He pulls the crab off, and learns that Clara is now an elderly woman. Upon waking, the Doctor traces the psychic signal linking their dreams back to Clara.
The Doctor, Clara, and the "scientists" dream of Santa, who wakes them up to their real lives, one by one, until only Clara is left. The affected personnel – manifestations of the Doctor, Clara, and the "scientists'" minds – attack and kill Professor Albert. Santa wakes the group up.Ĭlara reminds the Doctor that they met Santa before arriving, proving that everything else has also been a dream and that none of the scientists are scientists. He explains that Santa is the manifestation of their subconscious minds fighting back. The Doctor deduces that they are not awake, but in a different layer of a multi-faceted dream and have been since the initial crab attack. Clara and the Doctor wake up, which kills the crabs devouring them. Clara still resists willing herself to wake up, until Danny tells her that she can miss him while also moving on with her life. The Doctor willingly falls victim to another crab to enter the dream. The Doctor sends Clara to recover Santa's crab specimen, but Clara, thinking about the crab, makes it come alive and attack her.Ĭlara reunites with Danny in a dream. The Doctor says that he lied about finding Gallifrey. Clara reveals that during their last meeting, she lied to the Doctor about Clara's boyfriend Danny Pink coming back from the dead. More crabs attack the Doctor, Clara, and the unaffected crew, only for Santa to rescue them. The Doctor and Clara arrive at a North Pole base where four of the crew in the infirmary are being devoured by Dream Crabs – blind aliens which induce dreams on their intended victims as a distraction whilst devouring the victims' brains and which use telepathy to see the surroundings of people thinking about a crab. Santa tells the Doctor that he will need his help before the night is over. On Christmas Eve, Clara finds Santa Claus stranded on her roof. The Dream Crabs, shown here at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular. "Last Christmas" was viewed by 8.28 million in the United Kingdom and received positive reviews from critics, praising its story, acting and film influences. In the special, alien time traveller the Doctor ( Peter Capaldi) is reunited with his companion Clara Oswald ( Jenna Coleman) as they must save a North Pole science base from creatures called dream crabs that induce dream states whilst killing their victims, with the help of Santa Claus ( Nick Frost). It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Paul Wilmshurst. It is the tenth Christmas special since the show’s revival in 2005.
" Last Christmas" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 25 December 2014. List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present)