He who moans Reviews Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

"Oh Dear" - Stu
/ stubagful
Titles by Harry Robins - / thesupercoppiers
Thumbnail by Ewan Wallace
Footage used is for the purposes of critical analysis and review, it is owned by the BBC and I am not profiting from this review in any way.
Also Journey of the Sorcerer by the Eagles is not mine.
Act Three - Tenebrous Brothers Carnival by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/

[@neeliknowsnothing]

Tbh Eccleston's regeneration remains my favourite because 1)there was no great lead up to it/it came as a surprise 2) he accepted it as a part of life.

[@neeliknowsnothing]

also I'm just going to act like Hell bent didn't exist. It's not like it makes any difference to the plot.

[@exexpat11]

BINGO!

[@dysonwitwer6430]

Yea. Honestly 9 and 11( and if we go old who, 3,4, and 5 and i guess 8) were so grateful about regenerating it reassured the audience and showed a maturity that they know all things have to end. Tennants was emotional manipulative while I wouldnt say 12s is manipulative, its a bit too much lead up. Like yes, I get it he just wants to die. But still, whatever happened to when the doctor would just regen on a dime and say 3 lines before he does and be a sport. Him saying so little and respectfully handing over the reigns both leaves us wanting more and ready to see whats next. I heard 12s regen might have supposed to happen the episode before however, so there might be an excuse for this episode, as if 12 had regenerated after he dies without saying one word(last words: pity, no stars.) It wouldve been the best regeration in dw

[@paddypowerhughes]

The first doctor was always looked upon as someone to be respected in “the three doctors” and “the five doctors” in this episode he was looked upon as everything bad about the 60s

[@crackengeekproductions3843]

DANK.central although there was that one bit in the five doctors when Tegan is told to get some drinks.

[@nifralo2752]

Or in the 5 doctors where he says "what are all you YOUNG people doing inside my Tardis" get it? Cause he's OLD

[@codyw1]

Which was great, cause she was being her usual annoying bitch self and the 1st Doctor was able to put her in her place in a way the 5th was unable to!

[@nifralo2752]

codyw1 yeah I agree Tegan sucks. How Adric or Mel gets more hate I'll never know

[@TaeSunWoo]

Didn’t they clarify in the books or big finish that 1 was actually acting like that to mess with 12 and troll bc lol why not

[@charliedawson4877]

It really shows that Moffat originally wanted the Doc to regenerate in The Doctor Falls.

[@PatrickCervantez]

Of all the things I'm going to miss, I'm going to miss the Moffat's massive brain joke the most. #RIP

[@defrostedrobot77]

also the Hitchhiker's theme felt kind of reminiscent of MrTARDIS in a way.

[@gavisinspacern1488]

Yeah, you pretty much nailed this review as usual; that being said, Capaldi himself has been such a huge waste that I couldn’t help but cry during the regeneration. He was such a brilliant Doctor, but he got absolutely fucked by the scripts in Series 8 and 9, and just as he was in his element in Series 10, he left.

[@ljllob4740]

It felt like he was Matt smith at times and they didn't have his doctor being consistent

[@mikeymcdoable]

You're definitely right about Moffat's dislike towards the Hartnell era. I read this old interview ages ago about Moffat's problems with Doctor Who and the Hartnell era was one of them.

[@ericsiemienczuk7217]

One specific moment I would've loved to see fleshed out/emphasised was this exchange: Captain: "World War one?" Doctor: "Judging by the uniform, yes." Captain: "Yes, but what do you mean by, one?" Doctor: "Oh sorry. Spoilers." Can you imagine going through that horror of world war hoping that it'll end soon, only to find out it's going to happen again, and worse? I think it tied in nicely enough with the other arcs of the episode to have been a bigger driving focus.

[@baka-chan7779]

The doctor doesn't die when he regenerates, he just changes

[@exexpat11]

M Shamalayan Night's 90's Doctor Who ending. The Doctor really does die and transfers all of his memories and Regen energy to Bill and she becomes the First Woman Doctor. The end.

[@baka-chan7779]

exexpat11 that wqould be a terrible idea

[@exexpat11]

I meant it to be a terrible idea. With a M Night twist!

[@baka-chan7779]

exexpat11 Oh, I see. Funny

[@Stubagful]

Prediction of a comment I'll inevitably get: "You are letting your fanboyism for the first doctor cloud your judgement" My response: ....yeah, so?

[@timmythy2887]

Stubagful That's kind of what Moffat wanted anyways, right? Just that it worked the wrong way around cause he didn't do it so good. Appealing to nostalgia can backfire like that.

[@meris8486]

You are letting your fanboyism for the first doctor cloud your judgement

[@casualcraftman1599]

Stubagful most people I’ve seen use their fanboyism of the first Doctor to call twice apoun a time the worst doctor who story.

