Story: Twice Upon a Time
Written By: Steven Moffat
Length: 60 Minutes
Year: 2017
Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat end their reign on Doctor Who this Christmas, and the results are, in my opinion, one of the better Christmas specials, and a better regeneration story than Matt Smith's somewhat muddled ending from 2013 (though his ending was quite appropriate as I think most of his tenure ended up a little muddled). The Twelfth Doctor's story picks up just after the Series 10 Finale, with him in the snow refusing to regenerate, and having a run in with his First incarnation, being wonderfully played by David Bradley (who previously played the actor behind the First Doctor in the docu-drama made for the 50th). It's a fun ride!
Bradley's version of the original Doctor is not an exact replica or a perfect impersonation...but he somehow captures the feel of that Doctor perfectly. He perfectly captures but the old man grumpiness and the grandfatherly warmth of the character, something that Richard Hurndall, who was the first replacement Doctor in the 20th Anniversary special "The Five Doctors," never really captured. Hurndall was all grump, and non of the warmth. Bradley gets both in, so while he doesn't look exactly like Hartnell, or sound anything like him...you can easily dive in and say "sure! Thats the Doctor!" He even pauses weirdly as he delivers lines, much as Hartnell did due to his own inability to remember the tons of dialogue he had in his weaker health and lack of prep-time of the day. It's a performance that could really steal the show...if it weren't for Capaldi giving a perfect performance himself...
After all, this is Capaldi's final outing, it would be a shame if he were being completely overshadowed by another Doctor. I did worry that would happen, but I think Capaldi more than held his own against Bradley. From the moment he sees his younger incarnation, his mood seems to change. He goes from being dour and upset, refusing to change into someone else yet again, to being cheerful and pleased. It's as if the moment he sees that First Doctor and knows he was feeling similar things at the time, he has already made his mind up. If he hadn't carried on then where would he be. Where would the universe be?
The plot is, admittedly, a little light and doesn't work perfectly. I was a little hazy on just what exactly caused time to freeze and send the Captain their way. I mean they are two Doctors refusing to regenerate, which I could see causing some kind of time disruption, and I get that the Glass people where doing something with people before they died and had an error with the Captain...but the reason for that was a little too vague. Not that I really cared too much. I liked the Captain, it was one of the better Gatiss performances on the show, certainly better than that awful Lazarus from Series 3. another thing I rather enjoyed was the return of Rusty, the Dalek the Twelfth Doctor was shrunk and put inside in his second episode. I thought it was an interesting idea to see what happened to that Dalek after that episode, and gave us an interesting way to get some info.
Capaldi is solid throughout, but his final scenes with the Glass versions of Bill and Nardole, and getting his memories of Clara returned, were all quite poignant and reminded me of all the good times this Doctor has brought me. It was also a better device for bringing in past companions than the Tenth Doctor's exit, where he just spends like years traveling to save each companion for a minute(I loved that sequence, but the device for doing wasn't too creative), and it made more sense than the Eleventh just seeing Amy as if she is really THAT important that before he dies he has a vision of her...so the Glass Avatars worked for me. And since they get people's essence before they good and proper die, I choose to believe Clara went back and finally bit the bullet, because GOOD!
I've loved Capaldi's range as a Doctor. And his final monologue in the TARDIS before giving into regeneration was a perfect encapsulation of his Doctor for me. A tad grumpy or cantankerous, but warm and loving and above all, kind. He has been one of the few Doctors to really grow and change a lot of his tenure. Series 10 Twelfth Doctor is a different beast to that of his debut in Series 8. I rather enjoyed his journey, in the end more than I did the Eleventh Doctor's.
And then the Doctor explodes and for the first time He becomes a She. The Doctor is now female folks! I was never one that NEEDED it to happen, but I am pretty cool with it. I also thought that Chibnall's first lines for the Thirteenth Doctor were subtle, to the point and quite perfect, just a simple "oh brilliant!" and she's off! Really off...as she hits the wrong button and gets sucked from the TARDIS, and the last image we see is her floating down to Earth from high above in the sky as the TARDIS fades off into the vortex, it's innards burning away. How will she get out of THIS one?
NEXT TIME: Series 10 Recap
Written By: Steven Moffat
Length: 60 Minutes
Year: 2017
Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat end their reign on Doctor Who this Christmas, and the results are, in my opinion, one of the better Christmas specials, and a better regeneration story than Matt Smith's somewhat muddled ending from 2013 (though his ending was quite appropriate as I think most of his tenure ended up a little muddled). The Twelfth Doctor's story picks up just after the Series 10 Finale, with him in the snow refusing to regenerate, and having a run in with his First incarnation, being wonderfully played by David Bradley (who previously played the actor behind the First Doctor in the docu-drama made for the 50th). It's a fun ride!
After all, this is Capaldi's final outing, it would be a shame if he were being completely overshadowed by another Doctor. I did worry that would happen, but I think Capaldi more than held his own against Bradley. From the moment he sees his younger incarnation, his mood seems to change. He goes from being dour and upset, refusing to change into someone else yet again, to being cheerful and pleased. It's as if the moment he sees that First Doctor and knows he was feeling similar things at the time, he has already made his mind up. If he hadn't carried on then where would he be. Where would the universe be?
The plot is, admittedly, a little light and doesn't work perfectly. I was a little hazy on just what exactly caused time to freeze and send the Captain their way. I mean they are two Doctors refusing to regenerate, which I could see causing some kind of time disruption, and I get that the Glass people where doing something with people before they died and had an error with the Captain...but the reason for that was a little too vague. Not that I really cared too much. I liked the Captain, it was one of the better Gatiss performances on the show, certainly better than that awful Lazarus from Series 3. another thing I rather enjoyed was the return of Rusty, the Dalek the Twelfth Doctor was shrunk and put inside in his second episode. I thought it was an interesting idea to see what happened to that Dalek after that episode, and gave us an interesting way to get some info.
Capaldi is solid throughout, but his final scenes with the Glass versions of Bill and Nardole, and getting his memories of Clara returned, were all quite poignant and reminded me of all the good times this Doctor has brought me. It was also a better device for bringing in past companions than the Tenth Doctor's exit, where he just spends like years traveling to save each companion for a minute(I loved that sequence, but the device for doing wasn't too creative), and it made more sense than the Eleventh just seeing Amy as if she is really THAT important that before he dies he has a vision of her...so the Glass Avatars worked for me. And since they get people's essence before they good and proper die, I choose to believe Clara went back and finally bit the bullet, because GOOD!
I've loved Capaldi's range as a Doctor. And his final monologue in the TARDIS before giving into regeneration was a perfect encapsulation of his Doctor for me. A tad grumpy or cantankerous, but warm and loving and above all, kind. He has been one of the few Doctors to really grow and change a lot of his tenure. Series 10 Twelfth Doctor is a different beast to that of his debut in Series 8. I rather enjoyed his journey, in the end more than I did the Eleventh Doctor's.
And then the Doctor explodes and for the first time He becomes a She. The Doctor is now female folks! I was never one that NEEDED it to happen, but I am pretty cool with it. I also thought that Chibnall's first lines for the Thirteenth Doctor were subtle, to the point and quite perfect, just a simple "oh brilliant!" and she's off! Really off...as she hits the wrong button and gets sucked from the TARDIS, and the last image we see is her floating down to Earth from high above in the sky as the TARDIS fades off into the vortex, it's innards burning away. How will she get out of THIS one?
NEXT TIME: Series 10 Recap
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