran Sardick keeps finding old photographs that never existed before: of Abigail, of him and the Doctor, of strange journeys that he knows he couldn't remember before today.

According to her built-in pod holograph, Abigail is very grateful to be among the fish that float happily among the fog in the pod chamber, feeling an affinity for them. The Doctor's screwdriver indicates that its other half is nearby, which means that the fish have woken up. And has followed them down. The pod is opened, and Abigail is freed — and she has an incredible singing voice, one capable of lulling the shark into a calm state. The Doctor realises that her singing can directly cause the ice crystals in the clouds to resonate. Kazran insists that it's just magic. With Abigail free, a pod is available, and soon Mrs. Shark is safely locked up and ready for transport.

Abigail and Kazran, of course, are delighted by the TARDIS, and by the Doctor giving them a trip to the skies to see the shark freed into the beautiful schools of fish that swim freely in the upper air layers. Having enjoyed a rare sojourn from stasis, Abigail happily asks the Doctor and Kazran to visit her again, and Kazran — quite enamoured of Abigail — is eager to make it a yearly thing. And so begins a tradition where every Christmas, the Doctor collects the two to take them on a Christmas Eve adventure. A flying-shark guided carriage ride one year, a trip back in time the next. One year, Abigail watches her family prepare for Christmas dinner through their window (in a very sweet mirror of the Christmas Past scene in "Christmas Carol"). She's delighted when she sees that the Doctor's already sauntered into the house and befriended her whole family. She's invited in, and she spends an idyllic Christmas with her family, who even welcome young Kazran.

Kazran, of course, is growing older, and he and Abigail are growing closer, ending one year with a magical kiss:

Kazran: I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do? The Doctor: Well. Try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky. Kazran: Why? The Doctor: Because you're going to be like that anyway. Might as well make it part of the plan and then it'll feel on purpose. Off you go, then. Kazran: Now? I kiss her, now? The Doctor: Kazran, trust me, it's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now go!

Unfortunately, there's a timer on the front of Abigail's pod, and it ticks off one number less every year — and at a Christmas bash thrown by Frank Sinatra, while the Doctor accidentally gets engaged off-screen to a certain Marilyn Monroe, Kazran learns exactly why that is. He won't tell the Doctor, however, and just keeps on kissing Abigail endlessly, as if he'd never see her again. (The Doctor goes off and marries Marilyn just to spite them.) Much to the Doctor's confusion, the news Kazran receives is enough to make him bitterly spurn the Doctor's offer of further Christmas adventures. Which, of course, means that he falls ever further under the shadow of his ruthless, avaricious father, who has completed the device that will allow him to control the skies of their world and, through that, the people.

In the present, Kazran Sardick remains the bitter, twisted old man he was before. Only the reason has changed. The Doctor is forced to change his plans. He calls upon the Ghosts of Christmas Present — Amy and Rory, communicating from the ship via hologram to show Sardick exactly what his cruelty is resulting in. The ship is not weathering the storm, and the people aboard are resorting to Christmas carols in a desperate attempt to control the skies and the creatures in them. Sardick hears them and sees them, but doesn't budge. Amy and Rory desperately plead with Sardick to clear the skies and spare the people aboard. But Kazran is still not inclined to acquiesce — because many years ago, he learnt that Abigail was dying when she entered that pod, with only a few days to live, and each time the Doctor and Kazran took her out of that pod she lost one more day. She only has one left now. Railing against the Doctor's manipulation of his life, where he replaced loneliness with heartbreak, Kazran values the one day of Abigail's life he has been miserly saving. He's spent his whole life unable to decide when he has the right to take it from her, and the 4003 people who will die due to his callousness are still not enough of a reason.

Finally aware of what has transpired, the Doctor regrets the pain he has inadvertently brought Kazran, but has no intention of letting him allow the deaths of the people aboard the ship. Time for the Ghost of Christmas Future. Confronting him once again, Kazran rails against the Doctor's manipulations of his life, challenging him to show any evidence that Kazran will not die bitter and alone, as he is convinced he will. However, it's not the old Kazran that the Doctor is playing the Ghost of Christmas Future for — it's the younger Kazran, brought forward in time to see exactly what kind of man he will become. A man exactly like his own hated, cruel father. Old Kazran is about to hit his younger self, but has a massive Heel Realization when his younger self says, "dad?". Overwhelmed by the new memories he has been given now, Old Kazran breaks down and hugs his younger self. He finally agrees to clear the fog and save the lives of the people on the ship. Unfortunately, the Doctor has changed history too much — the controls of the machine no longer respond to Kazran's touch, as he is no longer the man his father would have allowed to access them. This means they cannot clear the fog with the device. However, they know of someone which can clear the fog, just as she controlled the fish. Someone who can save 4003 lives with the power of her voice. Someone who has only one day of life left to her. Kazran is torn about releasing the woman he loves to her death. But Abigail has her own thoughts on the subject, and would rather face the last day of her life with the strange old man she loves than have it stored away forever.

