History Recap / DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen

** [[invoked]]It's normally redundant to mention that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside. But this episode is the first to show the outside of the TARDIS, the door open, and then have the camera pan inside in one continuous shot. You get to actually see what someone walking into the TARDIS would actually see. Prior to this, the transition from the outside of the TARDIS to the inside was done with a JumpCut due to the inside being a separate set.

** From this eppisode onwards we have "impossible[=/=]not possible".

* PermissionToSpeakFreely: Parodied.
-->'''Strax:''' Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Permission granted.\\
'''Strax:''' Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy.

The one with the impossible girl and the [[Creator/IanMcKellen voice of]] [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]] as a snowglobe.

* FailedASpotCheck: At the end, the modern-day Clara appears oblivious to the fact she's standing next to a tombstone with her name on it.

Also, the Doctor changed the desktop of his TARDIS from whimsical wonderland to Spartan and sterile. [[DarkerAndEdgier Guess he put away his childish things.]] And learned his lesson about having [[Recap/DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime glass floors.]]

It's Christmas Eve 1892, and the falling snow is the stuff of fairy tales. When the fairy tale becomes a nightmare and snow turns out to have really sharp teeth this year, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny Flint and their Sontaran friend Strax]] (who has by now been revived) call on the Doctor for help. But the Doctor is in mourning for the Ponds, reclusive and determined not to engage in the problems of the universe. He's parked his TARDIS high above the clouds and refuses to get emotionally invested in Earth issues again.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_snowmen.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Talking snow... I love new things."]]

At the funeral, the Doctor finally realises that Clara's familiar voice wasn't just a coincidence, and neither was her mentioning soufflés. Her name was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks Clara Oswin Oswald]]. He also realizes that Simeon was working for something very familiar: the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen Great]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear Intelligence]], who picked up a thing or two from this encounter about the strategic weaknesses of the London Underground, and will eventually go on to bother the Second Doctor with that knowledge.

* TenMinuteRetirement: It's been about four years (following the Paternosters' story so far) that the Doctor has been refusing to go adventuring, but since he's dragged back into the game fairly quickly, it's only for about ten actual minutes of his screentime in the episode.

'''Clara:''' Yes, luv, didja notice?

** Clara ran fast enough to jump onto a moving carriage and climb onto its roof, and she did it in a barmaid's outfit that likely included a corset. Yakima Canutt, eat your heart out.
** Vastra is seen be-sworded once again, and strikes against the BigBad.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: The episode ends with the Doctor racing off in the TARDIS, [[HesBack his sense of wonder and adventure restored]], to find out what the deal is with Clara, er, Oswin, er... Clara Oswin.

** From this ep onwards we have "impossible[=/=]not possible".

** Although not used exactly yet, the idea that the Doctor feels he has a "duty of care" towards Clara is first introduced.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Captain Latimer's response to discovering the Doctor and Clara together, the Doctor's innocent insistence that he's Clara's "gentleman friend" and they've been upstairs kissing, that Clara's a working-class girl and moonlights as a barmaid, that the house is surrounded by evil alien snowmen, that there's a lesbian Silurian detective, her wife and a Sontaran butler in his foyer, that his maid's fainted and there's a demonic ice-sculpture version of his children's former governess that's inexplicably talking like Mr Punch coming after them from the top of the stairs: "You have a gentleman friend?"

* TheAtoner: Part of the reason the Doctor decides to save the day is out of guilt that Clara was attacked and mortally injured by the Ice Governess while she was under his care (and he was showing off for her).

* BackFromTheDead: Strax was OnlyMostlyDead. In fact, he ''fainted''[[note]]if you choose to acknowledge "The Battle of Demon's Run: Two Days Later", that is[[/note]].

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Clara is pulled from the Doctor's TARDIS!Cloud and falls ''thousands'' of feet to the ground with a very loud impact being heard. Yet other than being dead (though she is temporarily revived by Strax), Clara doesn't have a visible mark on her, not even a speck of blood.

** [[invoked]]It's normally redundant to mention that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside. But this episode is the first to show the outside of the TARDIS, the door open, and then have the camera pan inside in one continuous shot. You get to actually see what someone walking into the TARDIS would actually see. Prior to this, the transition from the outside of the TARDIS to the inside was done with a JumpCut (due to the inside being a separate set).

