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The Christmas episode was *amazing*
This is Moffat at his best: funny, witty, charming, clever (but not convoluted), with heart and sass and a lot of feelings. Loved how we finally cam full circle, back to the Library episodes.
I’ve never shipped the Doctor and River (always and forever be a Rose and 10 girl) but that was poignant and incredibly well performed and written. I’ll have more thoughts later but simply a big brava for now.
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I thought it was a fairly decent episode, infinitely better with no Clara. I liked how it tied back into the library episodes and I’m presuming this will be the last we see of River song. Only thing is Library River didn’t seem upset that things were coming to an end whereas this episode’s River was so whether that is a continuity error I don’t know.
Overall, I think the Capaldi run hasn’t been as good as the Tennant and Smith run. 10 and 11 had a nice balance between light and dark whereas 12 is dark and darker. Capaldi has hinted that next series could be his last and I will actually be glad to see a new Doctor.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixOverall, I think the Capaldi run hasn’t been as good as the Tennant and Smith run. 10 and 11 had a nice balance between light and dark whereas 12 is dark and darker. Capaldi has hinted that next series could be his last and I will actually be glad to see a new Doctor.
I don’t necessarily disagree but I don’t agree with your cause and effect either. Yes, Season 8 wasn’t phenomenal and maybe the worst of New Who yet. But season 9 was, IMO, the best it has been since season 5 (even if it was going down a darker path which I think was necessary to some degree given the nature of the 12th Doctor). The issue isn’t Capaldi-as-Doctor though. It’s Moffat-as-showrunner. You could bring on a new Doctor but if Moffat is still show runner and head writer, then we’re still looking at overly convoluted, choppy, blockbuster style storytelling that often feels as though the emotional fallout gets cut off at the knees. It’s Moffat’s trademark of storytelling but he’s gotten so egotistical about it that instead of being clever it becomes confusing. That’s why I liked this Xmas episode so much; clever but not unnecessarily complicated.
Personally I adore Capaldi in this role. When he’s given something good, he makes it sing (The Girl Who Died, the Woman who Lived, and this Xmas episode spring to mind).
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"LIKES
–River and 12 have phenomenal chemistry. Matt Smith once said that Alex Kingston could flirt with a fish and he’s basically right. I love the back and forth between River and 12.
–Hilarious one-liners. “You don’t look much like your pictures.” “That’s an ongoing problem for me.” (I love when the show gets all self-aware)
–This episode was just straight up fun without being overly sentimental (until the end). Doctor Who’s Xmas episodes have a tendency to be overly sweet because of the holidays, sweet enough to make your teeth rot. But this year felt like a normal episode that just so happens to take place on Christmas. It’s also nice that the message this year wasn’t anything saccharine but rather that everything ends, the story is what matters. 4 (5?) years ago, a father came back to life because it was Christmas but this year, Moffat accepts that everything has a proper ending and sometimes there are no loopholes.
–I would like a Sonic Trowel, please and thank you
–Nothing Victorian! Moffat has a bit of a fetish for Christmas in late Victorian times for some inexplicable reason. He tends to fall back into that trope (velvet high collard skirts, men in top hats) more often than he should. The promotional images for this episode showed Alex in a typical purple Victorian dress but it never showed up. Yay for a new approach!
–Really great supporting cast–especially Hydroflax who wasn’t even trying to be a good guy.
–The Doctor having to express wonder at the TARDIS being bigger on the inside. PERFECT. Just straight up perfect. Hilarious but so totally 12th Doctor as he’s acerbic as all get out. I couldn’t stop laughing.
–River has a wallet full of the Doctor’s faces. Clever girl.
–River describing what it’s like to love the Doctor. “You can’t expect a sunset to admire you back.” Oh dear. The feelings.
–Genocide takes a vacation aboard the SS Harmony and Redemption. LOL
–Peter looked ever so dashing in his new suit when he met River for dinner.
–River married Stephen Fry?!
DISLIKED
–Honestly, not much. I thought the restaurant bit went on a bit long and I could have done without the guy splitting his head down the center
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I thought it fell flat. Watching this special was like watching a commercial for a movie that looks like it ought to be pretty good. Stuff happened, and characters hammed and shouted and quipped at each other, but it didn’t convey to me any emotional impact.
I think The Next Doctor is the best of the Christmas specials. The monsters — which would look really good in a Doctor Who version of Temple Run, by the way — are goofy, but it also has anguish and joy and pain and healing all mixed together, without using pre-approved cutouts from The Fandom Book of Feels.
Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher
http://comicbook.com/2016/01/22/steven-moffat-leaving-doctor-who-after-season-10-broadchurch-cre/
Steven Moffat is stepping down from Doctor Who after S10, which will air in Spring 2017. There will be no Doctor Who in 2016. Chris Chibnill who created the wonderful Broadchurch will be stepping in as showrunner.
Previously Chibnill as heavily involved with Torchwood. He’s written several DW episodes including:
–42
–The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
–Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
–The Power of Three
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I’m actually not sad about having to wait a whole year which shows that I don’t care about the show anymore. Had this announcement come during Tennant’s or Smith’s run, it would be torture, but not now.
As for the new showrunner, it’ll be interesting. Broadchurch is supposed to be fantastic though I’ve not watched it, but those episodes of Doctor Who listed certainly aren’t amongst my favourite.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixAs for the new showrunner, it’ll be interesting. Broadchurch is supposed to be fantastic though I’ve not watched it, but those episodes of Doctor Who listed certainly aren’t amongst my favourite.
I think Chibnall and Moff suffer from opposite problems.
Moff is a brilliant one-off writer. Blink, the Library episodes, even this years Xmas episode…all brilliant, funny, clever but without being too complicated. The punchlines at the end of those episodes (Sally tells the Doctor everything he needs to someday help her; CAL is a little girl/River dies; River and the Doctor spend 20 years at the Singing Towers) all make sense and have a lot of emotional weight.He is not a brilliant show runner because he likes BIG and FLASHY over substance and he tends to get too bogged down into making each episode feel cinematic. He loses a lot of emotional follow through because he wants to get to the next storyline. His big narratives tend to be BIG and COSMIC but too confusing and unexplained.
Chibnall is very good one off writer but not stellar as evidenced by his DW body of work, but better still he’s a really great showrunner just based on S1 of Broadchurch and his work on Torchwood (he worked REALLY close with Davies on it). He also does some phenomenal character work; again I point to Broadchurch.
Also, how have you not seen Broadchuch? You’re British. It’s a crime against nature to not have watched S1 and marvel at Tennant and Olivia Colman. The Queen is judging you right now.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Also, how have you not seen Broadchuch? You’re British. It’s a crime against nature to not have watched S1 and marvel at Tennant and Olivia Colman. The Queen is judging you right now.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix
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