Doctor Who: "The Unquiet Dead"

"On and on I go, same old show.  I'm like a ghost, condemned to repeat myself through all eternity."  - Charles Dickens (as played by Simon Callow)

Premiered April 9, 2005

For those interested in the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey aspects of such things, this is the third episode of the 2005 re-boot of Doctor Who. 

The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion, Rose (Billie Piper) take their first journey back in time together, traveling to Cardiff, Wales on Christmas Eve 1869.  Charles Dickens (Simon Callow) is in town to perform a dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol before a packed house of spectators.

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong ... 

Dickens is in a melancholy mood, feeling estranged from his family and as if his joy in living is wearing thin.

Strange happenings are afoot at a local funeral parlor, where corpses seem to be coming to life and are wandering around Cardiff, creating more corpses in their wake.  The undertaker, Gabriel Sneed (Alan David), wants to cover up the fact that the reanimated dead seem to be emanating from his establishment on the grounds that people knowing about it would be bad for business.

Sneed's maidservant Gwyneth (Eve Myles) wants to get help for their zombiefied corpse problem, but Sneed insists on taking care of it himself.   Gwyneth has clairvoyant abilities, about which she feels somewhat ambivalent, and Sneed has been using her skills to track down the wandering corpses.   The wandering corpse in question at this juncture belongs to an elderly woman who has just strangled her grandson as he leaned over her coffin to pay his last respects.

Gwyneth focuses on the old woman's last desire, which was to see Mr. Dickens' reading, so she and Sneed wind up at the reading around the same time as the Doctor and Rose.

All heck breaks loose as something ghostlike, gaseous and loud hisses forth from the reanimated old woman, who is seated in the middle of the audience at the reading.

The Doctor is (naturally) fascinated.  The audience is scared out of its wits.  Mr. Dickens is perplexed and thinks this must be some kind of a trick.   Rose is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  She gets chloroformed by Mr. Sneed and dragged back to the funeral parlor.

The Doctor enlists Charles Dickens' aid (and carriage) to go rescue Rose.

Solving the mystery of the "Unquiet Dead" will require a seance and considerable courage.

Will everyone survive the experience?   Will Charles Dickens locate his Christmas spirit and zest for living?


RigbyMel says:

Full disclosure,  Charles Dickens is one of my favorite authors and Doctor Who is one of my favorite tv series, the combination of the two is somewhat hard to resist where I am concerned.

I quite like the characterization of Charles Dickens by Simon Callow in this episode.

Dickens doesn't often appear as a character in tv or film, but it is worth noting that he has been played by Simon Callow on several different occasions other than this episode.  (Callow has also written extensively about Dickens and performed a one man show as Dickens, so one thinks he might have a pretty good handle on how to play him.)

Dickens was a clever chap and although he is definitely confused by and skeptical about the bizarre situation in which he finds himself (who wouldn't be?)  He manages to deal with it fairly well and actually helps to save the day when the Doctor and Rose get trapped.

The Doctor:  "I saw the Fall of Troy!  World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party!  Now I'm gonna die in a dungeon ... in Cardiff!" 

This episode early in the re-boot of the series harks back to the educational aspects of Doctor Who that have always been present on the show.  Meeting historical figures is a favorite trope and Dickens' state of mind at the beginning of the episode tallies well with his actual biography.

There are bits of Ebenezer Scrooge evident in the world-weary Dickens we encounter at the beginning of the episode and also some fun parallels with Dickens' idealism as a writer and the Doctor's desire to save the world (literally) again and again.

After Mr. Dickens' encounter with some Christmas "spirits" and the Doctor, he is ready to reconcile with his family and "keep Christmas in his heart."  We even get a "God bless us, every one!" by the end of the episode.  

Speaking as a history geek, I also really love the interplay between the Victorian characters, the Doctor and Rose.  Gwyneth and Rose have a nice moment together in the scullery talking about boys and being a bit weirded out by their different approaches to proper deportment.   The Doctor manages to completely confuse Dickens when he says he is Dickens' "number one fan."  Dickens asks how the Doctor is like a device used for cooling oneself.    Shades of Christmas Past meeting Christmas Yet To Come, perhaps?

I would also like to point out that Gwyneth is a classic Dickensian orphan character in a heroic vein!