[@kren62]

Casual CraftMan yay a fellow bionicle fan

[@beepboopethanj]

There's no foundation for that argument. It's not about being a fanboy, it's about obeying the established canon. Steven's done nothing since series 7 but rub his grubby hands all over the Whoniverse. I'm glad he's gone, now. And I'm excited to see what's coming. I'm just.. I'm surprised with myself. I'm surprised that I thought that he couldn't make my blood boil any more than he had already. And I'm surprised that you weren't harsher on him for how he wrote the 1st Doctor. It ruined the episode for me, but only in retrospect. Hell, it might've ruined Christmas. I guess you've just learned to not let yourself get worked up over all the crap anymore. Maybe I need to learn that, too.

[@IdontknowwhatImdoing539]

I can't help but feel that there was a genuinely good idea in this episode being wasted that could of been beautiful. Namely the soldier taken out of time at the moment of his death. Have the soldier taken out of time at the beginning of the episode (cut out the stupid new new earth tech stuff, have it just been a rift or tear in time or something) and have him come across the doctor. Have the doctor then attempt to work out where exactly in time he came from in order to take him back and gave a friendship form between the pair as he does so. He then discovers that the soldier had been moments away from dying in that trench and if takes him back he will die. Reluctant to do so and determined to find a way to prevent it, he refuses to take the soldier back, causing a tear the space time continuum. This gets the timeless attentions and after refusing to come to heel, they send the 1st doctor to go and talk reason to him... they don't get along at first, with one being condescending and angry at what his future regeneration is doing. The both continually argue till 12 snaps and shows 1 his memories, showing him all that has happened over the years. The things he had done, all his pain and loss and just how tired of it he is. 1 is naturally horrified and around the same time, soldier finds out about his fate and at first refuses to go back. Eventually the soldier comes to terms with his death and talks to the two doctors, reassuring 1 and convincing 12 to take him back. 12 then lands the tardis somewhere and the soldier steps out, only to find he is outside his home on Christmas day. He proceeds to spend the day with his family, the doctor giving him an extra day to live.... At the same time 1 and 12 talk, with 1 asking him Why do they still travel after all of these years and why do they still keep going with 12 responding something along the lines of "that... moments like that makes it worth going" gesturing to the soldier who is reuniting with his family. With that, 1 smiles, says a clever line and disappears, returning to his own timestream. The doctor then collects the soldier and returns him to the point in time where he is supposed to die before returning to his tardis and have the regeneration scebe be the same as they were in the special as they were actually really good.

[@craydogdog1530]

Much better.

[@craydogdog1530]

I still liked the episode though but your one adds a lot more to it.

[@thegd2567]

I personally really liked this episode. I thank you though for giving me a reason as to why your opinion is different then my own. I see a lot of reviews going ‘I just don’t like it that much’. You actually gave a reason that I agree with. I do think the first doctor wasn’t as poorly written, but you have convinced me he could have been better

[@ThePonderer]

This episode was...nice. It was a generally inoffensive send off to Moffat, Capaldi, Gatiss and Gold, funny in places, even if everything about this episode that wasn’t to do with the Captain and the Glass Lady was pretty much just garnish to all that stuff. I like that it’s not really a Christmas episode until the very end and when that happened it felt really poignant. It’s a BIT strange that this doesn’t feel like a significant culmination of the recurring themes and ideas in Moffat’s era, being his last episode, but then he’s already that at LEAST twice. One of those was with Day of the Doctor, and I get the feeling that part of why Moffat didn’t really know how to use the First is that he said everything he wanted to say with the First Doctor *through* the War Doctor.

[@pikaplayzhd595]

that's probably because this was not planned way in advance, in fact he wasn't going to do a christmas special this year originally, originally he wanted to end the doctor falls with the doctor fully regenerating but Chibnall was unavailable to take over at Christmas so he had to prolong the regeneration and make a story out of it for christmas, which is fine since that's the case, it's good enough for what Moffat was able to do :)

[@MrPaulmorris7777]

I don't remember the First Doctor refusing to regenerate!

[@custard_timelord2896]

Finally someone who's actaully going to pick the Christmas special apart, instead of just "Oh my god its like the 1st Doctor and everything; 10/10". Thank you Stubagful

[@KickTheFramaLamaLama]

if you think about it, that steven moffats giant brain thing was the original "you need high iq to watch rick and morty"

[@sirjedisentinel]

Well, given your thoughts here, hopefully Big Finish's latest First Doctor release will give David Bradley a better chance to shine.

[@ShamrockParticle]

Did you get a chance to hear it and, if so, did they serve him well?

[@alexzander4426]

Oh, it’s WAY better. It’s in line with “An Adventure in Space and Time” portrayal

[@ryancarrick3585]

Yeah the first doctor as a sexist really angered me. He's my favourite Doctor I've seen all of his episodes and he's not a sexist. Why bring back 1 if you don't like him or can't write him.

[@BH-98]

OMG it's Moffat's massive massive brain!

