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 finishing the first novel. He completed the sequel by end of 1949, less than a year after finishing the initial book. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" had few readers during 1949 and was not published until late in 1950, so his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public. While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children’s writer, the initial critical response was muted. At the time it was fashionable for children's stories to be realistic; fantasy and fairy tales were seen as indulgent, appropriate only