Christmas Superlative: Saddest Doctor Who Christmas Special

BBCA, Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Snowmen

How can a Doctor Who episode called The Snowmen be sad? Well, let’s take a look.

We’ve already done the Happiest Christmas Special, so now it’s only fair to do the one that leaves us in tears every time. For this specific superlative, I am not including regenerations. We will have our own regeneration category after Twice Upon a Time airs.

So, many times the Doctor Who Christmas episodes have a happy ending, but they deal with a sad aspect of some sort. River’s last night, the death of Astrid, the impending doom of whether or not Abigail, the frozen singer, will live. However, most of the time, it is all magically fixed, or there is a happy ending of some sort.

But there is one episode, in my opinion, that ends on a sad note that strikes a chord. Perhaps this wouldn’t be the case had the Ponds not just left the Doctor, leaving him in a state. Even the fact that we knew Jenna Coleman would be returning in series seven was never quite enough for me.

In my opinion, The Snowmen is the saddest Christmas special. With the Ponds having just been taken away by the Weeping Angels, the Doctor retreats into the TARDIS for who-knows-how-long. By the time we see him in this episode, his only contact with the world is through the Paternoster Gang.

Clara Oswin Oswald

However, the Doctor becomes interested in the smart and capable Clara Oswald, who is pretending to be a nanny under an alias. He comes out of his depression and takes Clara’s case. From the beginning, he is quite smitten with her, and she has a TARDIS key faster than any companion before her. But while his back is turned, the ice nanny brings Victorian Clara to her end.

As she lays there dying in the bed, the children are crying and the Doctor is trying to keep her alive. The episode ends with the Doctor making a plea to the universe. Just one time, he wants to bring her back. She’s done it before — he wants her to do it again.

Not only is the death of Victorian Clara sad — no one wants their nanny to die on Christmas! — but it’s also an incredibly sad episode for the Doctor. This is the episode where we truly see him on his own, and what happens when he travels (or doesn’t), by himself. His grief even extends into season seven, when he’s alone with the monks, trying to figure out “the girl twice dead”.

We’ve seen the Doctor face many heartbreaks, but combined with the Ponds and Clara, this one truly tugs at the heartstrings.