[@slateoffate9812]

Moffat IS the Living Flesh Super Computer?

[@TheCrippledEgg]

If you look out the window, you can see it.

[@slateoffate9812]

Super Skully *Looks out window* I don't see anything resembling a brain, nor a living flesh super computer.

[@slateoffate9812]

I just realized; What if Stuart is in charge of the schoolboard that the school in CLASS serves under? That'd break the universe for sure!

[@WellBillt]

I wasn't ready for that plot twist at the end!

[@blastfromthepast8344]

What plot twist? Surely you don't mean the Colonel, or whatever, being an ancestor of the Brigadier? It was so obvious from the moment they showed photos of him. I thought he could have been the Brig's father, but maybe not old enough. Still, granddad or whatever, it was obvious from the off. Surely you weren't really surprised, were you?!!!

[@teaboi8875]

Blastfrom thepast he's talking about Moffat's Massive Brain

[@josephmay6377]

Good bye Steven Moffats giant Brain.

[@42ndLife]

I think that somewhere along the way, a piece of Moffatt just gave up. I know that he's a talented writer, but too often he just took the easy way out with his writing. And he recyled so many of his own ideas. Here's a drinking game for you, take a shot every time he reuses a story premise or plot element needlessly. You'll be drunk before the Pandoraca opens. I don't think it's ego that was the downfall of Moffatt's era, it was laziness. Or maybe it was because he tried running two shows at the same time and he over extended himself. It's too bad, because he was so close to being amazing, but he wasn't. I feel bad saying this, because I know he did put a lot of work into it, but that's how I'll remember Moffatt's time as showrunner. He was a guy who faltered under the weight of his own ambitions. Oh well, great review, Stubagful. See you next series.

[@archive9796]

42ndLife well this is his 4th “last” episode

[@BadWolf739]

We both looked into the abyss but there's a difference between us. When the abyss looked back, you blinked.

[@bloodrunsclear]

The thinking was just ‘He’s old and from a time not now...he must be stupid!’ Which is hilarious given how dumb New Who can be

[@GhostLightPhilosophy]

I genuinely liked this episode. I liked how it didn’t really have a villain and was a parable about change and forgiveness

[@alexrobertssings]

I think I prefer it over Time of the Doctor simply because of Peter and Mark's' performances. It's a real shame this ended up being a real damp squib of an ending for Twelve. The fact this was written at the last minute so they didn't lose the Christmas day slot really didn't do it any favours either.

[@JamesPlaysGames95]

my biggest let down. the regeneration. i'm tired of the doctor standing up when regenerating. its supposed to be painful, not elegant. have him rench in pain on the floor changing his body....i think i have a problem

[@Timothan]

I hate the big sappy speeches leading up to them these days. Can't he just fall over and die like he used to?

[@marcelltoing8363]

That's such a nothing complaint. If that's the biggest issue with this episode, then it must have been great.

[@voladisco]

And they showed a lying-down regeneration just before it the cheek of them!

[@charliedawson4877]

Smith's regen was my favourite. I don't mind the speeches, as long as they mean something. Smith's was all about embracing change and looking to the future (complete opposite of 10) What did Capaldi, the king of DW speeches actually say in his last moments? Don't eat pears?

[@albertschoise8091]

@@charliedawson4877 he said "Doctor i let you go!" That dont eat pears was meant to be like "have to remember"

[@DaringNote62]

Steven Moffat's brain must be a planet and all of doctor who takes place on there

[@doelroarpa3489]

"Without the net of a big franchise" His very next work is dracula

[@mikomyku8657]

his dracula was pretty good

[@doelroarpa3489]

@@mikomyku8657 I agree.

[@TheJaviferrol]

Once again i pretty much agree with you Stu. But over the last couple of years with Moffat ive come to understand that if your a Classic fan; this version of the show isnt made for you (i mean just look at the 50th): the First Doctor was out of character cause youre not meant to have watched the Hartnell era and know how he was (God knows theres some people online who say Bradley did do Well as Hartnell when theyve never watched a single episode). NuWho is all about ticking boxes for every Doctor: hes gotta have a catchphrase, make a long speech every season like this was Shakespeare, and ALL his Companions have to be there. Hoy know how Classic Who used to known as "The show that made you wanna hide behind the sofa?". Well go online; apparently now its "the show thatll made you cry". One version of the series is universe and story driven while the modern one ever since Roses romance with David Tennant feels like a soap with aliens and a time machine. Perhaps thats why we like the 4 episode format and BF a lot more. PD: I agree on Gatiss being surpringsingly good PD2: F*ck Clara

[@Thomas_of_the_forest]

TheJaviferrol Well David Bradley did do a great job in the role, it’s just the way he was written that was pretty much dreadful

[@curtiseaston1711]

TheJaviferrol I liked gatiss in this

[@TheEvilChipmunk]

Nathan Snyder, I was too angry to be laughing...

