Much like with Fargo, I had an embarrassment of options when it came to picking a Doctor Who Christmas favourite, especially given that the show has had several specialised Christmas specials. My pick lands with its fairly loose adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’, where showrunner Steven Moffat’s take on the Charles Dickens classic comes with plenty of typical charm and interesting science fiction creations. Coming between series 5 and 6 of the show’s revival, you could say this episode almost marks the beginning of the end of its most acclaimed modern period. When we are introduced to the late great Michael Gambon’s Kazran Sardick (our Scrooge stand-in), he immediately begins chewing the scenery in a performance that is truly perfect, as deceptively sincere as it is perfectly mean. Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan are all great and their collective chemistry which the strength of this era of the show is built on is on show here, even if less so than usual with the latter two spending most of the episode on the sideline.

There’s almost a meta aspect to the episode too which is a nice twist, as the Doctor almost seems inspired by ‘A Christmas Carol’ himself to make Kazran a better person and to save a spaceship full of over four thousand people which is hurtling towards the planet’s surface (it’s explained a lot smoother in the episode, trust me). This makes the familiar plot beats more acceptable as it seems it’s a conscious decision by the character to fix the problem he’s faced with by recalling Dickens. The Doctor’s trip to Kazran’s past and his hopping between time periods is a treat to behold, and while Gambon totally steals the episode, Laurence Belcher does a great job as the younger version of Kazran, providing the right amount of childish wonder to the episode.

Murray Gold’s music is always a highlight of the modern iteration of the show, and that is no different here, with his score for this episode being akin to classic movies of the mid 20th century, almost taking some Ennio Morricone influence at times. The original song written for acting debutant Katherine Jenkins which plays into the finale is also really sweet and fits the ethereal vibe of the character neatly. The sequence where the Doctor, Kazran and Abigail ride on a sleigh pulled by a flying shark (again, it works better than it sounds) is particularly whimsical. My favourite humourous moment of the epiosde has to be The Doctor’s kissing advice – “try and be nervous and a bit shaky because that’s what you’re going to be anyway, and this way it’ll seem like it was all part of the plan”.

Is this episode perfect? No, no it isn’t. The premise being borrowed from a classic story does make it feel a bit too familiar at times, but the warm fuzziness of it is enough to make up for that and then some. Yeah, the CGI shark effects look absolutely terrible, but any Doctor Who fan will have come to accept that by now and yes, the relationship between Kazran and Abigail is pretty creepy but hey, it’s Christmas and the episode, despite feeling incredibly 2010 in many ways, still warms my heart and excites me in equal measure. By the end of the episode, you know you’ve watched something pretty epic in scope which still feels quite simple in terms of its emotional characterisation. Of all the episodes on this list, this one probably has the widest appeal in terms of age groups; put this on at Christmas and I’m sure most people with a vague sci-fi interest and a soppy side will lap it up, particularly given its almost entirely standalone nature.