On board the starship, Amy, Rory and the crew prepare to face their deaths when the sound of beautiful singing comes through the clouds. It's Abigail's voice, clearing the skies, breaking the forcefield and enabling the ship to land safely. As it snows on the planet for the first time in years, the Doctor takes young Kazran home as old Kazran and Abigail prepare to enjoy their time left together, however little they have. Having saved the lives of 4003 people and the soul of a miser, the Doctor reunites with his friends and prepares to avoid a phone call from Miss Monroe as Kazran and Abgail reunite with their old shark friend for one last carriage ride through the skies.

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Tropes

• Abusive Parent: Kazran's father.
• Accidental Pervert: Old Kazran is believed to be a pervert by Rory.
• Acting for Two: Old Kazran and Kazran's dad are both played by Michael Gambon. Also an Identical Grandson.
  • Leads to a heartbreaking moment when young Kazran calls his old self "dad?".
  • Likewise, Young Benjamin, and the unnamed younger Pettigrew in the present are both played by Bailey Pepper.
• Adorkable: Teenage Kazran's complete awkwardness with Abigail.
  • The Doctor actually encourages Kazran to be this when Abigail kisses him, since he's going to do it anyway and this way it will be part of the plan. Eleven would know, he's a fine example himself.
• Aerith and Bob: Kazran has a "space name". Everyone else is called things like Abigail. Even Kazran's father is Elliot Sardick.
• Androcles' Lion: Kazran's and the Doctor's relationship with the shark.
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Arc Words: "Silence" pops up in Abigail's song.
  • Christmas Carol of choice for the doomed passengers? "Silent Night"...
• Artistic License Biology: In-universe.

The Doctor: Don't think shark; think dolphin! Abigail: A shark isn't a dolphin. The Doctor: It's nearly a dolphin! Abigail: No, it isn't! The Doctor: Well, that's where you're wrong, because... shut up.

• Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: The Doctor, which leads to a few epiphanies along the way.
  • "Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went 'What the hell!'"
  • "Ooh, now, what's this? Now, I love this, a big flashy lighty thing!"
  • Fish swimming in fog is just as intriguing than a crashing ship.
  • When following kid Kazran to the freezing pods, he sees a Christmas tree and immediately rushes to it.
• Back From the Dead: The fez makes another appearance.
• Beard of Evil: Kazran's father, Elliot.
• Bittersweet Ending: Poor Abigail
• Blatant Lies: Even the psychic paper mutinies at The Doctor's attempt to palm himself off as a babysitter...

The Doctor (pulls out psychic paper, shows it to Young Kazran): I think you'll find, I am universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult. Young Kazran (looks at it confusedly): It's... just a lot of wavy lines. The Doctor (looks at it, annoyed): Yeah, shorted out. Finally, a lie too big.

• Book Ends: Kazran just barely holding himself back from slapping a child.
• Bow Ties Are Cool: As Eleven's catchphrase, to be expected. It seems to inspire Kazran to believe likewise.
  • Although in a slight subversion, he acknowledges that it's cool because he wears it and doesn't care how it looks.
• Brick Joke: During one of his trips with Kazran and Abigail, the Doctor somehow ends up accidentally marrying Marilyn Monroe. At the end of the episode, Rory says that there's a Marilyn on the phone who wants to talk to the Doctor. She also makes a phone appearance much later in "Night And The Doctor".
• Buffy-Speak: Frequently.
• Chekhov's Half-a-Sonic-Screwdriver
• Cool Starship: The Galaxy-class liner.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The Doctor and young Kazran are both wearing fezzes once when they greet Abigail during the montage.
  • The Doctor is inspired by the works of Charles Dickens, who as we learned back in "The Unquiet Dead," he is a massive fanboy of.
  • Much like his previous incarnation did, the Doctor accidentally gets married to a historical figure, though we never see the results. We can add Marilyn Monroe to the list of historical women the Doctor's had a brief romance with.
  • The Doctor states to Kazran that, in nine hundred years of time and space, he's never met anyone who isn't important. Besides echoing his speech to the Atraxi back in "The Eleventh Hour" as well as a speech referencing normal people as being the most important in "Father's Day", that suggests he's definitely learned his lesson after the whole A God Am I thing from the events of "The Waters of Mars."
  • The scarves that the Doctor and Kazran wear at one point are similar to a certain item of clothing favoured by another Doctor.
  • Amy's "I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry" line echoes Ten's catchphrase.
  • The "isomorphic controls" dialogue is a reference to the fan controversy about conflicting claims in different parts of Who canon about whether anyone but the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS.
  • Rory's wearing his Centurion outfit from "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang", and Amy is wearing her police girl outfit from "The Eleventh Hour".
  • During Rory and Amy's reunion kiss in "The Big Bang", the Doctor reminded them to breathe. When he walks in on Kazran and Abigail having an intense kiss, he says:

