"The Snowmen" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on Christmas Day 2012 on BBC One.

Set in the Victorian era, the story sees the Doctor (Matt Smith), an alien time traveller, retired and in hiding.

With the help of allies – Silurian Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), her human wife Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart), and Sontaran Strax (Dan Starkey) – they discover that the snowmen are being animated by the Great Intelligence (voiced by Ian McKellen) with the help of a man named Dr Simeon (Richard E. Grant).

[1] The Silurian Madame Vastra, her human wife Jenny Flint, and the Sontaran Strax describe a number of strange phenomena to the Eleventh Doctor, who tells the group that he has retired.

[3] At the end of a case, Vastra and Jenny converse with an officer from Scotland Yard and apologise for Strax's violent wishes for the culprit's punishment.

Vastra explains Strax's origins as a clone warrior from outer space as well as her own as a prehistoric intelligent reptile to the officer, much to his astonishment.

Vastra reveals that she was awoken by an extension to the London Underground and initially disliked humans, though that changed when she fell in love with Jenny.

[3] A third prequel, titled "The Battle of Demon's Run — Two Days Later", was released on the United States iTunes and Amazon Video stores on 25 March 2013.

[4][5] Two days after Strax's apparent death at Demon's Run, Vastra and Jenny convince him that he is not mortally wounded and invite him to accompany them back to 1800s London.

Barmaid Clara Oswin Oswald encounters the Doctor, and the two of them are surrounded by snowmen created from snow with psychic properties.

Outside, a saltwater rain has started, and the Doctor deduces that another psychic ability has taken control of the snow from the Great Intelligence: the Latimer family, crying for Clara.

At her funeral, the Doctor reads Clara's full name on her tombstone and realises she is the same woman as Oswin Oswald, who died on the Daleks' Asylum planet.

[13] The final scenes at the graveyard establish that Clara shares the same name as Oswin, leading the Doctor to surmise they are the same person.

[14] The story would also show how the Doctor had responded to losing his previous companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams; Moffat said that "I think he's probably reached the point in his life where he's saying, 'Friendship for me is just postponed bereavement — I want to be on my own for a while'.

[14] He also attributed the idea of a retired Doctor to a plot proposed by Douglas Adams in the 1970s, but rejected by the production team at the time.

[31] The production team requested that the press and fans who attended advanced screenings keep Coleman's appearance a secret until "Asylum" was broadcast; the effort was ultimately successful.

[32] Moffat stated that the introduction of a new companion made "the show feel different" and brought the story to "a new beginning" with a different person meeting the Doctor.

[14] The Clara who would become a travelling companion of the Doctor would not debut until the spring premiere, "The Bells of Saint John";[34] save for a brief cameo at the end of "The Snowmen".

[40] The two children Clara is governess to, Digby and Francesca, were played by real-life brother and sister Joseph and Ellie Darcey-Alden.

[45] Director Saul Metzstein explained that it was difficult to achieve the desired look for the snowmen; the first ones he likened to Zippy from Rainbow which was too "cute" an appearance, and so the effects team created more menacing CGI faces.

[21] IGN's Matt Risley gave "The Snowmen" a score of 9.4 out of 10, describing it as "a rollicking, riveting masterclass in storytelling" which "refreshingly" lacked traditional Christmas references "in favour of some sparkling dialogue, gorgeous set design and fascinating characterisation".

[60] Radio Times reviewer Patrick Mulkern was pleased with the return of the Great Intelligence despite an inconsistency in the timeline he found, and praised the "lovely images" and direction of the special, though he felt the variation of the theme music "lacks the menace" of the original.

[7] Nick Setchfield of SFX gave the special four and a half out of five stars, writing that "the power of emotion saves the day again" was appropriate in light of the festivities and many fairytales referenced in the story.

[8] Neela Debnath of The Independent wrote that "The Snowmen" was stronger than the previous year's "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" as it was connected to the overall story of the series, but "still has a way to go if it is to live up to 'A Christmas Carol'".

However, he felt the character-heavy story was to the detriment of the plot, which was "a classic Who set-up that ultimately suffers from a lack of explanation [and] more set-pieces than a coherent whole".

[66] Selected pieces of score from "The Snowmen" and the preceding Christmas special, as composed by Murray Gold, were included on a soundtrack released on 21 October 2013 by Silva Screen Records.