* BizarreAlienSexes: Part of a RunningGag with Strax is his constant inability to tell male and female humans apart. The Doctor notes that at least he has a good reason, since because Sontarans now reproduce by cloning, all concept of gender for them went out the window quite a while ago.

* CallForward: The episode turns out to be a prequel to the decades-old "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]]", showing how the villainous Great Intelligence was born. It turns out that the Doctor gave the Intelligence the idea to set up shop in the London Underground in the latter serial.

* CanonDiscontinuity: It is made very clear that Franchise/SherlockHolmes is an entirely fictional character in the Whoniverse, albeit possibly inspired by Madame Vastra. (The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse previously had a different explanation in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresAllConsumingFire All-Consuming Fire]]''.)
* ChekhovsGun: The Memory Worm is introduced as the Doctor's way of keeping his presence in Victorian London a secret. One touch erases the last hour of memory; one ''bite'' will erase the last several decades.

* ChristmasMiracle: It appears the Universe does owe the Doctor a favour after all. He realises that having encountered Clara twice already, there's likely to be another one out there. A scene set in the modern day shows that there is.

** It only shows for a brief moment, but the opening credits displays the Doctor's face, as it did with almost every Doctor back in the classic era.

** The boy of the family Clara works for is named Digby, the name of the unseen owner of the house in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011CSTheDoctorTheWidowAndTheWardrobe The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe]]" 50 years later.

'''The Doctor:''' ''Don't be clever, Strax. It doesn't suit you.''\\

* DramaticIrony: The Doctor never saw Oswin's human face in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks Asylum of the Daleks]]", so unlike the audience he has (or at least seems to have) no idea of any connection at all between Oswin and Clara. Until Clara uses the same dying words as Oswin, and he sees her full name on her gravestone: Clara Oswin Oswald.

* EvilSoundsDeep: The Great Intelligence has a deep and powerful voice until the Doctor strips away its disguise. Then the voice is lighter, revealing it to be the child-like Simeon.
* EvolvingCredits: This episode debuts the intro used until Eleven's finale; as it was the 50th Anniversary, the intro essentially combined elements from all previous intros, ending with the Doctor's face for the first time since the end of the original series.

* FantasticRacism: During the Eleventh Doctor's retirement in Victorian England, he displays a lot of this towards his Sontaran ally, insulting his race's looks and suggesting Sontarans are entirely stupid, directly to his face.

* FisherKing: A non-magical example. After the loss of Amy and Rory, the Doctor has remodelled the TARDIS interior with a darker colour scheme, the decoration has become more spartan and sterile and he's not bothering to turn on the lights. It has ''[[BlatantLies nothing]]'' to do with his depression, [[SarcasmMode seriously]]!
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Clara can effectively fight the parasite simply by thinking hard. The reason why was finally revealed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor the season finale]].
** The episode is ''loaded'' with foreshadowing of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]".

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: As the Doctor and Strax are arguing about the snow, we can see their coach rocking back and forth and hear Clara's protests from inside.

* GoodShepherd: Vastra says that she and Jenny are married, which implies that they found a priest who not only didn't care that both of them are female but also didn't mind that one of them was a ''lizard''.

** The Great Intelligence hasn't met the Doctor before. The Doctor has met it, though -- the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen first time]] was when he was still the Second Doctor. And now we know why it was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear rather fixated]] on the London Underground. However, for reasons as yet unexplained, the Doctor appears to not explicitly remember his previous encounters, only that the name Great Intelligence is familiar. But then, it has been 10 lives since he last encountered it. In real life this is believed to be an in-joke relating to the fact the two stories in which the Great Intelligence was featured were lost at the time -- and, thus, erased from the Doctor's memory.

* IdiotSavant: Strax's stupidity in most situations is a [[BumblingSidekick matter of great exasperation for the Doctor and his friends]], but when he's actually put into a military situation he instantly determines the enemy's intentions. And he drops any pretense of bumbling when he tries every tool at his disposal in an effort to save Clara's life.

** It's also both too light in colour and far too transparent to be human blood, or at least to be ''only'' human blood. Perhaps Madame Vastra dilutes it with a rosé.

* InadvertentEntranceCue: Subverted; when Clara is telling the children about the Doctor as a bedtime story, she looks expectedly at the door when it opens, only for the ice governess to enter. However the Doctor arrives JustInTime for his "[[PhraseCatcher Doctor who?]]" RunningGag (as Clara did earlier when chasing after his carriage).

