DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES NINE

There's one thing about Series Nine that immediately excites me. Even before the stories transmitted, Moff revealed certain facts about the structure of the season that had me practically bouncing off the walls. I was truly ecstatic. This was some of the best news I'd ever heard about an upcoming year of Doctor Who! 

Most of the stories in the season were going to be multi-parters.

I've moaned on many occasions about New Who stories that only last for 46 minutes. So many of them just feel too condensed. I'm  far too used to the "good 'ole days" when the average Doctor Who tale was comprised of four 23-minute episodes that came together to give you a feature-length run. Yes, the plot could drag a bit here and there, but so much more was accomplished in a story of this duration. Characters and concepts could be explored so much more deeply. It was great stuff. One might even say this was a key feature that attracted me to the show.  

Whereas I look at something like Dinosaurs on a Spaceship a few seasons back. I love Solomon in that story. He's a fascinating villain played to perfection by David Bradley. But, because the whole adventure only runs for one episode, we barely got to know him. There was a whole lot more mustache-twirlin' that could have been done before this baddie was sent to the grave. 

Over and over, this sort of thing happens when it's just a one episode tale. Frequently, as ending credits roll, it just feels like there was something I needed more of. With Dinosaurs, it was a villain that needed a stronger presence. But it can be other things. More often than not, it just feels like the plot wasn't given adequate time to develop. We needed the story to breathe a bit more. It all just flashes by too quickly. 

Of course, most seasons do have a few two-parters. Those are usually the stories I enjoy most. Now we're getting the same run-time as an average Classic Who adventure. All the elements I enjoy from an Old Series tale are more likely to appear. So I'm much happier with them. 

So you can imagine how much my spirits soared when I heard how Series Nine was going to be structured. 

"Look at all those two parters!" I exclaimed with drool practically running down my chin, "This is beautiful! I'm gonna love this season!" 

But would I? 

A LONG GLORIOUS START 

For the first five episodes of this season, I was in heaven. The stories that spanned these parts were all fantastic. Not just because of the "proper" run-time that they were being given, but also because they really were just well-produced adventures. 

I seem to recall there were some complaints levelled at Magician's Apprentice/Witch's Familiar. Aside from the titles not really making a whole lot of sense, I can't figure out what the problem was! This was an incredible way to open the season. Not only do those pre-titles completely suck me in, but the rest of the plot kept me engaged, too. I'm especially impressed with how that second episode really slows down for Davros and the Doctor to have a nice chat. And yet, it doesn't feel like it's dragging. I'm genuinely interested in everything these two long-standing foes have to say to each other. 

It was also great to see Missy back so soon. Michelle Gomez plays this incarnation to absolute perfection. She was great in Series Eight, but I was still getting to know her. I even needed to adjust to her since this was the first "true" gender cross that we were seeing in a Time Lord. But, here, I've grown accustomed to her. And I'm falling madly in love with how she's playing the role. I did a BOOK OF LISTS a while back where I ranked my Masters in order of preference and she came in at Number One. I do really enjoy what Sacha did with the part, too (and might still be doing, we'll see what happens with that gold tooth!), but I still think she's my fave. 

I also enjoyed how the whole story almost has a sort of "Remembrance of the Daleks vibe" going on. The Doctor was in control the whole time and was just tricking Davros into using Time Lord powers against himself. It was a great way to end things. And I always love it when he says: "Supreme Dalek, your sewers are revolting!" It never gets old. 

Under the Lake/Before the Flood isn't quite as good as the season opener, but it's still really damn strong. It's a bit of a base-under-siege story. Whenever New Who does one of these, it's crucial that we connect with the supporting cast. Those working in the base need to be excellently-written and well-portrayed. That definitely happens here. There may have been a few other bases where I liked the crew a little better - but not many! 

There's lots of fun stuff going on with time travel, here. Having the Doctor speak directly to the camera in the pre-titles of Before the Flood was one of those controversial choices made by the production team that I was perfectly fine with. It was quite nice to see a Bootstrap Paradox being properly explained. I knew what one was, already, of course. But "the uninitiated" sometimes need that little bit of extra exposition!     

I do like that the deaf character in the story properly serves the plot rather than just ticks some boxes. It also gives us an absolutely terrifying moment where she has no idea a ghost is creeping up behind her while dragging an axe. 

Another thing that really impressed me was that cliffhanger. It adds an absolutely brilliant extra layer to the second half of the story. Having dipped into his future, the Doctor is now racing against his own mortality. Sure, he thought he was going to die in the previous story, too. But this time, he's seeing proof of it! 

And then there's The Girl Who Died. I like how they've mixed things up a bit, here. It's still meant to be the first half of a two-parter, but it's very much self-contained. The Mire are a fun little species of intergalactic conquerors who were really just stopping by to get themselves' some drinks. But things got a bit more complicated because they got their drinks off of Vikings. 

Maisie Williams was quite big when her episodes came out. Which means, of course, that it's a bit more difficult to be objective about her. But it's nice to see that her performance has stood the test of time. She does a great job in all of her episodes. Particularly as she does age. Here, Ashilda is young and idealistic. But she will go through many different stages as she contends with immortality.    

Girl Who Died ends up being a fun little romp with a decent enough plot. It's another great example of the Doctor taking the resources he has readily available and coming up with a great little non-violent solution to the conflict. 

These are five really enjoyable episodes in a row. Once more, I find myself reacting to things in the same way as I did during the latter part of Series Eight. I really am wondering if it's just going to be an excellent season. 

Just as when I hit In the Forest of the Night last year, I'm about to be let down.   

THE FIRST REAL PROBLEM

The Woman Who Lived is our deepest dip in quality during the season. Some would probably differ with me on this and say that status goes to Sleep No More - but I disagree. This one's the worst. . 

I'm not sure why there's even an A Plot. It's so insubstantial it might as well have not been there. It's mainly just Ashilda and/or Me bemoaning immortality over and over and yelling at the Doctor for not taking her away with him in the TARDIS. Which is a shame, really. The alien she's in league with seemed quite interesting. But he's only in the actual narrative for about four minutes!

I'm also confused over how the Mire's med pack actually makes Me immortal. I can see it, maybe, prolonging her life substantially. She lives for a century. Two, at best. But keep her alive forever?  That's a Hell of a med pack! Ultimately, I would assume something of this nature just repairs wounds when they happen, not keep someone from aging until all the way to the End of the Universe. I'm guessing it has something to do with using advanced technology on a primitive being. Or something of that nature. A little bit more explanation would have been nice. 

I never realized it till my latest re-watch, but that final conversation between the Doctor and Me at the pub really, really drags. It probably doesn't run for half the time that the Doctor and Davros' talk lasts. But, this time, there's nothing all that compelling going in the discussion. Me finally realizes why the Doctor won't let her travel with him. That's great. Can something more interesting happen, now, please?!    

The story still isn't a total failure. Most of it rests on the shoulders of Williams and Capaldi and they are ridiculously talented actors. Their performances do manage do gloss over some of the inherent problems in the writing. The Gallows Humor is also quite fun. Especially since it actually accurately depicts what could sometimes happen at a public hanging. A criminal could stay alive longer if he kept the crowd laughing. 

But still, The Woman Who Lived kills Series Nine's winning streak. 

A FEW MORE PROBLEMS 

Since we're discussing a negative point, there are just a few more issues I'm having with the season that I should probably bring up: 

1. The Retconning is starting to get tiresome. Or, more specifically, a certain type of retconning. Suddenly claiming that something was going on within the Lore of the show that we'd seen no hints of until that moment is happening just a bit too often. Like when the Master claims he's been hearing drum beats in his head all his life. RTD does end up writing in to the script of End of Time that the Master has been hearing the drums more intensely, of late. But you'd still think Delgado or Ainley or even Beevers, at some point, would have brought this up during the Classic Series. It only appears when the plot suddenly needs it. 

The Retcon we get in Series Nine that gets a bit under my skin is the surprise revelation that the Doctor left Gallifrey for a secret reason. He knew too much about the Hybrid. Again, you'd think the Time Lords' interest in such a doom-ladened prophecy would have surfaced sooner. During Arc of Infinity. for instance, Borusa should have said something to the nature of: "Before we kill you by pouring a bunch of dry ice vapor on you, let's talk about that Hybrid thingy for a minute..."

But no such thing happens. Until this season, of course. Now people can't stop talking about the Hybrid! Which brings us to our second point: 

2. This is definitely one of the clunkier season arcs. People forcibly saying stuff about Torchwood throughout Series Two is still the worst. But this one's comparable. The Doctor suddenly remarking on every little thing that can even vaguely qualify as a hybrid gets old pretty fast. 

Of course, we'll get to how the arc is resolved (or, more accurately, not resolved) as we reach the finale.  

3. It does look like we are getting the character arc that was, originally, intended for the Sixth Doctor. Twelve really does soften in his second season. Unfortunately, it all happens too fast. Or, apparently, it happened offscreen between seasons. Or something like that. 

At the beginning of Mysterious Planet, we can see that the Doctor is being nicer to Peri. But when she asks something like: "Is there any intelligent life on this planet?" He answers with "Apart from me, you mean?" 

"Oh good!" I remark to myself, "He's more pleasant this year but that arrogance from Season 22 is still there!"

This is known as good character progression. Six doesn't change overnight. It's going to take time before he really seems like a genuinely swell guy. 

We seem to get the exact opposite with Twelve. A man who seems to almost have an allergic reaction to hugging is suddenly wrapping Clara in the warmest of embraces. Yes, I understand that he feels certain he's about to die. So he's bound to be a bit more emotional than usual.  But the character evolution occurs far too quickly. 

