33.16: The Time of the Doctor [Christmas Special]

[Lenny]

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the universe's deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars. And amongst them, the Doctor.

---

The last of the "...of the Doctor" trilogy of episodes (the series finale The Name of the Doctor, the anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, and of course this episode. Maybe it should be a quadrilogy, as McCann's mini was called The Night of the Doctor), and

Spoiler

Matt Smith's last outing

(after all, you never know who's been living under which rock...)! I hope it can live up to the Anniversary special, because that was pretty fun after the meagre offerings from the rest of the current series.

I've just got home, so figured I'd leave this here before I started the episode, so that people can discuss immediately following the end of it.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Well, that wrapped up just about everything! Couldn't believe when the crack appeared, taking us right back to the very first Smith episode. It's crazy to think how many things were still hanging around, but all fitting in so well now. Also blimey, the Doctor is seriously old now! Moffat has been messing with all the Doctor Who continuity

Felt like an addition to the 50th, too, like a nice extension.

Definitely enjoyed that

But damn I was hoping for more Capaldi. I loved how quick the change was. BOOM Capaldi! I am so looking forward to him. And a whole new fresh start for him.

 

[PTeppic]

Do we need a tick-list of all the plot-lines this ties up?

After the 50th anniversary special, which barely paused, this was back to Christmas special formula: which in this case (to me) meant slow, meandering, hokey and felt full of plot holes.

But, after all the lead-in, au revoir to Matt and hello to Peter.

 

[Pyan]

Really enjoyed all the plot-hole darning, and a fitting end to a great Doctor. I'll tell you, at two points (when we saw the Crack, and when Amy Pond appeared), all the short hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It's been a while since the programme did that to me...

 

[Lenny]

I liked the way all of the Smith arcs were tied up (Moffat cannot resist the Timey-wimey, can he? Everything that lead the Doctor to Trenzalore was set in motion by the Doctor going to Trenzalore. I have to admit that, for a moment, I was impressed. The scale of the arc is pretty awesome), and the Papal "Space Nuns" Mainframe was neat, but I agree with PTep - slow, meandering, hokey, and full of plot holes.

What bugs me the most is that Clara has been through the Doctor's timelines... so why does she not know about the Space Nun-in-Chief, the cracks in the Universe, or the Silence?

I was also not too impressed by the throwaway "new set of regenerations" (so how does this numbering work now? Is PCaps the Thirteenth with the next being the Fourteenth, is he the Thirteenth with the next being the Second First, or is PCaps the Second First?), but the Moffs has an opportunity to explain it fully when the Gallifrey fetch quest finishes, so I'm willing to forgive it.

The main thing I will take away from it all, though, is: "Poor Clara. " The Doctor repeatedly tricked her, and she repeatedly came back... but in the end, despite always returning to him, despite being the one with him when he faced his inner demons, and despite Clara being his Impossible Girl, the Tweleventh Doctor firmly remains Amy's Raggedy Man, and Amy appears to firmly remain his Companion. That made me sad.

 

[Ursa major]

It seemed to me that the only purposes of the episode were to tie up the loose ends and switch actors; the less than dramatic setting** was thrown together to fill out the rest of the hour. Given that a lot of snail-like progress was given to a narrator, they should have left it completely to her and got it all over with inside a quarter hour.

After the far better 50th anniversary episode this was a real let down.



** - Why bring together (at least in theory) every known enemy of the Doctor and the Time Lords, and produce such a damp squib of a show? A complete waste of the CGI budget, using money that could have been better spent finding someone who could write something a lot less rubbish.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I agree with Ursa - it was dull. Which was a shame because the 50th episode was so good.

 

[Scorpiuscat]

Had Moffat forgotten how to write a basic story line?

This was a conglomeration of nothing all mashed together in hopes that anything would mean something.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Yeah, must say I wasn't too impressed. Surprised nobody's mentioned what my main problem was, which is: the Timelords are once again teased, and once again prevarication triumphs over the inevitable return. It would've been perfect to bring them back. Instead the Doctor's 'plan' is to hang around and die of all old age.

It's a shame that Clara's description as an 'associate' seemed to fit the episode.

 

[farntfar]

No. I'm afraid I can't claim to have been bowled over by this one. Certainly not a big fun romp, like we've come to expect of christmas specials, even if we don't generally expect an absolutely faultless storyline.

Still, I suppose, it has at least put the Silence/ Trenzalore threads to bed, even if the crack and Gallifrey lines remain open. Also it quietly, and with little fuss, reawakened the Daleks' obsession with the doctor, which might have required some other facile explanation otherwise.