"How do you do that? Do you breathe through your ears?"

• • As featured most prominently in "The Eleventh Hour", the Doctor is able to deduce a lot in a short period of time by analyzing the details of his surroundings. This is accompanied by a helpful montage of said details.
  • One of Kazran's photos is of the Doctor excitedly pointing to the Empire State Building. You can practically hear him saying, "...And there were Daleks in the basement! With pig soldiers!"
  • As in "Voyage of the Damned," a giant space liner is crashing onto a planet, and the Doctor must save the day. Also there is a pretty blonde girl who is played by a famous singer, and a wealthy misanthrope obstructing the Doctor.
  • As in "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone," the story begins with a crashing Galaxy-class ship.
  • Much like in Moffat's "The Girl in the Fireplace," the Doctor shows up in someone's life at various points, only a few minutes between each visit for the Doctor but years for the person he's meeting. When Kazran asks him if he knows how it feels, the Doctor stays quiet.
  • The Doctor's line when opening the TARDIS doors, "I keep amazing...out here," evokes a similar line said to Amy in the first of the Meanwhile, in the TARDIS bonus scenes on Series 5's box set: "You know what I keep in here? Absolutely... everything."
  • Kazran's "Everybody has to die" and Amy's reply "not tonight" is a nod to River's voiceover in Forest of the Dead:

"Everyone knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today."

• • • This also echoes statements made by the Ninth Doctor in "The End of the World" and "The Doctor Dances".
  • At the end, Amy implies this is not the first place the Doctor has dropped her and Rory off for their honeymoon. They also went to a planet that was on a honeymoon with an asteroid, as mentioned in Death of the Doctor.
• Christmas Episode
• Dissimile: When trying to convince Young Kazran that he's an appropriate "babysitter":

The Doctor: Have you ever seen Mary Poppins? Young Kazran: No... The Doctor: Good. Because that comparison would have been rubbish.

• Doing in the Wizard: The Doctor attempts to scientifically rationalise Abigail's singing calming the fish, but the fish disagree.
• Everybody Lives: The first Doctor Who Christmas Special ever where no one dies on-screen!
• Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: Subverted: the shark is not evil, but simply hungry, and becomes almost nice and cuddly at the end.
• Flying Seafood Special: All sorts of different kinds.
• Freudian Excuse: Kazran Sardick gets two:
  • In the first timeline, he lives alone with a bullying, avaricious and abusive father who is responsible for not only his bitter loathing of people around him but also his ruthless, stingy values.
  • In the second, after the Doctor's intervention, he appears to be developing more of a moral conscience when his heart is broken by the fact that the woman he loves turns out to be dying, and thanks in part to him and the Doctor only has one day of life left before she dies.
• Future Me Scares Me: Kazran.
• Generation Xerox: What eventually manages to get Kazran is the realization that he's essentially become his hated, bullying father, Elliot. Almost literally, even- they even have the same actor.
• Genre Savvy: Amy, so very much.

Amy: Were you being extra charming and clever [towards Kazran]? The Doctor: Yeah, how did you know? Amy: Lucky guess.

• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Multiple people ask, but Rory and Amy never do explain just what they were doing in the Honeymoon Suite dressed in their Policewoman and Centurion outfits. Probably Backgammon
  • Also, no matter how you cut it, the relationship between young Kazran and Abigail has a Mrs. Robinson air about it. Kazran is just a kid the first few visits, and when he suddenly grows up, Abigail gets the hots for him.
• Gilligan Cut: In-universe example from Abigail's perspective; young Kazran assures Abigail that the Doctor promises to visit every Christmas Eve. The Doctor protests that he said no such thing but Kazran slams her freeze-chamber's door shut before he can rectify the lie. Then the door instantly opens (although it's actually a year later, of course) to reveal the Doctor and Kazran cheerily greeting her in Santa hats.
• Girl in a Box: Abigail.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Katherine Jenkins, better known for being a Glamorous Wartime Singer, plays Abigail.
• Human Popsicle: Abigail and the other people in the cryogenic vault.
• Hypocritical Humor:

Amy(on the phone with the Doctor): Have you got a plan yet? The Doctor: Yes I do. Amy: Are you lying? The Doctor: Yes I am. Amy: Don't treat me like an idiot! Rory: Is he lying? Amy: No, no.

• Identical Son: Gambon plays both Sardicks.
  • Similarly, the same young actor plays both Abigail's nephew and his son.
• Ill Girl: Abigail Pettigrew.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Sardick: "I think she's a bit cool about the whole thing. Hah hah hah. That was funny."
• Informed Illness: Abigail Pettigrew, who shows no symptoms of any sort of illness throughout the entire episode. Although she's allegedly got less than 24 hours to live, she is still capable of full movement and still has a very strong singing voice. Really makes you wonder whether she is really going to die in the morning...
• Ironic Echo: As might be expected throughout such a recursive story, though best illustrated with the identity of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Both Past and Present were existing Doctor Who characters who barely fit their descriptions, as is fairly common in adaptations. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to come subverts that expectation, by being precisely what Dickens described: the thing all men fear. Scrooge didn't know how good a cold, lonely death was compared to becoming your own worst fear.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Teenaged Kazran.
• Jerkass: Both Sardicks are this, Though Kazran grows out of it due to the Doctor invoking Character Development.
• Karma Houdini: Kazran's father.
• Kick the Dog: Both subverted and played straight. Early on, Kazran is about to strike a small boy, but can't bring himself to do it. It's Kazran's failure to Kick that particular Dog which convinces the Doctor that Kazran's redeemable. Kazran's father, however, has no hesitation in hitting his own son because he was interested in an inch-long flying fish, and left the window open about six inches.
• The Last Dance
• Living on Borrowed Time: Again, Abigail.
• Loss of Identity: In changing Kazran's past, the Doctor alters his character so much that the isomorphic controls no longer respond to him.
• Magic Music: Apparently the right kind of singing causes the ice crystals in the clouds to resonate in a special way that calms down the fish.
• Measuring the Marigolds: Young Kazran's reaction to the Doctor trying to turn "the fish like the singing" from Magic Music to Techno Babble.
• Metaphorgotten

The Doctor: Big flashy lighty things have me written all over them. Not literally, but give me time... and a crayon.

• Mrs. Robinson: Abigail and teenaged Kazran. Possibly boy Kazran too, but let's not go there.
• Music Soothes the Savage Beast: The flying shark becomes placid enough to be stroked by Abigail once she starts singing to it.
• Mythology Gag: Eleven produces a picture of himself with Einstein towards the beginning of the special. Matt Smith wrote fan fiction about the Doctor meeting Einstein after being cast to prepare himself for the role.
• Never the Selves Shall Meet: Averted. No Blinovitch Limitation Effect here. Arguably justified, as the timestream is changing so much that technically they're not quite the same Kazrans anymore, which becomes a plot point. If his father's machine is any indication, he's not even the same person in his own present.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In turning Kazran into a sympathetic soul, the Doctor renders him unable to use the very device that would save Amy, Rory, and the rest of the ship's complement.
  • Also, for a time the Doctor's act of introducing the love affair between Kazran and Abigail turns Kazran into an even bigger bastard than he was before.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: The Doctor makes offhand mention of "face spiders" that have specifically evolved to live on the backs of kids' wardrobes, then says something about how "they'd be in your mattress at this time of night." The jury's out on whether he's serious or just screwing with kid Kazran.
• Noodle Incident: It's interesting to speculate who the Doctor is referring to — a young Rani (or The Master?) on Gallifrey, or an adult Romana?

Kazran: Now? I kiss her now? Doctor: Kazran, trust me. It's this or go into your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes.

