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Christmas and Sci-Fi TV?

© Tanya M. Blakeley

Christmas is one of the most famous and celebrated holidays of the year. So much that it has become more televised, marketed and merchandised than any other holiday. There are many legends surrounding the true "story of Christmas" right down to the most famous of them all "Santa Claus."

However, when you look at just how many genres have told or retold Christmas, in their own spectacular ways, it becomes clear that the one genre in which few writers tell Christmas stories in is Science Fiction. Truthfully, there are only a handful of shows in Sci-Fi TV that I can recall ever airing a special Christmas episode.

Two of the most memorable Christmas episodes are from "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" both had shows where they mentioned Christmas or Winter Solstice. During the episode of "Xena," which was entitled "A Solstice Carol," after getting a hardhearted King (played by Peter Vere Jones) to change his tune and let the spirit of the season into his heart, Xena (played by Lucy Lawless) gives Gabrielle (played by Renee O'Connor) a toy lamb like the one she'd had when she was a little girl.

In the "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" episode entitled "A Star to Guide Them" Hercules (played by Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (played by Michael Hurst) find themselves going 'North" when Iolaus has a strange dream about a star, a rock, an "ugly" tree and a round pointy shape thing. Along the way they encounter a village where all the children (babies) are being rounded up.

Hercules and Iolaus, along with a thief named Tinculos (played by Jon Brazier) and a farmer named Uris (played by Brent Barrett), help out and save the day. At the end of "A Star to Guide Them" the four of them look out of a window and see a bright star guiding them to a little house, where the men (except for Hercules, he stands watching them) enter the house and find a baby.

Another memorable Christmas episode was "River of Stars" from "Space: Above and Beyond" the 58th is stuck deep behind enemy lines, forced to spend Christmas Eve in space and receive the miracle of a night of peace amidst the fury of war. "River of Stars" was an episode that truly embodied the spirit of Christmas, 'peace on Earth and goodwill to all mankind'.

"Babylon 5" was one of the series that only briefly touched on the holiday in places. In the episode "The Fall of Night" viewers saw Ivanova (played by Claudia Christian) give Sheridan (played by Bruce Boxleitner) a piece of the 'Black Star,' the Minbari cruiser that he destroyed in the telefilm "In The Beginning", as a reminder that "the impossible...is possible."

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