This is
your belated Sunday Who Review, as well as an extra Countdown to Thirteen post,
since it is, of course, our first glimpse of the Thirteenth Doctor. Not to mention, you know, our last glimpse of the Twelfth Doctor! :tears:
In other words, there’s a lot to pack in today. Premise spoilers by necessity.
Standing
on the brink of regeneration but not sure if he wants to change again, the
Twelfth Doctor comes face to face with… himself, the First Doctor in much the
same boat. The two are unexpectedly
joined by a WWI captain plucked out of time, and as they wrestle with questions
of life, death, and rebirth, the Doctors try to unravel the mystery of a glass woman
presiding over what she calls the Chamber of the Dead.
Honestly,
this was my favorite regeneration episode since “The Parting of the Ways,”
which is such a relief. I was so disappointed by both Ten and Eleven’s
exits, and I was dreading the possibility that Twelve was going to go out the
same way. But while this story isn’t
perfect, it’s a pretty lovely contemplation on life and death, the plot holds
together decently, and I’d also say it’s one of the better multi-Doctor stories
out there. I like the Chamber of the
Dead storyline, and Mark Gatiss does a fine job as the marooned soldier.
David
Bradley is back from An Adventure in
Space and Time, playing the actual First Doctor this time instead of
William Hartnell. His portrayal is still
pretty excellent, although I don’t think Moffat’s writing captures One very
well. The characterization hits One’s
crankiness but not his mischievousness (to be fair, the impending regeneration
might be affecting that aspect,) and the running joke of One’s old-fashioned
sexism – and Twelve’s repeated insistence that he can’t say things like that –
isn’t true to the character at all. In
One’s era, the show itself could certainly be paternalistic, and One was in the
habit of urging female companions to stay behind for their own safety, but if
he’d ever acted like it was Barbara’s job to dust the console room, he’d have
had another thing coming. That’s an
admittedly-disappointing part of a Christmas special that, for the most part, I
quite enjoy.
And then,
there’s Twelve’s goodbye. I will point
out that I appreciate getting a little more detail on his resistance to
regeneration than we got in “The Doctor Falls.”
It’s not so much, “I want to stay this
Doctor,” (a la Ten) as it is, “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.” It’s not about digging in his heels, it’s
about being tired and not being sure if he has another round in him; if he’s
fighting to hold back the regeneration energy, it’s only because he hasn’t
decided that yet. And I get that. There are some really gorgeous lines in this
episode about the Doctor’s very long life and the toll that takes. More than any other, this is a regeneration
episode about regeneration, and the
whole story is a way for Twelve to get where he needs to be. In the end, his final scene, while perhaps a
hair too long, is absolutely lovely.
And then,
we get Thirteen. I’m a little annoyed at
how much time the show spends blatantly holding back the reveal for the sake of
the two people who didn’t know the next Doctor was going to be a woman – it hangs
a bit of a sign post on the Very Big Dealness of it, and more importantly, it
takes away from those vital seconds of our first hint of our new Doctor. As Thirteen, Jodie Whittaker only manages to
get in one line before the usual post-regeneration chaos kicks in (when, oh
when, will the Doctor learn not to
put the TARDIS in flight immediately
before regenerating?), but it’s enough to get me mad excited. I have no idea how I’m going to wait to see
more of her!
Accent Watch
Again,
there’s only the one line to work off of, but it sounds Northern to me –
Whittaker’s natural accent?
Recommend?
In
General
– As I said when I reviewed “The Time of the Doctor” for Capaldi Fall, yes, but
not as a starting point for Doctor Who – this is an ending, and a
good one at that. At minimum, go back to
Twelve’s first season and start from there, but I’m an advocate of starting at
the beginning of new Who and working
your way forward.
Jodie
Whittaker
– We have so little to go on so far, but I’m still ready to give a resounding “yes!!” That stunning smile and that one line have me
freaking out. Bring on the Thirteenth
Doctor, please!
Warnings
Violence,
scary moments for kids, a little drinking, and thematic elements.
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