• Pajama-Clad Hero: Kid Kazran, when the Doctor first visits him.
• Paranoia Fuel: So you're just minding your own business, ruling a planet as the Scrooge you are. Then a guy comes into your house, shows you footage of your childhood, then appears in said footage and changes it, rewriting your memories in the meantime. At the same time, a guy appears when you're 8 and starts saying stuff like "I'm better than your nanny" at an age you can probably see the Double Entendre, even if the time-traveling alien doesn't. Then the guy almost kills you in your past several times, while you see the live feed in your present. And there's nothing you can do about it.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Arthur Darvill as Rory.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Kazran is able to remember both of his timelines, albeit with some difficulty. This was also a major plot point in "Contunity Errors", a 1996 short Doctor Who story by Steven Moffat that had a similar plot.
• Rousseau Was Right
• Rule of Cool: The Doctor riding a carriage pulled by a flying shark, wearing a Santa hat.
  • And the mental image (even if not seen on screen) of the Doctor singing a duet with Frank Sinatra and romancing Marilyn Monroe.
• Running Gag: Rory and Amy get a lot of "What are you wearing?".

Rory: You know, history lesson, a bit of fun every now and then, a bit of nostalgia!

• San Dimas Time: Used heavily. Kazran's memory's change as though the doctor were chatting up a younger Kazran concurrently.
• Schizo-Tech: Barring the cryogenics and the weather-control machine constantly blasting purple light into the sky, almost everything about this planet's technology, socioeconomic makeup, architecture et al appears to be identical to Victorian England.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The Doctor's plan to make Kazran a better person by giving him a proper childhood. The Doctor himself knows exactly what it is like to have a lonely childhood.
• Shaggy Dog Story: The Doctor's plan is to change Kazran's past and make him a better person so he'll agree to use the controls that only he can operate to save the crashing ship. In the end, it turns out that changing Kazran's character that much means his father no longer gives them to him. The Doctor's plan did end up providing the solution in the form of Abigail, but it was completely by accident.
• Sherlock Scan: The Doctor does this in the very beginning to prove Kazran's not a complete utter jerk and dissect his relationship with his father. Steven Moffat is also in charge of Sherlock.
• Shout-Out: The crashing spaceship looks like one of the ships from the new Star Trek film with its sleek aesthetic and constant lens flare.
  • Also, the ship Amy and Rory are on resembles (and is explicitly called) a Galaxy Class spaceship.
    • There's a black guy on the bridge with a eyepiece that looks like Geordi's VISOR.
    • The captain of the ship resembles Janeway.
    • The bridge of the ship even looks like the bridge of the reboot Enterprise.
    • Enough that Simon (Scotty) Pegg tweeted "Doctor Who Xmas special was great. Can't remember the last time I saw that much lens flare on the bridge of a spaceship."
  • Amy and Rory's dress up games as policewoman and centurion is remarkably similar to Rodney and Cassandra's dressing up in the Only Fools and Horses Christmas special nine years ago.
  • Kazran's father, Elliot, happens to strongly resemble Charles Dickens.
  • Old Kazran's first call to remove the Doctor: "Bye bye, bored now. Chuck him!"
• Significant Monogram: The Scrooge character is named Sardick, although his first name is Kazran. His father, however, was named Elliot, and was even Scrooge-ier than he is.
• Steampunk: Oh good God yes.
• Stripperiffic: Amy, and lampshaded too. Justified, though, as she was "having a bit of fun" with Rory.

Amy: I'm the ghost of Christmas present. Kazran: A ghost? Dressed like that? Rory: Hey! Eyes off the skirt!

• Techno Babble: Parodied. The Doctor's valiant attempts to explain why the fish seem to respond to people singing only serve to get him bitten by irritated fish.
  • Also played straight, although low on the babble, high on the followability.
• Timeshifted Actor: The three ages of Sardick. Also, Isabella and Benjamin Pettigrew.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: Like crazy.
• Too Awesome to Use: Abigail's final day, in a rare in-universe example.
• Xanatos Gambit: Done by Abigail's family, of all people. Knowing that they would have to trade in one of their own as security for the vitally important loan, they gave Abigail to Elliot Sardick, probably knowing full well that she was on the verge of death anyway, and could achieve far more by putting herself up as security for the loan than by just sticking around for a week and dying.
• Yet Another Christmas Carol: And a very good one at that, and playing the parts of the Ghosts:
  • Past: the Doctor
  • Present: Rory and Amy
  • Future: Kazran himself.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Played with. Kazran becomes a cynical old man despite the Doctor changing his past. His reason behind his bitterness just changes from isolation to heartbreak.