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 | Reviews for Blood on Santa's Claw |
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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 29 November 2021 |
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| Rating: |   7 |
This is a Christmas story somewhat closer to New Who tone and style than Classic Who. We start kind of in medias res, with Peri having picked up a boyfriend. The Doctor is not too keen on the lad, and who can blame him? Joe is rather a timid and uninteresting guy, not at all the type who deserves Peri. So, the story goes rather domestic, with questions of how this trio is going to work out. The first story has them visit a planetoid in which majority religions get to dominate other religions. However, "religion" now qualifies as belief in almost anything, and so here we get the Shakespeare worshipers lording it over the Wind in the Willows worshipers. It's somewhat daft. Next, the TARDIS crew are investigating an outfit that creates robot designer children. Again, we start in the middle, with events that happened before not dramatized but merely referred to. As part of the investigation, Peri gets to experience life with children, which rather gets her maternal instincts into high gear. The third story finds the crew arriving at what seems to be a perpetual Christmas party. However, things are not what they seem. To avoid spoilers, I won't describe story four, but suffice to say that all four are neatly rolled into one. Writer Nev Fountain seems prone to insert humor when pathos is required. The whole thing, like the New Who Christmas specials, is entertaining without being too taxing.
