_ Today, for the first non-Christmas entry I've decided to write another book review. Although, a little bit ironically, the book is a Christmas short story anthology which I've read over the last month, making this entry slightly Christmassy too. This book, Doctor Who- Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury, has quite a nice mixture of stories, ranging from very serious ones to very silly ones, all of them, of course, using characters from Doctor Who (which just happens to be one of my favourite TV series!) I'll write a brief little something about every story in this collection now:

Last Christmas by Simon Guerrier: 8/10
The Seventh Doctor visits an old friend of his every Christmas... It's quite a gloomy story really, but still, quite an interesting one. A nice start to the anthology.

UNIT Christmas Parties: First Christmas by Nick Wallace:  8.2/10
The next story is a slightly better one. This one is definitely more Christmassy feeling than the first one too. In this one The Third Doctor spends his first Christmas day on Earth after being trapped there and, well, I think it's quite nice, especially the ending.

In the TARDIS: Christmas Day by Val Douglas: 8.1/10
This is a fun little poem about how Christmas day is spent on the TARDIS with The Fifth Doctor and his companions. It's quite amusing really, and a parody of the famous 'In the workhouse: Christmas Day' poem.

Water's Edge by Peter Adamson: 6.4/10
The Sixth Doctor is involved with the real life Tangiwai train crash of Christmas 1953. It's not really Christmassy at all, and very grim really. It's not bad, but it's not overly fun either.

A Yuletide Tale: Part One by Dave Stone: 6/10
As story about a cat named Tom in he appears to be trying to survive in Victorian London during an alien invasion. It's not bad, but a little boring. The TARDIS appears at the very end and this story is continued in part two.

Spookasm by Peter Anghelides: 4/10
This is the only story in the whole anthology that I would call bad. The story is about a little girl visiting a theme park and The Seventh Doctor makes a few small appearances. Some alien or something is planning on using the girl or something and... Well, it just isn't very good, and it doesn't really need to be in a Christmas anthology either, the only link to the festive season is that the girl's birthday is 25th December.

Christmas Special by Marc Platt: 8/10
This is a rather meta and bizarre story featuring The Sixth Doctor entering the world of television and learning that his show might be cancelled. There are lots of references to the real life factors in Doctor Who's cancellation, which are fun to spot if you know them, and the strangeness of the story makes it rather fun to read.

Never Seen Cairo by Darren Sellers: 8.5/10
This is another rather sad story: The Fifth Doctor visits the football playing truce of World War 1 and makes a new friend. This is a very good story though, and one of the best 'serious' stories in this anthology.

The Man Who (Nearly) Killed Christmas by Mark Michalowski: 9.2/10
This story was my favourite one in the anthology! Favourite story that is, there's a poem later on that's better than it. The Second Doctor has a little adventure with Santa Claus and, well, it's just a wonderfully written piece of festive fun!

Last Minute Shopping by Neil Perryman: 8.9/10
This one is another jolly yuletide story, The Fifth Doctor and his companions decide to do some Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, with some rather humorous results. The funniest parts of this story are the bits that show Turlough and The Doctor failing to fit into normal society due to their being so otherworldly.

Every Day by Stephen Fewell: 8.5/10
The First Doctor and his companions land in a house where it really is Christmas every day...  It's quite an interesting story really, and all the characters are presented perfectly. Plus, it gets a good mixture of comedy and drama.

The Eight Doctors of Christmas by Matthew Griffiths: 8/10
A parody of the poem The Twelve Days of Christmas (in case it wasn't obvious from the title). It's quite fun to read, though a couple of the lines seem to me as if they don't quite fit.

The Little Things by Paul Beardsley: 8/10
Back when the TARDIS could transform to fit into its surroundings, a woman accidentally posted a Christmas card into it when it looked like a post box, years later The Fourth Doctor and Romana find this letter and decide to deliver it. This story is quite funny, a jolly Christmas romp. Plus, this story is the first of several crazy Fourth Doctor and Romana adventures, so you have more of these to look forward to afterward.

