The 50th Anniversary episode... eagerly awaited by fans and a nightmare task for the scriptwriter.... in this case, Stephen Moffatt, the king of the plot holes and skimming over of stuff. And here he goes again. Having said that, there were some lovely touches and a great performance from John Hurt.
I thought it was a masterstroke to pair him with Rose (Billie Piper) so that it wasn't just another instance of Rose popping back from the parallel universe. The interaction between Matt Smith and David Tennant's Doctors was fun and well-scripted. Mix in John Hurt trying to fathom out his childish successors and things were looking great indeed.
The Time War - at last a conclusion (of sorts) and I settled down hoping for Dalek battles and destruction and Time Weapons and battling Tardises....
Instead we popped back to a highly unlikely encounter with Elizabeth I and a Zygon horse... And the less said about the wedding and the dangling over London from the Tardis the better. I have always had a soft spot for the Zygons but in true Moffat style they actually had little to do and even less to do with the plot. A wasted opportunity. I would have loved to see them in a standalone episode of their own. Maybe in 2014.
Plot holes: so Clara is now a teacher. I must have missed her years at College getting her degree. And she drops everything to jump into the Tardis. I hope she is back for class tomorrow or she will be in trouble. If Kate was always a Zygon why bother bringing in the Doctor who they know will interfere? And Kate is duplicated and held in a sort of slimy web thing so that her pattern can be kept alive for duplication (see 'Terror of the Zygons'), but no such affair is needed to duplicate the scarf-wearing assistant or Elizabeth I. Or the horse? And sticking Gallifrey and all the Time Lords into a parallel universe frozen in a second of time isn't much better than wiping them out anyway - especially as we seem to have forgotten that the Time Lords had a Master Plan of their own to destroy the Universe in order to end the Time War. So this way round they got off lightly! And a nice touch for fans but how on Earth (or off Earth) did UNIT get a photograph of Sara Kingdom who lived and died in the far future? Or of Susan? Or Kamelion? Or...???
Great Bits: John Hurt. In every scene he is in. Matt and David. Great interaction. Comparison of screwdrivers. Very funny. The reappearance of the circles on the walls in John Hurt's Tardis. At last! Rose as The Interface. An uncannily accurate voice impersonation of William Hartnell's doctor. A flash of Peter Capaldi's eyes (and brows).
So overall a fun romp that didn't live up to the hype (an almost impossible task I know). Roll on the Xmas Special :-)
(Oh and for all the people concerned that the Doctor is reaching the end of his regenerations don't forget that a) this is science fiction so anything can happen, b) the Master was planning to trigger a whole new regeneration cycle by stealing the Eye of Harmony in 'The Deadly Assassin' so we know it's possible to start again, c) the Time Lords offered the Master a whole new Regeneration Cycle if he rescued the Doctor in 'The Five Doctors' so they could do it (and the Doctor has been advised to search for Gallifrey....), d) River Song passed her regeneration energy to the Doctor to bring him back to life after she poisoned him so maybe there is extra regeneration energy left from her for more bodies. After all, we only saw her use up 3 bodies on TV (the young girl in 'The Impossible Astronaut', Mel is 'Let's Kill Hitler' and, of course, the Alex Kingston version). Plenty left over. And e) make up your own reason. Why not? :-) Doctor Who hasn't got to 50 years old only to stop because of a lack of Regenerations...... thank goodness).
I thought it was a masterstroke to pair him with Rose (Billie Piper) so that it wasn't just another instance of Rose popping back from the parallel universe. The interaction between Matt Smith and David Tennant's Doctors was fun and well-scripted. Mix in John Hurt trying to fathom out his childish successors and things were looking great indeed.
The Time War - at last a conclusion (of sorts) and I settled down hoping for Dalek battles and destruction and Time Weapons and battling Tardises....
Instead we popped back to a highly unlikely encounter with Elizabeth I and a Zygon horse... And the less said about the wedding and the dangling over London from the Tardis the better. I have always had a soft spot for the Zygons but in true Moffat style they actually had little to do and even less to do with the plot. A wasted opportunity. I would have loved to see them in a standalone episode of their own. Maybe in 2014.
Plot holes: so Clara is now a teacher. I must have missed her years at College getting her degree. And she drops everything to jump into the Tardis. I hope she is back for class tomorrow or she will be in trouble. If Kate was always a Zygon why bother bringing in the Doctor who they know will interfere? And Kate is duplicated and held in a sort of slimy web thing so that her pattern can be kept alive for duplication (see 'Terror of the Zygons'), but no such affair is needed to duplicate the scarf-wearing assistant or Elizabeth I. Or the horse? And sticking Gallifrey and all the Time Lords into a parallel universe frozen in a second of time isn't much better than wiping them out anyway - especially as we seem to have forgotten that the Time Lords had a Master Plan of their own to destroy the Universe in order to end the Time War. So this way round they got off lightly! And a nice touch for fans but how on Earth (or off Earth) did UNIT get a photograph of Sara Kingdom who lived and died in the far future? Or of Susan? Or Kamelion? Or...???
Great Bits: John Hurt. In every scene he is in. Matt and David. Great interaction. Comparison of screwdrivers. Very funny. The reappearance of the circles on the walls in John Hurt's Tardis. At last! Rose as The Interface. An uncannily accurate voice impersonation of William Hartnell's doctor. A flash of Peter Capaldi's eyes (and brows).
So overall a fun romp that didn't live up to the hype (an almost impossible task I know). Roll on the Xmas Special :-)
(Oh and for all the people concerned that the Doctor is reaching the end of his regenerations don't forget that a) this is science fiction so anything can happen, b) the Master was planning to trigger a whole new regeneration cycle by stealing the Eye of Harmony in 'The Deadly Assassin' so we know it's possible to start again, c) the Time Lords offered the Master a whole new Regeneration Cycle if he rescued the Doctor in 'The Five Doctors' so they could do it (and the Doctor has been advised to search for Gallifrey....), d) River Song passed her regeneration energy to the Doctor to bring him back to life after she poisoned him so maybe there is extra regeneration energy left from her for more bodies. After all, we only saw her use up 3 bodies on TV (the young girl in 'The Impossible Astronaut', Mel is 'Let's Kill Hitler' and, of course, the Alex Kingston version). Plenty left over. And e) make up your own reason. Why not? :-) Doctor Who hasn't got to 50 years old only to stop because of a lack of Regenerations...... thank goodness).