* InternalHomage: Clara runs around the TARDIS to confirm it is indeed BiggerOnTheInside, just like Rose did in the first New Series episode (with the crucial -- and lethal -- difference that Clara doesn't close the door behind her when she goes back inside).
* InternalReveal: The audience is immediately aware of the suspicious resemblance between Oswin and Clara, [[DramaticIrony but the Doctor is not]] due to the fact he never saw the earlier Clara's face and there are enough differences in their voices (Clara speaking with a cockney accent, for one) that he doesn't twig right away. He appears to make some connections through the episode (her voice does begin to sound familiar and her love of soufflés catches his attention), but he doesn't seem to completely put it together until Clara says the same last words and her gravestone reveals her full name is Clara Oswin Oswald.
* IronicEcho: Madame Vastra tells Clara to respond to her questions with one word, claiming that the truth is singular but lies are words upon words. When Clara responds to her question about why the Doctor would help her with the word "kindness", Vastra launches into a lengthy speech about how the Doctor is not kind, how he is a cold and distant God-figure way too far above humanity to be interested in their concerns. Clara's one-word response?

'''The Doctor:''' Takes one to snow one. ''[he giggles, no one else does]''

* LivingADoubleLife: Clara works as a barmaid under her real name and as a governess under the name "Miss Montague." Her reasons for doing so have never been revealed; presumably her rant about having "ideas above her station" has something to do with it, though it's also strongly hinted that she has designs on Latimer.
* LongBusTrip: This story marked the first appearence of the Great Intelligence since 1968's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]], over '''44 years''' previously.
* MadeOfIron: A possible literal example, as Clara manages to fall ''thousands'' of feet from the cloud yet isn't turned into nearly LudicrousGibs. The fact the Ice Governess broke her fall shouldn't have meant much.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Clara asks re the TARDIS: "Is it magic? Is it a machine?"

* MissingMom: The mother of Francesca and Digby doesn't appear. Although it would not be unusual for an upper-class Victorian mother to leave most of the childcare to a governess or nurse, it's strongly implied that their father is a widower (and thus it's okay he's interested in Miss Montague).

* MotorMouth: As fast as the Doctor can talk, Clara is ''faster''. That rumour that Jenna-Louise Coleman got the job partly because she could out-motor Matt Smith is proven here, especially in the scene on the roof with the rapid fire "what's the plan" exchange.

** Simeon is played by Creator/RichardEGrant, who previously played an unofficial Ninth Doctor in ''WebAnimation/ScreamOfTheShalka'' and the Tenth Doctor in ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath''.

** The Doctor's difficulty in remembering the Great Intelligence is a meta-example -- the stories that the Great Intelligence appears in had been mostly wiped from the archives. Of ''course'' he can't remember them. Ironically, one subplot of the season involves the Doctor erasing himself from history. Even ''more'' ironically, within a year of the episode's broadcast nearly all of one of the Great Intelligence stories ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]]") was actually recovered.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Note how, having completely mangled his deductions of Simeon and his assistant while posing as "Sherlock Holmes", the Doctor ''then'' goes on to instantly peg what the sinister snow-globe machine in Simeon's office is all about and why he's interested in the frozen pond at Captain Latimer's house.

* OrganAutonomy: PlayedForLaughs, as the Doctor's right hand [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour still]] seems to have a mind of its own at times; when the Doctor intends to communicate to Clara that he's definitely not coming into the house to meet her and is leaving, much to his frustration he accidentally signals that he'll be up there in five minutes. He also goofs around with a Mr Punch puppet and merrily pretends the puppet snogs him, then hits him. And he realises he's absent-mindedly put on his bowtie without realizing it. Apparently, his own hands are just as eager as everyone else for him to snap out of his depression and get back to adventuring as normal.

** Clara fulfils this role in a few scenes, as well, particularly while flirting with the Doctor while trying to escape the Ice Governess.

* RecurringCharacter: Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes to War]]" return in this episode. Although not identified on screen in the episode itself, a prequel to "The Snowmen" reveals Jenny's last name; Flint.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Despite clear evidence that ''something'' is wrong with the snow, the Doctor initially has no interest in it.

