Spoilery Thoughts on “Twice Upon a Time” (Doctor Who)

I don’t usually feel the need to take a second go-around at a Doctor Who Christmas special, but since this episode is both a Christmas special and a Doctor finale (and new Doctor introduction!), there are some suitably epic things going on that could use a little more discussion than I was able to give in my initial review.  Full spoilers on our last episode with the Twelfth Doctor.

First things first, I’m really grateful for the chance to see Bill with the Doctor one last time.  I do wish it had been the “real” her, if only because now neither of them really know that the other survived the encounter with the Cybermen last season.  For all the Doctor knows, the memory scan of Bill was taken from the ship on Mondas, and the Bill who sees the Doctor back up and about is a copy – the Bill (presumably) traveling the universe with Heather doesn’t know about this.  That said, I like the use of the glass vessels/memory copies and the idea that, because a person is their memories, this Bill is no less genuine than the flesh-and-blood one.  I also love, by the way, that the glass people and the Chamber of the Dead ultimately have a compassionate agenda; the Doctor realizing it’s not an evil plan and then not knowing what to do with himself makes me smile.

What other happy things?  I’m glad to get one last look at a glass version of Nardole (he has invisible hair!), something I wouldn’t have pictured saying when he was first introduced on the show, and I appreciate that the Doctor gets his memories of Clara back.  And despite going on too long, the Doctor’s final speech is wonderful – Capaldi does these moments so well, and even if a lot of his “advice” for his successor is stuff she’s obviously already gonna know (never cruel or cowardly, etc.), I like seeing him give it.

I like the addition of the Captain, not least of which for the lovely use of the WWI Christmas truce.  I’ll admit that I didn’t think of it until the moment the singing starts, at which point I got super excited.  Looking back over the course of the show, it’s a little surprising that they’d never tackled it before this point, at least not on TV (I recall Nine and Rose enjoying the truce in a comic book.)  Mark Gatiss does a great job as the Captain – I especially like his introductory scene, in which he calmly (futilely) tries to convince the uncomprehending German soldier not to shoot him, as well as the whole idea of him going in and out of the mindset of being ready for death.  As soon as the show got coy with his name, I knew he was important – although, seriously, neither Twelve, One, nor Bill ever ask him his name throughout the whole adventure?  They just call him “the Captain”?  At least use his first name and save the last name for the ending reveal!  I confess that him being a Lethbridge-Stewart never occurred to me.  Because the episode has One in it, I suppose, I kept thinking First Doctor companions and was expecting a Chesterton or a Wright.  I should’ve known, though:  that mustache!

I already discussed my dislike for the stupid First Doctor sexism stuff – leave it to Moffat to be more sexist than the ‘60s when he’s trying to prove how not-sexist he is, oy.  Additionally, I think Rusty is a weird character to bring back, both in terms of importance to the series/to Twelve and to its function within the story.  There’s really no reason at all for it to be Rusty.  I know there’s more stuff that’s either dumb or doesn’t make sense, but enough of the episode works for me that I’m still riding the high from it.  I’m sure, once the story comes out on DVD and I’ve seen it again, I’ll find more nits to pick.

And again, the Thirteenth Doctor.  I’ll repeat what I said in my review:  it does bug me a little that the show takes so long to just show her face and “reveal” that she’s a woman.  They’ve never done that with any other Doctor, and to me, that highlights the moment in a way that makes it feel like a Very Huge Deal.  Which, I mean, it is, culturally, of course – don’t get me wrong there.  But it shouldn’t be so Big and Significant within the show itself.  Going forward, it’s going to be absolutely crucial for Thirteen to just be the Doctor, and I’m wary of the show having a self-conscious attitude of, “Look!  The Doctor’s a woman now!!!  Can you even believe it?!”  (Plus, Thirteen regenerates, obviously, in Twelve’s clothes, so why does she have makeup he wasn’t wearing?)

But I’m so prepared to love her.  That gorgeous smile when she sees herself, that “Aw, brilliant!” – there you are, Doctor.  I’m ready to meet you.  I think this can be done, potentially fantastically well.  I just need the show to not let her down.