Doctor Who: Christmas: It's a Wonderful War and Other Stories

by Noga Flaishon, Julian Richards, Mark Wright

From a sleepy English village to an asteroid on the edge of creation, Christmas is celebrated across all of time and space. But beneath the snow and behind the tinsel... the monsters are waiting.

1. Unholy Night by Noga Flaishon - Stranded on the frozen planet of Jul, Missy must face her worst nightmare: the most darling Christmas celebrations imaginable! Hounded by hospitality, she will need all her wit and malice to survive Noel Falls and its nauseating citizens. For while you can visit any time you like... you can never leave.

2. Legacy of Blood by Julian Richards - It's 1962 and Ellie Higson has lived a long time. Her adventures alongside those inimitable investigators, Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago, have long since faded into memory. So why is Ellie suddenly being plagued by her most harrowing recollection of those bygone days? Drawn to the village of Dunstanton-on-Thames, Ellie is reunited with the Sixth Doctor, on the trail of an ancient evil. As the ice sets in, old friends and enemies return, and the Green Knight is invited out of his prison.

3. Presents of Mind by Mark Wright - On the Winter Solstice, Sarah and Harry are filled with festive anticipation for their trip to Aunt Lavinia's house. What they aren't expecting is to be trapped on a train during a frosty alien assault. Can they get home for Christmas, or will this journey turn into their longest night?

4. It's a Wonderful War by Jonathan S Powell - On an asteroid drifting at the edge of a great war, Foreman Galen Smith is having bad dreams. Dreams of monsters descending from the sky and exterminating his people. Fortunately, Galen has a guardian angel, an angel who calls himself the Doctor. And he's here to earn his wings.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published December 2, 2025

Reviews

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas is my favourite holiday so when Big Finish announced this box set. I knew it was going to be for me.

Unholy Night:
Missy is trapped on a world where the inhabitants are sickly sweet about the holidays and no matter what she tries to do she can’t escape. Something very sinister is going on here, but the townsfolk have messed with the wrong Time Lord.

Nova Flaishon has written an incredible script that is atmospheric hilarious and yet sinister. The climax of this story was surprisingly quite dark I found when everything got explained. 10/10

Legacy of Blood:
It’s been a long time since Gabriel Sanders was killed by Jago & Litefoot. But now many years later his voice has returned to Ellie Higson’s head, drawing her to a small village of vampires. The Doctor’s arrived to help her stop a terrible ceremony from taking place. But who is The Green Knight?

Julian Richards has written an incredible story that is atmospheric, unsettling, heartfelt and charming. It’s a beautiful love letter to the Jago & Litefoot series that explores grief and moving on really well. 10/10

Presents of Mind:
On a train ride out of London, Sarah, Harry and K9 are going to stay with Sarah’s aunt for the holidays. But when the train is suddenly stopped in the midst of a storm it isn’t long before things turn for the worst. Somethings hiding out in the snow and it wants the the for passengers onboard.

Mark Wright has written a very fun and atmospheric story that is pure 80’s delight. Probably my least favourite of the set but still a solid episode. 8/10

It’s a Wonderful War:
Oblivion is the home to over a thousand miners. They celebrate Christmas at the end of each mining cycle in hope. Galen Smith has a guardian Angel and if he doesn’t listen to him he will lose everything.

Jonathan S Powell has written an incredible story that is heartbreaking, terrifying and terribly clever. The twist at the hand blew my mind. 10/10

Overall: 38/40

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Unholy Night - In a lot of ways, this is rather like Wicker Man but with a Whoniverse twist. And putting Missy in as the protagonist against the cultists. Well, that’s a recipe for wishing everyone a Very Missy Xmas, ho ho horror. (3/5)

2. Legacy of Blood - The (Sixth) Doctor reunites with a couple of old friends and ties up some loose ends from past adventures. A lovely epilogue of sorts to the Jago & Litefoot series. (3/5)

3. Presents of Mind - An interesting trip home on a train for Sarah Jane Smith, her Aunt Lavinia, Dr Harry Sullivan, and K-9 brings them into a weird temporal incident. Be careful what you get people for Xmas gifts. Cute, but didn’t quite work for me. (3/5)

