Didn't somebody say on a related thread that they'd seen them filming in the same place they used as the diner during Jenna's last story?
Spoilers Twice Upon a Time grading and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
The story didn’t grab my attention but the banter between One and Twelve was hilarious! My favourite exchange included Bill.
“Watch your language or next time I’ll give your bottom a jolly good smack!”
“Let us never speak of this again.”
“Watch your language or next time I’ll give your bottom a jolly good smack!”
“Let us never speak of this again.”
I’ll need a second viewing I think. Liked it mostly, would certainly take more of Bradley’s first, and Jodie’s intro gets a thumbs up.
Most noteworthy aspect for me was the score. Lots of musical callbacks to Smith and Tennant, and Rose’s theme. Murray’s swansong maybe?
Most noteworthy aspect for me was the score. Lots of musical callbacks to Smith and Tennant, and Rose’s theme. Murray’s swansong maybe?
Very well done. Not overly sentimental, the First Doctor got plenty of room to shine, and Sexy threw one hell of a hissy fit!
Bradley was exceedingly good. And seeing Hartnell in NuWho was wonderful, too.
That's what I thought, too. And loved the small reprise of Vale Dacem for One's regeneration reprise (and seeing Troughton for any reason is always jolly nice).
Did anyone else catch the Troughton-esque voice change when One said his last line in the TARDIS? I thought that was especially brilliant.
That said, I kinda wish First's last word to Twelve was "Keep warm," to keep in-line with Ten's last line to Eleven in Day of the Doctor.
Ok episode, but not at all surprised Moffat forgot to put in 12’s appearance in the 50th... this episode kinda seemed perfect for it, but like Jenny, Moffat forgot again. Won’t miss that.
Not bad but somehow less than the sum of its parts. Great chemistry between Capaldi and Bradley, some nice in-jokes and Easter eggs but kind of a so-so story. I saw Time of the Doctor earlier today and feel Matt got a much better exit, as did David.
Having said that, I loved the cameos from Clara and Nardole. And Peter absolutely rocked that farewell soliloquy, reminding us what a hard act he’ll be to follow. As will Moffat, for all his faults.
On that note, I found Jodie immediately persuasive and didn’t find a female Doctor jarring but her introduction was way too similar to that of Matt. I do hope Chibnall has more original stuff up his sleeve.
Having said that, I loved the cameos from Clara and Nardole. And Peter absolutely rocked that farewell soliloquy, reminding us what a hard act he’ll be to follow. As will Moffat, for all his faults.
On that note, I found Jodie immediately persuasive and didn’t find a female Doctor jarring but her introduction was way too similar to that of Matt. I do hope Chibnall has more original stuff up his sleeve.
This isn't really a stand-alone story, though. To me, its an extension, a finale to the series 10 finale, which was Capaldi's proper final stand. In a way, its better to look at his regeneration story as a three-parter, starting with World Enough Time and ending with this one.
You could say the same for Smith’s final 3 episodes though.
The way the TARDIS was sideways and shaking up and down with the doors open, it looked like it was literally trying to throw the new Doctor out.
Not really, though. They were thematically connected, sure, but they were worlds apart, storywise. They didn't follow on from one to the next, whereas these three did.
Fair point. But if that’s the case, then I would have to regard this as a slightly anti-climactic finale to a hitherto superb story.
It'd still be a pretty good regeneration story, wouldn't it be?
I do agree that it wasn't as narratively strong as the previous two episodes, and for reasons I mentioned. Its basically too thin a plot for a special. But I enjoyed the sentiment, the emotion and the performances, and the directing (I really hope Talalay comes back for more, she's the David Maloney of NuWho, for me). It could've been better (maybe go a little further with the First Doctor's deconstruction, and actually go all-out with the remembrance of the companions at the end), but I think for a Christmas special that was about death and change, it was really moving.
^ I can see myself enjoying it a bit more second time round, in fairness.
A quote from a Hartnell improv in Dalek Invasion of Earth, I think.The story didn’t grab my attention but the banter between One and Twelve was hilarious! My favourite exchange included Bill.
“Watch your language or next time I’ll give your bottom a jolly good smack!”
“Let us never speak of this again.”
That was pretty damn good. Name check a famous character, that was cool. Some good lines, really good.
The futility and ugliness of war was driven home. Imagine your kids or grandkids there, on that battlefield. Fuck war.
Bradley and Capaldi were so good together.
The appearance of the new Doctor heralds BIG changes!
The futility and ugliness of war was driven home. Imagine your kids or grandkids there, on that battlefield. Fuck war.
Bradley and Capaldi were so good together.
The appearance of the new Doctor heralds BIG changes!
What were those words, what studio pressures, and source please?
Fairly decent, not an amazing episode but not a bad one either. Given that it's both a multi-Doctor and a regeneration story, I guess it's a bit disappointing that it wasn't an instant classic but meh, it is what it is. I mirror the earlier comments of this basically feeling like the equivalent of a special extension akin to the fifth Doctor audio set in between his regeneration, and also that World Enough and Time/Fall of the Doctor is the main regeneration story, with this mostly being a bonus (sort of like the Tenth Doctor's goodbye parade in the End of Time but extended over the course of a whole episode).
