Layers of fantasy, alienation. Dream logic, TV logic. A Doctor Who episode that’s so self-aware it’s virtually sentient and a Santa who is pulling all the strings…

Moffat is an extraordinarily clever writer, and doesn’t mind showing off. He doesn’t always manage to merge a Christmas story with the complex ongoing narratives he weaves, but here he makes it look easy. Messing around with our perception of the show is risky, but this is confident and successful stuff.

For Fusion Patrol, Eugene and I discuss the 2014 Christmas Special…