Series: Doctor Who
Episode Title: Last Christmas
Season: Series 8
Airdate: 25 December 2014
THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE OF DOCTOR WHO.
On the whole, Series 8 of Doctor Who has been a major disappointment. I was looking forward to Capaldi’s run as the Doctor – no offense meant to Matt Smith, but he has been my least favorite of the Doctors, and in fact, took me well over a season before I bought him as the Doctor. Capaldi, I hoped, was a return to a less romance oriented focus. While we did get that, what we didn’t get was any sense of Twelve’s guiding force until well into the series. (Clara picked up a personality, though. That was a surprise. I actually liked her for part of the season.)
After Dark Water and Death in Heaven, though, I wasn’t entirely sold on continuing with the show. I’m still not sure if I’ll stick with the show long term (it is long-past time for Moffat to go), however I will definitely watch the start of Series 9.
Last Christmas picks up with Clara finding Santa on the roof, and Santa and his elves were an absolute delight. We go with the Doctor into the T.A.R.D.I.S., and find ourselves on the North Pole. I loved the scene with Shona in the infirmary, and her reaction to the Doctor and Clara was hysterical.
The scenes with Danny were somewhat heart-wrenching, but I confess the relationship has never been my favorite part of the season. We never got a chance to see why they were *good* together, so while this little glimpse was nice, it wasn’t enough (or rather, too little, too late).
Traveling from dream to dream got a little old (I’m not always the biggest fan of “let’s fool the audience again and again” stories), but I did enjoy the scene at the end, with the others remembering who they are and returning home. I almost would have preferred for Clara’s story to end with the Doctor’s ‘dream,’ though. It would have felt satisfying in a way that the ending really didn’t. I know that the Doctor got his second chance, but I’m afraid we’re going to run into the same issue we had with the Ponds, where their storyline should have ended half a season sooner.
All in all, a solid episode. 3.5/5 stars
Objects in Motion 