So we finally have it. The special that serves as the send off, not only for the twelfth Doctor, but the Moffat era of Doctor Who. And what a send off! As the twelfth Doctor refuses to regenerate, the first Doctor (also refusing to regenerate) and a World War I soldier (marvelously played by Mark Gatiss) stumble upon him. And then a massive ship piloted by crystal humanoids calling themselves Testimony kidnaps them and demands the soldier be handed over to them. And then Bill appears! It's a lot to process, but it's handled with humor and heart.
The plot is rather straightforward, and not a lot actually happens when one thinks about it. However, the heart of the episode is character driven, and there are plenty of wonderful character moments throughout as The Doctor(s) and co escape and travel to see the "good" Dalek, Rusty (as The Doctor calls him), from season eight in order to sort just exactly who the Testimony are. Not a lot of action, but when there is, it is quite cool, and the episode as a whole is a nifty sci-fi adventure, with cool twists (Bill is part of Testimony - - well, her memories at least- - who turn out to not actually be villains!, among other twists involving the fate of the World War I soldier- - too many to go into here), fun adventure and humor ( the first Doctor is a hoot and the two Doctors play off each other humorously) and rather good guest appearances by Clara (yay!) and even Nardole, giving them all a truly heartwarming send off.
The Doctor's farewell speech at the end as he finally decides to regenerate (we all knew it was coming), while not as grandiose and mesmerizing as some of his others, was still quite captivating and injected some good natured humor into his closing speech, and definitely delivered the feels. It seems to not only be Peter Capaldi's, but also Stephen Moffat's swan song, echoing the audience's own trepidation regarding the future of Doctor Who, but is ultimately optimistic. While not exactly perfect (could have used some tighter plotting but that's my only real complaint considering how much they had to fit in here), the final special of the Moffat era ends on the kind of high note that only Doctor Who can deliver. 9.5/10
The plot is rather straightforward, and not a lot actually happens when one thinks about it. However, the heart of the episode is character driven, and there are plenty of wonderful character moments throughout as The Doctor(s) and co escape and travel to see the "good" Dalek, Rusty (as The Doctor calls him), from season eight in order to sort just exactly who the Testimony are. Not a lot of action, but when there is, it is quite cool, and the episode as a whole is a nifty sci-fi adventure, with cool twists (Bill is part of Testimony - - well, her memories at least- - who turn out to not actually be villains!, among other twists involving the fate of the World War I soldier- - too many to go into here), fun adventure and humor ( the first Doctor is a hoot and the two Doctors play off each other humorously) and rather good guest appearances by Clara (yay!) and even Nardole, giving them all a truly heartwarming send off.
The Doctor's farewell speech at the end as he finally decides to regenerate (we all knew it was coming), while not as grandiose and mesmerizing as some of his others, was still quite captivating and injected some good natured humor into his closing speech, and definitely delivered the feels. It seems to not only be Peter Capaldi's, but also Stephen Moffat's swan song, echoing the audience's own trepidation regarding the future of Doctor Who, but is ultimately optimistic. While not exactly perfect (could have used some tighter plotting but that's my only real complaint considering how much they had to fit in here), the final special of the Moffat era ends on the kind of high note that only Doctor Who can deliver. 9.5/10
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