Christmas Special News (Spoilers)

[StCoop]

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016...-there-will-be-an-appearance-from-a-superhero

We have a grand total of one new episode in 2016 and all I'm picturing in my head now is this.

 

[The Wormhole]

Actually, the idea of the Doctor dealing with a superhero does have some merit. I'm not sure if Moffat will do the idea justice, but it is an interesting concept all the same.

 

[Starkers]

"The script made Gatiss cry."

Oh come on, Mark it wasn't that bad

The notion of the Doctor dealing with a superhero is interesting, I wonder if it'll be a 'non-Christmas' Christmas episode again?

I'm still somewhat wary of Matt Lucas featuring so heavily but we'll have to wait and see. To be honest I think I'm more eager to see Class than the Christmas special at the moment.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

This kind of sealed the deal for me. I'm not expecting this to be any good.

 

[matthunter]

The Karkus again?

I like the idea of an alien (or someone else with access to alien tech) living on Earth and using it to fake "superpowers" - which in a way is somewhat the Doctor's schtick, minus the obvious cheesiness and fistfights.

 

[kirk55555]

The idea is definitely interesting. Its not something I thought we'd ever see The Doctor deal with, but I like the idea.

 

[Green Lantern]

As a kid I always fancied the Doctor dealing with superheroes. But knowing Moffat, he'll probably make it cheesy and cringe-worthy. Especially if Matt Lucas is involved...

 

[kirk55555]

I just hope it isn't all a dream again, like the time The Doctor met Santa Claus. That really wouldn't work twice.

 

[The Wormhole]

I just hope it isn't all a dream again, like the time The Doctor met Santa Claus. That really wouldn't work twice.

It didn't even work once.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

You know, on second watch, its not that bad. However, the ending doesn't make sense, unless its old Clara having that dream. I'm pissed Moffat ruined such a great ending for the character.

 

[kirk55555]

I'm biased because I don't like Clara so having her leave earlier then she did would have been great, but Last Christmas really was a better ending for her. But, maybe Moffat didn't want to end another companion's run by them basically aging and/or dying off screen? That's basically what happened with Amy/Rory (although in diffeent circumstances, obviously), so maybe old Clara would have been a bit too similar. Still, it was better then her getting basically immortality and stealing a TARDIS.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Yeah, but it was a happy ending. It was Clara taking inspiration from the Doctor and his love for travelling and applying it in her own life. She basically became another Jo Grant, but without the myriad offsprings. And best of all, she was a content old lady, that the Doctor got to see one last time (thus, Last Christmas). Which, is better than Amy and Rory, since he could never see them again, apparently.

 

[kirk55555]

To be fair, I wanted Clara to have the worst ending ever. Think Sara Kingdom, but slower and more painful. But, since that obviously wasn't going to happen, the ending where they're at least not trying to pretend she's anything like The Doctor is the one I prefer (even though I think Hell Bent is much as an episode then Last Christmas, outside of Clara's ending). The character didn't deserve a happy ending, but if she had to have one the Christmas one was better.

 

[The Wormhole]

You know it's funny, everyone says Last Christmas is the better exit for Clara than what she actually got as her exit in Face the Raven and Hell Bent, and it's true, it is. Likewise, most think Amy and Rory had a better exit in The God Complex than they did in The Angels Take Manhattan, and again, I agree. It's pretty telling, Last Christmas and The God Complex are simple and quick good-byes for the companions, while TATM, FTR, and HB are long drawn out monologues for them, though to be fair Clara's monologues in Raven and Hell Bent are far more excruciating than Amy and Rory's in Manhattan. Moffat really should take note and cut back on all the monologues.

 

[kirk55555]

I really like The Angels Take Manhattan and think The God Complex is very average. But, I think Amy/Rory's actual departure felt more contrived, with too much time related nonsense to explain why The Doctor can't just pop back in time and pick them up.

That said, I support cutting back on the monologues. A good monologue once in awhile can be cool, but it feels a bit overused in Doctor Who right now.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I like the departure scene in TATM, but The God Complex is, simply put, a much better story. The former loses points simply by having the Statue of Liberty being an Angel that somehow no one sees. And the latter is a story that just gets better as time goes by. It should have been their goodbye (that said, I enjoyed seeing them back anyway, but whatever).

 

[Solid Snack]

I wonder if we'll see the Whomobile show up.

 

[kirk55555]

I like the departure scene in TATM, but The God Complex is, simply put, a much better story. The former loses points simply by having the Statue of Liberty being an Angel that somehow no one sees. And the latter is a story that just gets better as time goes by. It should have been their goodbye (that said, I enjoyed seeing them back anyway, but whatever).

I love the Stature of Liberty Angel. Its completely stupid and makes no sense, but I still love it. The God Complex is an episode I don't feel the need to rewatch unless its part of a full Series 6 rewatch. Not bad by any means, but not anything special. I also really didn't like them just leaving in it. That's lame, almost as bad as Leela and Joe randomly marrying guys they met a few hours to a day before they leave. There is no way I would have believed Amy leaving The Doctor unless she literally couldn't travel with him anymore (which TATM does establish, even if its in a really convoluted way). It worked as a temporary absence, but not as the actual ending as their time as companions.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'd have liked Leela leaving in Invasion of Time, if her affection with Soldier Joe was shown. It didn't even have to be a focus of the story, but showcase that she actually cares for him and from there, you could make the assumptions fairly easily. That she left for a guy she literally just met without any build-up is ridiculous. At least Amy and Rory's feels like a wake-up call in the dark. Its sudden, but also effective.

 

[Starkers]

Leela leaving for Rodan would have made more sense, but would have been an impossible sell for the time unfortunately.

The difficulty with companions leaving is that the modern iteration of the show has just made a rod for its own back in two ways. Firstly by hammering home over and over again that even when love isn't in play the companions want to travel with the Doctor FOREVER and NEVER, EVER want to leave him. Secondly by giving the Doctor so much control over the Tardis these days. The upshot of these two points is that the creators have to come up with ridiculously contrived means to separate Doctor from companions; so Rose has to be trapped in another universe, Donna has to forget him on pain of her head exploding, Amy and Rory are trapped in a past era he can't ever travel to and he has to forget Clara for some reason (I can't even remember why.) The only exception is Martha, and whilst she's probably my least favourite modern companion she did at least have the most natural ending to her tenure because she chose to walk away.

I really hope Chibnall goes back to how things were on the companion front. I'm not talking about random romances that occur in seconds (ala Leela) but companions left for all sorts of reasons back then; love (Jo, Susan) Duty (Romana, Nyssa, Turlough) because they'd had enough of the death and destruction (Tegan) because they just wanted to go home (Ian and Barbara) or because they died (and stayed dead) (Adric)