Last Christmas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tangerine

The episode opens with Santa Claus crashing on Clara's roof, where he is arguing with his elves about tangerines. The Doctor tells him "Nobody likes tangerines." When Santa Claus shows up a second time, a tangerine rolls through the door. And at the end, there is a tangerine sitting on Clara's windowsill. This is not the first time tangerines have made a appearance on "Doctor Who." The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) pulled one out of his pocket during "The Christmas Invasion" and used it to get rid of the Sycorax Leader (Sean Gilder).The Tenth Doctor used the word "satsuma", the British phrase for tangerines, which traces to their origins from Satsuma, Japan.

Answer: Dream Crabs

The threat this time were dream crabs, nasty creatures which attach to your face and suck out your brain. They keep you in a dream state so you don't realize what is happening.
They bore a strong resemblance to the face huggers from the science fiction classic "Alien" (1979). The mention of the film inspired one of Peter Capaldi's best lines: "There's a horror movie named 'Alien'? That's really offensive. No wonder everybody keeps invading you."
The Dream Lord, an evil side to the Doctor's personality, was in "Amy's Dream". Dream Eaters come from the "Doctor Who" spinoff series "K-9" (March 2010).

Answer: Merry Xmas, Everybody

"Merry Xmas, Everybody" was released by the English rock band Slade in 1973. It was a #1 single in the UK and Ireland, and popular in several other European countries. It is a perennial favorite played around the holidays, and in 2007 a music poll found that it was England's most popular Christmas song.
The song has appeared repeatedly in "Doctor Who" episodes, primarily Christmas specials. It was first heard during "The Christmas Invasion" (2005), followed by "The Runaway Bride" (2006), "Turn Left" (2008) (on Donna's car radio), "The End of Time" (2009) and "The Power of Three" (2012).
"When a Child is Born" and "Lonely this Christmas" were number one songs in the 1970s, and "Do They Know It's Christmas" was for hunger relief efforts in the 1980s.

Answer: Tiny robots

After the satsuma rolls in, a small army of miniature robots marches in. Santa walks in and asks "Who ya gonna call?" He then uses a clicker to turn off Rudolph's nose.
Santa was played by Nick Frost (with that name, he was born to play Santa). Frost is probably best known for his work with Simon Pegg in films such as "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007). He has been acting since 1998, and got his first big break on the British sitcom "Spaced" (1999-2001).
Frost was hilarious as Santa. Best moment was probably when he nicknamed himself "Sweet Papa Crimbo." And the Doctor drawing the line when Santa started giving a technobabble explanation was great.

Answer: dead

The Doctor was attempting to prove the group was still dreaming by illustrating that the manuals were different. On page 57 were the words "isotope", "extremely", "inside" and "chocolate." Shona had "chocolate." When they turned to page 24, the words said "We are all dead."
It was a rather grim way to prove the Doctor's point.

Answer: My Little Pony

Santa brought up "My Little Pony", a popular toy for young girls. It started out as a set of plastic toys from Hasbro in the 1980s, and has expanded into a massive marketing franchise including animated films and television series.
Care Bear dolls started in 1983, "Teletubbies" aired on British television from 1997 to 2001 and the Smurfs have been around since 1958.

Answer: Albert

Albert was the unlucky crew member who didn't survive.
The crew were Professor Albert Smithe (Michael Troughton), Shona McCullough (Faye Marsay), Ashley Carter (Natalie Gumede) and Fiona Bellows (Maureen Beattie). They were part of a polar expedition, or at least they dreamed they were.
Michael Troughton is the son of Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Doctor from 1966 to 1969. Troughton has had a long and distinguished career as an actor, although this is his first time working on "Doctor Who". He played a member of Parliament in the ITV sitcom "The New Statesman" (1987-1992).

Answer: Forgive Dave

Item 6 was "Forgive Dave" and Shona checked it off soon after waking up.
For the record, the list is:
1. DVD (Alien) - The dream crabs resemble the face huggers from "Alien."
2 DVD (The Thing from Another World) - The 1951 science fiction classic is about a team of scientists at a polar research station facing an evil alien being
3. Dad Comes Round - perhaps the Doctor?
4. DVD (Miracle on 34th Street) - Probably the quintessential film about Santa Claus. The 1947 version won Edmund Gwenn an Academy Award for his portrayal of Kris Kringle.
5. Thrones Marathon - Wolf was one of the dwarves?
6. Forgive Dave???
Shona was played by Faye Marsay. She got her big break as Anne Neville in the TV mini-series "The White Queen" (2013). Marsay also joined the cast of the sitcom "Fresh Meat" as Candice in November 2013.

Answer: Winning the lottery

When the Doctor arrives, Clara is roughly 90 years old. She says that she has turned down proposals, taught in schools all over Europe and even learned to fly a plane.
The Doctor helps Clara open a Christmas cracker, a mirror reversal from last year's Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor" when Clara helped an elderly Doctor.
Santa Claus arrives and gives the Doctor a second chance to save Clara, and this time she is around 30. Clara agrees to continue traveling in the TARDIS. The BBC announced that Jenna Louise Coleman will be returning for the Ninth Season of "Doctor Who".

Answer: Paul Wilmshurst

In addition to directing the Christmas special, Paul Wilmshurst directed "Kill the Moon" and "Mummy on the Orient Express" during Series Eight. He has been working as a writer and director in British television since 1998.
Steven Moffat, the show runner for "Doctor Who" since 2010, wrote the episode.
Dan Starkey has made repeated appearances on "Doctor Who" as a Sontaran, most frequently as Strax. This time, fans can see him without the makeup as Ian the elf.
Samuel Anderson played math teacher Danny Pink during series eight. He appears in a dream of Clara's, where they share a perfect Christmas together. Unfortunately, in reality, Danny is dead, blown up saving Clara (and the rest of the world).