** Of the ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'', which revealed the Great Intelligence to be an EldritchAbomination from the universe before this one, and part of the Lovecraftian pantheon. Here, it's what happened when a Victorian scientist merged with a horde of mimetic-but-unintelligent alien snow. Also, in the Expanded Universe it was the Doctor who was implied to be the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, whereas here Arthur Conan Doyle adapted various aspects of the Paternoster Gang, particularly Vastra (though it's possible he met the Doctor in the process).
** Only ''possibly'' for the Great Intelligence. Originally it was supposed to be Yog Sothoth, who is meant to be immensely powerful but mindless. The telepathic snow is mindless as well, merely picking up a personality as an echo, and since it clearly survives the snow's melting it seems the snow was more an incarnation or vessel than anything like a body.

* SafetyInIndifference: The Doctor, at the start of the episode, has decided that after losing the Ponds he is no longer willing to commit himself to helping Earth and humans -- it hurts too much to emotionally invest himself in his companions (and therefore humanity as a whole), only to have them die or leave. Clara breaks him out of it.

* TheScrooge: The Doctor wants nothing more to do with fun and adventures after being parted from Amy and Rory at the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan The Angels Take Manhattan]]". It could also be interpreted as a combined hit from every loss he's suffered to date: Amy and Rory hitting hardest because by that point it's clear that he ''really'' truly tried his hardest to ensure their safety. Like the trope name, he opens up in Christmas.

** He's deliberately flopping to lower their guard. He wasn't interested in the two men, he wanted to know about the big globe with power leads in it, with snow blowing around like crazy, knowing full well it was an alien device. When he's making deductions about this and the snow, he's a lot more on the ball.
* ShipTease: Some viewers interpret this as a "love at first sight" scenario playing out between Clara Oswin and the Doctor. Clara Oswin becomes the ''only'' version of Clara to be shown outright kissing the Doctor romantically.

* SkewedPriorities: The Captain is more concerned that the Doctor is a possible love interest for Clara (and love rival for himself) than the impending attack on his house or the obvious non-humans (who just prompted one of his servants to scream and faint).
* SkirtsAndLadders: Defied when the Doctor and Clara are running from the nanny. When they reach the ladder to the TARDIS Clara insists the Doctor go first because she's wearing a skirt. He tells her that he wouldn't have looked if she'd gone first, Clara admits she ''is'' looking as she follows him up the ladder.

* SpectacularSpinning: The new TARDIS interior is a ''gorgeous'' collection of circular patterns and Circular Gallifreyan. The top of the console properly spins, and there is a circle of flashing lights near the ceiling.

* StealthHiBye: By the time Simeon's servants break down the door, the Doctor has vanished.

* ThemeTune: The main theme gets ''another'' new arrangement, once again courtesy of Music/MurrayGold.
* TitleDrop:
** "Doctor who?" is asked on 4 separate occasions this episode. Could be a record.
** "Clara who?" gets an early try out (some fans will later disparagingly start referring to the show by this name).

* TookALevelInJerkass: The Doctor in the beginning of the episode fully intends to erase (an hour of) Clara's memory rather than let her drag him into an adventure, only changing his mind when she points out she won't know what to do if she gets attacked by the snowmen again if he does. Compared to his normal attitude about memories, this is a very big change. In general, the Doctor is a lot more bitter, waspish and cold in this episode, although he snaps out of it by the end.

* WhamLine:
** Vastra... "Hello, I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time. And this is my wife." Cue screaming maid.
** "Pond."

* WhoAreYou: "It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met." Yeah, like that's going to happen.
* WholePlotReference: Clara Oswald is a barmaid pretending to be a governess, as opposed to [[Recap/{{DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks}} her last appearence]] where she was a Dalek who thought she was human.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Simeon was a troubled child who spent 50 years filling up the Snow with all his loneliness and eventual resentment for the rest of the world. He's still treated in a fairly unsympathetic fashion, and even as a young boy doesn't seem to have liked other people or wanted to be around them that much.

* ContrivedCoincidence: When Clara has to describe her problem [[HouseRules with]] [[ArbitraryMaximumRange one]] [[HouseRules word]], she says "Pond," which is only peripherally related to her actual problem, but conveniently happens to be the last name of the companion the Doctor is mourning.

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: The new TARDIS interior is a ''gorgeous'' collection of circular patterns and Circular Gallifreyan. The top of the console properly spins, and there is a circle of flashing lights near the ceiling.