The writers do seem to pull back a bit on the charm in subsequent episodes and Twelve's inability to connect with others gets played up a bit more. The flash cards Clara gives him work great to achieve this. This seems more like a character who has problems socializing and is working on it. Unfortunately, the opening story of the season really messes with the overall flow of this particular arc. The Doctor still could have been a bit overemotional when coming to terms with his mortality, but not as much as Moff made him. It just didn't feel natural. 

SOME MORE TERROR FROM THOSE ZYGONS 

Things do get back on track with the Zygon two-parter. It's essentially, the Silurian story we never got. Humanity, at last, learns to share the planet. 

There's only one real problem I have with The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion. It's a simple issue of logistics. I do think it's cool that Zygons are now meant to be living secretly amongst us. But 20 million seems like a bit too much to keep hidden. It's a bit like how every third person in Harry Potter is meant to be a wizard but we still don't know that they exist. When a secret society reaches a certain size, it becomes impossible for them to remain concealed. Even a few thousand Zygons seems like something feasible. You can set up a remote colony here and there and most would be none-the-wiser. But it's just too big a number of Zygons to make such a feat believable. 

I also have to assume that a Zygon's shape-shifting ability has reached a point where it can now come up with original forms.  Up until this story, they were just copycats. I don't think it's possible for 20 million duplicates to exist in the world without people noticing! Just like that Mire med pack, a bit more explanation would have been nice. 

But, really, I don't want to complain too much, here. This is another really great two-parter. Very cleverly-written with an anti-war sentiment that doesn't completely clobber you over the head. Even though there's a nice gigantic speech about it. 

Which is, of course, the highlight of the story.  Once more, a huge risk is taken by bringing all the action to a grinding halt so that the Doctor can rant for a bit. Like the chat with Davros, it succeeds beautifully. If not for Heaven Sent, this would probably be the most memorable part of the season. 

I do seem to recall some fans saying that they don't think Capaldi nailed the speech quite as well as he could have. You're welcome to that opinion, of course, if you feel that way. Personally, though, I think you're on drugs! 

FOUND FOOTAGE

It's difficult for me to be objective about Sleep No More. I have this very strange fetish for Found Footage. While I am not a huge Horror Nerd, I seem to surround myself with them. Several close friends and even someone I was in a serious relationship with has made me sit through a lot of horror movies. Found Footage was, essentially, born within this genre and did quite a bit to save it. Horror was becoming overproduced and the style of Classic films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre had died. Found Footage was very raw and visceral like those old movies had been and, therefore, brought back some of that appeal. Which, in turn, impacted the whole industry. 

Now, I'm not a total addict. I haven't sat through Paranormal Activity 18. But the original was pretty damned good. And I have even gone all the way back to watch Cannibal Holocaust. Which many consider to be the first film made in this style. I actually don't recommend you see it unless you've got a strong stomach! 

Anyhow, enough digression into the history of a subgenre - I think you get my point. Sleep No More could be absolute garbage but I'm going to have a hard time not liking it because I really do enjoy Found Footage. I absolutely love the risk the story takes by using that format. In order to remain faithful to the style, it becomes the first Doctor Who story ever without a title sequence. 

This is a Mark Gatiss story that definitely fits in the "Strong" Category. It goes in several different interesting directions and has the most beautiful of twists at the end. Rassmussen turning to dust is an absolutely haunting image. 

I do seem to recall quite a few complaints about the whole tale from fans. The general impression is that they didn't like an episode being made in such a manner. The plotting in a Found Footage film can seem very awkward. It's a story that's being told from a very specific perspective and you have to sort through the clumsiness of such a thing. That's actually meant to be part of the fun of watching this kind of entertainment. But, if you haven't had a lot of experience with the genre, I can see how this might be a problem. 

Or, perhaps, Sleep No More is just a bad story. As I said, I can't really be objective about it so it's difficult for me to tell! 

MESSING JUST A BIT WITH THE STORY ORDER 

Putting a single-parter in the season allows us, of course, to enjoy a three episode finale. 

Thus far, I've been trying to review Series Nine stories in a chronological order. Just to make things a bit easier for analysis. I'm going to change the order of things, slightly. We'll get through the stuff that was "just okay" and then finish out on a high note. 

Face the Raven was a solid start to the finale. I wouldn't say it was particularly spectacular - but decent. Considering it's just the first episode of a three-part epic, it doesn't need to be much more than just pretty good. This way, the whole story has somewhere to go. 

It's a fairly straightforward premise that has just enough content to fill its run-time. Maisie Williams continues to do interesting things with her character. Always keeping in mind that several centuries have passed since the last time we saw her so Me needs to seem different each time. She's not the cold person we saw in Woman Who Lived, but she still has some harsh edges to her. 

Of course, the conclusion for the episode is completely brutal. If this really had been the end of Clara, it would have been a great way for her to go out. 

Most people don't seem very happy with Hell Bent. I can sympathize with a lot of that sentiment. But I also think there's a fair amount to like here, too. 

The Spaghetti Western vibe that it goes for during its first chunk is quite fun. I even quite liked that Rassilon got kicked off of Gallifrey. He seemed a pleasant fellow in The Five Doctors but the Time Wars had definitely turned him into a jerk. He's also a nice hanging plot thread that someone can pick up on again later if they want. He's out there, somewhere. Hating the Doctor. He could seek revenge someday and it would be nice to see what he might try. 

I would even say that all the stuff involving Time Lord society was quite enjoyable. Those Cloisters were interesting to examine and also quite creepy. And it's hard not to love seeing an Old School white-roundelled TARDIS console room. All of this was a great time. 

But, once more, Moff seems to be trying to subvert expectations a bit in the final episode of the season. I had thought Hell Bent would have been about the Doctor tearing through the Citadel and exacting a sort of revenge on the High Council for killing Clara and torturing him in his own Confession Dial. And we did get some of that. But it's the Doctor's ulterior motive that I feel really damages the whole plot. He wants to save Clara. Which is a beautiful gesture. But it means that Moff is now taking a page I don't particularly like from RTD's book. He's making us a think a companion is dead when they really aren't. 

I'm not sure why it's such a huge obsession to do this sort of thing with companions in New Who. Every second or third one seems to have to go out this way. It was absolutely traumatic when we lost Adric in the early 80s. I was even okay when they faked Peri's death a few seasons later. Back then, it was an original idea to write a companion out that way. But to now be doing it on a regular basis gets old really fast. Either kill off a companion properly, or have them exit the series in a different way. But stop doing the "I Guess They Weren't Really Dead, After All" Routine, please! 

The final discussion the Doctor and Me have about the nature of the Hybrid is probably my other really big issue with this episode. I'm all for a writer creating certain levels of ambiguity in their storytelling. That's fine. But sitting around for ten minutes and making all sorts of allusions about what the Hybrid could actually be didn't really work for me. If we're going to dwell on it that much, then we needed an actual solid answer to the question. As I've said several times already in this Review: More explanation was required. 

Other than that, though, Hell Bent was passable. A bit of an anti-climax but still fairly good. Some fans seem to see this one as a giant flaming turd but I don't think it's that bad. A slightly disappointing season finale but we've had much worse!    

CHRISTMAS SPECIALS 

After Series Nine, we get a bit of a "gap year" where Moffat is too busy with Sherlock. This results in two Christmas Specials back-to-back with no Series Ten in between. I remember Who fans being a bit disappointed with this. But Sherlock fans had to endure something similar!    

To make things easy, I'll just review both of the Specials, here. 

Both The Husbands of River Song and The Return of Doctor Mysterio represent a dip in quality for Christmas Specials. Which becomes especially noticeable when The Snowmen and Last Christmas were really quite good. The biggest problem for both of them is a flaw I see in a lot of Doctor Who stories that are trying to be a bit more comedic: 

They're just not doing all that good of a job at actually being that funny. 

All the actors in both stories are doing their damnedest to get the jokes to land. And they do succeed in some places. But, overall, it's not the best material to work with. Probably the greatest example of this is that point in Husbands of River Song where Moff actually has the Doctor apologize for making an unfunny comment. I guess you'd call this sort of thing "lampshading" - a term associated with bad comedy writing. Basically, you put dialogue in that openly acknowledges that the comedy is poor. This, somehow, now makes things funny. Essentially, Moff needed to give the Doctor a legitimately amusing line in that moment. Or he should have just had him run away silently from the short-circuiting robotish/cyborgy thing. 

The scripts are littered with this sort of stuff. The River Song Tale also brings back that old trick from Runaway Bride. Murray Gold delivers a whole bunch more farty-sounding trumpet music to try to enhance the hilarity. Like the last time, the effort fails. Doctor Who Producers, please learn this lesson: Farty-sounding trumpet music will not save your comedy script. Only good writing will!    

The stories aren't total crap. Husbands of River Song does deliver a crucial moment in her Lore. It is great to finally witness her last night with the Doctor. The subplot of River coming to terms with her mortality is nicely done. Return of Doctor Mysterio has some nice charm to it. Its plot also flows much better than Husbands. 

Overall, though, it does feel like Moff made a bad decision in this gap year. If he was so busy with Sherlock, he should have just hired someone else to write the Christmas Specials. 

BEST EPISODE EVER 

Heaven Sent really is the best episode ever (to me, at least: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/01/book-of-lists-top-6-best-episodes-part-1.html). As usual, just in case you bother to click the link and read that Review, I'll try to come up with new stuff to say. 

One thing I never remarked on in the other Review was just how much things rest on Capaldi's shoulders, here. He has to wander around a castle yelling at the air. He also has all those high energy scenes in the console room with nothing but the back of Clara's head to converse with. There's even all that terrified acting that he has to accomplish with giant fingers wiggling in his face. It's not easy to do all that sort of stuff by yourself. Sustaining an entire 46-minute episode with no one else to really play off of is a momentous task.

And yet, he makes it all look so easy. He wanders through those corridors having protracted conversations with himself (sometimes in voice-over, sometimes "in real life") and we're engaged by the whole thing. Even him sitting around eating a bowl of soup holds our interest!