[@UnchainedEruption]

Cryer24597 I agree. They only cast him because he played William Hartnell in "An Adventure in Time and Space," but he was cast then because he looks like him. His portrayal is completely inaccurate to Hartnell's actual Doctor. Richard Hurndall may not have been a complete look alike, but he doesn't need to be. It's the acting and writing which matters and he nailed the role in The Five Doctors.

[@TheEvilChipmunk]

Gallifreyan Buccaneer, I have to respectfully disagree. To be fair and honest, I don't think either of them (Bradly or Hurndall) "nailed" anything. They both are (or were) fine actors, and both worked admirably to achieve something that's likely impossible (convincing us that Bill Hartnell's come back from the dead), but in the end, both could only ever hope to be "cos-playing" the First Doctor. In The Five Doctors, this sort of worked: There was a large ensemble cast to draw attention away from Hartnell's absence, and there was an actual *story*, with actual *stakes*, to give the First Doctor's presence some weight and meaning. In this, the story was barely there, which left Bradly with little to do but putter-around trying act "First-Doctor-ish", while being undermined by the lousy script. Hurndall, by contrast at least got to have a few good scenes, where he figures some shit out, Doctor-style, and got a few good lines to boot.

[@Ryan_James93]

You honestly make the best reviews, and I always look forward to them. Constructively critical, coherent and above all, humorous.

[@thanedynamo8434]

12:30 No worries, Stuart! Whilst this does make Hell Bent, as you say, even shitter than it already was (something I did not think was at all possible), it also means in a way that the episode is entirely inconsequential! The episode had so many elements which were setups for later...now it is highly probable they will never be brought up again (heck, the Doctor is unlikely to return to his/her homeworld after what happened!). Also, the First Doctor essentially said in Twice Upon A Time that he left Gallifrey to be a hero and make a difference, thus going back to what was established in the show prior to the whole Hybrid bullshit being brought up. And now, it seems the Doctor may as well have remembered Clara this whole time! In consequence, Hell Bent has gone further than rock bottom, but it is also entirely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, so we can pretend the events of that episode never happened!!! :D :D :D Excuse me, I'm going off to write my own preferred version of the episode, right next to my preferred version of Day of the Doctor ;)

[@slateoffate9812]

At least it wasn't End of Time.

[@Timothan]

at least End of Time is amazingly bad to the point of being enjoyable schlock. This was just really underwhelming, which in a way is worse

[@Pcwarmachine]

Sorry I will take any Davies era episode over this sort of wasted opportunity.

[@voladisco]

WHAT? YOU HAVE BLASPHEMED ABOUT THE LORD T DAVIES! Not really. I'm just joking.

[@exexpat11]

And being really EMO at the end.

[@voladisco]

The Lone Ranger You mean a human Crap. I just realised he's a Time Lord. Fair point but I felt that RTD got so much success because it was a family not something with complicated plots and a LOT of darkness and death (and a little episode called...hell bent.)

[@DaveTh3Ninja]

It doesn't even matter to me what this video says. This is something I have been waiting for.

[@russelltietjen4407]

That ending twist made this review a more satisfying conclusion to the Moffat era than the actual episode! Mind you, I read a while ago that Moffat was planning to step down after The Doctor Falls, but because Chibnall was thinking of skipping the Christmas Special and just go into Series 11, Moffat decided to write the Christmas Special in fear of the show losing it's slot on Christmas day. This kinda shows.

[@archive9796]

Russell Tietjen Moffats final ep was meant to be time & the doctor but he didn’t like s7 so he stayed to Husbands which was meant to be the final Moffat one but the bbc weren’t ready

[@russelltietjen4407]

Yeah, out of Time of The Doctor, Hell Bent, Husbands of River Song, The Doctor Falls and this where he was supposed to be leaving, I'm satisfied with either of those last two being his last rather than the first three

[@regiman222]

And then Chibnal decided to not do the Christmas special this year.

[@tobylerone4285]

@@regiman222chinballs has a lot to answer for

[@CSManiac33]

The Original Doctor so you might say line has been pretty destroyed by The Timeless Children

[@BluBerryVA]

the twist at the end of the video was better than the episode

[@bookwyvern5994]

I think Mark needs to stay as a low key actor. He was absolutely creepy as Tycho in the 7th season of Game of Thrones. If we Hollywood him, some magical part of him is lost forever. And yeah, Clara's appearance pissed me off. Go away, Queen Victoria!

[@jakerockznoodles]

To me it just felt sort of directionless and as I said somewhere else, was just a sequence of stuff happening. Not awful but I struggle to think what a casual fan would have to latch onto with something like this. I know people will be like "but it's for the fans" but consider that it is being broadcast on arguably most major channel at mealtime on Christmas Day. That timeslot really should be catering for your general audience and is in a perfect position to hook in potential new fans if you produce something that can entertain more casual viewers. Instead we get something that is just about servicable at best for fans and has no appeal for anyone else.

