Doctor Who Christmas Special: 5 Thoughts On 'The Time Of The Doctor'

Matt Smith officially made his exit as the 11th (fine, 12th) Doctor and made way for Peter Capaldi in last night's The Time Of The Doctor Christmas Special. Gathered below are a few observations on the Raggedy Man's last adventure. 

Spoilers, obviously.

1. This would have been much better as a stand-alone episode.

The Time Of The Doctor was one of Doctor Who's yearly Christmas specials. Unfortunately, the holiday setting didn't help the episode in any way and the obvious shoehorning of festive elements hindered the last run of the 11th Doctor.

The town of Christmas was never really fleshed out, serving merely as a wintery backdrop (and a bit of comic relief in the scene about the "truth field", which was promptly dropped in service of the rest of the episode). In addition, the people of the town were nameless faces that never gave us a reason to care about them. Had the need to force a Christmas dinner sub-plot not been there (though Clara and The Doctor did play it beautifully) maybe the town being in peril could have been made to matter.

2. Stephen Moffit needs a leash

While the experiment of season-long arcs and really showing how complicated a story-line can get when time travel is involved has granted us some excellent moments during Smith's run, lately Moffit's overly self-referential schtick has worn a bit thin. The Christmas special brought out every villain that Smith has ever faced while centering around a plot point that hasn't been mentioned in years.

This episode was so packed with criss-crossed timelines and nods to canon that many viewers missed one of the biggest reveals of the episode, that Tasha Lem, Mother Superious of the Papal Mainframe, is none other than the Doctor's wife River Song.

Fans shouldn't be scrambling for the Doctor Who wiki at the end of the episode just to wrap their noggin around what they've just watched.

3. And speaking of villains...

The showdowns between the Doctor and his many foes were rushed due to the cramped nature of the episode. Never once did it seem like Smith's Doctor was in any actual danger and the viewers were robbed of the typical "brilliant plan" reveals that end most of the Doctor's battles.

(Not to say that the Doctor didn't use his cunning to save the day, but the viewer was given little time to enjoy the "a-ha!" moment before the breakneck episode moved on).

4. That's not to say that the episode didn't have strong points

Matt Smith showed serious chops hopping around from comedic moments to serious gravitas with ease. He even managed to pull of an old man version of his character without coming across as a child play-acting with a hunched back, no easy feat.

In addition, Jenna Coleman continued to provide an acting workshop for future companions, managing to give her character weight where none was written into the script.

5. Dat Regeneration doe...

Many reviewers have accused the regeneration sequence of being drawn out, an overly egocentric, fourth wall-breaking bit of fluffing that took viewers out of the moment. To which, I'd like to ask them to go back and watch the regenerations of Eccleston and Tennant. "I'll always remember when the Doctor was me" is no less self-centered than "You were fantastic and you know what? So was I." or Tennant's two-parter death tour that ended with "I don't want to go."

However, Smith's Doctor was often fiery, confident and confrontational (A few examples if you want to fall into a YouTube wormhole: "There's one thing you never put in a trap...", "Basically...run.", "No one human has anything to say to me today!" and my personal favorite, "Let somebody else try first."). Therefore, I thought his character would have been better served to go out on the explosive, Dalek destroying, "You want my life? Come and get it!"

Overall, the episode reminded me of why I loved Smith's tenure as the Doctor, while thinking that he deserved better.