It's also great just how much Heaven Sent allows us into the Doctor's head. Not just with the imaginary console room scenes, but the whole puzzle castle really shows us what he's like without a companion to keep him in check. He dives into the rabbit hole of working out how his trap works with no restraint. In some ways, he almost seems happy with the situation. Not just because it distracts him from his grief.  

Well, that was about all the stuff I could come up with that I didn't say in my previous Review. Now I'm going to re-emphasize some important points:    

The whole concept of Heaven Sent is completely brilliant. Placing the Doctor in this bizarre location and having him slowly figure out why he's there is an absolute wonder to behold. The whole process of realization is paced perfectly. At the same time, I love how the plot is also interspersed with the Doctor dealing with his grieving process. It's a thing of sheer magnificence. Great writing from Moff. Great directing from Talalay. And great acting from Capaldi. It's, pretty much, a perfect piece of television. 

And then there's those last few minutes where we finally see what the Doctor's really been up to the whole time. Four Billion years smashing through a wall. It's such a great solution to the conflict that, at the same time, shows off the Doctor's spirit and determination. He defeats his foes with intelligence. No matter how much patience it may require of him. It's a genuinely inspiring message. 

And this is why I messed just a bit with the story order. We've got a few episodes that are tricky to deal with. There's flaws to them that need to be discussed. I wanted my love for this episode to not be cluttered with some of the negativity surrounding it. So I brought it here to give it better attention. 

Now all that's left is come to a final conclusion about the season. 

FINAL CONCLUSION

Just like my Review, I wish Moff had found a way to make Heaven Sent the final episode of this period. It would have been nice if Hell Bent had immediately followed Face the Raven. But then, at the end of Doctor Mysterio, Nardole turns to the Doctor and says something like: "Hey! I heard this crazy rumor that you were stuck in your Confession Dial for a bit?! What happened with that?!" And the Doctor replies: "Here! I'll show you!" And then he puts that weird headband on his head again like he did at the end of Wheel In Space and Nardole watches the whole adventure on the scanner screen. 

Or something to that effect, at least. Maybe the segue could be a bit less clunky and obvious!  

If Heaven Sent had finished out the season, I would have legitimately been able to overlook quite a bit of this year's problems. For the simple reason that my last impression of this current cycle of stories would have been so much better than what we got. Instead, however, we get a mediocre season finale and then some Christmas Specials that are a bit lackluster. We also get a season-long arc that doesn't work all that well. It feels very forced in places and lacks a particularly satisfactory resolution. 

But the format! The format is absolutely wonderful. So many of the multi-part stories are quite good. It's great to not have to rush through an adventure. To allow time for characters to develop and plots to play out at a pace that doesn't need to be breakneck. This is what saves Series Nine from being a genuinely "bad" season. Instead, it's merely "troubled in places". 

I wish Moff had created a few more seasons using this format. Fortunately, much of what he does deliver is still quite strong even when it is only one episode long. 

But multiple seasons packed full of two-parters would have been absolutely glorious. 

  

DOCTOR WHO - SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES EIGHT

The Doctor has become old and grumpy. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!    

I wasn't annoyed that he had been young and handsome for a good six years. Both Tennant and Smith took their roles very seriously and turned in excellent performances (Yes, I'm still much happier with Eleven than Ten - but that's not to say that Ten was awful). Had they just stood in front of the camera and looked pretty and not really done a good acting job then that would have bothered me. But as long as a young hot Doctor still has some genuine acting chops then I'm fine with the whole arrangement. 

But I missed the good 'ole Classic days where Doctors came in all shapes, sizes and temperaments. He didn't need to have sex appeal. He was just a brilliant man who always tried to stand up for what's right. And we were content with that. I wanted to see that again. Yes, a succession of great-looking young Doctors was still acceptable. But a bit more variety would be absolutely wonderful! 

And then we see who's taking over from Smith. 

"Grey hair!" I exclaim to myself, "He has grey hair! This guy is old! We're getting a different kind of Doctor! He doesn't just have to seem ancient on the inside, he really does look it!"

And then the episodes start rolling out. 

"He's not just old!" I exclaim some more, "He's rude too! How great is that?!"   

This old hardcore fan who knows the show from beginning to end is more-than-satisfied. Especially with how things almost feel like they're re-creating the dynamic Peri and Six had. Will the arc they tried to create in Colin's Doctor finally get completed, here?! 

For the first little while, Series Eight had me bristling with excitement. Aside from one episode, I consider it a very strong year for the show. Better than most seasons of New Who, in fact. But, as we reach the end of this latest batch of episodes, I have to admit: some of my early hopes of a truly new and different Doctor (that, at the same time, emanates a more traditional Doctor!) get dashed against the rocks. 

Not all of my hopes. But still quite a few...

DEEP START 

Deep Breath turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. It actually runs at a feature-length so that, like Day of the Doctor, it could be released theatrically. Which I had no real problem with. It was great fun watching both episodes in a movie theatre full of fellow Who geeks. On both occasions, we all had a nice time. 

Potentially, though, there could have been some problems. If you're not watching the whole thing as a movie, if you're just sitting alone in your living room seeing it on a television, it could have felt very drawn-out and boring. There are any number of scenes that do run quite long. Amazingly enough, there isn't a whole lot of drag to anything. It's all quite engaging. Whether it's a big exciting fight with Vastra, Jenny and Strax against a whole swarm of cyborgs or just the Doctor and Clara having a protracted argument in a fake restaurant. Everything remains quite enjoyable. 

Twelve is great fun in his first story. Like Six, the regeneration has scrambled him quite badly. Particularly on a psychological level. He's wildly impulsive to the point of being vaguely unreliable. He's quite fun and goofy, in places. But, more significantly, we're seeing lots of evidence of his arrogance and general lack of kindness. Basically, he's a pretty rude jerk.  There's also some implications of a much darker side. Not just in the way it's left ambiguous about whether or not he actually killed the control node cyborg. I also get the impression that he just rolled that poor tramp for his clothing and is lying to Clara about it later. 

All of this makes the character very interesting. I'm intrigued to learn more about him. 

After a fun start, I do find that most stories of the season fit under certain categories. Rather than tackling them in order, I'll review them within the boxes they fit in. 

TWELVE IS VERY RUDE 

These particular tales really show off that arrogant side we were already seeing on display in Deep Breath. To be clear, Twelve is pretty rude in any episode in this season. But he's exceptionally bad in these stories. To the point where he almost seems out-of-character.

By tackling this category first, we'll stay chronological just a little bit longer. Into the Dalek starts with a Doctor forcing someone who has just been through severe trauma to say please before bringing her back home. A short while later, he brings the point home even harder by introducing Clara as her "carer". She, essentially, does all the caring for him, now. Cause he doesn't really seem to like anyone, anymore. Gestures such as these continue in great abundance throughout the tale. He's exceptionally cruel when he gets the one soldier to believe he's saving him when he just wants him to swallow a tracer. 

Ultimately, his total lack of empathy reaches such a fever-pitch that Clara actually smacks him across the face. She makes a horrific realization: he's put a bunch of peoples' personal safety at risk just so he could prove a point to himself about the nature of Daleks. He seemed to have no other motivation other than that. This is something we see in the "Rude Doctor Adventures". There's a climactic moment where the Doctor has finally gone too far and Clara must reign him in. The other story of this nature has an even deeper consequence when it happens. 

Unlike Into the Dalek, Kill the Moon does not feature a Doctor who is just constantly mouthing off to everyone. Sure, he's still snarking now and again. But we're mid-way into the season so he is starting to mellow a bit. However, he still reaches a moment where he comes across as completely heartless. He is viciously cruel as he leaves Clara, Courtney and the astronaut to make up their own minds about whether or not to blow up the moon. It's just the sort of gesture that would cause the huge shift that occurs in the Doctor and Clara's relationship.

Some General Notes: 

- While neither of these stories are perfect, I absolutely love how the Doctor is portrayed in them. Being such a big fan of Sixie, it's great to see the Doctor running around, again, being absolutely unpleasant to everyone around him. The character fascinates me when it functions as an anti-hero. 

- And I may say that the stories are not perfect, but I really do enjoy Into the Dalek. I find it to be really tightly-written. The battle where the Daleks raid The Aristotle is one of the best action sequences featuring them. 

- Time Heist comes quite close to being a Very Rude Doctor Story, too. The scene where Psi points out how Clara keeps making excuses for the Doctor is very poignant. Ultimately, however, when we find out who the Architect is and what the whole plot is really about, I find the story doesn't really fall under this category. It still pays an excellent tribute to Heist Films, but the Doctor just isn't quite rude enough!   

- I do find myself wondering if the ultimate results of Into the Dalek actually have a strong bearing on the direction of the Doctor's character. He does seem very upset that the Dalek is more compelled by his hatred than his love. This revelation does actually seem to take off a bit of his edge and make him seem less rude for the rest of the season.

- I'm always confused by how the ending of Kill the Moon upsets people. "It's impossible for an animal to immediately lay a new egg after its hatched from it!" they say. "Yes." I agree, "No animal on Earth can do that. But you do realize this thing is an alien, right?!" This is, of course, one of the advantages of writing science fiction. When it's an alien, you can pretty much make it do whatever you want. Cause who are we to say what an alien is or isn't capable of? Last time I checked, for instance, no animal on Earth can completely change their appearance in a matter of seconds if they've been hurt too badly. But we've seen Time Lords do this a bunch of times and still accept it.

CLARA FORGIVING THE DOCTOR 

From Kill the Moon, we move to a set of episodes where Clara must truly accept this new incarnation of the Doctor or choose to leave him once and for all. We saw her wrestling with this a lot in Deep Breath and she reached some degree of resolution when she gets a phone call from Eleven. But there's still some inner struggle going on within her. This just isn't the Doctor she first became friends with. And he's doing a lot of things to make it difficult for her to like him. 

