3 thoughts on “Doctor Who – The Time of the Doctor & Other Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials [Blu-ray]”
It’s all a bit Omega/Alpha omelette First things first, I am not giving The Time of The Doctor five stars because it was the best of Steven Moffat’s work -in fact I found it wanting in several areas. The plot seemed to be based on the premise that we know it’s going to end with a regeneration so how we get there is of little import. To my mind, the writing did not make full use of the amazing wealth of acting talent available and, in many respects, should have either have been presented as being shorter than the hour we saw, or presented as a longer (or two-part) episode with more explanation of the events at Trenzelor (apologies if that’s not the correct spelling). Matt Smith never fails to be excellent, despite the writing behind him and I have, since it was first announced, been excited to see Peter Capaldi assume the role…!!!The regeneration seems to have lost much of the thrill and dynamism that such events have previously generated… the death, the loss, the re-birth and the mystery have all been lost and, perhaps it was an unwise move to announce the new Doctor so early in the year. Also, have the Time Lords simply given The Doctor one more regeneration cycle or a full twelve… or will we be seeing a similar struggle with plot at the end of Peter Capaldi’s time? Maybe Rassilon can simply remove the regeneration limit, after all, he used to be James Bond… and he was one of the good guys.All in all, I am in two minds about The Time of The Doctor… Maybe it should be a case of has Steven Moffatt had his time? Toby Whithouse, Neil Gaiman and other excellent writers should not be forgotten for their contribution and, maybe, with the new Doctor, new kidneys and all, there should be a new approach to the writing style… back to the intense, dread and exciting times gone past… Steven Moffatt has written some excellent stories, but this new face is not Matt Smith. Where do we go from here?
Ambiguously Excellent! The writers were forced to: create an excellent Christmas special, wrap up the entire story ark of the eleventh Doctor, make the episode emotional – to show all of the elements of the character, write out Matt Smith, create an effective regeneration scene, show the incarnation’s memories for the sake of nostalgia, clear up the regeneration limit, introduce something new for the next incarnation, introduce the new actor (Peter Capaldi), and make the transition meaningful, all in a single – hour long – episode; I think they made an excellent job under the circumstances. But will this set an impossible standard?Some may be a little displeased with the episode, because it’s what they believe to be “unsatisfactory”, but how do you define that? At times, when a T.V show becomes popular enough, the expectations of the fans, go beyond reality – and not even an incredible episode like this one, can meet the expectations of those who can never be happy.Personally, I think that the episode is a magnificent example of creativity, and real emotion. Some may see a couple of humorous elements to be “unnecessary”, but all I can say is to please develop a sense of humor! Comical moments may not always fit the story art exactly, but they add an extra dimension to the show – which is much needed in a lot of others. The ending is also in my opinion touching, and fitting for the incarnation – ending in a blaze of glory, and an emotional speech. Many see Matt Smith’s departure as too quick, and insufficiently dramatic; I however see the actual change from Matt to Peter as an excellent way of allowing the moment to set in, by reminding the audience of the core of the character himself; ironically followed by an almost instant and shocking regeneration moment – this is however separate from the main section of the regular cycle, which involved the glory that I talked about above.This structure of a lack of any transition from one moment and the next, is perfectly represented in this special – compressing everything that was presented in the era, into a single episode. Be it the immediate final regeneration, or the change from almost childish moments of joy, to dramatic moments of shock and almost emotional trauma – fitting for a final episode.To conclude, the episode is a perfect method to end an era, and must be seen by any fan – major or minor – or any intelligent and tasteful person. The standard for the story telling seems to have leaped from sometimes slapdash story arks, to the dramatic storytelling of the Name, Day and Time of the Doctor trilogy; this is likely due to Matt Smith’s departure, following the regular pattern of a temporarily raised story line – in a similar fashion to David Tennant’s era, resulting in the following episodes being terrible due to the comparison. Nonetheless, the standard has been set once again, and due to the significant number of reviews on Amazon, who complain that they are not entirely “happy” with the quality of this epic tale, such standard could backfire on the show, simply because the truth is that it’s impossible to make everyone happy – as I have said before. All arguments aside, I strongly recommend that you enjoy the episode, before being influenced by other people.Please note that I’m reviewing “The Time of The Doctor” only, as it is the most significant of the Blu-ray set, at the time of this writing.
