SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

cybersontaran As much as I love peter Capaldi as the doctor, this was not the right send off for him. I honestly think that it would have been better to see him regenerate in the doctor falls. As it was a much better send off for him. But no, Steven Moffat has to go rub his grubby hands all over the wonderful ending he had for us, all just because he didn't want to lose the Christmas special slot on telly. Thanks a lot Steven.I'm not really sure where to start. I could start with the offensive characterisation of the first doctor, or the amount of fan service he tried to stuff into it. There was so much thrown at our faces and it's hard to understand any of it. Especially if your a casual viewer. To a casual viewer it would pretty much be a bit like this. So there's these glass people and they have frozen time or something, and then the doctor visits a dalek called rusty that I had never seen before and so the doctor goes back in time even though it's frozen and saves this guy called Stewart that fought in a war or something and now that bill girl is glass, or is she? Also, Bill. WTF Moffat why?!?! Why bring her back? She had a perfectly good ending in the doctor falls!!!!! And now all the focus is on her and wether she is glass or real when should be on the plot. OH WAIT! THERE IS NO PLOT!! There is literally no plot! I could go on about how the first doctor is written like a sexist when he's really not. This makes the doctor look like a bad person (bye bye half the audience). But I think I'm gonna stop here. The only good scene was the regeneration. Dam that was good. So I give it 4/10. The four was for the amazing performances by all the actors and the amazing regeneration scene that makes me cry and then scream with glee.

samuel-lewis12 It was the end of an era for doctor who, other than a new doctor it's was the end of Steven Moffat and the end of doctor who as we know it. I was expecting it to go out on a bang, but it didn't, the first doctor was a stupid mistake and a complete mockery of hartnells doctor. Since when was the first doctor sexist and the twelve doctor pc gone mad (apparently women can't clean anymore). Other than that I thought that this episode had a boring plot, poor cgi and just a terrible episode. It would have been so much better if davros was behind the plan instead of rusty, no one really liked that episode and most regular non fan viewers will have forgotten about the episode so wouldn't have a clue what's going on! The music was recycled the twelve doctor wasn't the one I knew and was just there to suddenly talk about feminism which he hasn't really talked about before but as it's a female doctors first episode, you have too. Bills character also felt pointless and ruined her departure from The Doctor Falls. Clara's cameo could have been executed better and a montage of there travels would have improved the scene even more, I would not recommend this episode to anyone.

Eugene Williams III The Doctor should have regenerated at the end of "The Doctor Falls" and that should have been the end of it. While reintroducing the first incarnation of the Doctor was cute, it was nothing more than a way for David Bradley to show that he's got some serious acting chops. The banter between the first Doctor and Capaldi's Doctor had its moments, but then began to wane. And the episode grew stale rather quickly.I loved Bill in the last season. However, she as a collection of memories in this special didn't play well. It felt like she spent every scene trying to convince the Doctor of who she was. Had she come back as a "pilot," which she had been turned into at the end of "The Doctor Falls," it would have made sense and given her and the Doctor closure. The same thing with he predecessor making a cameo. Wrong, wrong, wrong, cheap, and added no value. It was horribly reminiscent of Amy Pond showing up to rattle of her Raggedy Man statement to Matt Smith's incarnation of the Doctor before he regenerated. All of the scenes were pieced together simply for the sake of a Christmas special.The regenerations got to be epic with Eccleston. Many express emotions about Capaldi switching out to Whittaker. I remember when Tom Baker's Doctor regenerated. No special effects. No fanfare. No one man show theatrical dialogue. Plus, Baker's death was acted out as being real from having fallen from a great height, not him at the end of a season as the Doctor. And Baker felt missed, for me, because he was such an outstanding Doctor that you didn't want him to go. Whittaker has some shoes to fill. After so many versions of the Doctor, she has to present a fresh incarnation that doesn't chew lines, give overwrought monologues, and isn't the love interest of someone who is thousands of years her senior. The transition from Capaldi to Whittaker would have sufficed better at the end of "The Doctor Falls."

Theo Robertson One thing you may expect from the Doctor Who Christmas special is that it's probably going to be far from special . Not necessarily a criticism because event television up against an event like Christmas might just cancel itself out so as usual keep things light . Set against the backdrop of the first world war we know we're getting something along the lines of Paul McCartney's song the pipes of peaceThis isn't what we got . As someone whose interest in the show has weakened season by season I no longer look up information on upcoming episodes which means this addict of the show comes in to an episode as a casual viewer What we got was an episode slight on plot but was xompensated as a backwards looking love letter to previous decades of the show which is hugely enjoyable. It doesn't always work of course and while David Bradly fills Hartnell's shoes physically his dialogue is unbecoming of the first Doctor. This sums up the problem of the Moffat era , You could cast Daniel Day Lewis in the lead role and he'd be ineffective in the role due to the writing. What makes this more irritating is how good Capaldi is in this episode and once again you're struck how good the Capaldi era could have been. Once again a lost opportunity . Not to be negative as a fan I understood all the in jokes and thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia bordering on meta-fiction And so we enter a new era for the show . With Chibnall we will probably get traditional linear storytelling with a non traditional -- that is a female - lead in the role as The Doctor . Now the shock of the casting from Summer has worn off I'm not as pessimistic as I was so here's to the future of DOCTOR WHO , the greatest show in the universe