Mummy on the Orient Express is meant to be a final trip for the Doctor and Clara and then she's done with him. We're all pretty damned sure that she'll have changed her mind by the end of the episode but we're interested in seeing how that's going to happen. I'm very impressed with how well the A Plot still manages to stay quite prevalent throughout the story while there's all this drama going on between the two of them. There's been quite a few times in the past (more under RTD's watch than Moff's) where the soap opera storyline takes the front seat when it shouldn't. But the whole plot with the Mummy is excellently-constructed. 

And, of course, we get to that final important moment where the Doctor and Clara are sitting on the beach reflecting over it all. The Doctor claiming that "good people sometimes have to make bad choices" really drives the point home and makes the changing of Clara's mind quite convincing. 

For several reasons, I also like to include Flatline in the "Clara Forgiving the Doctor" category. The most simple one being that people don't fully forgive all that quickly. Yes, the Doctor makes a great point at the end of Mummy and Clara agrees with him. But these sort of things don't resolve themselves so easily. 

Clara lying to Danny about still travelling with the Doctor does, sort of, indicate that she might still not have the best of feelings about her friendship with the Time Lord. That she's not entirely sure how she really feels about him and would rather keep her boyfriend clear of the whole thing until she's definitely figured things out.  

To me, the point where Clara does become certain of her feelings for the Doctor happens when the TARDIS is finally restored to its proper size (in an incredibly clever manner, no less!). Just before handing the Boneless their asses, the Doctor delivers this utterly fantastic speech. I love how it begins with him genuinely admitting that he doesn't want to hurt them. That he's only doing what he's doing cause he's been left with no choice. The director was careful to include Jenna Coleman in several shots so we can view how she's reacting to all this. You can see by the look on her face that she truly accepts him, here. She not only tosses him the sonic screwdriver so that he can banish the Boneless, the gesture seems much deeper than that. She gives him back the screwdriver because he is the Doctor and it belongs to him. And she sees him as that, now. 

This arc that presents itself in the middle of the season is magnificently executed. The stories that it spans are all quite good. They didn't even really need the subplot. But making the Doctor and Clara's relationship a little rocky for a bit adds an excellent extra layer to things. 

Some More General Notes: 

- Flatline is another great story in this season. It's central conceit of two dimensional beings trying to break into our reality was quite imaginative. When the murals come to life, they look utterly terrifying. There's much to love here. It would be my favorite of the year. But, once more, fan service triumphs and Listen gets that award. 

- Yes, Clara continues lying to Danny after Flatline is over. But the nature of her deceit has changed. It's no longer being fueled by her not being able to fully forgive the Doctor. By the time we get to In the Forest of the Night, it's now an issue of having dug herself a hole she can't get out of. She started a lie and just doesn't know when she should finish it. Because she knows she's in trouble when Danny finds out the truth. 

 

TWELVE IS VERY FUNNY

As if to offset his rudeness, the season also features several stories that cater to Capaldi's more comedic side. The Doctor is still grumpy in these tales, of course, but it's played up more for laughs. From a marketing standpoint, it's a good move. To make the Doctor too unlikeable could, potentially, scare off a lot of viewers. Both casual and hardcore fans. It didn't help that quite a few people watching Doctor Who legitimately left the show because the Doctor "wasn't cute anymore". So softening the character's edges with a bit of humor was smart. 

Of these "Funny Stories", I'd have to say Robots of Sherwood is the weaker of the two. Its biggest problem being that it is clearly meant to be a bit on the comedic side but really isn't all that funny! The scene where the Doctor is trying to run tests to see if Robin and his Merry Men are real is a great example of this. It does still earn a few chuckles. But it, mainly, feels forced. The fact that one of its main gags is a group of men who laugh for no, readily, apparent reason certainly adds to how artificial the comedy seems! This is definitely one of Gatiss' middle-of-the road scripts. Not outstanding like, say, Unquiet Dead. But not awful like Idiot's Lantern, either. 

On the other end of the spectrum is The Caretaker. Comedy is so much about chemistry. How characters play off of each other is crucial in its execution. Everything flows so much better, here. Right from the scene with the Doctor and Clara in the console room, the jokes are landing perfectly. It's utterly hilarious as the Doctor is trying to talk to the staff at Coal Hill and they just walk off ignoring him. I love how pleased he is with himself that his disguise is working perfectly. He even starts to just openly comment on it! The comedy in this one works great. And there's just enough drama peppered in that it still feels like a "proper" Doctor Who tale and not just the show deciding to become a bit too silly for an episode. 

Yet More General Notes: 

- I know I've said this more times than I can count about certain one-time-only characters, but the Skovox Blitzer is another great monster I'd love to see return. I would probably fill up about four seasons with all these one-timers coming back but I'll still keep building this Wish List!   

- It is cute to see Patrick Troughton briefly featured in the images of different versions of Robin Hood. 

THE DUD  

I still remember well the first time I watched Series Eight. After Flatline, I was thinking to myself: "Wow! This season is nearly done. Every episode has been either really strong or even completely amazing. Is the going to be a season with absolutely no bad episodes in it?!" 

But then, unfortunately, we get to In the Forest of the Night. 

I still stand by my word, I don't think that there's a single episode during Moff's era that I would truly label "bad". There are some weaker ones, of course. But they still had enough redeeming qualities to them that I didn't think to myself: "If this story was just removed completely from Canon, I would be okay with that!" 

In the Forest of the Night, however, comes perilously close to achieving that. Its biggest problem is that it's just pretty dull. A tree invasion of the Earth is hard to make all that exciting, really. The trees don't really do anything all that particularly interesting. They just sit there all planted and get in the way of things. The best they can do is cause a large statue to fall! It's really hard to fill up 46 minutes of run-time with just walking through some forests that aren't meant to be there! 

There are a few things that make the story likeable. The group of troubled kids are actually fairly well done. They provide comic relief but not at the expense of actually making fun of their situations. We still feel empathy for them and recognize there are things going on in their lives that are making them the way they are. The child actors all do a pretty solid job of portraying them. 

Clara getting the Doctor to return to the TARDIS and save himself was a genuinely touching moment. I like how the Doctor even tries to use her own words against her. It genuinely shows that he's grown since Kill the Moon. 

Finally, there's the stuff going on between Danny and Clara. It's reaching a sort of climax, here. Which sets up what we get in the next episode beautifully. 

Aside from that, however, Forest of the Night is like watching paint dry! Much of its conclusion also doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Particularly the final scene of Anabel being returned. 

THE BRILLIANT ONE 

Can't talk about the Dud without also mentioning the Classic. Listen is a fantastic adventure. Very odd, in many ways. The Doctor seems to go down some sort of rabbit hole as he becomes convinced that the monster under our bed is real. 

Using a very weird and haphazard date between Clara and Danny as a sort of framing device is an excellent counterpoint to all the other stuff that's happening in the plot. I love how Clara keeps employing the TARDIS to try to go back and fix the whole evening. But, in the process of doing it, she has to contend with things like astronauts beckoning her from the kitchen! It's all absolutely wonderful to watch. 

Of course, those final few minutes are what really make the story. Suddenly going back into the Doctor's childhood was quite mind-blowing. The expression on Clara's face as she listens to the two adults that have entered the barn and she suddenly realizes where she is great. It mirrors our own reaction. Basically, we're seeing a part of the Doctor's life we never thought we'd see. 

But there's more to Listen than just dipping into the Lore of the show. There's some really creepy moments that are disturbing to watch every time. Particularly the bit with whatever's hiding under Rupert's blanket. There's also a lot of emotional resonance. The comfort Clara has to keep offering to frightened children throughout the course of the story is always quite touching. And it is nice to see that her date with Danny does finally work out and that the relationship is going to move forward. 

All in all, there's a lot to like here. But what I really enjoy is the whole vibe of the episode. Unlike most stories that I feel are Classics, Listen comes across as very low-key. It tells a great tale without having to seem all that particularly grandiose about it.  

THE FINALE 

Dark Water is another one of those absolutely awesome episodes that we get in Series Eight. Losing Danny Pink in the first few minutes of the plot was an absolutely brutal twist that really did take me by total surprise. Just as he and Clara seemed to be really working things out, that brutal bastard of a Head Writer takes him away from us. 

The twists and turns continue over the next few minutes as Clara betrays the Doctor and he doesn't care anyway. Twelve not giving a crap about what she's done is still one of my favorite moments in his whole era. For once, his poor social skills seem to work to his advantage. When he likes someone, it doesn't matter how they treat him. He'll go on caring for them. 

Things keep moving along at a nice cracking pace as we learn about the 3W Foundation and see what Danny's going through in the afterlife. It's magnificently-paced. I don't think closing elevator doors have ever been used in the entire history of the show to designate a monster Reveal. So that was quite fun! 

Of course, finding out who Missy truly is in those last few minutes was the biggest bomb of them all. It's official, now:  Time Lords can change genders. Sure, Eleven said something of that nature in The Doctor's Wife, but it was still just talk. Now we're seeing it. 

It's a hell of a cliffhanger!    

Death in Heaven does feel like another one of Moff's attempts to subvert expectations in his final episode of the season. I was certainly expecting something different than what we got, at least. I figured the Doctor would find a way to escape the emerging Cyber-army. A protracted battle through the streets of London would then erupt. The two Time Lords strike at each other from a distance through the use of living pawns. With Cybermen and humans getting diced in the cross-fire. 

But we got something very different. Ultimately, it still works. But I have to admit, it comes very close to not succeeding. There's a certain danger to viciously changing the expected narrative flow of a plot. It can very easily backfire if you're not careful. And it comes very close to happening, here. 