“And now it’s time for one last bow, elevens hour is over now, the clock is striking twelves” This was an amazing episode, and pulls you right in, in literally the first 30 seconds he’s being attacked by daleks. I’m not going to put any spoilers up but it answers all the unanswered questions since Matt’s very first episode and its been building up since then. All honesty I didn’t like his first season, compared to Russell T Davis and DT’s era I thought it lacked the adult and just enough family to be suitable for all so season 5 was a bit childish but season 6 was much better, but when Clara came along it was really back on track. I’m honestly devastated that Matt went, he said himeself as well he wish he gave it one more year, Matt was my second favourite doctor, second to you guessed it the amazing David Tennant.But anyway this is about the episode, oh and now There’s SPOILERS, where at the start every single bad guy is around trenzelore this made me go off my seat before I was fully sitting down, the comedy was well done as well, I think the enemy’s during the episode could have been higher though, at least adding slitheen in would make it feel like they were all there for him not just the enemy’s elevens faced.By the end when Clara comes back and finds the doctor after being sent away a second time, it gets really emotional, when the music drops into sad tune I almost cried, then when they showed him I thought it was shocking seeing him, I found it ironic that he finally had a companion that outlived him after two thousand years now, when he then went to face the daleks I for one second thought it might be the end of the line until the time lords saved him, there for destroying all the daleks in the process.When we then see the doctor on the tardis I knew it wasn’t over though, they wouldn’t let the last time we seem him be when he is covered in make up… Instead they chose a wig. But seriously, I started to tear up, almost as much as I did when David left, and I’m not a tear kinda guy. Then when he made his speech of them all being different in all his lives I found that his best moment (save his speech at the very end at the 50th”) after seeing Amy make a cameo I was pleased they gave him a good and tearjerking send off, but I thought the regeneration was too quick, though logical since he already did most of it destroying the daleks then introduced Capaldi in a nice way.Onwards and upwards, Matt was a great doctor who brought the age of the doctor out better than any despite being the youngest to play him, he brought comedy to the character to him as well, he proved that changing from t davis and David tennant could work the era ends here guys. My favourite episode for Matt was ‘the day of the doctor’ because I love to see all the doctors and how they react. Farewell eleven, and goodnight.
It’s all a bit Omega/Alpha omelette First things first, I am not giving The Time of The Doctor five stars because it was the best of Steven Moffat’s work -in fact I found it wanting in several areas. The plot seemed to be based on the premise that we know it’s going to end with a regeneration so how we get there is of little import. To my mind, the writing did not make full use of the amazing wealth of acting talent available and, in many respects, should have either have been presented as being shorter than the hour we saw, or presented as a longer (or two-part) episode with more explanation of the events at Trenzelor (apologies if that’s not the correct spelling). Matt Smith never fails to be excellent, despite the writing behind him and I have, since it was first announced, been excited to see Peter Capaldi assume the role…!!!The regeneration seems to have lost much of the thrill and dynamism that such events have previously generated… the death, the loss, the re-birth and the mystery have all been lost and, perhaps it was an unwise move to announce the new Doctor so early in the year. Also, have the Time Lords simply given The Doctor one more regeneration cycle or a full twelve… or will we be seeing a similar struggle with plot at the end of Peter Capaldi’s time? Maybe Rassilon can simply remove the regeneration limit, after all, he used to be James Bond… and he was one of the good guys.All in all, I am in two minds about The Time of The Doctor… Maybe it should be a case of has Steven Moffatt had his time? Toby Whithouse, Neil Gaiman and other excellent writers should not be forgotten for their contribution and, maybe, with the new Doctor, new kidneys and all, there should be a new approach to the writing style… back to the intense, dread and exciting times gone past… Steven Moffatt has written some excellent stories, but this new face is not Matt Smith. Where do we go from here?
