It’s Christmastime, and that means another Doctor Who special. And it seems a good half of these Christmas episodes are the site of major change-ups for the show. If it’s not a companion joining or leaving, it’s a Doctor regenerating. This year it’s both. It also happens to be the final episode of Steven Moffat’s eight year tenure as showrunner, a tenure that’s been marked with heavy fluctuations in quality. So “Twice Upon a Time” is truly the end of an era. When Doctor Who returns in 2018, it’s going to be from a completely new team, and I can’t wait for the fresh perspective.
“Twice Upon a Time” is also a tribute to the past, pairing Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor with the First Doctor, originally played by William Hartnell, here by David Bradley. And it’s this that had me most excited for the special. Not only was Bradley exceptional as Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, but the First Doctor is still one of my favourites, and I have a particular fondness for those early years of Doctor Who. Moffat is usually comfortable when it comes to paying homage to the classic series, so the fact he’s doing it for his final episode appears promising. This is a special that requires a lot; it needs to account for the ending of “The Doctor Falls”, it needs to bring the Twelfth Doctor to a worthy conclusion, bring Bill to a second worthy conclusion, honour the First Doctor’s legacy, tell a good story, and fittingly introduce the Thirteenth Doctor, satisfyingly setting the course for Chris Chibnall’s takeover. Let’s see if it does.
Picking up right where “The Doctor Falls” left off, the Twelfth Doctor is met at the South Pole by the First Doctor, and moments later by a Captain from the First World War. As all three are out of time, the moment freezes. Both Doctors are trying to evade their regeneration. But then the TARDIS is abducted and they meet a glass woman who wants to return the Captain to his point of death, offering Bill in his place. Determined to prevent this, the Doctor, the other Doctor, the Captain, and Bill manage to escape, and in the First Doctor’s TARDIS try to track down the information as to who and what this alien is.
Conceptually this is a very interesting story. Confined within a frozen moment as both the First and most recent Doctor are attempting to forego regeneration, it could lead to some provoking themes of reflection as the Doctors through interacting come to terms with the necessity to move on. Moving on is indeed the theme of the episode, but it takes more of a conventional adventure avenue to it. Which works fine; it’s narrative isn’t too convoluted and its mostly capably written, but it’s still disappointing. The whole plot with these aliens fits okay (though given their eventual purpose, it’s strange they’ve never appeared before on Doctor Who), but the detour to find out who they are as well as the mystery behind Bill’s presence (if you remember how “The Doctor Falls” ended, it is an anomaly) don’t entirely feel needed. Their journey to the centre of the earth and the Doctor’s reunion with Rusty from “Into the Dalek” so they can access the information on this glass alien is mostly unwarranted, except to bring back a character from a very forgettable episode early in the Twelfth Doctor’s run.
The biggest thing missing though, and what ultimately harms the episode greatly, is the interaction between the Doctors. There are certainly moments, like their first conversation, filled with little in-jokes and some nice dialogue. Like it’s pointed out how the First Doctor called his TARDIS a “ship” and how he assumed when he regenerated he’d be younger. And by the way, I absolutely loved how the episode opened with a “previously on Doctor Who” caption for “The Tenth Planet” as well as the gradual fade from William Hartnell to David Bradley. Another really good moment was their brief pause at the centre of the earth where Twelve asks One why he doesn’t want to regenerate. The answer’s simple: because he’s scared -quite understandable since it’s his first time. But while the First Doctor has a subsequent good moment with Bill questioning his past, there’s nothing else of substance between him and the Twelfth Doctor. The whole business with the glass woman gets in the way. What the episode should have done is remained low-key, built around the relationship between the two Doctors and their introspection, or maybe have the adventure more a meta-physical one, literally through using their own memories. It would have given more opportunities to showcase the First Doctor’s experiences. They could have even addressed the fact both Doctors are coming off of dealings with Mondasian Cybermen. Sure, it wouldn’t have been that grand to watch, but it could have been more dramatically satisfying. Hell, even just cutting out the middle part and replacing it with such character exploration would have done a lot of good. The Captain could still have a role, though maybe not Bill.
