Well, this was a pleasure! Abandoning the whole end of the Universe/series/overblown series finale for some fun as per the Russell T Davies Christmas specials, the threat is to some 4001 (or 4002 if we believe The Guardian's review) crew and passengers aboard a space ship, plus Amy and Rory (Arthur Darvill gets his name in the title credits!). Also at risk is an old man's appreciation of Christmas.

Bears a superficial resemblance to some obscure 19th century fable, but of course being written by Steven Moffat it's much better. And science fictionier. Matt Smith is acceptable as The Doctor and Michael Gambon reveals his proficiency at playing grumpy old men (two of them here), to no one's surprise.  Laurence Belcher and Danny Horn are good younger grumpy men. But Katherine Jenkins steals the show as beautiful, tragic Abigial. And she gets to sing.

Moffat's throw away lines are legendary, with "quantum enfolding and a paper clip" and "...Lucky." destined to join them. The change in management in The Show harks back to the seventies or earlier, with producers holding very different views of Doctor Who succeeding each other, and huge changes in style as a result. Maybe that's as it should be, with something for everyone, a Doctor Who shaped sampler. The Matt Smith era, as those who mark by the actor rather than the production credits will call it, unfolds as a new golden era.

At least there was no magic or fantasy this time. It improved the story a large amount.
While this is time the story was better for Matt, I still believe he is too young. His irrelevance of authority is still the Doctor, his check at the them is irritating for one looking so young. I know the character is over 900 years, but he does not look old enough too have that attitude.
Still I liked the story for a change. And it was nice to hear such a beautiful voice out of such a beautiful person.
Katherine Jenkins is (for those who do not know) a Welsh mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.

I just worked out the list of Christmas episodes (The Feast of Steven, The Christmas Invasion, The Runaway Bride, Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, The End of Time part 1 and A Christmas Carol). Apart from the recent specials, as long as The Show is in production year round, then you'd expect this to naturally coincide with the calendar every seven years. Twenty six years of production should give three episodes scheduled for Christmas in first run on the BBC, and possibly four. However;

It doesn't. Apart from the really famous instance in the '60s, it never happened. There appears to have been no deliberate policy in the black and white era; the transmission date was whatever Saturday in December it fell upon, so it bounces all around the last week until it hits Christmas in 1965.

This changes with the introduction to colour, as the start date for new series is pushed back to the new year. After three years it crept back into December, but still misses Christmas three times. With season 13 the date jumps back to September (the shortened season 12 left Terror of The Zygons in the can for the next series), but another force comes into play. In 1975, '76 and '77 the transmissions would stop over Christmas, giving an artificial mid-season break. In 1978 and 1979 it was scheduled through December, but missed the holiday. It broke over the holidays again in 1980.

With the introduction of Peter Davison came a schedule change; not so apparent to viewers outside the UK. The Show went from weekly Saturday to twice weekly, Monday and Tuesday. The schedule was also pushed back from September to the following January, giving a ten month gap from Logopolis to Castrovalva. It continued on from January to March (with the exception of The Five Doctors in November 1983 and move back to Saturdays in 1985) until that notorious gap. In effect its break (near cancellation?) pushed the start date back from what would have been January 1985 to September, where it ran until December (Mondays from 1987, Wednesdays from 1988) 'til true cancellation.

So, nine years it ran through December, thirteen years it didn't and four years it took a break over Christmas. And only one hit. Perfectly statistically consistent. And yet...

Why the breaks? And the scheduling to go either side of Christmas? It is a time of year full of variety specials and other such non-Doctor Who things of limited interest. Which must make its Saturday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday slots high demand.

Even if we only add the mid season break years, it would be thirteen years of productions through December, one short of where you'd expect to see two co-incidental Christmas episodes. Some force keeps Doctor Who out of Christmas --  until recently when it started making its own high demand variety special episodes. Brrr.

You'll be asking "What about Australia?", well as it so happens this was The Two Doctors episode three (ie the first half of the double length part two) in 1985. And apart from things like the Christmas Eve repeat of K9 and Company in 1984, that's it. The closest was in 1969 when Evil of the Daleks in Adelaide and Brisbane, and Tomb of the Cybermen in Brisbane were dropped for the holiday and resumed the following week.

We seem to have our own anti-Christmas Doctor Who force.

You are indeed a fountain of knowledge Martin - I never knew any of that!

I enjoyed the 2010 Xmas special - light with some action and good acting.  A perfect flight of fancy for Xmas/Boxing Day night viewing.

Michael Gambon was great in it - he's always great to watch and Matt Smith and Co have really settled into being a good team - I look forward to Season 6.

I probably wouldn't put it on a par with the 2005 Xmas Special - which I thought was fantastic, but it's certainly the best one shown for awhile I think.