I'm also getting just a little too tired of Easter Eggs. Once more, the Cybermen are out on the steps in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. Just like they were in The Invasion. As Clara interrogates Danny in the afterlife, she asks him when her birthday is. "November 23rd" he answers. We've been getting all sorts of little references like these over the last few years. And it's starting to feel a bit tiresome at this point. I'd really like this sort of thing to stop for a bit. Let a story just be a story. Enough with the thinly-veiled blasts from the past. 

I do still love the final few twists of this story, though. It's totally cool that Missy seems to have created an army the Doctor can't stop and then hands it over to him! It seems totally believable that she would actually do it, too. She's just that insane. It's all quite beautiful the way the Doctor and Clara lie to each other so that the other can go on enjoying a peaceful life without them. Turning the Brigadier into a Cyberman seems a bit of a stretch. But, at least, it keeps Kate Steward alive. She will go on to do great things...

THE PINK STUFF 

That, pretty much, takes care of how I feel about the individual stories of the season. Let's look at a few themes that run through this particular batch of adventures. 

The biggest ongoing storyline is the relationship that develops between Clara and Danny Pink. This is the third time in the New Series that a companion has been allowed a love life. This sort of stuff almost never happened in Classic Who. When it did, it usually felt ridiculously forced. Like when Leela falls in love with Andred after uttering about three sentences to him in Invasion of Time! 

This latest romantic tale starts feeling like it's going to follow the same pattern it did the first two times. The male character is something of a bumbling dork and the woman seems to be completely in control of the situation. This certainly seems to be very much the case in Into the Dalek and Listen. 

But then, things start to evolve. Danny gets his confidence and we really start to admire just how much he really does have his wits about him. "When did you become so wise?!" Clara even has to ask at one point. She's totally right in that observation. Danny is quite sage. Particularly as we reach In the Forest of the Night. And that's very refreshing. Mickey running around with his foot in a bucket and Rory being frightened by Amy hitting him with a shoe created some fun little laughs. But we needed a different kind of romance, this time. The male love interest needed a smoother personality. And that's definitely Danny Pink. 

His backstory is also very nicely done. It's especially impressive that he still defends the military even after the negative experiences he's had. And giving away his opportunity to resurrect to the boy he accidentally killed is extremely moving. 

All in all, I'd say that Danny Pink is an excellent near-companion. The season shines all-the-brighter because of his presence in it.  I'm still not sure how he's such an incredible acrobat at the end of The Caretaker, but I still like him a lot!  

THE ARC STUFF 

Since Series One, it has been a tradition to thread a storyline throughout the season that gets explained/resolved by the finale. This sort of thing has been executed with varying levels of success. You can, for instance, see the hugest of contrasts between just the first two seasons. "Bad Wolf" comes across as quite subtle and effective. "Torchwood" feels about as natural as artificial breasts! 

How does the arc do in this season?  I actually think Moff does a great job with it, here. What works best is how it continues to change and evolve. At first, there's a lot of talk about characters wanting to find the Promised Land. We get a glimpse of it right away at the end of Deep Breath. It seems to be run by a mysterious woman who knows the Doctor well. From there, the focus pulls more on to the mysterious woman. We even start seeing her outside of the Afterlife. 

The fact that the call-out changes regularly is very refreshing. We're not just seeing characters talking about the Promised Land or people meeting the mysterious woman after they die. Other things happen that still relate to the arc. We even start getting to know Seb a bit in one scene. All of this causes the arc to feel much more organic than it has in other seasons. 

But there is actually a far more significant arc going on concurrent to the "Who is Missy?" one. We might even call it the "Who is the Doctor?" arc. Or "Am I a good man?" Or even: "Am I really this big of a jerk?!" 

I had said at the beginning of the entry that I was hoping we were getting something similar to the character growth that had been planned for the Sixth Doctor. It certainly looks like it. Once more, we had a companion who was not thrilled by the rude personality the Doctor had regenerated into. Like Sixie, Twelve could only stay arrogant for so long. He would, eventually, soften and become more warm-hearted. As Season Twenty-Two turned into Twenty-Three, we saw that process starting to occur with Six. The same thing seemed to be happening again with Twelve. 

I can totally understand why some incarnations of the Doctor don't ever really change. It's good to keep them as a constant when new characters are getting introduced in virtually every episode. But I am far more pleased when we do see regular, ongoing growth in the protagonist. Starting him off as an anti-hero and making him more likeable as the show continues is not even something that first happened with Colin's Doctor. The First Doctor also went through a similar process. But enough time passes on the show between these various incarnations that the formula has never become stale.  A grumpy Doctor eventually losing his harsh edge is always a treat to watch. 

I'm glad we saw it again with Twelve. 

FINAL CONCLUSION 

As I mentioned in my intro, I am very happy with this season. Aside from In the Forest of the Night, all the stories are quite strong (unlike some fans, how an alien egg hatches doesn't upset me, so I quite like Kill the Moon!). I would even call a few episodes outstanding. 

There's also a couple of through-themes that run through Series Eight that are all very well-handled. Not just the Mystery of Missy, but the romance of Clara and Danny and the softening of Twelve's character. Everything here is really quite good. In terms of New Who, I still probably like Series One and Five better. But I'd probably put this in Third Place. 

But there is one more thing that I must contend with. A problem that is not just with Series Eight, but New Who as a whole. 

To me, it becomes most evident during Time Heist. They've reached the Vault of Karabraxos and the Doctor needs everyone to shut up for a moment. But he handles the situation in a very silly way. I'm thinking to myself as he does: "Why is he talking like that?! He sounds like the Eleventh Doctor, right now!" 

And that's when it dawns upon me. He may have been given some harder edges, but the Doctor is still a hyper-active chatterbox. Just as he has been for, pretty much, the entire New Series. 

I seem to recall both RTD and Moff saying in interviews: "It may be a new incarnation, but you always write the Doctor the same." (or words to that effect). I have always disagreed with this statement. Classic Who often made stories that, specifically, catered to the current incarnation. Look how well Three worked with UNIT during his reign. But we just weren't getting that same vibe as Four took over. So they phased UNIT out. How Trial of a Time Lord totally suited Six's love for debate is another great example of this. Because of Six's personality, the arc could sustain itself for fourteen episodes. But it probably really wouldn't have worked well for any other Doctor. In fact, when Two gets put on trial by the Time Lords, he just becomes petulant. Four barely even talks during his inquiry in Deadly Assassin and just draws caricatures! 

I loved the tonal shifts that occurred when a new lead gets cast in the Old Series. But, even when the Doctor is made considerably more grumpy in New Who, we still don't really get much real change. He's still this guy who seems to be on a bit too much caffeine and can't shut up!    

Again, we can't fault Series Eight, specifically, for this. But it's where we first see my issue being truly proven. It saddens me, slightly, that this is the course New Who has taken with the character. I liked it better when the show compensated more for the interpretation the lead actor wanted to give. Rather than forcing them to fit into a pattern that doesn't really suit their intentions.  

Aside from this, however, Series Eight really kicks ass!

BUT WAIT, ROB, WHAT ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL?!

I thought about reviewing Last Christmas in the next entry as it does feel like it's introducing a new dynamic between the Doctor and Clara rather than relating to everything that's happened to them in Series Eight. But, really, it works just as well, here. On top of that, of course, we've got multiple  Christmas Specials to tackle already next season! 

I did decide, however, to review it as a sort of afterthought to the season rather than putting it in before my Final Conclusion. 

Last Christmas is one of the better Christmas Specials that we get. It's a bit wild and crazy with having Santa Claus in it but it uses a good In-Universe of explanation for why he's there. It's tightly-written with a very terrifying monster in it. The Dream Crabs have all the horror impact of a Face-Hugger from Alien but do something that seems even more sinister than impregnating its victim. I do like how Moff even admits that he's slightly ripping off the idea by having a character in the story acknowledge the similarities.    

While we did just have a "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" premise a few seasons back with Amy's Choice, the Special takes the premise in an interesting new direction. Things feel a lot more like the movie Inception or even the episode of Rick and Morty that mocks the movie Inception! Whichever the case, there's a lot of fun with dealing with dreams within dreams and it all works quite well. 

Again, Moff makes a great move by giving us a very different type of adventure than he'd given us the previous year. This, I think is the true "secret recipe" to a good Christmas Special: Always try to do something new. When you duplicate what you did before, you end up with The Runaway Bride or The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe. Neither of these tales rank all that very highly for me. And part of their problem is that they are trying to shoehorn in plot elements that don't really fit but harken back to what had gone on previously. 

Moff, however, learnt well from that mistake. His Christmas Specials continue to do well. Especially when compared to a lot of the stuff we got from his predecessor. 

Thanks for the self-honesty, Steven!   

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES SEVEN

Series Seven, in so many ways, reminds me of Season Twenty. It knows that it's coinciding with a major anniversary and is trying to be a bit special. But, maybe, it might have been better if it was just a normal season! 

There is still quite a bit of brilliance going on within both these periods. Twenty, for instance, had some incredible stories like Snakedance and Enlightenment. Even Mawdryn Undead was quite strong. Seven, we'll see, will contain similar tales. These sort of high points mean we're not getting something fairly abysmal like Season Seventeen or Series Two. But we're also not getting something supremely awesome, either. Which becomes more readily apparent since these are meant to be special seasons. 

THE FIRST HALF - THE TROUBLE WITH BLOCKBUSTERS! 

Moff had a sort of weird vision for the first half of this season. He wanted every episode to feel like a blockbuster movie. He even had posters made up for each one that made the story look like it was some major Hollywood production. 