I was glad when I heard Bill was going to be coming back for this special, as I do feel she was a decently interesting companion who deserved more than she got in just one series. However her departure was really sweet and nicely done in “The Doctor Falls”, and sadly not much is added here. If this is to be her last appearance, which it most likely is (even for some future anniversary special they’re likely to bring back Clara as the Twelfth Doctor’s companion instead), it’s not quite as good, certainly not as meaningful. And aside from sentiment she’s not really important until the end. That being said, it’s nice to see Pearl Mackie again, and she’s giving a good performance. Capaldi obviously does too, and Mark Gatiss is once again in front of the camera in a completely serviceable part as the Captain. David Bradley as he was in An Adventure in Space and Time is a worthy successor to the mantle of the First Doctor. Which is why it’s kind of frustrating some of the stuff they did with his character. There are a couple times where he comes off well, showing up his future self by noticing a technological enigma without the need for sonic sunglasses, and I do like some of his humour and his mockery of the Doctor’s gadgets (even the sonic screwdriver was after his time) -that’s keeping true to his character. What I don’t like is how frequently he’s reduced to comic relief for weird sexist remarks. The First Doctor was a product of the 1960s, and so yes, he did on occasion say something that he wouldn’t be able to get away with now, but he wasn’t the rampant misogynist this episode makes him out to be. The first time he referred to Polly as someone akin to a TARDIS maid whose job was to clean up the place (I don’t remember that being part of Polly’s character), I was willing to let it slide, but the jokes kept piling on and on. At one point he mansplains to Bill regarding his knowledge of the fairer sex and there isn’t really a lead-in to it. It’s mostly just to get an appalled reaction out of Bill, followed by her inferring her sexuality to him -that kind of lazy comedic writing I detest in Moffat. As someone who really loves the First Doctor, it’s more than a little offensive that this is what they’re portraying his character as to a new generation. I can imagine if I were a kid I certainly wouldn’t have much interest in seeing this guy’s adventures based off of this episode. As I said, he has his moments to counter this, but they aren’t quite enough, even with his earnest discussion of morality with Bill, and Bradley’s great acting particularly near the end.
It’s about time I addressed that, isn’t it? From Rusty, the Doctor learns that the glass aliens are part of something called the Testimony. They come to people just before they die, and abduct them so they can record and preserve their memories before returning them to their place to die. The Doctors meeting had caused the frozen moment, and the collateral for that was the Captain being returned to the wrong point to die, at the South Pole with the pair of Time Lords rather than in a ditch on the Western Front at the receiving end of an injured German’s gun. Realizing that they mean good, something which strikes the Doctor as so rare in his business, he relents. It’s revealed that Bill, whom he’s suspected as not being real because of her death as a Cyberman, is actually just one of these glass aliens manifesting her through her memories. So the Doctors take the Captain back to the Front, he having been ready to die for a while now, and of course in a last easter egg that was fairly easy to see coming, reveals his name is Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, and he asks the Doctors look up his family.
The next reveal is the one that I like the most, as once time resumes, the Doctors being invisible somehow, the Captain suddenly hears Christmas carols over the trenches. The Doctor had shifted the timeline by a few hours to the Christmas Truce so the Captain could survive and witness the good in mankind. As with all imagery dealing with the Christmas Truce, it’s beautiful to see, and doesn’t feel like a forced connection to the holiday as some past Christmas specials have. The First Doctor shakes hands with the Twelfth, decides he’s ready, and returns to his time, once again through nice effects returning to the pose of the First Doctor at his regeneration, and we see it all over again. There’s a particularly nice bit where he asks his successor if he’s ready to let go as well, to which he receives the reply “you’ll find out…the long way round”.
The Doctor and Bill go back to his TARDIS where outside she proves to him the power of memory by giving him the “gift” of his memories of Clara. She also appears as Clara giving Jenna Coleman a quick paycheck before returning to Bill. Another memory appears as Nardole, who I was surprisingly glad to see; and the trio of series ten have a nice last exchange and an adorable hug before the two memories vanish, the Doctor thanking them but stating where he goes now will have to be alone.
