With Doctor Who's ninth Christmas special only a few days away, I've decided to look back on the previous eight, ranking them from best to worst.

1. A Christmas Carol (2010)

Easily the best Christmas Special, and a fantastic adaption of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol shines throughout. The use of time travel is one of the more clever instances in which it has been used, with the Doctor flicking back and forth between past and present to solve problems that occur in the past. The way that old Kazran discovers his new memories is also a clever method. If there was one word to sum up A Christmas Carol, that word is inventive.The climax of the episode is a real tearjerker, much more than any companion exit or regeneration has been, with Abigail singing the best song Murray Gold's written for the show, while old Kazran holds her hand, and young Kazran and the Doctor leave in the TARDIS. This episode really packs an emotional punch, but at the heart of it, it's a love story, and the the end never fails to cheer me up. This is what a Doctor Who Christmas Special should be.

There's absolutely nothing to fault with this episode, nothing at all, save the fact that the younger and older versions of Kazran could physically interact without the Blinovitch Limitation Effect occuring. 10/10

2.The Christmas Invasion (2005)

The Tenth Doctor's first full episode surprisingly doesn't have much of him. Instead, he's confined to a bed for most of the episode, and only wakes up when the plot calls for it. This actually works in the context of the episode, as the viewer is constantly anticipating the Doctor waking up and saving the day. The fact that the viewer doesn't know when this will happen adds to the tension, and so when the Doctor finally does open the door, we can't help but put a big grin on our face.

The Sycorax invasion is executed well, but the whole Christmas element is tacked on. This episode could have been set at any time throughout the year and it wouldn't have made any difference to the overall plot.

There are one or two niggles I have with the episode, though. First and foremost, the Doctor asserting himself as the ultimate moral authority by bringing down Harriet Jones' government feels very out of character. The Doctor may be a force for good, but that does not give him the right to bring down the government, and the Doctor should well know that. I also found Rose's blubbing at the fact that the Doctor was bedridden to be annoying, but I suppose it is understandable. That being said, the fact that she's crying because he's incapacitated, because 'her' Doctor would not leave her, not because there's anything wrong with him, weakens her character significantly - not that there was a character to weaken in the first place.

Still, on the whole, The Christmas Invasion is easily one of the better Christmas Specials. 8/10

3. The Snowmen (2012)

 All of what I said in my review of the episode last year still stands: the return of the Great Intelligence was a wonderful idea, but it's a shame that it's confined to a giant snow globe for most of the 60 minutes. The Doctor's depressed and brooding behaviour was something different to his usual energetic persona, but it was shunted aside far too soon. The Paternoster Gang's appearance was also a nice touch, but the Doctor's constant patronising of Strax got on my nerve. There were a few contrivances, the monsters did absolutely nothing, but the episode was still very enjoyable, and is a solid special in it's own right. It's not amazing, but it's not bad either. 6/10

4. Voyage of the Damned (2007)

The stupidest of all the Christmas specials, Voyage is nevertheless a full on action episode, with the characters almost constantly in danger, whether it be from the Host, the meteorites striking the ship, the ship falling to Earth, to shoddy gangplanks. There are a couple of nice character moments dotted throughout the episode, but the best is saved for last, where the Doctor informs Mr Copper that he is now a millionaire. That's how you end a Christmas Special.

Unfortunately, the stupid things do detract significantly from the episode. The starship is modelled on the Titanic for absolutely no reason other than to provide a cliffhanger for The Last of the Time Lords, Max Capricorn doesn't need to be onboard, most of the supporting character's deaths were unneccessary, Astrid could have easily jumped off the forklift before it fell into the Titanic's engines, and evacuating the whole of London, for whatever reason, is impossible, espcially considering it was only for the Christmas period. The Doctor's Jesus imagery wasn't a smart move either. The Doctor's not a god, RTD, no matter how many times you try to shove it in down our throats that he is. 5/10

5. The Runaway Bride (2006)

 The episode that featured the first appearance of Donna Noble is fairly unmemorable in it's own right, save for Donna's frequent shouting. The episode spends too much time with the Doctor mourning Rose, and once again the Christmas elements feel tacked on and unneccessary. The monster of the episode certainly looks impressive, but it unfortunately does absolutely nothing. There's also a few stupid things chucked in for good measure. The hole right down to the centre of the planet is bad enough, but the fact that the Doctor drains the Thames down it? Come on RTD, you can do better than that!

That being said, there are several nice, touching moments throughout. The one or two scenes where Donna refrains from shouting, calms down and actually talks to the Doctor are well done, and give us an insight to the side of the character we would later see in Series 4. 5/10

6. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)

An episode with undoubtedly good intentions, it never quite manages to become as magical as the script intended. There's a good story here, it's just a shame that the script's too loose and the execution is lacking. The 'Christmas Planet' is a good idea (if a bit indulgent), and the reference to Androzani is a nice callback to the 5th Doctor's final story, but the villains are lacking, the subplot with Madge's husband is unneccessary, and there are too many contrivances to count. The very start of the episode (blowing up a spaceship) also contradicts the ending of 'The Wedding of River Song', where the Doctor says he'll go back to the shadows now that the universe thinks he's dead. It's also a shame that the CGI was relatively lacklustre for the episode, as it certainly detracted from the episode in certain areas.

That's not to say that the episode was completely horrible. The comedic scenes are the highlights of the episode, and both Madge and Lily are charcterised very well. The tone of the episode is also captured well - there's a genuine sense of foreboding as the Doctor and Lily chase Cyril through the forest. Just a shame that the monsters do nothing. 4/10

7. The Next Doctor (2008 )

 Another episode with good intentions, it sadly falls apart thanks to an overdose of the 'chuck loads of random things in episode' mentality. New variant of the Cybermen, controlled by the brain of dog and who wear big black cloaks? Check. Giant steampunk Cyberman built by childen in the space of a month (in the Thames) with technology that couldn't have possibly have been built by Victorian children? Check. Generic evil woman whose motivations are never made clear? Check. A character who thinks he is the Doctor, therefore creating the title and a whole load of hype? Check.

In essensce, the episode is really just a whole load of stupid nonsense that never really forms a coherent whole. The good moments, like Jackson Lake's realisation that he isn't the Doctor, are unfortunately few and far between. 2/10

8. The End of Time (2009)

 The 10th Doctor's swansong is nothing more than a disgrace. Continuity is literally thrown out of the window here; the Doctor survives a fall from a height MUCH greater than the one that triggered his fourth regeneration, the Doctor now considers regeneration to be a literal death, Rassilon has done a complete 180 and is now wanting to avoid death by any possible means, and Donna magically has a mental 'fail-safe' block installed so that she'll only be knocked out if she begins to remember the Doctor. In addition to all of this, we have the worst regeneration scene and lead-up in Doctor Who history, with the Tenth Doctor raging about having to save Wilf, then visiting Every. Single. Companion. Ever., before finally kicking the bucket after uttering the ultimate gratuitous sentence of 'I don't want to go'. That line's effects in the Doctor Who fandom are still resonating strongly today, with many fans hating the 11th Doctor because the 10th 'didn't want to go'.

The only saving grace this episode has is Wilf. 1/10

What do you think about the ranking? What would your own list be? Comment below to let me know!