It was a cute idea, I suppose. But one that I felt really didn't work that well. There were, in fact, two major problems with the whole concept: 

1) A blockbuster movie needs a blockbuster budget. While New Who looked gloriously better than the embarrassing visuals the Classic Series used to produce, it was still a TV show. It only has so much money being put into it. It was never going to be able to give us the glitzy effects we'd get from some film with a 300 million dollar budget. 

Look at Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, for instance. The CGI dinosaurs were more-than-passable at the time. But the budget still wasn't really good enough to give us the sort of Jurassic Park feel that it was trying to achieve. In fact, because the money wasn't there, the effects have aged poorly.  Nowadays, one can see fairly clearly several instances where the onscreen characters are interacting with effects that will only be added later in post production. The "fringing" is quite bad, in places.  

2) Because a good Blockbuster is meant to be about Spectacle, the script will often suffer at the expense of the flashy visuals. The plot to the story will lack complexity or nuance so that the audience experiences the maximum effect of a thrilling roller coaster ride. But there really won't be any more to it than that.  

This is an absolute terrible direction to take something like Doctor Who in. I come to the show for adventures that I can appreciate on several levels. Yes, there should be a certain "wow factor" to any good Who tale. But there needs to be all that other good stuff too. I'm looking for complex plots with fleshed-out characters and themes that are explored with a flair of artistic expression. Blockbusters rarely have any of these attributes. So, basically, Moff's decision strips away just about everything that I genuinely love about Doctor Who!  

THE FIRST HALF - WILD, WILD WEST 

These last few Reviews have, more-or-less, been looking at the stories of the season in chronological order. I figure it's time to mix things up a bit. So let's examine things in a slightly different way for a bit and start with A Town Called Mercy. 

It's a funny tale in several ways. Firstly, it doesn't really go for that "let's make everything a blockbuster" theme and seems more like a Spaghetti Western. This is actually one more problem with this whole idea. A few of the stories don't really suit the theme. 

Town Called Mercy also feels quite a bit like a Star Trek story. Particularly Next Generation. In my foggy recollection, most every episode of STNG raised some sort of moral dilemma that the crew of the Enterprise must face. They would gather in lounge-like meeting rooms and discuss the issue from every side. And then discuss it some more. And debate and discuss. Then discuss and debate. And then re-hash all the issues the debates and discussions had already brought up two or three more times. Then, finally, in the last few minutes of the episode, something would happen that resolved the conflict. Oftentimes, the solution came about through no actual actions that the crew of the Enterprise, themselves, were taking. So all that talking the problem through for the better part of the episode had no real effect on the final outcome. 

Mercy tends to work the same way. With some contrast to STNG, it does start off pretty fun and gives us quite a bit of action. Until the Doctor finally figures out who Jex is. At which point, great amounts of debate and discussion ensue. Can someone do something horrible and, somehow, redeem themselves? Is it right to sacrifice one life so that others will be saved? On and on it goes. Admittedly, a bit more action is thrown in here and there to keep us engaged. But, for the most part, it's way more about arguing on the various subjects of the debate than we really need. 

In defense of the story, there is still some pretty good stuff going on. Isaac is a really great character who is excellently portrayed. It is quite touching when he's shot and passes his badge on to the Doctor. There's also a very nice speech that the Doctor delivers to the lynch mob about "violence never ending violence - only extending it" that deserves far more credit than it gets. But, alas, monologues from Pandorica and Akhaten always tend to dwarf these things. 

And then there's the Gunslinger. The Gunslinger, quite honestly, is a total bad-ass. He not only has cool built-in weapons, but it looks very cool when he teleports. And I love all his Terminatoresque POV shots. He's meant to still be guarding over Mercy. So the character is easily accessible for future appearances. I would love to see him come back. Even if it's more of a cameo. Like, maybe, the Doctor assembles another army like he did in Good Man Goes to War. It would be awesome to see him return for even just a few minutes. 

THE FIRST HALF - THE CHIBNALL STUFF 

To the best of my recollection, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and Power of Three are the last scripts Chris Chibnall submits to Doctor Who before he becomes its Head Writer. He's written several before this season, of course. Which would lead one to believe that the show would keep producing his stuff. But he probably just got too busy with Broadchurch and really didn't have time for anything else. 

What this means, unfortunately, is that these two stories are probably the first ones we go back to when we hear that he is becoming the Head Writer. Which alarms us a bit since neither of them are particularly spectacular. 

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, to its credit, does the best job out of all the stories in this section of the season of meeting Moff's thematic stipulations. It really does feel like a Blockbuster film that's been squeezed down to fit the small screen. Even the title has that attention-grabbing, sensationalistic tone to it that all movies of this nature need. 

Which means, of course, that the story is ridiculously light on plot. Really, there's not much happening, here. Some mean guy kicked a bunch of Silurians out of their ship but can't pilot it, now. That's the core premise. Chibnall was smart enough to bring in some extra companions to create a few inconsequential subplots. But it's still not anywhere near adequate. 

It's still a nice thrill ride, of course. With lots of fun involving various species of dinosaurs. Solomon is a great villain, too. Although we get nowhere near enough of him. Particularly since Bradley does a great job with the part (they should really bring him back, somehow. Everyone should decline any of his wedding invitations, though!).  Oddly enough, my favorite action moment in the whole adventure is when Rory and his Dad successfully steer the ship. It's a fun little father-and-son moment that they play up really well. 

There are, however, more problems with the story than just the light plot. The two comedy robots, ironically enough, aren't particularly funny. I wouldn't even call them annoying. They just fall really flat. Not sure if it's the dialogue that's been written for them or the ineffectiveness of the voice actors. Or a combination, thereof. But the whole gag just never really works. And their absolutely awful stormtrooper aim when the Doctor and friends are escaping on a triceratops is really painful to watch. 

Overall, though, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is still a passable romp. Power of Three, however, is never all that particularly easy to sit through. 

It has its moments. Giving so much focus to Rory and Amy just before they are about to go does work quite well, in places. It gets us all-the-more attached to them so their departure in the next story feels even sadder. The scene with the Doctor and Amy having a big heart-to-heart works very well at achieving this, too. 

This is also the story that introduces Kate Stewart. A character I fall instantly in love with even before I find out who her Dad is. The presence she will develop in the show over the next few years will resonate as strongly as her father's once did. She's really quite marvelous. 

These two traits, alone, save Power of Three from being an absolute stinker. But the story doesn't really have much beyond that. 

If we're being absolutely honest, the whole thing's a bit dull. There are some engaging moments involving the cubes or the silly misadventures that occur during Amy and Rory's anniversary. But, for the most part, it's a fairly uninteresting plot. 

This is yet another story during New Who where the ending starts to get pretty messy. This is actually a fairly common trait in the Revived Series. I blame it on just how rushed a story has to be, sometimes. The writer just doesn't have the proper time to set up the ending the plot needs. So they just, sort of, slap something together and hope the audience isn't paying too much attention to the gaping plot holes. 

First off, I get that a certain level of unusual coincidence sometimes has to happen to get the narrative to work. But there is such thing as too much coincidence. And making a trans-dimensional entrance to a spaceship just happen to be at the hospital Rory works at is a shining example of this. 

But the weirdest part of the whole story is when the Shakri hologram dude just disappears and leaves the main controls unattended. Are you really not going to put some defenses in place (you know, like you did earlier in the story?!) when someone who is openly opposing you is standing right there? Nope. Just leave all the important stuff that they can use to stop you right at their disposal. The Doctor's explanation of: "He was never there to begin with!" makes it all feel even sillier. No doubt, it was meant to make the Shakri sound more mysterious. But, instead, they just look dumb! 

THE FIRST HALF - THE MOFF STUFF 

One could praise Moffat for writing the best stories during this part of the season. But, the plain truth is: the competition really wasn't that fierce. Which does, in some ways, make it look like he needs to do his job better. As a Head Writer, he shouldn't just be making sure his material looks good. He should be polishing everyone else's work too. 

There seems to be this weird consensus amongst fandom that Moff  doesn't write well for the Daleks. I'm not sure how that idea was actually formed. Aside from Series One, Daleks stories during the RTD era were pretty lackluster. Whereas I quite liked Asylum of the Daleks. It's tightly-written and explores an interesting concept. I also like that it's a different kind of plot for the Daleks. Usually, they're forming some great plan for universal domination. This time, they just want the Doctor's help with a problem. 

The episode also comes up with what I thought was a great compromise for the fans that didn't like the update to the Dalek appearance. The bronze-liveried ones are still around, but they're the grunts. The Teletubbies are more of a ruling class. So we'll still, mainly, see the ones the fans seem to like the most. With the less popular ones only making the occasional appearance. Sadly, this still wasn't enough. The Teletubbies would get phased out altogether very soon. 

Seeing the old model Daleks in the asylum, itself, was also quite cool. I'm actually amazed they weren't featured more prominently. All the creepy stuff with insane Daleks and nano-cloud-infected humans was quite chilling. As I said, it's a great story. It also makes sure to do what it says on the tin. It's meant to mainly take place in a Dalek asylum and it does exactly that. 

The twist with Oswyn Oswald was absolutely great. Even if her normal voice coming over the comms seems a bit tricky to reconcile! I'm okay with guessing that she, somehow, created a way for that to happen in order to re-enforce the reality she was believing in. It takes a bit of headcannon to fix the flaw but this isn't one of those "Why was Sutekh given everything he needs to escape?!" situations where we have to fill in too many gaps to get it to make sense. It's not that big of a stretch to work out a viable explanation. I also loved how intrigued I was by the mystery of Jenna Coleman being in the episode but then dying. It's a great set up for the second half of the season. 

Asylum of the Daleks also does a fairly good job of giving us that blockbuster vibe. Those great sweeping shots of the Dalek Parliament do a particularly good job of making us feel like we're watching a big-budget Hollywood film. Although, the inference that the Daleks are ruled by some form of democracy does seem pretty silly. The Dalek Prime Minister, however, does look kinda cool. Would love to see more of him. 

