Doctor Who: The Snowmen

Doctor Who: The Snowmen is a special, holiday-themed episode of Doctor Who that premiered on December 25, 2012. The episode introduced the Doctor's newest companion as well as display a redesign of his spacecraft the TARDIS. Things have not gone well for the 11th incarnation of the Doctor, played by British actor Matt Smith. After the loss of Amy and Rory, his former companions, the Doctor has decided to go into seclusion in Victorian-era England. Though refusing to do any detective work on his own, he recruits Silurian Madame Vastra, her human wife Jenny, and the Sontaran Strax to scour the streets of London while he hides in his TARDIS. That is, until two events converge to bring him out of hiding.

The first is the development of snow that falls from the sky without there being any clouds. This is the result of two beings. One is Doctor Simeon, played by Richard E. Grant, who is the founder of the Great Intelligence Institute. The other is an alien being, known as the Great Intelligence, which is transforming the snow into a material that can construct several animated, violent snowmen when people think about them. Together, Simeon and the alien are planning the conquest of late 19th century Earth.

The other development is the Doctor's introduction to Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Both a bar matron and a governess for the children of Captain Larimer, Clara meets with the Doctor after a series of snowmen try to attack her. When one of the children talks to her about a nightmare they have where their former governess, frozen at the bottom of an entryway pond, will rise from the dead to kill them, Clara seeks the Doctor's assistance. It's a race against the clock as the Doctor and Clara attempt to save the Larimers from the ice creature that breaks through the pond while they stop Simeon and the Great Intelligence from taking over the world.

Doctor Who: The Snowmen was written and executive produced by Steven Moffat and directed by Saul Metzstein. Also involved in production duties were Marcus Wilson and Caroline Skinner. The show aired on BBC One in the U.K., and BBC America in the United States.