[@DT-od3hd]

Catering for Doctor Who fans specifically is a recipe for disaster, and I say that as a fan.

[@jakerockznoodles]

Cryer24597 Pretty much. Despite not being a fan of the RTD era, I actually liked the approach to fanservice, where it was there but never interfered with the story. The cyber head in Series 1 and the reference to the Sea Devils in Series 3 are just two good examples of this. Neat little references that will fly over the heads of casual new series fans but it won't affect their enjoyment of the story. That to me is how fan-service should be done.

[@TrentonBlessWrestlemania489]

So, Hell Bent is even worse in retrospect now? Bloody hell! I hate that episode so much!

[@theoutcastboi]

Yes, it really was utter trash.

[@UnchainedEruption]

Heaven Sent was the last episode of Reboot "New" Who. Everything afterwards is non-canon.

[@regiman222]

I didn't even think it was possible, so in a way I'm impressed

[@JayExci]

Hearing what you've said about this, I think the main reason I enjoyed this special so much is that I'm not that familiar with the first Doctor's era.

[@archive9796]

CinemaSinsSins Well recommendations An Unearthly Child ep 1 The Aztecs Dalek Invasion of Earth The Romans The time meddler The Tenth Planet

[@joshc1981]

You forgot that mark gatiss was in game of thrones once or twice as the head of the iron bank

[@OxbowisaMstie]

I didn't hate it. That being said, i feel like Moffat should have a more recognizable appreciation for the first Doctor even if he wasn't a huge fan of his era. I'm a Yank and even I can see this.

[@englishgiraffe2124]

It feels hard being a fan of Doctor Who at this point, of any era. Whether you like Twice Upon a Time or not, the NewWho haters are popping up more because of it. In a way, it brings my self-esteem down a bit, knowing how fans can get towards others. For now, I think I may have to leave the fandom for a while, until I can bring myself back up to debate with others.

[@wigglyziggly]

English Giraffe Honestly, fandoms by nature are just very toxic and anxiety-inducing. You should just learn to avoid them. They're not worth it.

[@exexpat11]

I was a Fan of Pertwee and Baker. Five whined too much. Six was insane. Never saw Seven and Eight. I was a Fan of 9 and 10 (mostly the first part of 10). I was a Fan of Peter. I wanted to like Smith but everything was just too nice for him, the poor writing, the Ginger Family tagging along, and I just could not stomach it. Too epic and everything was Super in the end with nonsense to tie everything up Happy Ending style. Great for Teen Beat readers but not so much DW.

[@Geznoo]

It makes sense that the first doctor would be afraid of regeneration. It'd be the first time he's ever completely changed.

[@BlazeQuadZ]

Ten was the most human so it makes sense that he would react differently.

[@sophiefilo16]

Having read up a bit on Moffat's alleged fanboyism of Doctor Who, I've come to a realization. Moffat is the kind of "fan" who only likes what he likes and craps on all the rest. To compare, Moffat is like all those Modern Who "fans" who skipped series 1, fell in love with Ten and Eleven (and loved every single episode because that's what "true fans" do), and then went running the moment they saw Capaldi. These self-proclaimed "true fans" will swear everything before Tennant and after Smith is utter garbage while they write fanfiction about Ten and Rose or ElevenxReader. That's what Moffat has done. He has disrespected most of Classic and RTD Who while obsessing over the bits he liked and bringing up those bits while he rewrites canon for the sake of his illogical fanfiction. *_Moffat Who is FANFICTION..._*

[@SuperWolsey]

Truer words, darlin'

[@DT-od3hd]

9:15 I cant remember if it was Steven or Russell or somebody else but I seem to recall an idea for a Christmas regen story from someone which just had the doctor being mortally wounded helping like, one family at Christmas. No big event, just all in the aid of a small group of people under relatively low stakes. I'd like to see that again.

[@raydarable]

There were a lot of references in the Doctor Who books that the 1st doctor was hesitant to regenerate.

[@samsquared8673]

I personally think Capaldi's regeneration being all melodramatic worked well when you consider why Capaldi's doctor ''didn't want to go''. He wasn't afraid of dying or letting his ego get the better of him; he didn't want to regenerate because he wanted to die. The 12 Doctors era is all about failing; he couldn't save Danny, he couldn't save Clara (as was confirmed in this episode, it was cool seeing her actually dead) , him saving Me fucked up a tonne of stuff and the Doctor falls showed everyone dying or will die soon (it was cool seeing that Nardole had died too). After all of that he can't see any reason to go on and i think him seeing the soldier survive because of the Christmas truce made him realise that he has to keep on fighting and trying to help people because even if it only makes a difference 1/100 times and even if the peace he creates is only temporary, that still makes a difference. I also felt his speech was rather powerful as he was almost speaking all the things his incarnation had learnt over the past few series and he was almost pleading with his next incarnation to keep those lessons in mind when she goes out to try and save people. Just my oppinions on why it worked but i felt they were worth typing out. completely agree with you about the 1st Doctor though, it's such a shame cause Bradley nails it. Oh well , theres always the upcoming big finish boxsets i guess...