Beep the Meep's Grundian Egg Nog, The Brig's Brandy Butter, The Game of Rassilon, Animus, Zarbi and Menoptra, Camilla's O-Negative Mulled Wine and Mrs Baddeley's Mini Christmas Pudding Truffles 7/10
These are all separate things in the book, and none of them are stories. Each of them is a Doctor Who related recipe or game. Animus, Zarbi and Menoptra seems to be the most fun of all of them.

UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce by Terrance Dicks: 9/10
Another story set while The Third Doctor was trapped on Earth, this story also has The Master in it! I won't spoil what happens, but it's a very good, very sweet story! One of the best in the book.

The Clanging Chimes of Doom by Jonathan Morris: 8/10
This one seems to me like it's a sequel to The Little Things. Another funny story about The Fourth Doctor and Romana. The Doctor decides to start collecting autographs, and so he visits the recording of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' it's not a particularly Christmassy story, but a good one nonetheless.

On Being Five by Jo Fletcher: 7/10
A nice little nostalgic poem about the writer's experience of watching Doctor Who as a young child. Not too bad.

Perfect Present by Andy Campbell: 8.5/10
Somewhat creepy story about The Seventh Doctor ridding an old house of ghosts in the early 1900s. The story has a rather nice twist to it as well... Plus, it's a race against time too; he needs to get it all done before the next day: Christmas!

Present Tense by Ian Potter 9/10
This is the best Fourth Doctor and Romana story. The two of them exchange gifts on Christmas day, unfortunately, The Doctor’s outlandish gift causes some kind of damage by being pulled out of time. This one’s funny and nice at the same time.

Goodwill Toward Men by J. Shaun Lyon: 8.5/10
Another great story about The Second Doctor. He has his companions Jamie and Zoe with him this time too. It isn't quite as good as the earlier Second Doctor story, but it's still very enjoyable. Here he visits a homeless shelter on Christmas Eve to do some charitable work, and one of his companions learns a valuable lesson!

It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow by Martin Day:  8/10
The Fourth Doctor and Leela inadvertently interfere with The Homeguard’s training during Christmas time. Quite an enjoyable read, and a more serious story for the Fourth Doctor after the other three more jokey ones.

All Our Christmases by Steve Lyons: 9/10
This is a very good story dealing with how people would use time travel if they had access to it. The Doctor plays a fairly small part in this story, and I'm not entirely sure which one it's supposed to be, but I think it's The First Doctor.  This story is also extremely meta as well, as a large part of the story has a character describing Doctor Who to The Doctor!

Lily by Jackie Marshall: 7.9/10
The Fifth Doctor visits Sarah Jane Smith, at a much later point in her life, around Christmas time. While there, he meets her granddaughter Lily. Nothing much really happens, but I like it for being very relatably Christmassy. Plus, I do quite like the character Lily, I wonder if she's in anything else?

A Yuletide Tale: Part 2 by Dave Stone: 7/10
The conclusion to A Yuletide Tale. It's better than the first part, and has The Seventh Doctor and Ace in it. It's better than part one, and fairly funny too.

...Be Forgot by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright: 8.9/10
The Eighth Doctor visits Bernice Summerfield  at Christmas time. Now, I don't know very much about Bernice Summerfield, but this story wants me to read some of the spin-off books about her; it's a very good story.

The Feast of Seven, Eight (and Nine) by Vanessa Bishop: 10/10
A hilarious poem about all of the Doctors having a Christmas party together. I was laughing all the way through! It's the best thing in the book, in my opinion, which is why I have given it a 10/10, but anybody unfamiliar with Doctor Who would get no joy from this poem at all.

UNIT Christmas Parties: Ships That Pass by Karen Dunn: 9/10
Another more serious Fourth Doctor story, and it's mainly about his companions Sarah and Harry. The two of them are in an explosion and think they're likely to die and, well, the little conversations they have to comfort each other are very well written. Overall a very good story.

Evergreen by Stephen Cole 5/10
I didn't get this story. I gave it a 5/10 because I don't know what was going on in it. There are so many Doctor Who books and characters and everything, it's probably dealing with a section of the Whoniverse I'm unfamiliar with... So it must be very obscure. Not all that entertaining either.

