When it comes to Doctor Who Christmas specials, I'm always more forgiving of the over-the-top cheesiness than I am for the rest of the year. If you can't go all out with an in-your-face message about the joy of life at Christmas,

Between this and the way that the Doctor shouts "joy to the world" from the top of a mountain, there's a self-satisfaction to these final moments that, while working as a kind of punchline, threaten to undermine the sad, angry, complicated humanity that animates so much of the episode's best moments.