[@SunniestAutumn]

Really agree about Mark. He's like the first proper one-off character Moff-man wrote in pretty much years. Like, I'm trying hard to come up with someone else. The journalist from that Superhero spoof was pretty one note, Hell Bent had that General but they were mostly exposition too... my mind kinda wanders through the years, straight to and past series 5 all the way to the Library two-parter, but since that was two episodes, I've concluded that it took SteMo ten fucking years to flesh a one-time side character out properly, last ones being the characters in Blink. Holy fucking shit guys. One character per ten years is certainly a record to beat.

[@kbg12ila]

I did not like this overall. It kind of represented Moffats Who as a whole. Over the top plot points, trying to be too clever, a lot of terrible jokes and cringey politics, a lot of character emotions that don't work at all and a few moments here and there that were amazing. For me that amazing moment was the Christmas armistice. I know it's history but damn it was beautiful to see. No real merit to Moffat but it was a great moment. Too bad the rest was bad.

[@SpectacularSpiderMan]

This has the same rating I gave The End of Time but for opposite reasons. While The End of Time was too much of a greatest hits album for RTD. This didn't even feel like a proper send off for 7 year era.

[@solekman916]

This is one of my favorite Christmas Specials

[@BucketThinkTank14657Nerd]

I think my fav 1st Doctor moments in this episode had to honestly just be when he and the Doctor were looking at Testimony and his question about why evil doesn't win.

[@Alovon]

Something that we can all agree is that the scene where the 12th and 1st doctor depart is really good on. Also Murray Gold's score will forever be missed , that version of "A Good Man" during said scene was glorious.

[@cjshow-vf8ll]

Two notes: (1) "Now Hell Bent's retrospectively even shitter than it already was!" :) and (2) I love how the main joke you had on a 5WF video that one time is now your most consistent piece of comedy, story, and lore. All fuckin' 'ail the living flesh super computer!

[@X08-Chill]

I agree, I didn't really know how I felt at the end and World and Time enough + The Doctor Falls felt like more of an exit to his character with this being a little tacked on part with not much of an aim but some good moments

[@BenS-dy9eq]

When Stu plays journey of the sorcerer at the end of his videos, you know a joke is coming. BTW Moffat's brain is coming for you. It will DEVOUR.

[@nelord7000]

I honestly don't see the problem with the First Doctor being confused and asking questions. No matter how mysterious and intelligent he is, he's still thousands of years lacking in experience stacked up to the Twelfth. Given that wide gap of time its inevitable that the first Doctor would be lagging behind. Especially considering this is Twelves last outing.

[@casualcraftman1599]

Using Christmas as a excuse to slack off is never a good idea, just look at the Hessians that occupied Trenton.

[@ankarstian]

The Celestial Toymaker had a permanent n-word pass before it was cool

[@Nadodan]

Eh I really like the 12ths regeneration, because I liked the 12th I'm legitimately sad Peter Capaldi is leaving the show. I think I think he was my favorite of the modern doctors, so that little good bye speech he's giving to himself(Really the audience). Is touching because it's the last time I'll see him at the doctor. Unless another multidoctor story happened. I honestly really liked this episode. The way the two doctors played off each other was hilarious. I also took the First reactions not as ignorance, but indignance. He's flustered because there's this guitar playing grandpa going around wearing sunglasses indoors all the while using his name. It's sort of like the First Doctor was the Grandfather of the Twelth Doctor. Yeah he's a bit less PC, but he means well he just derived his values from a different time. And all the strange behaviors and toys of his grandson make him feel like the boy isn't right. Now I haven't seen the first doctors era, so I won't speak to how well the character is represented. But I didn't have much trouble with the way he spoke and acted. I know there wasn't malice in what he was doing, and if I met with someone claiming to be my future self and he acted completely differently. I'd definitely react the way he did.

[@russelltietjen4407]

It's been 3 years and the twist of the identity of Steven Moffat's Massive, Massive Brain still gets me

[@BadWolf739]

As a timelord, a race who often switches genders which one would assume makes their concept of marriage and sexuality more fluid did anyone think it was really weird that the First Doctor looked so scandalized when Bill inferred she was a lesbian?

[@bosstoober8782]

Twist endings are always ba- Mofats brain is the LFSC

[@ChannelYep123]

9th Doctor: Ah don't worry, I'll be different sure, but deep down I'm still the same. 10th Doctor: I don't want to go. 11th Doctor: I had a good run, but now it's time for me to say good bye. 12th: I really don't want to go, but I still have to.

[@slateoffate9812]

To be continued; In Stubagful's Class Episode 7.

[@tost6956]

Bradley's performance was a complete pisstake. No plot to speak of. A completely witless, unfunny, emotionally incontinent, self indulgent and eye-rollingly sentimental episode.

