The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

225 – "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"
Doctor Who episode
Madge takes in the spirits of the forest, as the only one worthy to do so.
Cast
Doctor Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)
Others Claire Skinner – Madge Arwell Karen Gillan – Amy Pond Arthur Darvill – Rory Williams Maurice Cole – Cyril Arwell Holly Earl – Lily Arwell Alexander Armstrong – Reg Arwell – Co-pilot Bill Bailey – Droxil Paul Bazely – Ven-Garr Arabella Weir – Billis Spencer Wilding – Wooden King Paul Kasey – Wooden Queen
Production
Directed by	Farren Blackburn
Written by	Steven Moffat
Produced by	Marcus Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Piers Wenger Caroline Skinner
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Length	60 minutes
Originally broadcast	25 December 2011
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Wedding of River Song" "Asylum of the Daleks" (episode) "Good as Gold" (mini-episode)

"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2011, it is the seventh Doctor Who Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Farren Blackburn. Internationally, the special was shown on BBC America in the United States and on Space in Canada the same day as the British broadcast, with ABC1 in Australia showing it one day later.

In the special, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) is the caretaker of recently widowed Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) and her children Lily (Holly Earl) and Cyril (Maurice Cole) during their holiday vacation away from the London Blitz. The Doctor plans to take them on a treat to a snowy planet through a portal in a present he has placed under the Christmas tree, but Cyril opens it before Christmas and wanders through. While looking for him, the others learn that the trees of the planet are about to be melted down with acid rain for energy.

"The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" marked the end of Piers Wenger's tenure as executive producer, and the debut of Caroline Skinner in the same position. Adapting elements of C.S. Lewis's children's novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Moffat intended the episode to be the most "Christmassy" of the Doctor Who Christmas specials, while Blackburn felt there was "magic" in it. It was filmed in September and October 2011, with some scenes taking place in an authentic Lancaster bomber. "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" was watched by 10.77 million viewers in the United Kingdom, making it the third most-watched programme on Christmas Day. Critical reception to the episode was mixed, and some felt that the high-profile comedic guest stars Bill Bailey and Arabella Weir were underused.