4. It's a Wonderful War -1. Unholy Night - In a lot of ways, this is rather like Wicker Man but with a Whoniverse twist. And putting Missy in as the protagonist against the cultists. Well, that’s a recipe for wishing everyone a Very Missy Xmas, ho ho horror. (3/5)

2. Legacy of Blood - The (Sixth) Doctor reunites with a couple of old friends and ties up some loose ends from past adventures. A lovely epilogue of sorts to the Jago & Litefoot series. (3/5)

3. Presents of Mind - An interesting trip home on a train for Sarah Jane Smith, her Aunt Lavinia, Dr Harry Sullivan, and K-9 brings them into a weird temporal incident. Be careful what you get people for Xmas gifts. Cute, but didn’t quite work for me. (3/5)

4. It's a Wonderful War - Another conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks. Or rather the Time War rages on, the past becomes the future which never happened, while people spontaneously exist and cease to exist on the cosmic whims of cascading Schrödinger’s cats. Only this time, the heart of the battle is Oblivion and … Christmas. Sounds like this is going to be one of those It’s a Wonderful Life homages or maybe yet another remake of A Christmas Carol. Something to teach us all about the true meaning of the holiday. And it is just that. But, as with a lot of Big Finish productions, there is a bit more going on than simply the obvious. It’s yet another miracle baby born on Xmas day. All hail the savior. Yawn. Been there, done that, got the novelty t-shirt. (3/5)

Closing out this lovely set is another set of brilliant behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew to help contextualize the stories. Fun stuff. Unfortunately, I’m not huge fan of this particular holiday and I can get fairly irritated with the ham-fisted clumsiness of how the holiday is inexplicably expected be universally understood, accepted, and celebrated by literally everyone (even non-Christians). It can all get very tedious. Still, there are some lovely moments in each of these stories.

[Toby Sutton-Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unholy Night - Missy stuck in Hallmark. An absolutely hilarious idea, and is executed surprisingly well.

Legacy of Blood - Gothic festive horror set in the 1960s. Colin Baker, Lisa Bowerman and Louise Jameson are all good in this, but I found it a little underwhelming. Possibly because I haven't heard any Jago & Litefoot (I know, I know)...

Presents of Mind - best story in the set! A small cast, an interesting concept, unique time travel as a plot device, I couldn't ask for more. Consider me a Smith & Sullivan fan!

It's a Wonderful War - I'm not really a fan of It's a Wonderful Life, so I wasn't really looking forward to this one. But it turns out I like it more when it includes Paul McGann and Daleks.

[P.J. Benney · Rating 3 out of 5]

1 Unholy Night - bonkers but fun. I didn't have a clue what was going on but Missy had some great lines so 4/5. Very Nightmare Before Christmas!

2 Legacy of Blood - I don't know who Ellie Higson is and this one did not land for me at all. Gave up halfway through. Skip. 1/5

3 Presents of Mind - I'm not familiar with Harry Sullivan but I loved Annette Badland as Aunt Lavinia. 3/5, Mistress!

4 It's a Wonderful War - I didn't enjoy how this one was heavily framed by a narrator but I did enjoy the atmosphere. 3/5

11/20 = 2.75/5 = 3

Yeah alright. Better than nothing and better than the Halloween box set.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missy Story - This is my first Missy story. I'd refer to this as a "chaser story" or a story that's casual in depth but not a lot going on. Missy fighting against people liking Christmas. 3.5 Stars

6 Story - Surprisingly emotional story. No spoilers - 5 Stars

Sullivan and Smith - As someone not as connected with these characters this story just wasn't very interesting to me. I'll revisit when I'm familiar with them better. Currently 3 Stars

Dalek Story - A solid Dalek story.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might be close to a 4.5 overall. I thought the Time War story would end up being my favorite of the bunch, but it turned out to be the Sixth Doctor story. The Sullivan & Smith and Missy stories were also fun.

[freeze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not including "Legacy of Blood".