Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol

                          On a human colony in the distant future,a starliner with 4000 passengers  is about to be torn about by a massive clouds disturbance over a planet. On the surface,the sister of an ill lady in cryogenic freeze pleads for her sisters health from Kazran Sardick,the man whose father had full control of the planets weather. Amy,who is on board the liner since the doctor is unable to use the TARDIS to prevent its crash due to the electrical disturbances,the doctor emerges from Sardick's chimney to convince him to use the isomorphic controls,linked to his own mind to stop the meteorological disturbances. As the family of the cryogenically frozen lady are about to go,one of the younger boys in the family's family pleas are nearly met by Kazran hitting him-from which the doctor assertains a possible reason for Kazran's disposition.

                       Contriving on the Dickensian Christmas parable,the doctor utilizes an old film he discovered,projected behind the TARDIS to show Kazran his childhood at the hands of his domineering and joyless father-even going back in time masquerading as a new sitter for the young Kazran. As the elder Kazran watches,the doctor attempts to reshape his history while also looking into the mystery of fish flying through pure air vapor,through the fog. This turns out to be the result unusual properties in the air itself. The doctor and Kazran are set about by a shark that eats half of the doctors screwdriver-leaving the other half signaling a homing beacon. Kazran leads the doctor to a cryogenic device where Kazran reveals his father Elliot has been keeping humans frozen as a form of collateral investment.

                        After being set upon by the shark again,it is again calmed by the singing of the woman the doctor saw frozen earlier,whose name is Abigail. For many Christmases to come,the doctor returns at Christmas to take Abigail and Kazran on a journey to a new place in space and time-all the way up through Kazran's adulthood. He even allows Abigail to spend Christmas with her sisters family who are deprived due to the cruel deprivations bought about by Kazran's miserly father.During a visit to Hollywood, Abigail is forced to bid Kazran a tearful farewell. Kazran decides he wants a break from the doctors visits to work with his father. The doctor gives him his sonic screwdriver and tells Kazran to contact him if he needs to. 

                   When he meets with Kazran again,as the liner is continuing its descend. Kazran is no doubly disenchanted that the doctor filled his past with new memories. He informs the doctor that,having fallen in love with Abigail on their journeys,he learned she had to return to stasis as her illness would terminate her life after only one day of being unfrozen. The doctor convinces Kazran by bringing his younger self to see the bitter man he'd become. Upon embracing his younger self,Kazran finds himself unable to deactivate the isomorphic weather controls due to his altered memories. So the doctor uses his sonic screwdriver half to create a link with the half still within the belly of the shark,who is awoken by the song of the unthawed Abigail,resonated the atmosphere and allowed the liner to land safely with no fatalities. The doctor takes the newly married Amy and Rory on their honeymoon with Kazran and Abigail have their final day together.

                 This first of the 11th doctor era's Christmas stories is an excellent and often thought provoking one-spinning the old (and so often cliched) Dickensian Scrooge parable around a bit by using the device of the doctor to who the Scrooge-like character of Kazran the error of his ways-not by dreams but by genuine time travel-allowing him to see himself through his own eyes. Integrated into the story are more contemporary barriers to the happiness of the Christmas holiday or anytime-such as the problems of healthcare in relation to terminal interest and the very quality that is driving Kazran's cynicism about humanity: the issue of child abuse at the hands of his father Elliot. Its an excellent Christmas tale from Doctor Who featuring love,whimsical flying fish and a thought provoking message that is very apropos to the 21st century and many of it's problems and need for joy.