Christmas is just around the corner, and though there’s no festive Doctor Who episode this year, Candy Jar Books is bringing us a special treat in the form of Doctor Who Christmas Specials: Twenty Years of Festive Adventures.
Edited by Baz and Ben Greenland, the book covers every Christmas and New Year’s special from The Christmas Invasion to Joy to the World — and then some!
The book is released imminently, so we caught up with Baz to find out more!
First of all, do you have a favourite Christmas special yourself?
There are lots of great options, but for me, nothing beats A Christmas Carol. Matt Smith is wonderful in this story, while Michael Gambon is pitch perfect as the Scrooge-like Kazran. Katherine Jenkins is also a revelation, with her vocal talents put to amazing use. An adaptation of A Christmas Carol was always ripe for Doctor Who to explore, and with Steven Moffat’s writing talents, the real magic happens. It’s timey wimey, very funny, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. It even has the great visual of a shark swimming through the air! And most importantly, it is just so Christmassy. Few specials give me that festive feeling quite like A Christmas Carol.
How did this book come about?
It was actually a pitch from Candy Jar editor, Shaun Russell. He had liked what I had done with UNIT: A Legacy in Doctor Who, and spent a very fun few weeks watching every special with his family over the festive period. With The Christmas Invasion (and modern Doctor Who) celebrating its 20th anniversary, the time felt right to explore the legacy of the Doctor Who Christmas – and New Year’s Day – specials and I was excited to take up the challenge.
The biggest challenge of all was, in true Doctor Who fashion, watching and writing about Christmas specials in the height of summer. There was one day where I was at the beach in the morning, and then put on Twice Upon a Time in the afternoon!
It’s quite a monumental task: how did you approach it? The idea of bringing in numerous writers to enthuse about each episode is a great idea by the way, giving lots of different voices to the book.
I took each special one at a time. I would watch the episode and then spend time researching the development, history, and legacy of the episode online. For any non-fiction book, research is key. I spend as much time reading about the episodes as I do writing about them! But then, armed with that research, I would then dive into the chapters, telling a story to make it more engaging. What was the state of Doctor Who at a time? Had a companion just left? Was a regeneration pending? These events often shaped the writing of these specials. I would then explore the filming, the critical reception, and how they connected to the specials that preceded them. I want the readers to go on a journey, feel engaged, and be entertained as much as learning something new about the specials they love.
These specials have such a legacy that I wanted to hear from other voices too. I know plenty of Doctor Who fans who also happen to be writers and critics, and so I thought it would be great to hear their thoughts in the book too. Because Ben and I were focused on the development, legacy, and critical reception, it would be hard to switch our voice to offer a more personal opinion and reflection of what these specials meant to us (though I still feel our voices come through). The concept was that once Ben and I had presented what each special was about, a guest writer would come in and write a personal, reflective essay that celebrates these stories.
And I absolutely love these essays. They’re funny, emotional, and offer perspectives that we might not have considered. I loved getting new essays as the project drew on, and adding them to the book’s journey as we moved from one special to the next. They help to tell the story of 20 years of Doctor Who Christmas specials, and give the book a magical touch.
What was it like working with your son?
Ben is the BIGGEST Doctor Who fan I know. He’s watched every episode, every reconstruction, he’s read numerous books and comics, and listened to countless Big Finish audios. He really knows his stuff! Anyone who talks to him is just blown away by his passion and knowledge of Doctor Who! And that’s why we do a podcast – The TARDIS Crew – together. There are numerous Doctor Who podcasts out there, but what I think makes ours so special is Ben’s knowledge and our father-son dynamic.
And so, when it came to writing my second non-fiction Doctor Who book for Candy Jar, I knew I wanted to bring that passion and knowledge into the project, while giving him the opportunity to be published. It wasn’t always easy; he’s now in his second year at university, so a lot of the discussions were done over WhatsApp, or when he was home for the holidays, but we immediately vibed on what we wanted the book to be about. Ben would take one special for each Doctor and follow the same approach as I had done – watching, researching, and writing – though he knows Doctor Who so well, the difficulty was not obtaining interesting insights, but backing up that vast Doctor Who database in his brain with references that we could connect to in what became our extensive chapter notes for the book!
You’ve got some amazing interviews in there too — how did those come about? And any highlights?
I think there are three magic ingredients to this book. First, the father-son dynamic of writing this book together. Secondly, the amazing essays from all the different writers, offering fresh voices. And finally, the interviews with the four different Doctor Who directors. After all, it’s so much easier to explore the development of these specials when you can actually talk to people involved in.
You always want to get some great interviews for your book. The process requires a lot of patience and gumption, approaching agents and contacts, and hoping someone bites. Fortunately, the four directors – Farren Blackburn, Saul Metzstein, Paul Wilmshurst, and Douglas Mackinnon – all bit! They were all very approachable and willing to share their stories, not just about these specials, or even the other Doctor Who episodes they had written, but their wider careers as well. The four interviews were done over Zoom on a very hot and sunny August, which feels typical of the behind-the-scenes creation of any festive episode. Hearing them talk about the challenges of working with snow, but also what it is like working with Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, and Alex Kingston, was a real joy!
What do you think makes a perfect festive Doctor Who?
This is a very hard question, and one I try to answer in the book. It needs to feel accessible and not throwaway to the fans who stick with the show every series or season. But it also needs to be accessible to the casual viewer, who’s had three Baileys, half a turkey and six mince pies, and maybe only watched the show last Christmas. It’s a fine balance, and some festive specials are more successful than others.
But the thing I’ve reflected on, while writing this book – and I think Ben will agree – is that they need to be heartfelt. They need to make you happy, maybe a little bit sad, and leave you feeling a little bit joyful. And Christmassy. Sometimes that’s very in your face, like killer Christmas trees, but sometimes it can just be the vibe. Maybe it’s my love of The Muppet Christmas Carol, but any special that looks like it’s come out of a snowy Victorian London is usually the one that I will connect with the most!
And, in a similar fashion to A Christmas Carol and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, are there any stories — be they films, books, whatever — that you think could work well, if given the Doctor Who makeover?
I love this question!
[Laughs] Thanks, Baz!
I’d love to see Doctor Who take on some Roald Dahl. The Doctor meets the Twits or concocts George’s Marvellous Medicine? But maybe that’s too silly? I love that Moffat went for two perfect classics, two years in a row. I’m sure there are plenty of Victorian ghost stories they can adapt. Maybe Dickens’ The Signal-Man?
A big thank you to Baz!
The book includes essays from a few DWC contributors, and is going to the printers later this week — making it an ideal Christmas present!
Doctor Who Christmas Specials: Twenty Years of Festive Adventures is available to order now.
