Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

The latest Doctor Who Christmas special was quite an adventure. The episode, which marked the final appearance of the Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, was an impressive 59 minutes in length, and not a moment went to waste.
For me, the Christmas special is always hit or miss. I loved The Christmas Invasion, The Runaway Bride, The Snowmen, Time of the Doctor, Last Christmas, and The Husbands of River Song. I try as hard as I can to forget last year's The Return of Doctor Mysterio​.

This special was exceptional for a myriad of reasons. I loved that they included the First Doctor. Sure, William Hartnell, the original First Doctor passed on years ago, but David Bradley does a top-notch imitation. I loved the banter between the First and Twelfth Doctors -- from the First Doctor cirticizing the new TARDIS interior, to his complete bafflement at the Twelfth Doctor's sonic sunglasses, going so far as to forbid him from wearing them.

The First Doctor also had great banter with the returning Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie.) He remarks that her Doctor must obviously miss her -- his TARDIS is in dire need of a spring cleaning -- and comments that all women are made of glass, in a way. When he informs Bill that he has some experience with "the fairer sex," Bill replies that she does, too. The First Doctor's aghast "Good Lord!" is priceless. Hands down, the best scene with the First Doctor was when, after Bill calls the Twelfth Doctor, "an arse. A stupid, bloody arse," he pokes his head out of the TARDIS and warns her, "If I hear any more language like that from you, young lady, you're in for a jolly good smacked bottom." Comedy genius!
This episode explains why the First Doctor left Ben and Polly prior to his regeneration at the end of the four-part serial The Tenth Planet: he was afraid of regenerating. Clips from the original serial are graciously used to authenticate the story.

In my opinion, Peter Capaldi was on top of his game for his final outing. I know that his era has gotten a lot of criticism for "terrible writing" and the use of companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman.) For me, this episode cements Capaldi as one of the finest Doctors we've had to date. His reluctance to regenerate is relatable: I don't want him to go, either! His emotional final moments were true literary gold. "Oh, there it is. Silly old universe. The more I save it, the more it needs saving. It's a treadmill. Yes, yes, I know they'll get it all wrong without me. Well, I suppose, one more lifetime won't kill anyone. Well, except me. You wait a moment, Doctor. Let's get it right. I've got a few things to say to you. Basic stuff first. Never be cruel, never be cowardly and never ever eat pears. Remember...Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise. Always try to be nice, and never fail to be kind. Oh, and....You mustn't tell anyone your name. No one would understand it anyway. Except...Except children. Children can hear it sometimes if their hearts are in the right place and the stars are, too. Children can hear your name. But nobody else...Nobody else...Ever...Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind. Doctor...I let you go." I'm glad that Capaldi got an emotional send-off like his predecessors David Tennant and Matt Smith. If the viewer isn't sad to see the Doctor go (like I was when Christopher Eccleston regenerated) then the regeneration is a lot less poignant.
Mark Gatiss's guest role as the mysterious World War 1 soldier was at first superficial -- a character who was fated to die, but the appearance of the two Doctors affected time and led to the dramatic will-they-send-him-to-his-death connundrum--but once his name was revealed to be Captain Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, the ancestor of the Third Doctor's ally Brigadier Gordon Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), one couldn't help being touched. This was made all the more heartwarming when Archibald is returned to the battlefield, prepared to die, when the Germans start singing Christmas carols. The British soldiers join in and the Christmas Armistice begins. It's even better because it actually happened. One of Doctor Who's greatest assets is its ability to link science fiction with history and real life.
Steven Moffatt got us in the feels again!

The villains of the special turn out not to be villains, instead glass beings known as The Testimony that remove people's memories just before death and allow them to live again through avatars.

Bill appears in this episode as one such avatar. Luckily, Bill was such a human character that you forget she isn't real. She manages to give the Doctor an irreplacable gift: courage to regenerate, and a reminder that memories are what makes a person who they are. She gives him a vision of Clara, restoring his lost memory of her, as well as an avatar of Nardole (Matt Lucas.) Having said his goodbyes to his companions and turning down the avatars' offer to join The Testimony, the Doctor enters the TARDIS, makes his farewell speech, and regenerates into his new, female incarnation (Jodie Whittaker.)

The Thirteenth Doctor's reaction -- utter shock to ecstatic joy at her face -- was perfection! I can't wait to see where she goes next, especially after we her expelled out of an exploding and dematerializing TARDIS, hurling toward Earth.
This Christmas special was one of the best ones yet. Go watch it!!!