Ambiguously Excellent! The writers were forced to: create an excellent Christmas special, wrap up the entire story ark of the eleventh Doctor, make the episode emotional – to show all of the elements of the character, write out Matt Smith, create an effective regeneration scene, show the incarnation’s memories for the sake of nostalgia, clear up the regeneration limit, introduce something new for the next incarnation, introduce the new actor (Peter Capaldi), and make the transition meaningful, all in a single – hour long – episode; I think they made an excellent job under the circumstances. But will this set an impossible standard?Some may be a little displeased with the episode, because it’s what they believe to be “unsatisfactory”, but how do you define that? At times, when a T.V show becomes popular enough, the expectations of the fans, go beyond reality – and not even an incredible episode like this one, can meet the expectations of those who can never be happy.Personally, I think that the episode is a magnificent example of creativity, and real emotion. Some may see a couple of humorous elements to be “unnecessary”, but all I can say is to please develop a sense of humor! Comical moments may not always fit the story art exactly, but they add an extra dimension to the show – which is much needed in a lot of others. The ending is also in my opinion touching, and fitting for the incarnation – ending in a blaze of glory, and an emotional speech. Many see Matt Smith’s departure as too quick, and insufficiently dramatic; I however see the actual change from Matt to Peter as an excellent way of allowing the moment to set in, by reminding the audience of the core of the character himself; ironically followed by an almost instant and shocking regeneration moment – this is however separate from the main section of the regular cycle, which involved the glory that I talked about above.This structure of a lack of any transition from one moment and the next, is perfectly represented in this special – compressing everything that was presented in the era, into a single episode. Be it the immediate final regeneration, or the change from almost childish moments of joy, to dramatic moments of shock and almost emotional trauma – fitting for a final episode.To conclude, the episode is a perfect method to end an era, and must be seen by any fan – major or minor – or any intelligent and tasteful person. The standard for the story telling seems to have leaped from sometimes slapdash story arks, to the dramatic storytelling of the Name, Day and Time of the Doctor trilogy; this is likely due to Matt Smith’s departure, following the regular pattern of a temporarily raised story line – in a similar fashion to David Tennant’s era, resulting in the following episodes being terrible due to the comparison. Nonetheless, the standard has been set once again, and due to the significant number of reviews on Amazon, who complain that they are not entirely “happy” with the quality of this epic tale, such standard could backfire on the show, simply because the truth is that it’s impossible to make everyone happy – as I have said before. All arguments aside, I strongly recommend that you enjoy the episode, before being influenced by other people.Please note that I’m reviewing “The Time of The Doctor” only, as it is the most significant of the Blu-ray set, at the time of this writing.
“And now it’s time for one last bow, elevens hour is over now, the clock is striking twelves” This was an amazing episode, and pulls you right in, in literally the first 30 seconds he’s being attacked by daleks. I’m not going to put any spoilers up but it answers all the unanswered questions since Matt’s very first episode and its been building up since then. All honesty I didn’t like his first season, compared to Russell T Davis and DT’s era I thought it lacked the adult and just enough family to be suitable for all so season 5 was a bit childish but season 6 was much better, but when Clara came along it was really back on track. I’m honestly devastated that Matt went, he said himeself as well he wish he gave it one more year, Matt was my second favourite doctor, second to you guessed it the amazing David Tennant.But anyway this is about the episode, oh and now There’s SPOILERS, where at the start every single bad guy is around trenzelore this made me go off my seat before I was fully sitting down, the comedy was well done as well, I think the enemy’s during the episode could have been higher though, at least adding slitheen in would make it feel like they were all there for him not just the enemy’s elevens faced.By the end when Clara comes back and finds the doctor after being sent away a second time, it gets really emotional, when the music drops into sad tune I almost cried, then when they showed him I thought it was shocking seeing him, I found it ironic that he finally had a companion that outlived him after two thousand years now, when he then went to face the daleks I for one second thought it might be the end of the line until the time lords saved him, there for destroying all the daleks in the process.When we then see the doctor on the tardis I knew it wasn’t over though, they wouldn’t let the last time we seem him be when he is covered in make up… Instead they chose a wig. But seriously, I started to tear up, almost as much as I did when David left, and I’m not a tear kinda guy. Then when he made his speech of them all being different in all his lives I found that his best moment (save his speech at the very end at the 50th”) after seeing Amy make a cameo I was pleased they gave him a good and tearjerking send off, but I thought the regeneration was too quick, though logical since he already did most of it destroying the daleks then introduced Capaldi in a nice way.Onwards and upwards, Matt was a great doctor who brought the age of the doctor out better than any despite being the youngest to play him, he brought comedy to the character to him as well, he proved that changing from t davis and David tennant could work the era ends here guys. My favourite episode for Matt was ‘the day of the doctor’ because I love to see all the doctors and how they react. Farewell eleven, and goodnight.