Average: 7.3/10
The average score of this book seems quite low to me though, as I enjoyed it more than that! My only problem with the story is that each of The Doctors didn't seem to be equally used... But it was a fun and enjoyable read nonetheless, especially around the Christmas season.

 

(buy it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Treasury-Doctor-Who-Short/dp/1844351122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325527242&sr=8-1)

Oh my goodness, this might be my longest entry! Short story anthologies take a while to review I guess.

_So Christmas day has arrived and I'm very excited indeed (I've yet to open my presents). If I have any readers who are so loyal that they're even checking this blog on Christmas day, then I am very thankful! It's very kind of you to take the time to read my blog and I hope you will continue to always do so, plus I would also like to say that I want you to have a wonderful Christmas :)
Well, actually, I suppose that sounds very slightly rude (implying I'm only wishing a happy Christmas to those who're reading my blog today) so, just to clarify, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, even if you're reading this a few days later I hope you did have a wonderful Christmas... And even if you never read this, nor ever know about it, this still applies to you! :D 

_ Unfortunately, I've already written this entry once before, but then there was a computer error and it was gone forever :( usually in these cases I'd explain what had happened and leave the entry unwritten, but since this is part of my Trusty Water Advent Calendar, I feel I kind of have to. I mean, with a real advent calendar, it would be quite annoying to open number twenty-four only to find that there was no chocolate in it!
Anywho, its Christmas Eve today! That's quite exciting isn't it? It seems like I've been writing the Trusty Water Advent Calendar for ages now. It was actually getting a little hard to think of a Christmas related post every day, so in a way I'm quite glad to be finished with it... But that's not to say I haven't enjoyed it!  So, anyway, who really, actually is excited?
I've heard quite a few people complain this year that it 'doesn't feel like Christmas' and I have a few little theories as to why this may be. Now, while this may be due to a large change to the status quo of the lives of many people I know (i.e. leaving school and moving onto university/college/work/nothing) and so it maybe doesn't 'feel like' Christmas because their lives are so much different to how they were in every other Christmas they've had. But I don't think so.
Personally, I think all the people claiming that this year doesn't 'feel like' Christmas, are saying it due to the lack of snow. For the past two (or possibly three, but I'm pretty confident that it's two) Christmases, there has been a significant amount of snowfall around the time. Now, I am of the opinion that snow is something that is inherently linked with Christmas in people's minds (this is at least true of me). So when there's lots of snow in November, people start thinking more about Christmas, and get a little extra 'buzz' of yuletide excitement. But this year (apart from a few falls which have been wiped away by rain) there hasn't been very much snow, and people haven't been getting that little extra 'buzz' that they'd gotten used to over the last two years. So while waiting for the snow caused buzz of the last few years, they've not gotten as excited as previous years, which is what they now associate with Christmas.
Of course, this may well be entirely wrong; this is just my view on things. I do know, that this is at least true of me, snow did enhance my appreciation of Christmas (that's not to say that I'm not currently as excited as a five year old :D).

_ I imagine that, by this point, the majority of my readers (who, I'm guessing, are either secondary school students or university students) will have finished for Christmas and will be left with a lot of time on their hands. As such, today's blog entry is my suggestion for the best five Christmas specials out there. So if you find yourself with a free hour or so, why not watch one of these excellent television episodes?

5. Blackadder: 'Blackadder's Christmas Carol'
If you're unfamiliar with Blackadder I'll give you a brief description of the series (as it is, very slightly, obscure): Basically, every series is set in a different period of history but also featuring the same characters (Edmund Blackadder and his underling Baldrick) though (with the explanation being that they are either ancestors or descendants of the characters from the earlier series. This episode, as the title probably gives away, is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (a story which, in my opinion, can't be adapted enough times). However, this version of the classic Christmas tale puts quite a spin on the well-known story, I won't ruin it, but I imagine you'll be quite amused by its ending. Plus, another nice touch of this Christmas special is that we get to see the incarnations of the characters from the previous series and how it was that they spent their Christmases, which I very much enjoy. You can't go very far with this festive romp; you even get to see the Blackadder of the future, which is pretty funny.

