The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ever". He stated that "nothing is more fun to write" than the Doctor at Christmas, as he considered it "his kind of day. Everything's bright and shiny, everybody's having a laugh, and nobody minds if you wear a really stupid hat". The story is partly inspired by "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (from "The Chronicles of Narnia") by C. S. Lewis. Moffat said that "Doctor Who" and the Narnia stories "come from the same impulse that children have of escaping to another world." The scene in which the Doctor is showing the Arwells around the house originally included
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe study found that "The Lion" was a common read-aloud book for seventh-graders in schools in San Diego County, California. In 2005 it was included on "TIME"'s unranked list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. Based on a 2007 online poll, the U.S. National Education Association named it one of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012 it was ranked number five among all-time children's novels in a survey published by "School Library Journal", a monthly with primarily U.S. audience. A 2012 survey by the University of Worcester determined that it was the second most common book