I do have a minor complaint about the ending seeming overly rushed, but don't want to go into detail as it might spoil the episode for those who have not seen it.

That being said, this is a wonderfully creepy and fun episode of Doctor Who and one of many great episodes of the series with Christmas themes and settings.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 and a half Candy Canes.

J.A. Morris says:

Like my co-blogger,I'm a huge Dickens fan, and Christopher Eccleston is my favorite Doctor.  Since this was the third episode of the Doctor Who revival, it played a big role in making me a devoted fan of the series.  With annual Christmas specials, the Doctor has become as much a part of Christmas as Rudolph and Charlie Brown.  But this was the first of his holiday-themed adventures and it first aired as a regular episode (in April).

In addition to the main plot, "The Unquiet Dead" marks an important evolution for Rose. She confronts the Doctor at one point when he wants to allow the Gelth to inhabit dead bodies.  Rose thinks it's indecent, the Doctor points out that they are dealing in a different morality with different values. She must get used to it if she wants to be his travelling companion.  However, Rose's concerns are justified in this instance.

One note about the cast:
Gwyneth is portrayed by Eve Myles, who later played Gwen Cooper on the series Torchwood, a spinoff of Doctor Who.  The series' creative team has said that Gwyneth and Gwen are "related" due to "Spacial Genetic Multiplicity."

"The Unquiet Dead" is one of my favorite episodes of the series and I enjoy watching it every Christmas season.  I highly recommend it to fans of Dickens and any Whovians who may not have discovered the series prior to the David Tennant or Matt Smith eras.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Candy Canes!

Quantum Leap: "A Little Miracle"

Premiered 21 December 1990

Al: He's a real Scrooge.
Sam: Yeah, well, you can say that again.
Al: Scrooge! 
---
Sam: Absolutely. Michael is Scrooge, right? He's alone, he's miserable. It's like, uh, Charles, um...
Al: Dickens.
Sam: ...um, Dickens, it's like he created his character based on this guy.
Al: So?
Sam: So, we Scrooge him.

In this episode from Season 3 of the popular sci-fi tv series,  it is the 24th of December 1962 in New York City.  Our time traveling hero, Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) has quantum leaped into Reginald Pearson, valet to the mega-rich and mega-mean Michael Blake (Charles Rocket).

Sam's friend Al Calavicci  (Dean Stockwell), who appears as a hologram that (usually) only Sam can see and hear, says that Blake is a corporate raider type, who has "put more people out of work than the Great Depression."

Currently,  Blake's big project is a plan to raze a Salvation Army mission in order to build Blake Plaza, a gleaming skyscraper with his name vaingloriously emblazoned all over it.

Salvation Army Captain Laura Downey (Melinda McGraw) has been trying for months to talk Blake out of tearing down the building.   She has taken matters into her own hands and brought a Salvation Army band to play "Bringing In The Sheaves" in the vestibule of Blake's penthouse.

Downey tries to emphasize the important work that the mission does for homeless and destitute people in that area.   Blake is unimpressed by the mission, but might possibly be a little impressed with Captain Downey herself.  Sam likes her determination and is sympathetic to her cause.   He suggests that maybe they can talk Blake around, despite that fact that Blake has just threatened to fire him.

While cleaning out Blake's closet, Sam and Al discover a box of photos showing that Blake comes from a much humbler background than his current surroundings.  In fact,  he grew up in the neighborhood where the mission is located.   Sam  thinks they should "Scrooge" Blake in the interest of "saving his soul."

Sam brings Blake to the old neighborhood, doing a "Christmas past" bit.   He fakes having a flat tire to get Blake out of the limo and walking around the neighborhood -- many old memories are awakened.  They run into Downey who offers to let him use the mission's phone for help with the flat tire and encounters an old pal from his childhood who is selling chestnuts out on the street.

Blake seems very pensive and stares off into space drinking after his visit to "Christmas Past."  Sam thinks the plan isn't working,  Al thinks it is and suggests that they show him "Christmas Present" next.

Blake thinks his present is just fine.  He brags about having everything that money can buy and how he is the "living embodiment of the American dream."    Sam bets a month's rent that Blake doesn't have everything he really wants and takes him back downtown.

He tries to show that human interaction is better than some cold monument to Blake's ego.