Angels Take Manhattan, on the other hand, doesn't feel like a blockbuster at all. It's an old-timey detective story. And, aside from one major problem, it all works quite well. 

While every Weeping Angel story will always live in the shadow of Blink, Angels Take Manhattan does prove that there's still plenty of mileage left in these quantum-locked monstrosities. They continue to be terrifying and Moffat is always expanding upon their lore to keep them interesting. In fact, this adventure seems to link quite a few things together within the different episodes that have featured them. It seems likely, for instance, that the extinct Aplans that are mentioned in Time of the Angels were wiped out by the same sort of battery farms the Angels were trying to establish in New York. I'd also guess that those Angels we see scavenging at Wester-Drumlins in Blink are more survivors from the disaster Amy and Rory created in 1928. It's entirely possible that one of the four that are now trapped in the basement was also the Angel in the graveyard that took away Amy and Rory. 

Of course, the biggest deal going on in the story is that this is the final outing for Amy and Rory. Their departure is beautifully-handled. That big moment on the ledge of the building is ridiculously intense and really does show us how strong of a couple they genuinely are. Leaping out and hoping everything will be okay is a nice big blatant metaphor for what marriage is. And the image works nicely. 

And now, we must discuss the one big problem: 

I get it, it's hard to do a story with Weeping Angels in New York and not want to make the Statue of Liberty into one of them. But you can't do that without providing a rational explanation for how a giant friggin' statue can move through the streets of friggin' New York and not be seen by anyone!! It's a bit too much to swallow. 

I do have one other super minor problem with this tale. At this point, I was getting tired of companions almost always being forcibly separated from the Doctor in order to finally leave the TARDIS once and for all. I guess it would be hard to stop travelling with this near-magical being who can take you anywhere in Time and Space and you might need to be stranded in a parallel universe or trapped in a storm of time paradoxes or something like that in order to truly give it all up. But I also think it's possible that people can just behave the way most companions in the Classic Series did. One day, they could just come to the realization that it's time to leave. 

Unfortunately, there will still be quite a while before companion farewells are going to get written that way, again. 

THE FIRST HALF - CONCLUSION 

I do wonder, sometimes, if I misunderstood Moff's vision for these particular five stories. Only two of them really seem to fit the description of "Blockbuster". Is my definition of the term too strict? Or was he actually just trying to create episodes that felt like Hollywood genre films? But, even if that was the case, how does Power of Three fit in? I don't remember there being any popular Hollywood movies about cube invasions! 

I think, if we really want to appreciate this particular period, there were other arcs and/or themes going on that deserve far better attention. 

Amy and Rory finally leaving is definitely one of them. It really did seem like everything we needed to explore about these two was settled by the end of Series Six. But Moff adds this very nice Coda to their relationship in these last few episodes. We watch them make the transition back to their normal lives but still love the Doctor for everything that he has done for them. It's a beautiful process to observe. 

A much more subtle but interesting arc is the moral decay that the Doctor seems to be going through during this period. He ruthlessly sends Solomon to his death during Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and seems quite ready to do the same to Jex during Town Called Mercy. Amy echoes a sentiment once expressed by Donna: it's not good for him to travel alone. He seems to lose some of his compassion when he does. Fortunately, he will be getting obsessed with the Mystery of Clara soon and this will get him on a straighter path for a bit.

INTERMISSIONS BEGINS: 

THE SNOWMEN 

Thanks, so much, Moff for giving us a very different kind of Christmas Special, this year. The Snowmen is both sinister and funny but isn't making such a concerted effort at tugging at the heartstrings as Doctor, Widow, Wardrobe tried to, last year. Also, we're not getting any dialogue like "humany wumany"!   

A lot of Christmas Specials also have the tendency of being very self-contained. Production knows that there's a ton of audience that is really only coming in to enjoy a Christmas Day tradition and doesn't really watch the show much outside of that. The Snowmen, however, is surprisingly relevant. It sets in motion the whole "Who Is Clara Oswald?!" arc that permeates the second half of the season.  

Finally, there's the gorgeous fan service of bringing back the Great Intelligence. Again, Moff is quite obnoxious. He puts the letters "GI" up all over the place to tease us. Oblivious loser that I am, I never clue in till the Doctor starts talking about London Underground in the 60s. I still don't quite get everything till the proper Reveal at Clara's grave. 

INTERMISSION ENDS 

Into the second half of Series Seven we go. Again, I'm going to skirt around chronologically-reviewing the stories. Instead, I'll discuss them in order of preference. 

Before I begin, it should be noted that I think all of the episodes of this section of the season are, at the very least, decent. There's nothing here that smacks of Creature from the Pit or The Next Doctor. I don't sit there, at the end of it, regretting the time I spent watching it. 

But some of these tales definitely have more flaws to them than others. As we reach the top of the list, however, I'll admit that one or two of these stories achieved some degree of brilliance.   

Anyhow, here goes. Starting at the bottom: 

Journey to the Center of the TARDIS 

There are a few problems that weigh quite heavily on Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. Its biggest one also affects a few other stories in this particular period. 

Quite simply, the directing feels very flat. A I watch the episode, I'm very disconnected from everything that's going on. I'm having an especially difficult time feeling an attachment to any of the characters. The Baalen Brothers aren't particularly likeable, of course. But that doesn't mean we still can't find them engaging. So there's no excuse for me to not really care about them. Truth be told: I'm not even all that interested in Clara and the Doctor during this episode. When absolutely no one in the story is resonating with you, that's usually the fault of the director. 

The other real problem with the adventure is that the title creates an effect that I like to call the "Invasion of Time Expectation". If a good chunk of the plot is meant to take place within the TARDIS, then we're anticipating a decent exploration of the place. Yes, there will be lots of wandering around in corridors. But we do expect that time will also be spent in some interesting rooms. At best, Journey allows a glimpse here and there into some interesting spots in the TARDIS. But not really much more. The shots of Clara wandering down a corridor with an observatory and swimming pool CGIed into the background feel especially cheap. It all becomes a bit of a let-down. Basically, don't throw us into the TARDIS for the entirety of an episode and then not show us much!    

There are some redeeming qualities, of course. The ultimate revelation of what the TARDIS zombies were was quite clever. I also like the big confrontation the Doctor has with Clara at the cliff's edge. The whole adventure becoming an aborted timeline that only the Doctor remembers was also a neat way to conclude things. There's a lot of well-executed timey whimeyness, here. 

Overall, however, the story only succeeds so well. Which is why it sits on the bottom of this particular list.

Cold War 

The Ice Warriors are finally being brought into the New Series! Yay! Green men from Mars might be a huge cliche, but I still love these guys. 

Of course, this would be even more exciting if the story didn't feel as flat as Journey to the Center of the TARDIS did. Once more, I'm not really experiencing much of an attachment to anyone. The scientist who likes Ultravox and Duran Duran is the only one who particularly stands out much. I do remember being legitimately upset when Skaldak grabs him and it looks like he might actually get killed. In that moment, I realized that I cared about him a bit, at least!   

Doing a story about the terrors of the Cold War twenty-or-so years after it's over is probably not the wisest choice, either. It's fine to go back into the 80s and make a historical piece. But trying to showcase the futility of a mutually-assured destruction doesn't really feel all that particularly relevant, anymore. 

The other problem I have with this one is that it re-hashes The Ice Warriors just a little bit. Once more, a Martian is found in the ice. Do these guys just not know when to come in from the cold?!  

Nightmare in Silver

Poor 'ole Neil Gaiman.  He had such a difficult act to follow! 

The Doctor's Wife is a piece of absolute brilliance. One of the best stories from the New Series. Whatever script he wrote next for the show would live in the shadow of his first contribution. 

When I heard he would be writing a Cybermen story, I was quite interested in seeing how Gaiman would treat this particular monster. And he did do some very interesting things with them. I really loved the concept of the Cybermites. All you needed to do, now, was throw a few bugs at someone and they would start converting into Cybermen. I also loved how adaptive these horrible monsters had become. The way that they kept upgrading to deal with the various obstacles that were being used against them was quite interesting to watch.

Unfortunately, some more bad directing seems to step in and damage all the great writing this episode gets. Again, things are feeling quite unengaging. Some superb casting helps to nullify some of this.  Warwick Davis has a ridiculous level of screen presence that does massively help the story. Matt Smith also does an incredible job of playing against himself as he fights the influence of the Cyber Planner. 

But it's still not quite enough. Nightmare in Silver still feels a lot like Cold War and Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. Something that is cranked out rather than properly produced. Which is a shame, really. It's a great script by Gaiman. Maybe not quite as strong as his first one, but still very good. But this is another story where the direction feels a bit like it's been phoned in. I can see why he stops submitting after this. It's hard to want to write scripts for something that isn't realizing your vision particularly well. 

Rings of Akhaten 

We're moving out of the flatter stories that are merely passable and into the stuff that starts to genuinely impress me. 

Although, I wouldn't say that fandom holds Rings of Akhaten in the same place in their heart as I do. I seem to recall lots of complaints about it. I'm not sure why, though. Maybe singing aliens and space mopeds are a bit too silly for some peoples' tastes. But it's actually the sort of stuff I go to Doctor Who for! I like my sci-fi a bit weird and not taking itself too seriously! 

And then, of course, there's the speech. Gorgeously-written. I love it when he talks about seeing universes held together by the will of a madman. I was like: "Hey! He's talking about The Three Doctors!" This is also where we see a huge difference between Ten and Eleven. If Tennant had been performing the monologue, the whole thing would have dripped with angst. Smith still delivers a bunch of sadness but gives it a much more interesting undertone. He seems almost proud of the pain he's suffered. The choices he makes in his delivery make the whole scene so much more enjoyable. 