* MeetCute: Between the Doctor and Clara, early in the episode and it's PlayedForDrama a bit more than is usual. The Doctor feels conflicted, as he's enjoying her company and is tempted to start making friends again, but is worried that would only lead to him getting another companion into danger, [[MyGreatestFailure something he greatly fears]]. He politely brushes off Clara's attempt at socialising and tries to force himself to stay a stoic loner by walking away. Doesn't really work, as Clara is so intrigued by him that she chases down his carriage in an effort to find out who he is, ramping the cuteness factor UpToEleven by climbing onto the carriage roof and sticking her head in from above.

* NiceHat: The Doctor wears a top hat now. Top hats are cool.

* ExposedToTheElements: Clara's barmaid dress is only suitable for {{Fanservice}}. She never as much as flinches from the cold.

* FanserviceWithASmile: Clara wears a [[http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/50/f4/e0/50f4e09467363628cda43b7c803c46d5.jpg very nice]] red dress as a barmaid.

* PimpedOutDress: When posing as a governess, Clara bustles about in a bustle dress and NiceHat.

** The camera lingers on Clara's [[http://i.imgur.com/HV5oyXT.png ample cleavage]] when she's changing in the carriage for her other job as a governess.

* TemptingFate: The Doctor is adamant that Clara will never be able to find him again, so of course...

* {{Fainting}}: Alice, the maid, sees all the ruckus going on with lizard women, snowmen and the potato guy, [[ScreamingWoman screams]] and faints.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys:
-->'''Strax:''' Suggest an attack with automatic laser-monkeys, scalpel mines, and acid!

* AntagonistTitle: The episode is named after the MonsterOfTheWeek, the Snowmen. Also doubles as a ContinuityNod to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]", the episode where the Great Intelligence debuted. And as the ChristmasEpisode the same year ''ComicBook/TheSnowman'' made a comeback.

Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax investigate the snow, knowing full well that the Doctor's mourning is just a phase and that they need just the right kind of trigger to get him going again. This trigger turns out to be a young barmaid-slash-governess named Clara (Creator/JennaLouiseColeman). Her employer's previous governess drowned rather nastily in the garden, and stayed frozen for days before anyone was able to thaw her out. This, as it turns out, enabled the sentient snow (actually a telepathic alien parasite, voiced by Sir Creator/IanMcKellen) to get a blueprint of the human genome, and it's about to use that blueprint, powered by the energy of the young daughter's resulting nightmares about the governess, to take over the world. Helping the snow are brainwashed Victorian scientist Doctor Simeon (Creator/RichardEGrant, who has incidentally played the Doctor [[WebAnimation/ScreamOfTheShalka a couple]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath of times]] before) and his beautiful SteamPunk lab.

** Clara mysteriously looks exactly like Oswin Oswald from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks Asylum of the Daleks]]", something of which the Doctor is unaware. She also seems to like soufflés and has the same FamousLastWords. The series 7 finale, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor The Name of the Doctor]]", reveals how this is possible.

* FamousLastWords: Oswin's last words were "Run, you clever boy, and remember," and since he never saw her human face, the Doctor doesn't seem to make the full connection between Clara and Oswin until she says the same words. His attention is caught, however, by mention of soufflés, and he apparently recognised her voice at some point. The penny finally fully drops when he sees the tombstone with her full name on it.

* InternalReveal: The audience is immediately aware of the suspicious resemblance between Oswin and Clara, [[DramaticIrony but the Doctor is not]] due to the fact he never saw the earlier Clara's face and there are enough differences in their voices (Clara speaking with a cockney accent, for one) that he doesn't twig right away. He appears to make some connections through the episode (her voice does begin to sound familiar and her love of soufflés catches his attention), but he doesn't seem to completely put it together until Clara says the same FamousLastWords and her gravestone reveals her full name is Clara Oswin Oswald.

* BubblyClouds: The Doctor has engineered some to park his TARDIS on.

* ShipTease: It's made pretty clear that a "love at first sight" scenario playing out between Clara Oswin and the Doctor. Clara Oswin becomes the ''only'' version of Clara to be shown outright kissing the Doctor romantically.

* ContrivedCoincidence: When Clara has to describe her problem [[HouseRules with]] [[ArbitraryMaximumRange one]] [[HouseRules word]], she says "Pond," which is only peripherally related to her actual problem, but conveniently happens to be the last name of the companion the Doctor is mourning. She ''probably'' has some awareness of the Ponds from her other echoed selves, but it's not explicit.