Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe (2011) Matt Smith, Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey
It’s Christmas Day, so Larry and I pulled some Christmas crackers, put on our paper crowns, and watched the new episode of Doctor Who. Read the rest of this entry »
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Blue Carbuncle (1984) Jeremy Brett, David Burke
Last year on Christmas Eve, Larry and I were watching Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes face off against his nemesis at Reichenbach Falls. Larry was briefly traumatized, we watched another episode, and in the end it all worked out, despite some brief confusion over the fact that between those episodes they swapped out the actor playing Dr. Watson. Keeping with tradition, we decided to watch The Blue Carbuncle this year, the most festive of the Holmes mysteries. Read the rest of this entry »
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) the voices of the damned
Oh god, it’s another Rankin-Bass monstrosity! Why do these Rankin-Bass movies never make any sense? Is it really that hard to make a Christmas film with a coherent plot? Their movies remind me of craft projects made by little kids: They start out with a solid concept and somewhere along the way it just becomes a Frankenstein’s monster of Elmer’s glue, glitter, feathers, and Froot Loops. Read the rest of this entry »
The Office Christmas Special (2003) Ricky Gervais, Lucy Davis, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook
I’m going to do my best to do this episode justice in the write up, but I was shanghaied by the local public transportation system for two hours this evening, so let it be known that my cup doesn’t exactly runneth over with holiday spirit at the moment. Read the rest of this entry »
Vicar of Dibley Christmas Episode (2006/2007) Dawn French, Richard Armitage
There’s more than one Vicar of Dibley Christmas special, but for the purposes of the 25 Days I’m focusing on the 2006/2007 episodes “The Handsome Stranger” and “The Vicar in White.” It wasn’t until I started watching it that I remembered that this Vicar of Dibley two-parter is the least Christmas-themed of all the films and TV specials I am watching this year. In retrospect I guess I should have chosen one of the show’s other Christmas specials, but I don’t care—this one makes me happy. Read the rest of this entry »
He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (1985) a bunch of voice actors who should be ashamed of themselves
I’m not positive, but I think the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special may be the worst Christmas special ever. It’s so awful that in the year since Larry and I last saw it, we forgot almost the entire thing. The only explanation I can think of is that watching it the first time was so traumatic for the both of us that we designed, built, and used some sort of memory-wiping device to erase the event from our minds. I just wish that we’d left ourselves the plans for the device so we could do it again. Read the rest of this entry »
The Avengers: Too Many Christmas Trees (1965) Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg
Larry and I are both Avengers fans, and what Christmas would be complete without the Avengers Christmas episode? Read the rest of this entry »