Fantastic episode, really love the dynamic between One and Twelve. A really befitting end for perhaps the most selfless Doctor of them all. The music was absolutely phenomenal and so nostalgic, the transition to the 1966 regeneration was also exhilarating. Didn’t care much for the Dalek/Database plot, and the Bill storyline was okay I guess. The Lethbridge-Stewart angle was much appreciated, though. However, this story was all about the Doctor and it got it so right. Quite possibly the last good episode for a long while. 9.5/10
That sounded suspiciously like Rose's theme.... this woman wordlessly singing (not quite humming).... that was kind of irritating.
And when that glas chick promised he could talk to her one last time, I sort of expected River Song instead of Bill.
But I applaude how they have handled the integration of the first Doctor. His sexist atitude and how embarassed 12th was, just hilarious.
This was the end of the four years of the 12th Doctor and the eight years of Steven Moffat as show runner (although he had been writing some of the most iconic episodes beginning with THE EMPTY CHILD in 2005) and to mark this landmark event, I, with great self restraint, ignored the PVR broadcast of December 25 in favour of watching it on a big Cinematic screen on the 27th, which heightened my experience substantially. To sit in a practically sold out theatre with other passionate fans, appropriately emoting, transformed the experience. The theatre also had two featurettes. One before the episode giving a retrospective on both Peter Capaldi's Doctor and Moffat's stirling contributions, and one following the episode about The Making of TWICE UPON A LIFETIME which pointed out smaller Easter eggs, as well as overarching touches, I might not have noticed or fully appreciated. I highly recommend taking advantage of these Cinematic events when they are available to you at your local movie theatre.
To be honest I was ready for Capaldi to step down and for Moffat to pass on the gauntlet. The 12th was my least favourite of the new Doctors and I felt the writers were running out of juice and the show needed fresh eyes. This final episode was a fitting wrap up. Although long in exposition and short on adventure it payed homage to the scope of DOCTOR WHO and especially of the Doctor of Peter and Steven's childhood. It resolved some losses, gave the fans unexpected treats, used a unique historical moment to anchor the ethos of the series, and gave the 13th an adventurous start. Had I not seen it in a cinema I probably would have rated it a 7.5 (fitting) out of 10 (which was how I felt when I rewatched the PVR version on the 28th), but with all the bells and whistles of the BIG showing I give this a 8.5 (touchingly nostalgic) out of 10.
And, now, bring on Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnal. I'm ready!
And to the naysayers who feel that the first female Doctor begins by crashing the TARDIS, I say "Perhaps it was the last man who blew the system up in his deferred dramatic departure." [Iconic SciFi, Fantasy, Advenure, Drama]
While some of the stories were a bit off, the 12th Doctor was amazing. And what a great way to go.
Farewell Twelve! I will miss you so much, you grumpy doctor!
I came late to the party, but now I'm finally all caught up and I can't wait for the next chapter!
Fare the well, Twelve and Mr. Capaldi! You were a very underrated Doctor but you made that role your own. Also, welcome Jodie Whittaker! Cannot wait to see Thirteen in action. However, did this show really have to end with a women are bad drivers trope? Since it was Moffat's farewell as well, I shouldn't be surprised.
Not gonna l lie: I think I'm going to miss Twelve's hair most of all.
Rough translation: Just leave me here. I don’t want to kill you. Please go.
I'm not crying, you're crying. Goodbye, angry eyebrows.
I did not like Twelve at first and thought his first season was just plain bad. I might change my mind if I give it another chance, but I don't want to go through it again. Twelve's second season proved that Peter Capaldi was a very capable Doctor, and his third season showed us he was good. Here, he was great. He really is, at least in my opinion, just an older version of Eleven. The DW Eleven, that is... not the Stranger Things one. Because that would be weird.
I think a big problem with the Capaldi years was that his companions were simply not very good. Nine and Ten had Rose, and Ten also had Donna and Martha, who weren't as good as Rose, but had their moments. Then Eleven had Amy and Rory, who were brilliant. Clara was always just so-so, never getting out of Amy Pond's shadow, and Bill was just... weird. Of course, the best side character was Jack Harkness, and the show hasn't been the same since he disappeared, though his conclusion was very satisfying, connecting him to another character.