Bradley and Capaldi's chemistry was great, the best part of the episode, Bradley does pull off Hartnel's mannerisms quite well, although his lines and personality (such as the addition of a bunch of deliberately un-PC statements) don't really match Hartnel that well and instead is more of a replication of the time the original series was from, but that in itself didn't detract from the enjoyment, quite a few scenes due to that were particularly funny (such as the smacked bottom one). One of the main issues is it didn't quite feel like a full episode, it really felt like half an episode to me, would have done it more justice if there were higher stakes and a much longer run time (I'd have been in favour of a Christmas Day and New Years Day two parter akin to The End of Time, I don't feel one part regeneration stories really work (Time of the Doctor left a lot to be desired, although that whole affair was dreadful anyway), plus it would have been nice to extend Capaldi's tenure into 2018). Could have been something great, but instead it just turned out to be fairly decent. Although this is pretty much what I expected, so at least I haven't been quite underwhelmed, like the massive disappointment that was The Time of the Doctor (although me not being overly fond of much of the Smith era at all, I shouldn't really have been so surprised). As I say, best part was the First Doctor and Twelfth Doctor interacting, as tends to be the case for most multi-doctor stories. Hope this isn't the last multi-doctor story we've seen, hopefully the show will last into 2023 and we get a multi then.
As for the actual regeneration scene itself, after seeing the companions return (which has become the standard for regenerations of late, which feels a bit repetitive although it actually makes sense in the context of this story, as well as it being very nice to see Nardole again), the Doctor's long winded speech didn't quite sit that well with me, lasted too long, was too meta as others have said on here, and just wasn't needed. Then from there onwards it was basically a re-run of The End of Time, but somehow less satisfactory. The regeneration effect didn't quite have the nice firey effect quite the same as it has in previous regenerations, idk, probably just a silly nitpik. The overly destructive regeneration energy from holding back a regeneration (which probably now establishes that the longer a regeneration is held in, the more aggressive it gets, although by rights it should have been the same for Hartnel, but I guess Capaldi had technically held it in for much longer, having held it in for the duration of the Doctor Falls) destroying the TARDIS, then after that the TARDIS goes out of control again and she's hanging out of the thing (but this time actually falls out). Yeah, just felt like a re-run of the End of Time, and the speech I guess was a less meaningful and sensical version of Time of the Doctor. Would have suited Capaldi's Doctor far more if he just stood there and said "get on with it then", although I guess with that we wouldn't have had this entire episode. In hindsight it would have made sense for the Doctor's reasoning for not regenerating in the Doctor Falls being to make sure he doesn't waste one until after the threat's dealt with, and/or he isn't too erratic to deal with the situation. But oh well...
Judging from this I don't really think regeneration episodes are Moffat's strengths, he seems much better as post-regeneration ones, which is rarer I guess so...
But yes anyway, in conclusion, decent episode that didn't disappoint, but it could have been done better.
Bradley and Capaldi's chemistry was great, the best part of the episode, Bradley does pull off Hartnel's mannerisms quite well, although his lines and personality (such as the addition of a bunch of deliberately un-PC statements) don't really match Hartnel that well and instead is more of a replication of the time the original series was from, but that in itself didn't detract from the enjoyment, quite a few scenes due to that were particularly funny (such as the smacked bottom one). One of the main issues is it didn't quite feel like a full episode, it really felt like half an episode to me, would have done it more justice if there were higher stakes and a much longer run time (I'd have been in favour of a Christmas Day and New Years Day two parter akin to The End of Time, I don't feel one part regeneration stories really work (Time of the Doctor left a lot to be desired, although that whole affair was dreadful anyway), plus it would have been nice to extend Capaldi's tenure into 2018). Could have been something great, but instead it just turned out to be fairly decent. Although this is pretty much what I expected, so at least I haven't been quite underwhelmed, like the massive disappointment that was The Time of the Doctor (although me not being overly fond of much of the Smith era at all, I shouldn't really have been so surprised). As I say, best part was the First Doctor and Twelfth Doctor interacting, as tends to be the case for most multi-doctor stories. Hope this isn't the last multi-doctor story we've seen, hopefully the show will last into 2023 and we get a multi then.
As for the actual regeneration scene itself, after seeing the companions return (which has become the standard for regenerations of late, which feels a bit repetitive although it actually makes sense in the context of this story, as well as it being very nice to see Nardole again), the Doctor's long winded speech didn't quite sit that well with me, lasted too long, was too meta as others have said on here, and just wasn't needed. Then from there onwards it was basically a re-run of The End of Time, but somehow less satisfactory. The regeneration effect didn't quite have the nice firey effect quite the same as it has in previous regenerations, idk, probably just a silly nitpik. The overly destructive regeneration energy from holding back a regeneration (which probably now establishes that the longer a regeneration is held in, the more aggressive it gets, although by rights it should have been the same for Hartnel, but I guess Capaldi had technically held it in for much longer, having held it in for the duration of the Doctor Falls) destroying the TARDIS, then after that the TARDIS goes out of control again and she's hanging out of the thing (but this time actually falls out). Yeah, just felt like a re-run of the End of Time, and the speech I guess was a less meaningful and sensical version of Time of the Doctor. Would have suited Capaldi's Doctor far more if he just stood there and said "get on with it then", although I guess with that we wouldn't have had this entire episode. In hindsight it would have made sense for the Doctor's reasoning for not regenerating in the Doctor Falls being to make sure he doesn't waste one until after the threat's dealt with, and/or he isn't too erratic to deal with the situation. But oh well...
Judging from this I don't really think regeneration episodes are Moffat's strengths, he seems much better as post-regeneration ones, which is rarer I guess so...
But yes anyway, in conclusion, decent episode that didn't disappoint, but it could have been done better.
Yeah, I agree. That's what I meant about the hissy fit. The TARDIS shook her out and disappeared. Not an auspicious start.