They hear caroling which leads them to the mission where people are singing.  Blake and Sam join in and Blake admits he thinks Capt. Downey is beautiful (!).  He also has a moment with a Tiny Tim-esque moppet who offers him a toy horse named Sheldon.

Things don't go quite according to plan and Blake winds up feeling angry and manipulated, and more determined than ever to go through with the construction of Blake Plaza.

The "Scrooging" continues thanks to a fluke of brain chemistry which allows Blake to see and hear Al (who is normally only visible to Sam).   Sam enlists Al to act as the "Ghost of Christmas Future" to wake Blake up to the error of his ways.

Will Sam and Al be able to redeem Blake so that Sam can leap? Or will additional help from God/Fate/Time/Whatever be needed?

RigbyMel says:

As an impressionable teenager back in the mists of the late '80s/early '90s,  I was a big fan of Quantum Leap, so I remember watching and enjoying this episode when it first aired.   It holds up pretty well today.   The Dickensian overtones are quite strong.

Sam sees who he has leaped into in a mirror - a trope on the show 

Sam leaps into a very put upon Bob Cratchit type servant and we get a plot revolving around showing the Blake/Scrooge character his past, present and future in hopes of redeeming him.  There is an additional objective for Sam though,  he also wants to "put right what once went wrong" so he can leap home.

As with some other tv variations on A Christmas Carol,  the plot centers on characters using any means at their disposal to drag the character in need of transformation on his spiritual journey.  In this take on the story, the technological/brain wave fluke that allows Blake to see Al is key.  Dean Stockwell seems to particularly relish his "Ghost of Christmas Future" role,  hamming it up in quite an amusing fashion.

Al in Ghost of Christmas Future mode shows Blake his potential fate

Some fun trivia:   Melinda McGraw who plays the ingenue Salvation Army captain has gone on to play a major role in ANOTHER show set in the early 1960s --  she plays the rather harder-nosed character of Bobbie Barrett on AMC's Mad Men.  

Melinda McGraw as Bobbie Barrett in Mad Men ... 

 ... and as Capt. Downey in Quantum Leap

The redemption of  Blake doesn't come easily.  In fact, he backslides a lot in this episode before the end and there does seem to be some supernatural rather than technological help that occurs before all is said and done.

The titular "little miracle"? -  The star is NOT one of Al's holographic projections! 

All in all, this is an endearing variation on the themes of A Christmas Carol that is well worth a look or a re-visit.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes

J.A. Morris says:

Quantum Leap was a show I enjoyed, but I hadn't seen "A Little Miracle" until recently.  It's a very good adaptation of A Christmas Carol. 

As RigbyMel mentioned, Sam's ultimate goal in this series is to leap home to his own time.  He must redeem Blake's soul to continue his journey homeward.  This makes Sam's role here somewhat similar to that of Clarence the angel in It's A Wonderful Life.

Blake sees his future self, bankrupt in the 1970s.

And Sam when says he feels sorry for Blake, he echoes the sentiments of Scrooge's nephew Fred.

The fact that "A Little Miracle" takes place in a more recent time shows us that many never got the message of A Christmas Carol.  There were still Scrooges in the world of 1962 as well as in 1990 (the year the episode was produced) and today.  Since historical allegories are often used to critique the present, it's possible that this episode was meant to be a commentary on the "Merger Mania" that raged on Wall Street in the 1980s and early 90s.

Blake cowers before the Ghost of Christmas Future (aka Al).

In short, "A Little Miracle" is another example of the timeless relevance of Dickens' story.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

Family Ties: "A Keaton Christmas Carol"

"What is wrong with these people?  You show 'em a little snow, they break into song about 'Chestnuts nipping at your nose!'  Christmas!  Bah, humbug!"  
-Alex Keaton

Alex refuses to participate the Keatons' traditional Christmas photo.

First aired December 14, 1983

It's Christmas Eve, the Keatons are trimming their tree and getting ready to celebrate the Holidays.  But Alex (Michael J. Fox) has other ideas.  He arrives home in a bad mood about the snowfall and rants about the phony sentiment of the Christmas season.

  Alex suggests that his family shouldn't exchange Christmas gifts.  His father Stephen (Michael Gross) says that's out of the question, since everyone else has already bought gifts.

  Alex's sister Jennifer (Tina Yothers) says that just because he's acting like "an old Scrooge" the rest of the family doesn't have to suffer.  Alex has also forgotten to pick up cough syrup for Jennifer, who has a sore throat and a nasty cough.