[@englishgiraffe2124]

To St Still better than End of Time and Time of the Doctor

[@tost6956]

why do you think that if you don't mind me asking?

[@englishgiraffe2124]

To St In End of Time's case, Russell tries desperately hard treating it as the final ever episode of Doctor Who by making it overblown and exaggerated, without even giving Moffat a chance. I swear, half of the 10th Doctor's lines in that story were probably Russell trying to speak to the audience about not to accept Moffat as the new showrunner. In fact, I'm betting the line "I don't want to go" was Russell screaming out loud rather than the 10th Doctor saying it. End of Time was just a disgrace towards my favourite Doctor (I know, judge me for liking the 10th Doctor). And I say this a person who prefers RTD's era. However, I think Time of the Doctor was even worse honestly (if only by a margin). It massively suffers from Spiderman 3 syndrome, where there is way too much going on in a short amount of time. What was a fantastic story arc in Series 5, and a god-awful story arc in Series 6 has an awful resolution in Time. Seriously, the Silence are a religious cult?! Where did that come from?! The cracks of the universe are secretly Time Lords?! At least End of Time's story is more fleshed out and decently paced. The only thing that Time of the Doctor has over End of Time is that the 11th Doctor stayed in character, and didn't whine and cry about dying. He accepted it and moved on. While Twice does have a lot of problems (1st Doctors sexist jokes being the biggest example with this), I appreciate that we got a more quieter regeneration story compared to 10 and 11, the Christmas elements felt nowhere near as forced as all the other ones, and the atmosphere felt as great as ever (John Smith needs to stay on for the VFX please BBC). Also, my second favourite Modern Doctor gives a fantastic performance. May not be as good as Caves of Androzani and Parting of the Ways, but is alright in its own department.

[@tost6956]

I see, thanks for the extremely comprehensive response. Though I still think its on par with the End of Time and Time of the Doctor (being awful).

[@exexpat11]

The Day the Doctor went EMO by RTD.

[@AtariDad]

Actually, I wouldn't say that the Doctor remembering Clara is consequence-free. If you remember, they can only collect the memories of those who died, so that means that at some point, Clara was unable to avoid the Raven for any longer and eventually died.

[@exexpat11]

I think Clara is in Hell being chased around by Freddy Kruger. The One Without a name put her there for a laugh.

[@theoutcastboi]

Umm, Clara does die eventually, it's said in Hell Bent she must go back and die at somepoint. The problem is that she's got infinity -1 time before then. So rather than die tragically and unavoidably, she ended up as basically the Doctor 2.0 and a gap of up to 100000000000000000000000000+ years to travel through the universe. She'll gets to go back and die whenever she chooses. So she was basically resurrected and given immortality bar any consquences, except for the Doctor losing his memory of her, which he got back here, so Hell Bent has no consquences.

[@Freak80MC]

I just totally realized, after watching your review of the Doctor Falls and going into this, you mentioned how he wanted to wrap up an explanation of the Master's regeneration into Missy, and it seems really unlike him to leave something unexplained like the fact all the Doctors knew to come save Gallifrey, so I really do think he forgot about it because THIS episode was the perfect way to integrate that in! The 12th Doctor meets the First and maybe near the end he could have been like "oh yea go save Gallifrey, and oh right I was there too wasn't I? I haven't did that yet so let's both go and do this then both regenerate". It was the perfect way to tie up that loose end but I think Moffat genuinely forgot about it.

[@joshuascales2657]

Hey Stu! I was wondering, will you be doing a 12th Doctor Retrospective?Thanks!

[@archive9796]

Joshua Scales probably

[@Problembeing]

Nailed it. Nice use of one of the best pieces of music ever written too :P Journey of the Sorcerer for all us towel carriers.

[@HistoryLass2203]

‘Smacks the desk’ I knew that Brain wasn’t real!

[@ericahoang9030]

Is this the quickest that a video has even been uploaded after the episode has aired?

[@archive9796]

Erica Hoang yes

[@grump9001]

I'm kind of in love with you for the last bit.

[@sophiefilo16]

Stu, how do you feel about Murray Gold leaving Doctor Who as well?

[@exexpat11]

His music was epic even when paired to the silliness on screen. Big fan of Gold.

[@WhiskeyBrewer]

Well thats a twist from Class i didnt see coming

[@rhyanbennett2629]

Moffat's brain is the living flesh supercomputer. My life is complete.

[@daniledrake4137]

The problem I have is that by sharing the story with the 1st Doctor and the ancestor of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart just makes the Doctor Who Universe appear really small, it allows Morefart and more recently Chinbal (intentional misspellings) to rewrite cannon while taking credit of the show's successes of other eras as their own. Sigh

[@zakjaggs9761]

Hartnell era used to be my favourite but my big issue with it is lack of rewatch ability and I completely enjoy the story but don't usually come back. Saying that the space museum, the Chase, the rescue and the crusade are pretty damn good

[@christopherhu7189]

If you think about it the events of twice upon a time happened very quickly so the first doctor will probably be very confused at first. Also the 12th doctor is nearly 2000 years older so he’s bound to know more or do you jut assume that the doctor’s intelligence wouldn’t increase.