4. Futurama: 'Xmas Story'
I'm guessing everyone knows the story of Futurama? I won't bother explaining its premise then. 'Xmas Story' is about Fry's first Christmas day in the future. For obvious reasons (that all of his old friends are dead, just in case it wasn't so obvious to you) Fry begins to feel a little sad about this. Around the same time, Leela begins to feel a little sad too, mainly due to the fact that she doesn't know anything about her origins. Fry goes out to buy a present for Leela (a parrot), but he doesn't really know about the evil robot Father Christmas of the future who goes around killing people on Christmas Eve because everyone is his naughty list (except Zoidberg). The episode has a nice Christmassy feeling about it, we see the characters putting up Christmas decorations and everything, and it's also quite a sweet story really. I like the whole unrequited love story that Futurama has between Fry and Leela, and this episode has them being rather close with each other, which is nice.

3. The Simpsons: 'Miracle on Evergreen Terrace'
Another cartoon series by Matt Groening! Since The Simpsons has been going for a fair few years now, it has quite a large number of Christmas specials (I'm pretty confident that I haven't even seen them all) but, so far, this is my favourite one. It's a very bittersweet episode really; I was very shocked when I first saw it. If you haven't seen this episode, and don't want to have it spoiled for you, I suggest that you stop reading this now! Basically, Bart burns down the family's Christmas tree and presents, then he tells the family that what actually happened was that a burglar came along and stole them. The whole town feels sorry for them, gives them money out of Christmas generosity, but then they find out what really happened (after the family has already bought a new car which Homer accidentally destroyed) and so to get even with the family they steal all of their stuff, leaving them with an empty house. They literally have nothing at all apart from one washcloth, but then they start jokingly fighting over whose it is. I was much younger when I first this episode, and I wondered what would happen in the series after they'd lost everything. Obviously, at the time, I didn't know that they had it all back and did a crazy musical episode the next week... But still, as a standalone, this is a very good episode and, as I said, very bittersweet throughout. Probably one of the darkest episodes of The Simpsons.

2. The Waltons: 'The Homecoming' / 'The Best Christmas'
For my favourite programme, I really couldn't decide which of these two episodes were the best. As such, they have to share second place in this countdown. First, I'll talk about The Homecoming. Not long ago, I reviewed the book which The Homecoming is adapted from (here's a link to that entry: ) so I won't bother to explain the story again to you. While it may not feature the regular actors for John, Olivia, Zebulon, Ike or the Baldwins, a lot of the regular cast is still there, so this doesn't distract from the enjoyment. What it does perfectly is capture the climax there is on Christmas Eve, how everything, on that day especially, is building up towards Christmas. Though this story, of course, has the added suspense of whether or not the children's father will make it home for Christmas alive or not!
Now, onto The Best Christmas! This is actually the first, and last, time that the whole regular cast is together for a Christmas special, which gives it added meaning. Before this there was only The Homecoming which, as I said before, was before the roles had been properly cast, and afterwards, cast members would leave due to fear of typecasting/a stroke/death/over exhaustion, so it is nice to see them all together for this one Christmas special. Also, this one seems somehow more Christmassy to me too, with lovely Christmas decorations, snow storms etc. But, on the downside, this story is half as long as The Homecoming, which means you can't sit back and watch it as if it were a Christmas film. But, like I say, I can't decide between these two, hence why both of them are here! Though I will say that it's The Homecoming that I try and watch every Christmas Eve.

1. Doctor Who: 'The Christmas Invasion'
So The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) had just died and turned into The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) before crash landing in London on Christmas Eve 2006. The Doctor actually spends most of the story asleep in bed, so the story mainly focuses on Rose and how she reacts to the regeneration. But, with no Doctor to do crazy and exciting things, Rose basically does regular exciting Christmas build-up things with her (ex?)boy-friend Mickey. To me, it seems like such a realistic representation of the time before Christmas, without being boring. Later on, aliens show up and invade the Earth and The Doctor has to save the day, which, you'd think would ruin the Christmas spirit of the story, but it actually makes it even better. This is just a very well done episode, and hence why I rate it as the number one TV Christmas special.