Honestly, I see this as a turning point for the longest running sci-fi show. Twelve, and to a lesser extent Eleven, simply covered ground previously tread With a female Doctor, we have a chance to change the dynamic and possibly go to some new places. Going across the pond in the other direction (as an American) and seeing Japan's biggest export about a guy and girl switching places resonating with so many people, maybe the Doctor doing the same, in a manner of speaking, will reach similar qualities.
It feels strange this special. Making the 1st doctor have the same sexist values as a common human man from the 50s. Why? It's so unncessary and bad for the doctor's mythos, and i don't remember the 1st doctor acting like this.
The rest of the episode though felt kind of meandering, and the 1st doctor wasn't utilized well enough. I'm not a fan of the testimony or Rusty either, but the testimony's intervention at the end with the companions was nice, even if they were just memories or copies, or both.
It annnoyed me when the doctors were having an interesting conversation and then it was interrupted with action.
I like the doctor saying about why can't he just rest if he wants to. That's less about ego and he's being genuinely humble there.
Got emotional when Clara appeared and 12 got his memories of her back.
For Capaldi's last adventure, we needed a lot more deeper conversations, but the ending with the first doctor and the other companions was really good, as well as 12's transformation into 13, and i liked her introduction moment.
I'm going to miss 12. I like him, as flawed as he may be.
He finally accepted his death and let go of his ego.
I loved this episode :-)
Personally I'm not sad that Capaldi is gone now. I never really liked him as a doctor. I thought they did a great job reviving the very first doctor and using the old footage.
1500 year-old brandy. Mmmmm, what would that even taste like...
Words cannot express how happy I am that this chapter is over.
An excellent episode, narratively short but a fitting farewell to this incarnation of the Time Lord. Capaldi delivers another superb performance, especially with his closing monologue which brought a tear to my eye! David Bradley performs admirably as Doctor no.1 and dare I say it, is a better actor than Hartnell himself. Of course, its onto the future - it is a programme about time travel after all - and Jodie Whittaker makes her debut as the Doctor. I was hesitant of her casting at first - not through sexism but the worry that the BBC were being all panicky and PC - but her opening moments have alleviated some of my fears. Let's give her time. Goodbye Peter Capaldi... you were an excellent Doctor and I will miss you, but the show must go on, and the legend continues.
Great episode!
I loved the end very much when Lethbridge-Staward didn't die due to the Doctor sending him to when the Christmas Truce happened. So much Doctor-y!
[ Is Doctor-y a word? Who cares, no it is one ;-) ]
Absolutely impressing goodbye of the 12th Doctor!
But as usual, whenever I heard German (except when they sang Stille Nacht), it sounded terrible. Is the BBC not able to hire some pronounciation trainer?
It's really distracting if the "German soldier" speaks German worse than some 8th grade exchange student from Manchester who has learned German for six-ish months.
Although that's just a production problem, the scenes in the crater themselves were great.
The first woman to be the Doctor presses one button, blows up the TARDIS, AND loses it? Are you beeping kidding me?
That's like having the first Asian Doctor crash the TARDIS into a rice field thereby killing a dog or the first black Doctor crash it into a cotton field... Terrible idea!
Couldn't you just have let out that button press? The TARDIS could've just hit some satellite while the Doctor was still disoriented because of his regeneration. Then the TARDIS could've started to burn and the Doctor could have fallen out of it. Same thing, but without any woman can't drive cliché.
I think some "The doctor shall not be a woman"-guy has hacked the BBC and cut some sketch from next week's Saturday Night Live into this introduction scene. That's the only reasonable explanation for this scene having been shown like this.
At some point when she's established as the Doctor, a scene like this wouldn't have hurt her audience's picture of her. But not during her introduction. Things like this are like farting. It may happen at some point in a relationship without any consequences. But on a first date... Better not!
Nevertheless, I really hope this introduction scene was like a fart on a first date. Not intended and just an accident.
I'm still looking forward to the new episodes with Jody Whitaker!
Shout by moongazerBlockedParent2017-12-25T21:55:41Z
I'm going to miss 12 so much, however I'm so excited to see 13 in action! Some things were a bit meh, but great episode nevertheless. Loved the references and Capaldi's final speech.