Pizza

Story felt desperate. And why can't an assistant/companion ever leave without it being tragic or heartbreaking? Weakest finale in the run of the current update.

Xiroteus

I was entertained yet something feels off the season.

Superman07

Part 1 was good. That? Perhaps the most depressing episode of NewWho I have watched.

The Masters plan? Create an army, give control to the Doctor and hope he'll take over the universe because he's either a bad man, or misses his friend?

Also, no idea how putting the Doctor and Clara together was supposed to do anything.

I hope Xmas special ends on a high note, and the. series 9 makes large improvements.

Josh-da-man

Martha got to leave without much fuss. Since she's a UNIT associate she could turn up again at some point. Or has Moffatt completely cut the cord on anything from the RTD run that he didn't come up with?

joltman

I feel like there was a missed opportunity for someone to say "They're coming to get you Clara"

Jay G.

Moffatt hasn't completely cut the cord; after all, he brought back Billie Piper as "Bad Wolf" for the 50th Anniversary Special. However, I don't think it's ever been too common to bring back old companions. Sarah Jane guest staring on the New Who may have been the first time an old companion returned outside of the multiple doctors stories.

From what I gather, the official line is that Martha and Mickey are "freelancers" at the end of "The End of Time," so she's no longer with UNIT.


The problem with companions is that, especially in the new version of the show, there has to be a compelling reason for them to leave. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just stay adventuring with The Doctor forever? Rose and 10 were basically shown as soul-mates, so the only way to tear them apart was to put them in literally different universes. Donna had to forget The Doctor entirely to be ok with staying home. Amy & Rory, similar to Clara, were juggling their home life and The Doctor, so they had little reason to be "homesick." Martha only got of "easy" because of the whole unrequited love angle; it was simply too painful for Martha to stay with The Doctor. That's not something they can use for every companion.

chuckd21

Yep, they threw a whole bunch of "Ohhhhhh, so she was the one who..." details at us, but none of them made any sense. The Master's plan made NO SENSE.

Shazam

She's a woman. Of course it made no sense.

Vipper II

I'm actually kind of surprised we haven't seen Jack Harkness. After all, he debuted in one of the Moffatt-penned episodes. I think I'd like to see Captain Jack and The Doctor team up for a bit.

Jay G.

There's probably some rights issues after Torchwood moved to Starz for one ill-fated season.

SmithsGuy

Well this was a head-scratcher. The plot/plan didn't make a whole lot of sense - spend several thousand years uploading everyone just so that their uploaded conciousness could then download into their cyber-ized bodies? Why? (By the way, where'd all the metal (if it is) come from to cover them? The clouds as well?)

Danny Pink's end was somewhat meh - get hit by a car in the 1st 5 mins and he's out of there. Same for the bow-tie-girl, ZZAPT. The Bridgadier nod was fun as was the few UNIT bits except the plane ...

Somewhere around a C - C+ for me ...

joltman

Wasn't it strongly implied that the timetraveller was from Clara and Danny's lineage? But if Danny's already dead, how will that happen?

Baron Of Hell

Clara is pregnant.

Unclejosh

I personally liked Clara and will miss her if she doesn't come back. I love Jenna Coleman's delivery.

The Valeyard

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kenbuzz

Jay G.

I'm surprised this thread doesn't have more posts in it.

I liked it. I was a bit wary of the idea of mixing Santa Claus and something "scary," but it largely worked.

Of course Santa couldn't be real; the show has always wrapped its fantastic under "science fiction," and Santa Claus is too much just straight up magic. Santa Claus would've have to be revealed as a Time Lord or something in order to "fit" into the show; of course, the last shot of the tangerine leaves open the possibility...

Superman07

Agree it was pretty good, although I think the last Chritmas special I really enjoyed was with Tenant.

I thought the tangerine was very much like the end of Inception, suggesting Santa was real.

I did think the answer on the sled and sack was hilarious - "It's bigger on the inside."

Josh-da-man

This was my favorite Capaldi story so far.

Which shocks me considering it featured Santa Claus (wouldn't have minded if he turned out to be real, he was such a badass), and was mostly a knock-off of Alien, The Thing, and Inception.

Jackskeleton

I really hate to admit it, but damn was this a good christmas episode.

Xiroteus

Something about this felt more like Doctor Who since the new season started. I liked it and I was not sure if the last bit was real at first since I have heard things about Clara staying and leaving.

Jcheckel

At least they acknowledged it was a knock-off of Alien and The Thing with the DVD list.

benedict

The aspect of this was pretty much what I had been expecting from the whole series... which had more than its fair share of "silliness".

As an episode, I liked it. And I, too, had thought we were due a new companion.

Pizza

Best episode this year. It gave me hope for the series. As for the Alien references, it made since for the plot.

randian

The announcement at the end appears to confirm that Jenna-Louise Coleman is not leaving Dr Who this year at rumored.