History Trivia / DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas

** Moffat said that he almost put K9 in the episode.

* LyingCreator: Moffat claimed the Santa appearing in this episode was the real deal. He's actually a sort of hallucination. (Actually, this may not totally be a lie, as Moffat's earlier Christmas special, "[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A Christmas Carol]]", actually established that Santa actually ''does'' exist within the Whoniverse; his real name is Jeff. This could explain why Santa and the Doctor seem to know each other here.)

* CastingGag: Santa Claus is a figure inspired by Saint ''Nicholas'', and operates in the ''coldest'' part of the year. The actor who plays him is named Nick Frost.

* LyingCreator: Moffat claimed the Santa appearing in this episode was the real deal. He's actually a sort of hallucination. (Actually, this may not totally be a lie, as Moffat's earlier Christmas special, [[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol "A Christmas Carol"]], actually established that Santa actually ''does'' exist within the Whoniverse; his real name is Jeff. This could explain why Santa and the Doctor seem to know each other here.)

* YouLookFamiliar: Ian is played by Dan Starkey, who is more commonly known for his role as Strax. On top of this role, he's played Strax's clone batch look-alikes and relatives, among several other roles in heavy makeup as Whoniverse monsters, like Plark the Skullion. This time, he's using his real face to portray a character. This is also his third consecutive DW Christmas special, after appearing in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]".

* ActorAllusion:
** At the end, Shona wakes up in a living room that looks awfully like [[Series/FreshMeat Pussy Haven]].
** Dan Starkey being cast as an elf. He's played several different Sontarans, aliens who are generally quite short in stature.
** Creator/NickFrost as Santa Claus. In the ''Doctor Who: Extra'' for this special, Creator/StevenMoffat even said he has "[[MeaningfulName the perfect name]]" for the role of Santa.
* DevelopmentGag: The Twelfth Doctor "deletes" the Arctic crew from his memory. One of the lines used to test out Peter Capaldi's acting skill as a newly-regenerated Doctor before his debut was, "I've deleted French."

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/StevenMoffat and Creator/JennaColeman later confirmed that this was to have been Clara's final episode, and the episode would have ended with the Doctor helping the aged Clara open her Christmas cracker. Moffat has implied that Coleman was still planning to leave as late as the episode readthrough; Coleman has confirmed that lobbying by both Creator/PeterCapaldi and Moffat convinced her to stay on another year, so Moffat rewrote the ending to create a deus ex Santa scenario.

* YouLookFamiliar: Ian is played by Dan Starkey, who is more commonly known for his role as Strax. On top of this role, he's played Strax's clone batch look-alikes and relatives, among several other roles in heavy makeup as Whoniverse monsters, like Plark the Skullion. This time, he's using his real face to portray a character. This is also his third consecutive DW Christmas special, after appearing in ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]'' and ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]''.

* XMeetsY: ''Film/{{Alien}}'' meets ''Film/{{Inception}}'' at the North Pole, with Santa! ''Alien'' even gets referenced by name.

** Nick Frost as Santa Claus. In the ''Doctor Who: Extra'' for this special, Creator/StevenMoffat even said he has "[[MeaningfulName the perfect name]]" for the role of Santa.

* ThrowItIn: When Clara and the Doctor leave the base for the first time, as soon as they exit and go outside Peter Capaldi sneezes, but the actors continue on. This take ended up in the final episode rather than another one, but the Doctor's sneeze is left silent (i.e. they didn't dub in the sound when they rerecorded dialogue later).
* YouLookFamiliar: Ian is played by Dan Starkey, who is more commonly known for his role as Strax. On top of this role, he's played Strax's clone batch look-alikes and relatives, among several other roles in heavy makeup as Whoniverse monsters, like Plark the Skullion. This time, he's using his real face to portray a character. This is also his third consecutive DW Christmas special, after appearing in ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]'' and ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]''.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Steven Moffat and Jenna Coleman later confirmed that this was to have been Clara's final episode, and the episode would have ended with the Doctor helping the aged Clara open her Christmas cracker. Moffat has implied that Coleman was still planning to leave as late as the episode readthrough; Coleman has confirmed that lobbying by both Peter Capaldi and Moffat convinced her to stay on another year, so Moffat rewrote the ending to create a deus ex Santa scenario.
* XMeetsY: ''Film/{{Alien}}'' meets ''Film/{{Inception}}'' at the North Pole, with Santa! ''Alien'' even gets referenced by name.

* LyingCreator: Moffat claimed the Santa appearing in this episode was the real deal. He's actually a sort of hallucination. (Actually, this may not totally be a lie, as Moffat's earlier Christmas special, [[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol "A Christmas Carol"]]], actually established that Santa actually ''does'' exist within the Whoniverse; his real name is Jeff. This could explain why Santa and the Doctor seem to know each other here.)

* LyingCreator: Moffat claimed the Santa appearing in this episode was the real deal. He's actually a sort of hallucination. (Actually, this may not totally be a lie, as Moffat's earlier Christmas special, ''A Christmas Carol'', actually established that Santa actually ''does'' exist within the Whoniverse; his real name is Jeff. This could explain why Santa and the Doctor seem to know each other here.)

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Santa is played by Nick Frost, best known for the {{Film/Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy}}.
** Wolf the elf is [[Series/{{Misfits}} Finn]].
** Ian the elf is [[Series/DoctorWho Strax]]. [[YouLookFamiliar Hey, wait a minute....]]
** Shona is [[Series/FreshMeat Candice]], [[Film/{{Pride}} Steph]] and [[Literature/TheCousinsWarSeries Anne Neville]].

* ThrowItIn: At one point Peter Capaldi sneezes at the start of a scene, but the actors continue on. This take ended up in the final episode rather than another one.

* LyingCreator: Moffat claimed the Santa appearing in this episode was the real deal. He's actually a sort of hallucination.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: If some sources are to be believed, Jenna Coleman originally intended to leave the show in this special. The reveal of elderly Clara was intended to be for real before a last-minute rewrite. Unlike the cheerful ending we get, Clara would have died of old age, as hinted in her conversation with the Doctor during her dream.
* XMeetsY: ''Film/{{Alien}}'' meets ''Film/{{Inception}}'' at the North Pole, with Santa!

* DevelopmentGag: The Twelfth Doctor "deletes" the Arctic crew from his memory. One of the lines used to test out Peter Capaldi's acting skill as a newly-regenerated Doctor before his actual debut was, "I've deleted French."

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: If some sources are to be believed, Jenna Coleman originally intended to leave the show in this special. The reveal of elderly Clara was intended to be for real before a last-minute rewrite. And unlike the cheerful ending we get, Clara would have died of old age, as hinted in her conversation with the Doctor during her dream.

** Shona is [[Series/FreshMeat Candice]] and [[Film/{{Pride}} Steph]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Jenna Coleman originally intended to leave the show in this special. The reveal of elderly Clara was intended to be for real before a last-minute rewrite. And unlike the cheerful ending we get, Clara would have died of old age, as hinted in her conversation with the Doctor during her dream.

** Wolf the elf is [[Series/Misfits Finn]].

** Shona is [[Series/FreshMeat Candice]] and [[Film/Pride Steph]].

* ActorAllusion: At the end, Shona wakes up in a living room that looks awfully like [[Series/FreshMeat Pussy Haven]].

** Nick Frost as Santa Claus. In the ''Doctor Who: Extra'' for this special, Creator/StevenMoffat even said he has "[[MeaningfulName the perfect name]]" for the role of Santa.

* ActorAllusion: At the end, Shona wakes up in a living room that looks awfully like [[Series/FreshMeat Pussy Haven]].