Doctor Who: “Lionesses in Winter” Review
Reviewed by Gustaff Behr.
In the absence of a festive Doctor Who episode from Russell T Davies this Christmas, writer Lisa McMullin steps in with Big Finish’s “Lionesses in Winter”, effectively giving fans the first Thirteenth Doctor Christmas special, even if it arrives in November. The Doctor and Yaz find themselves gate-crashing a spectacularly dysfunctional royal family gathering in 1183, right in the court of Henry II.
Henry II, his formidable wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (who once led a revolt against him), and their sons John (also rebelled) and Richard (also also rebelled), are attempting (against all historical precedent) to spend a single Christmas without trying to murder one another. Richard’s fiancée, Alys of France, future Countess of Ponthieu, is also present, though notably revolt-free…at least for now. Things take a turn when Yaz is rescued by Prince Philip, Henry and Eleanor’s other son.
Only problem: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine never had a son named Philip.
From the outset, “Lionesses in Winter” is not your standard cosy Christmas tale. It’s as much a spooky Halloween story as it is a yuletide one, which makes it perfect for a November release. A Christween story? Doctor Who’s first Hallow-mas? Call it what you like, McMullin leans into the eerie atmosphere immediately.
Within the first ten minutes she sets up several compelling mysteries:
- Who is Prince Philip?
- Why does everyone suddenly remember someone who didn’t exist moments earlier?
- How does Eleanor already know who both the Doctor and Yaz are, treating them like royal friends of the family?
- And what’s causing the castle and everything in it to decay?
There’s a lot to unpack, and the script handles its puzzle pieces with confident ease. I’d describe “Lionesses in Winter” as a very traditional Doctor Who story, and I mean that positively. It’s paint-by-the-numbers in the way the best ones are: Doctor plus companion, dropped into trouble, solving mysteries, saving the day, having fun. Classic formula, cleanly executed.
Yaz is, admittedly, underused here. She slides back into something of a Yes-man role, as she often did on TV. Ordinarily I’d call that out more sharply, but after two previous releases that were heavily Yaz-focused, giving her a slight breather feels fair. Similarly, we don’t learn anything fundamentally new about the Doctor, but the script uses her investigative strengths well.
The real emotional spine of the story is Henry II and Eleanor. It’s very much their tale, with the Doctor and Yaz acting as supportive outsiders who help them navigate a crisis. McMullin doesn’t go especially deep with the historical psychology, but strong, textured performances from Kevin Mathurin and Debra Baker give the material weight. John and Richard, by contrast, get the least to do, mostly cameo or comic beats. Alys steps into a pseudo-companion role and delivers perhaps the most realistic TARDIS reaction in decades: she screams in terror, then faints. It only took sixty-three years to get there.
If I had to pitch the episode to someone, I’d call it “The Girl in the Fireplace” meets “Adam” meets “Hide” meets “It Takes You Away.” It borrows ideas from each story, but Lisa McMullin uses those ideas inventively, often subverting the exact outcomes you expect if you know those stories. That’s the mark of a great writer.
Being a Christmassy story too, “Lionesses in Winter” has some wonderful jokes that all land. Yaz gets some really great lines throughout this story, legitimately one of the funniest jokes I’ve heard in a long while.
Much like in the previous two stories, the antagonist here, known only as the “Tourist”, is frustratingly underdeveloped, barely present before it’s time for them to be dispatched. I don’t think we even learn what they’re after or what they’re even doing in the story. As with those earlier 13/Yaz outings, the thin villainy doesn’t sink the episode thanks to the story’s context, but it does highlight a growing pattern. I’m really hoping this range starts serving up some more substantial, memorable threats for the Doctor and Yaz to grapple with.
After all, just this past October we saw the War Master squaring off against the Daleks, Kate and Osgood holding the line against a building full of Weeping Angels, and Nine and Rose battling an interdimensional boogeyman. The bar for villains is high right now and this one doesn’t quite clear it.
