Doctor Who Series 10 Reviews #14: Twice Upon a Time

Twice Upon a Time by Steven Moffat
With help from Chris Chibnall, Kit Pedlar and Gerry Davies

Twice Upon a Time is the 4th Christmas Special for Peter Capaldi, 8th for Steven Moffat and 13th overall. It is the 840th episode of the show and 275th story. It is Peter Capaldi's 40th episode and 34th story. This story marks the final appearance of 12th Doctor and the end of Steven Moffat as showrunner. This also marks the final episode that Murry Gold composes, who has been with the show from the start as well the final one for executive producer Brian Minchian and producer Peter Bennett. The story also marks the return of Bill Potts and Nardole, who also make their final appearance. The 1st Doctor returns for his 31st full appearance (this time played by David Bradley) and Ben Jackson, Polly Wright and 2nd Doctor also make cameo appearances, the latter only through Archive Footage through story. Rusty also reappears as does a vision of Clara Osworld. Mark Gattis returns as an actor, portraying his 4th character in the whoniverse and this time a companion and playing Archibald Lethbridge Steward, the paternal grandfather to Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart and great grandfather to Kate Lethbridge Stewart. This marks his last involvement with the show also. The episode also features a cameo appearance of the Daleks. Toby Whithouse, another longtime writer for the show also appears in his last involvement with the show as well. The episode is also the debut for Jodie Whitaker's 13th Doctor.

This episode was quite the opposite for Steven Moffat's last regeneration story. Time of the Doctor was this grand battle on Trenzalore that attempted to wrap everything up in one adventure and only in 60 minutes. Twice Upon a Time as the opposite because what was initially conceived to be the final for both Capaldi and Moffat, and what was a better finale for them too, had already dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with so this episode felt quite filler, even though it was Capaldi's end. The involvement of 1st Doctor was not essential and perhaps got in the way and Bill Potts' is involvement was also not necessary either. I did not approve the sexism that 1st Doctor was portrayed as he was never that sexist in the original, I only believe he said a minor sexist comment once, and that was asking a woman to put the kettle on but that was quite in character for the 1st Doctor to do it anyway. 12th Doctor shouldn't have had to have shared his last ever episode with another incarnation. Mark Gattiss' character and who is is was good but we should have spent more time with him. Capaldi's end was emotional and the goodbyes were touching as was the Christmas Truce which was a beautiful moment. The opening scene for 13th Doctor was annoying and that doesn't show any promise. Perhaps it was my pure anger that showed when watching that scene, seeing my 4th favourite Doctor (which is still high) turn into a PC Doctor (PC not standing for Peter Capaldi). I can only hope that my opinion changes and it won't be full of feminism in the next series. My fingers are crossed that this episode wasn't the end of the show I adore.

Pros

Capaldi - Peter is a wonderful actor and his Doctor has been great as well. He ended his era after re-meeting all of his companions and with a good old classic 12 speech

The Christmas Truce - The truce was such a poignant moment and really well directed

Music - The music was splendid with such a mixture of great tunes from the modern era. Murry Gold will be sadly missed.

The Companions Return - Bill, Nardole and Clara were back and I think they really should have been there for the last scene but maybe that would have complicated things with having to explain how they got there. Any who it was nice for their returns.

The Tenth Planet - It was great to see this footage and the mold between the old and the new was excellent.

Cons

The Sexism of 1st Doctor - Of course the sexist language that he does use is an issue anyway and not something that I condone but I am also annoyed that he was portrayed with the attitude of perhaps many of the crew when he was the Doctor. The 1st Doctor was never like this and it made him unlikeable and removed his wit and loveable nature that he does have.

The 1st Doctor's return - I love a multi-doctor story but generally only for special occasions in the show's history. Another Doctor however should definitely not have returned for Peter's last story as it takes the limelight from him

The feeling of emptiness - Unfortunately the fact that this was a tag on was felt and I understand why Moffat did the special and I agree with him for doing it but the series 10 finale was a more fitting end.

13th Doctor's scene - As regular readers of the List are well aware I am against the decision to make 13th Doctor a woman but the scene didn't help as it was an awful scene.

Doctor Rating

12th Doctor: 10/10 - I have to say it was perhaps not his best performance but then it was still fantastic because he is amazing. He will be sadly missed.

1st Doctor: 8/10 - Fantastic acting by David Bradley but his scripting and the fact that he is even there in the first place lowers his score

Total: 18/20

Companion Rating

Archibald Lethbridge Stewart: 8/10 - His character was touching but needed more development
Bill Potts: 7/10 - Sadly she was annoying at times and I did not like her use of foul language

Total: 15/20

Enemy Rating

There were no enemies

Story Rating

Story: 7/10 - Nice and simple but did not require the 1st Doctor's involvement
Seriousness: 7/10 - It was serious in terms of being the possible end of the Doctor as a whole but as there was no overlying threat as the plot was actually harmless
Scariness: 7/10 - Not that scary but I suppose the Dalek mutants are a little scary for the youngsters.
Humour: 7/10 - There were humorous moments that I did laugh at but I did feel that many of the jokes did unfortunately fall flat
Continuity: 9/10 - Who fans love all the references to past adventures and this one was full of them but the 1st Doctor being sexist goes against his character the story has to loose a point for that.
Total: 37/50

Total: 70/90

Episode Ranking:

1. Return of the Doctor Mysterio = 72%

2. The Pilot = 74%

3. Smile = 71.66%

4. Thin Ice = 73%

5. Knock Knock = 74.29%

6. Oxygen = 73.07%

7. Extremis = 80.77%

8. The Pyramid at the End of the World = 78%

9. The Lie of the Land = 70%

10. Empress of Mars = 75.33%

11. The Eaters of the Light = 72.30%

12. World Enough and Time = 85.71%

13. The Doctor Falls = 79.33%

14. Twice Upon a Time = 77.78%

Story Ranking: 

1. Return of the Doctor Mysterio = 72%

2. The Pilot = 74%

3. Smile = 71.66%

4. Thin Ice = 73%

5. Knock Knock = 74.29%

6. Oxygen = 73.07%

7. Extremis = 80.77%

8. The Pyramid at the End of the World = 78%

9. The Lie of the Land = 70%

10. Empress of Mars = 75.33%

11. The Eaters of the Light = 72.30%

12. World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls = 82.52%

14. Twice Upon a Time = 77.78%

Return of the Doctor Mysterio: 7/10

The Pilot: 7/10

Smile: 6/10 

Thin Ice: 6/10 

Knock Knock: 7/10 

Oxygen: 8/10

Extremis: 8/10

Pyramid at the End of the World: 8/10

Lie of the Land: 6/10 (-1)

Empress of Mars: 7/10

The Eaters of the Light: 6/10 

World Enough and Time: 9/10

The Doctor Falls: 8/10

The Finale: 9/10

Twice Upon a Time: 8/10

And there you have it the last Peter Capaldi and Moffat story reviewed. I have reviewed every single story featuring Peter Capaldi so it is sad that his era has now come to an end.