Which brings us to the finale of the Twelfth Doctor. He finally decides to at least have a go at one more lifetime, but leaves instructions for his next incarnation. He states his mantra about never being cruel, hate is always foolish and love is always wise, never to tell his true name except to those who would understand it -children…It’s a lot of fairly basic stuff for the Doctor, but Capaldi delivers it mightily. He ends with “Doctor I let you go”, and we get the old flames burning out his head and limbs. After, we don’t get a clear view of Ms. Whittaker at first, the camera instead lingering on Twelve’s ring falling to the ground as “Last of the Time Lords” plays. But we see with her her own reflection, to which she says “oh brilliant” in a faintly David Tennant sort of way. And then chaos ensues, the TARDIS clearly reacting to the internet vomit surrounding her, and dumps her right out, ending on a cliffhanger as she falls. It was a good regeneration, if not as powerful as it intended to be, and like the regeneration that ended “The End of Time” immediately sets a starting point for the next series.
There are elements to “Twice Upon a Time” I like a lot, and it does relate some themes of letting go and the importance of remembering quite well. The acting’s all good and there are some really nice moments, particularly the sweet ones in the Christmas Truce and the Doctor’s last goodbye to his recent companions. And even some of the references to the First Doctor’s era and some of his jokes I liked (his “have I been burgled?” line upon entering the TARDIS was a really good one). There’s even a good motif in the First Doctor’s recurring comparison to fairy tales through the episode, ending in a fantastic line from the Twelfth: “the universe generally fails to be a fairy tale, but that’s where we come in”. But the episode failed in a few key respects, particularly the characterization of the First Doctor, his overall significance to the story, and a story itself that didn’t need to go through the hoops it did. In contrast to the fairy tale allusions, the Doctors are frequently referred to as “the Doctor of War” by the Testimony, using footage and naming conflicts as citations, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. Also, the glass woman effect is noticeably poor. In the end, “The Doctor Falls” was a much better finale for this character and this era, while “Twice Upon a Time” will only be about as memorable as “Planet of the Spiders”. For the stuff it did well, it’s above average, but for a Doctor like Peter Capaldi, above average is still a mite disappointing.
And thus Peter Capaldi’s run as the Doctor comes to an end - a run that was marked by inconsistency, having to muddle through a number of bland, bad, or simply unremarkable episodes to get to the greats. But even in those lesser shows, his dedication shone through, and it’s certainly what made his great episodes even greater. He’s one of the most talented actors ever to play the Doctor, and has given a better performance in the role than any except possibly David Tennant. When he first showed up in “Deep Breath” there was an insinuation he’d take the Doctor to new places, peel back some grittier layers, make us question once again who the Doctor was. I still love that look he had at the end of the episode when it was unclear whether he’d pushed the villain to his death or not. But while his Doctor did go to some darker places, and indeed reinvigorated some of the mystique of his character, it never went far enough for us to question who he was. For this, there is to some degree a dissatisfaction in the different, more compelling Doctor he could have been, if not held back by some lacklustre writing and character development. Still, I’m confident Peter Capaldi will have a legacy not unlike Sylvester McCoy, who also had to deal with some horrible storytelling, yet managed to give us one of the best Doctors. For what it’s worth, I think I may prefer Capaldi by a margin.
This is also the end of Steven Moffat’s time as showrunner, as well as his departure from Doctor Who in general. And while I maintain it’s long overdue, and I, like many, have a had a number of problems with his writing, storytelling, and just the general direction of the show under his leadership, I still respect the guy for his genuine accomplishments and the mark he’s leaving. He’s been a presence on Doctor Who since it came back in 2005 and his work under Russell T. Davies was usually really solid. From “The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances” to “The Girl in the Fireplace”, and “Blink”; which may still be his best episode, in which he did something no other writer for the show has succeeded at since Robert Holmes: creating an iconic adversary for the Doctor in the Weeping Angels. Yeah he has a habit for convoluted stories, and doesn’t write women companions very well, but in his time as showrunner, he’s still given us a few classics. He oversaw the likes of “Amy’s Choice”, “Vincent and the Doctor” and “The Doctor’s Wife” for Matt Smith, but it was with Capaldi he was at his best, producing true greats like “Kill the Moon”, “Heaven Sent”, “World Enough and Time”, and “The Doctor Falls”, the latter three he wrote himself. And episodes like these are admittedly going to make me miss his contributions. I’m really excited for Chris Chibnall and where he’ll take the fifty-four year old series, what new avenues are open for him, especially with Jodie Whittaker as his Doctor; but I feel obliged to say thank you to Steven Moffat. It wasn’t always a happy ride, but it was a ride nonetheless.
Onward Doctor Who!
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