When it comes time to take the traditional family photo around the Christmas Tree, Alex refuses to participate, and runs upstairs.

Alex disappears when it's time for the photo.

 

Alex's hostile attitude continues at bedtime.  He berates carolers outside and threatens to call the police on them.

  When he turns off the lights and goes to sleep, he's visited by a spirit.  She looks like Jennifer, but calls herself The Ghost Of Christmas Past.  Alex doesn't believe in her, until he realizes she's intangible.

The Ghost Of Christmas Past.

They go back in time and visit the Keaton's living room on Christmas 10 years earlier, in 1973.  Alex sees himself and his family enjoying Christmas:

 Steven dresses as Santa and hands out gifts.  The kids know it's their father (even the infant Jennifer), but everyone has a good time.  The younger Alex (Chris Hebert) says he gets more joy from watching others get gifts than getting presents for himself.

He watches them pose for their first-ever photo around the tree.  It turns out it was Alex's idea to pose around the tree the same way every year.  Alex is beginning to see he was wrong to lash out earlier and regrets losing his Christmas spirit.

The Keatons pose for their first traditional Christmas photo.

He returns to his room and goes back to sleep.  It's interrupted by the arrival of the Ghost Of Christmas Future.  This ghost is the spitting image of his sister Mallory (Justine Bateman):

They visit Christmas 30 years in the future.  The Keaton's living room is a mess.   There's laundry hanging from clotheslines all over the place.

The Keatons are in rough shape in the future.

Alex is shocked at this, the Ghost tells him Elyse was forced to take in laundry to get by.  Steven is unemployed, fired by Alex.  They can't afford a Christmas Tree.  Jennifer can barely speak.  When Alex forgot to buy her cough syrup, her throat never healed.  Mallory is pregnant, for the 4th time.   Her husband has been sent to debtors' prison by Alex, who now lives in New York and is a big shot in the business world.

Alex of the future is selfish and bald.

"Future Alex" shows up in a helicopter.  He is ashamed of his family and leaves after a few minutes.  The only "present" he has for them is his latest batch of laundry.  Alex of this time is also losing his hair. He's ashamed of his family, he leaves them and heads off to Las Vegas.

Alex is shocked and disgusted by his future-self and asks the Ghost if there's anything he can do to change.

J.A. Morris says:

I'll admit up front that I've got a bit of nostalgia regarding this episode.  I remember watching it when it was brand new 29 years ago. Family Ties was one of my favorite shows of the 80s.

Alex arrives home on Christmas morning bearing gifts...from 7-11.

"A Keaton Christmas Carol" a good sitcom adaptation of A Christmas Carol, even if Marley's Ghost and the Ghost Of Christmas Present don't appear.  I found Alex's transformation to be believable.  Unlike Scrooge (who goes all-out for the Crachits with a prize turkey), Alex buys his family rather paltry gifts.  But he expresses his love for them, which is a nice way to end the show. He even insists the family pose for their traditional photo after all.

Here's a bit of trivia:
During the Christmas Past segment, "young Alex" is played by Chris Hebert.  He also portrayed a younger Alex a year earlier in the first Family Ties Christmas episode, we reviewed  that episode back in 2007.

A younger Alex angrily reacts to the news coverage of the Watergate scandal, saying the press is engaged in a "witch hunt".

This episode can be found on dvd and currently streams on Netflix.

"A Keaton Christmas Carol" isn't a great episode, but it is a fun take on the Dickens story.  Also fans of Back To The Future might also enjoy seeing Michael J. Fox in another time travel story!

Alex hugs his family on Christmas morning.

J.A. Morris' rating:
3 candy canes

RigbyMel says:

I enjoyed watching Family Ties when it first aired, but find that some things are best remembered fondly in the past, Christmas Past or otherwise.

Jennifer isn't sure how to react to Alex's new found love of Christmas.

This episode has fun with an updated (for the 1980s) version of  A Christmas Carol but it's not one that particularly stands out in my memory or upon re-viewing.

After being schooled by the Christmas Spirits, Alex relents & poses with the family.

 Alex Keaton makes a pretty good Scrooge in the beginning, but I found his redemption to be a little (cough?) syrupy.

RigbyMel's rating:
2 candy canes