There are a few problems with Akhaten. But I still find it to be a reasonably good story. We need more adventures like this, in fact. So often, the Doctor just talks about all the strange worlds he's seen but is just hanging around in modern-day London a lot! He needs to actually go to these places more frequently and let us witness them for ourselves. 

The Crimson Horror 

As much as I love seeing the Doctor heading off to weird alien worlds, the earthbound stories do seem to be doing particularly well during this part of the season. Especially the Historicals.

The Crimson Horror is another tale that is great fun. Nothing too complicated. A crazy old woman with a worm attached to her chest is up to no good with some red goo. But a good time is had with it. The Paternoster Gang continues to be entertaining, too. I also enjoy how the narrative is done in a non-linear manner for a bit. Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling deliver great performances that really help to make the story shine. It's always great when this mother and daughter work together.    

This a great example of how hit-or-miss Gatiss' writing can be. Crimson Horror is a script that I put in the "good pile". But he's done some serious stinkers, too. In fact, I actually consider Idiot's Lantern one of the worst stories of New Who. He even has some middle-of-the-road stuff like Victory of the Daleks. Basically, he's a bit all-over-the-place! 

I know many have felt he should have succeeded Moff as Head Writer. But his track record does make me feel a little trepidatious about that idea. He's just a little too inconsistent. Yes, the two stories Chibnall wrote in the other half of the season were a bit "meh". But they were still passable. Overall, his scripts held up. He had also created a ridiculously-successful TV series just before he was handed the keys to Doctor Who (yes, I know Gatiss has had some success with other shows he worked on, too - but I don't think he ever quite hit the level of Broadchurch). Sorry kids. Based on qualifications alone, Chibnall was the better man for the job! 

Anyhow, a bit of a digression, there. Sorry! Bottom Line is: Crimson Horror is definitely a good time! 

The Bells of Saint John 

Given how simple and straightforward it is, this story still ends up being quite delightful. A mysterious being is hoovering up souls through the Wi-Fi and makes the mistake of trying to snatch up someone the Doctor has become intensely interested in. There's really not much to it all, really. But Bells of Saint John is an especially fun romp. 

The last ten minutes or so have some really great surprises. The Doctor re-jigging a "spoonhead" is a magnificent little twist. And the Great Intelligence being back already was a fantastic Reveal. Moments like these make such a basic plot worth the watch. Even re-watches remain enjoyable. The surprises may be gone, but they're still very entertaining. 

And then, of course, there's the anti-grav bike. The Doctor riding it up the side of the Shard is probably one of the most ludicrous things the show has ever done. But I still grin ear-to-ear every time I watch the sequence. It's just so awesome!       

Hide 

Up until this story, I felt Blink was the most terrifying Doctor Who episode, ever. Those damned Weeping Angels were absolute nightmare-fuel in that. 

But then we get to Hide. An adventure that starts off as a traditional haunted house yarn. But it really does contain some of the creepiest visuals the show has ever given us. I legitimately get the chills watching this episode. The scare-factor goes through the roof. 

What makes Hide even more enjoyable, however, are the tonal shifts. It starts off as just a fun little spooky story. As we start seeing that the ghost isn't really a ghost, things change to some hard sci-fi for a bit. Then it makes a sharp turn back into scariness as the Doctor gets stranded in the forest. And then, finally, it becomes a romance. As all this happens, the writing remains tight and the story-telling is completely engaging. It's an extremely clever plot that still remembers to have a heart. It's especially impressive that the actual "monster" in the story turns into someone we desperately want to see saved so he can be re-united with the love of his life. 

Hide is quite brilliant. In some ways, it should be considered the best story of this part of the season. However, I am a sucker for fan service. Which is why there is just one story that manages to beat it. 

The Name of the Doctor 

If I'm being completely honest, I was in love with this episode within its first few seconds. Actually letting us see the moment where the Doctor and Susan steal a Type Forty TARDIS and escape into the cosmos was totally cool. But to then have Clara chasing after various incarnations of the Doctor had me foaming at the mouth! Like Power of the Doctor, it was a new and different way to do a multi-incarnation story. In fact, it's such a unique technique that I almost don't really consider this to be a story that involves several different versions of the Doctor. And yet, it is.   

What's even nicer is that, beyond those first few minutes, we do really get a great story. It's a bit on the simplistic side. It even feels like things are dragging ever-so-slightly as the Doctor deliberates over diving into the "wound in Time" to save Clara. But there's still just enough meat there to get us to feel like there's more than just fan service going on. There is a real plot, too. And it's all quite breath-taking as we see this absolutely terrible fate awaiting the Doctor on Trenzalore.  

And then, of course, we get to the last few minutes where there's some more totally cool appearances by previous incarnations. Any dissatisfaction that I was experiencing over the lightness of plot or even the slightly blatant padding gets forgotten. I'm blown away by some more of the previous Doctors that are showing up as we finally get the full answer to the Mystery of Clara.  It's all quite wonderful! 

Finally, though, we get the tease to end all teases. Who the Hell is John Hurt meant to be?!!!     

SEASON CONCLUSION

If we want to get all super-technical and pedantic, Series Seven ends here. I'll still talk about the two Specials after this, but let's stop to take a look at what we've gotten, thus far. 

There's a lot of things that I greatly enjoyed about this season. The very first and last episode were, in my mind, Classics. I loved Asylum of the Daleks and adored Name of the Doctor. But the stuff in between met with mixed results! Angels Take Manhattan, Crimson Horror, Hide and a few other stories like them are quite good. But we also had Town Called Mercy, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and certain other episodes that were, quite honestly, a bit dull. 

What this means, of course, is that Series Seven really only works so well. I would even consider it the weakest season Moff ever produced. The fact that this is a season that also falls on an anniversary year makes its flaws all-the-more apparent. 

Still, I wouldn't call this an actual "bad" season. There's enough quality story-telling going on in it to save it from that status. But it's also just a bit disappointing, in places. 

THE SPECIALS - PART ONE: A GREAT DAY 

I've talked about Day of the Doctor in a few other entries, already (Top Ten: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html Best Anniversary Ever: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/11/review-overview-what-constitutes-good.html). As always, I'll try to cover new ground, here. 

This might be the episode that has had the most expectations put on it in the entire history of the show. This isn't just an Anniversary Special, it's an adventure celebrating the first fifty years of a franchise. It has to accomplish sooo many different things in the span of about ninety minutes. There's no possible way it will ever be able to accomplish the task. 

And yet, Day of the Doctor is a thing of magnificence. It really does tick every single box that it needs to - and then some! Who, for instance, expected a future Doctor to show up in the plot?! And, while I'm not the biggest Tom Baker fan in the world, his cameo at the end was still absolutely brilliant. 

If I'm let down by anything, it's the fact that the whole storyline with the Zygons feels a bit light. But then, having a slightly shallow plot has been a long-standing tradition in Doctor Who Anniversary Specials. Both The Three and Five Doctors don't have much going on in them, either. So I'm willing to let it slide!    

I really don't think there could have been any better way to celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary than what we ended up getting, here. Moff really did pull off the impossible.    

THE SPECIALS - PART TWO: A GREAT TIME 

From one highly-anticipated episode to the next! 

Everything over the last three seasons has been building towards this moment. What truly awaits the Doctor at Trenzalore?

Quite a bit more than expected, really. I mean, we knew the Doctor wasn't really going to die. That much was obvious. But, just like Series Six, we're interested in seeing how he's going to get out of it. And, of course, there's been this whole mystery building about the Silence and the Question That Must Never Be Answered and other stuff of that nature that we're finally expecting some answers to. There's a lot that has to happen in Matt's Final Hour. 

But, just like Day of the Doctor, we get more Bang for our Buck than we bargained for. Who expected Time of the Doctor to address the fact that the Doctor had used up all his regenerations? I mean, Moff could have skirted around it a bit longer and claimed that Ten regenerating into Ten didn't really count. There's so many things to deal with in this story that it would have been understandable if he had pushed this back to Capaldi's regeneration. 

Instead, he faces the problem head-on and comes up with a more-than-acceptable solution. Everything ties together quite nicely and the Big Story that the entire Eleventh Doctor Era has been telling reaches a very satisfactory resolution. It was even quite cool to see another incarnation live out a full life and regenerate of old age! 

Time of the Doctor also sees the first use of a writing technique that Moff will enjoy engaging in a few more times over the coming years. He seems to like to "wrong foot" us a bit. He gets us to expect one thing and then delivers something entirely different. With Time of the Doctor, we were imagining some huge epic battle on Trenzalore. And we did get to see just a hint of it. But the emphasis was definitely a lot stronger on watching the Doctor settle into a small village and become its protector. I don't think anyone thought we'd be getting this sort of plot in Eleven's final tale. So that's the one Moff gives us. And I quite like it when he plays that sort of trick from time-to-time. 

END OF AN ERA 

And.... that's it! Another Doctor gone. 

I do really feel that Eleven left too soon. I found him to be very watchable and he could have, easily, kept us engaged for another few seasons.  I'm thinking a Pertwee Run would have been just right. 

Part of the reason I feel this way is the simple fact that I really hate that no New Who Doctor ever sticks around for more than three seasons. But, more significantly, Eleven really was a great Doctor. Matt Smith was incredible in the role. I'm also very happy with how his whole Era was put together. I loved that it was telling one long arc with a few smaller ones built into it. Everything about this period really shines. It's not perfect, of course. But it actually comes pretty damned close. 

I know so many fans consider the Tennant Era to be the "glory days" of New Who. What we're actually getting for a Sixtieth Anniversary Special seems to indicate this. Personally, if they were going to return to a favorite period of the show to celebrate sixty years of Who, I would have preferred some extra episodes from Eleven's time as the Doctor. Maybe he finds a way to reach Amy and Rory, after all, and has a few more adventures with them. 

That would have worked far better for me.