Reviewed by Jeffrey Zyra
“We
all change. When you think about it we
are all different people all through our lives and that’s ok, that’s good, you
gotta keep moving so long as you remember all the people that you used to
be. I will not forget one line of this
not one day, I swear, I will always remember when The Doctor was me.”
Matt
Smith’s time as The Doctor has finally come to an end in a story that takes
place yet again on Trenzalore. The
Doctor’s greatest battle to defend the people of Christmas from all his greatest
enemies all in orbit around the planet waiting to see if he says his name to
allow the Time Lords to return. The Time
of The Doctor is 2013’s Christmas Special and it is a bitter sweet affair as we
say goodbye to Matt Smith as he regenerates and we say hello to Peter Capaldi.
The
Time of The Doctor is a mix bag. On a
whole I did enjoy it but there were a couple of things that got me scratching
my head wondering why Steven Moffat felt he needed to add these situations into
the story. For one why did they find it necessary to have The Doctor walking
around naked? Even when The Doctor used
the holographic clothes and then went to meet Clara’s parents for Christmas
dinner he was clearly naked and it just made for a really stupid moment. It just seemed so juvenile and doesn’t need
to be in a science fiction show. I know
the show needs to be light hearted at times but that was just too immature. What’s next fart jokes? Umm well that’s been
done already also so moving on.
I’m
also tired of every woman who The Doctor befriends or knows wants to sleep with
him. This is getting old and is a tired
gimmick that has run its course.
Hopefully in the Peter Capaldi we don’t see this anymore and we can get
back to storytelling and leave the soap opera stuff to Eastenders and
Coronation Street. It was funny how they
incorporated Matt Smith having to shave his head for a movie he filmed. He shaved his head and had to wear a wig
because he was bored. They could have
left that bit out but it was quite a surprise when he took the wig off.
In
true Doctor form he sacrifices his life to defend the innocent. The people of Christmas are the benefactor of
The Doctor protecting them and he ends up protecting them until he is an old
man living out his final moments. In
fact this deed will end up killing him as he cannot regenerate anymore. I like how this was resolved as the Time
Lords bestowed upon him another regeneration cycle. It was simple and not complicated and that is
exactly how it should have been.
Something uncomplicated as just giving The Doctor a new life cycle with
no drama and reviving an old man at the end of his life. We know the Time Lords
can do that as they offered The Master the same thing as a reward in The Five
Doctors. It was just a perfect way to do it and the show will go on without a
hitch.
I
did like the story for the most part when the silliness was ended. I really enjoyed watching The Doctor who
stayed for Christmas as it was a story and something you would expect The
Doctor to do. It was interesting to see
how he changed through the time that Clara came back to see him and what he did
in the meantime by fixing the children’s toys and telling them stories of his
adventures. It was also sad to watch as
this was a man who is used to exploring and he is stuck in one place defending
everyone and he is doing it and you can see him get old in front of you and you
can’t help but feel sorry for him. This part of the story I really liked and it
felt cheapen by the stupidity of the opening minutes.
I
liked how everything was resolved from his era.
What he saw in the hotel room from The God Complex, who blew up his
TARDIS and the meaning of the crack. For
the diehard fan of the show this was good and put an ending to storylines but
the casual viewer might be confused and lost.
Oh well if they were expecting a light hearted Christmas tale then the
jokes on them. Its Matt Smith’s regeneration
story they should have known what they would be getting themselves into it’s
not as if the interviews and news articles did not make mention of storylines
coming to an end plus it is his farewell and those stories are never
lighthearted to begin with. Plus the
resolution to the storylines was quick and they did not precedence to the
overall story so there shouldn’t have been much confusion from the casual fan.
I
did like how The Doctor used his regeneration energy to destroy the
Daleks. If it can destroy the inside of
the TARDIS I guess it can destroy the Daleks.
This takes us to Matt Smith’s farewell scene the whole reason for this year’s
Christmas special. This is one of the
best and emotional swan songs in many years of regeneration stories. Steven Moffat is really good at writing
emotional speeches and this one is one of his best. It was sad watching him talking to Clara with
the Long Song from The Rings of Akhaten playing and then Amy Pond makes an
appearance as he has visions of his past makes the moment even more
emotional. It really hit home when he
took off the bow tie and looked at it and dropping it to the TARDIS floor as it
symbolized that his life is over and that the bow ties are cool man is now
forever gone. I really liked how they handled this and it was such a powerful
scene and quite fitting for Matt Smith.
It was even more shocking and emotional was how fast he became the next
Doctor as we get a quick glimpse of Peter Capaldi to the shock of Clara whose
facial expression are priceless and Jenna Coleman did an excellent job in this
scene.
So
the Matt Smith era is over and in life all good things come to an end but in
Doctor Who they do end but with good things yet to come. So like Amy Pond said “Raggedy Man…
Goodnight.”
8
out of 10
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