[@SamyulDavis]

Although I loved this story and your take on it, I feel like it's a very easy one to ruin for yourself by getting hung up on the wrong things.

[@iKillerZombie]

I think that this episode should have been written by both Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss so that once Steven Moffat finished the final draft, Gatiss could make the necessary rewrites to the character of the First Doctor

[@kurumais]

are you going to review big finnishes first doctor box set with david bradly?

[@tonyparker7349]

Any thoughts on the new First Doctor big finish release?

[@LloydEWatson1983]

Brilliant!

[@HazarTulum]

For gods sake Stuart so much for you being a fan of Doctor Who... why aren't you reviewing The War Master instead of this Christmas special?! hehe jk :)

[@DarthRushy]

The First Doctor was originally scripted as defying regeneration

[@ishaandw]

He did base the Sexism and Xenophobia from watching/revisiting the first doctor era.

[@scottconwell2146]

The critiques I can largely appreciate. The sarcasm? I loved! I agree the first Doctor's character was mostly mishandled. The detractor/kicker about a showrunner not being a fan is that they can often do a shit job of actually understandng the Doctor's characters,. The Doctor's mourning, sometimes grief -stricken attitudes, pre-regeneration, I see differently. Each Doctor expresses aspects of the Doctor's overall personality. He/she mourns, or grieves because in some sense the Doctor changes, in those expressions, feeling as though their is lose of the identity, death of that aspect of personality. My take on this. It does add poignancy, & weight to the changes for me. Aside from the issues, it was the last good episode, so far, in Doctor Who.

[@Arson_Hole]

Part of me likes to believe that this whole special was just a pre-regeneration hallucination like Eleven had with seeing Amy again. It would actually explain the First Doctor's bastardized characterization as a projection of The Doctor's self-loathing for (in his perspective) ruining Bill's life and leaving Nardole for dead.

[@No-hl4qm]

The episode expects you to see it from a variety of different angles and hoping you enjoy it, if you only see it from a few angles then you start to see the holes in the whole thing.

[@sayachan6069]

That bloody ending!

[@bastianzorf8071]

Love Ur Videos! See you soon space Cowboy!

[@Phoenix2312]

11:16 I actually found the ending to be Spot on - The whole Winter Truce bit... It adds to the Timey Wimey Wibbly Wobbly set up... If the Doctor had NOT fought against his regeneration - The this would have been that soldiers death, And all teh time the Doctor has lived through would have been different! His Life is NOT linear... If he had NOT fought his regeneration - This soldier would have died JUST BEFORE the Truce... And with that, Lethbridge Stewart would NEVER have been Born.. So with The Doctors Life NEVER being Linear- He ends up not where he wants to be but where He NEEDS to be!!!! A Fixed point in time that even he never knew existed but just is there... Which then brings more questions too! Like did the Time Lords KNOW the Doctor would get another Regeneration Cycle out of them anyhow? If not, How could this happen? How does the Doctor not know he is teh reason UNIT exist? How the F**KING hell is anyone supposed to understand Time in Doctor Who? (Oh wait - You are not supposed to... Suspension of Disbelief!)

[@finn7948]

What happens to the editorials for 1- 9

[@unrealcows]

While the episode has issues, peter capaldi gave a bloody amazing performance as always

[@Arsuaho]

You talk a lot but nothing changes my opinion, great story and funny two Doctors scenes. I liked it.

[@Pcwarmachine]

Just curious but are these Christmas episodes filmed at the tail end of production for the regular season? I mean they don't all come back in like October to do one episode right? It seemed pretty obvious this is the case as the after show special has a scene with Peter where he regenerates and they say that is the last shot filmed for this crew. I assume then later Chibnall came in with the new Doctor Her and filmed the follow up scene but that must have been some time later.

[@archive9796]

PCWarMachine what the hell are you talking about

[@Pcwarmachine]

Doctor Who Christmas episodes. Duh...

[@prydonianprofessor6257]

THEY SAID THE N WORD IN THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER?!??

[@ChevyChase301]

Zarius Maldova yep the do Ennie Minnie mini moo catch a black person by his toe (they don’t say black person)

[@Timothan]

my mum still recites the n-word version

[@morningcoffeecat2271]

Zarius Maldova lmao

[@Botwin66]

They also said it on Monty Python's Flying Circus (The "People explode every day" sketch) and an early song by The Who ("I Don't Even Know Myself"). Not a big deal back then, apparently, but very jarring to the modern ear.

[@markwilliams7054]

Oliver's Army

[@virtusetglorie]

I whole-heartedly agree