Now to see what Capaldi will do with it.
I must say I'll miss Matt Smith, but I suppose I've said that of every doctor yet, save one.

 

[Perpetual Man]

When I watched this the first time (low quality through the i-player. no TV, very slow internet), I found it somewhat... meh.

They covered so much time in an hour (by my reckoning somewhere between 500 - 600 years), it just did not feel right, almost making it seem shallow.

However watched it again the next morning, this time downloaded overnight through the iplayer. crystal clear quality. And really enjoyed. All the little points that were wrapped up and they seemed to make sense, sorting out the regeneration problem, all good stuff.

By my reckoning Capaldi is 2.1 (second set of regenerations first one).

I would not be surprised to see Stephen Moffat stand down as showrunner at the end of the next run of episodes, he seems to have done everything now, told a complete story arc and introduced a new Doctor (well two really...)

I just hope we get down to a regular season, not a broken one spread out over the year.

 

[Scorpiuscat]

I just hope we get down to a regular season, not a broken one spread out over the year.

It's my understanding that the season will not be broken into two halves and aired six month apart like the previous season.


Which, I am all for, I hate when a TV show's season gets split apart like that.

 

[Lenny]

By my reckoning Capaldi is 2.1 (second set of regenerations first one).

That's where I'm leaning, too. I did think, during the episode, why it mattered so much that the Doctor was growing old, because I was sure he had another regeneration... but then the new regeneration came down from up high (will need to watch again to determine if he said it was a brand new set, or simply a new single... possibly a set, as the young-faced Old Doctor talked about a "reset") and kicked him into action (indicating he was at the end).

I guess it means, then, that the Hand Doctor (or was he being called the Metacrisis Doctor?) used up a regeneration cycle, making him the Twelfth, and Smith the Thirteenth.

I think I need to watch it again.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I think you are right Lenny, it was when the Doctor (Tennant) got shot by the Dalek. Everyone dragged him back to the TARDIS and he started to regenerate, then used the energy to heal himself, and released the rest into a hand.

If the hand had not been there he would have regenerated normally.

So they decided to count it as a regeneration, which I guess it would have been, the process happened, just not in a normal way.

 

[Lenny]

Which also ties in with the comment about a previous Doctor being vain and deciding to keep the same face.

 

[Scorpiuscat]

Which also ties in with the comment about a previous Doctor being vain and deciding to keep the same face.

I was always under the impression that Timelords did not have a choice of how they looked when they regenerated.


Is that not true?

 

[thaddeus6th]

In Destiny of the Daleks Romana regenerated many times, effectively trying on new bodies before settling on Lalla Ward's (a good choice, I think).

Mostly it's portrayed as random, I think.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Following up on Thad's comment I think the way it is meant to work is a Time Lord lives a natural lifespan, gets old, and regenerates. It is controlled and they may control the regeneration and the outcome. (They might even decide to regenerate early like Romana)


If the circumstances are more drastic, caused by injury, sickness or other dire needs, the process is a little more erratic. And let's face it the Doctor's lifestyle is nowhere near normal...

 

[Scorpiuscat]

In Destiny of the Daleks Romana regenerated many times, effectively trying on new bodies before settling on Lalla Ward's (a good choice, I think).

I remember Romana, but I don't recall that episode.


Gonna have to look into it.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

My impression about the "vain and keeping the same face" comment was that it was a joke, not a literal explanation.

I didn't like this as much as the 50th, but it was, as Perp says, better the second time around. I have really come to expect big things from Christmas specials, and when they hype it as "the Doctor saves a town called Christmas", you expect more than just having him stay there for hundreds of years, fixing toys.

That said, I think the switch was done nicely, the dropping of the bowtie made me very sad, and I like the looks of the new Doctor. The kidneys bit is a new classic. I could hear both Matt Smith and David Tennant in that "I don't like the color". People on Facebook were snarking about the kidneys thing, but it makes sense when you consider the fact that the Doctor had added about 600 years in this episode and his kidneys were probably not doing well by that time. They were also bothered by his not knowing how to fly the Tardis, but it seems to me that's been a problem before, hasn't it? There's always a bit of time where the Doctor has to figure out what's going on and remember things.

I also loved the nod to the past in the ship's horn, and also the Christmas dinner bit with the hologram clothing.

I believe it was implied, if not actually stated, that this begins a whole new set of regenerations. He said, almost at the end, something about it taking longer to do the reset. I think, although we've been calling Smith eleven, they fed an answer in there to all the questions about the double thing with the hand and the extra War Doctor.