studioAT So here we go, farewell to you Matt Smith, bowing out as the 11th Doctor in this Christmas special.The sad thing about his time as the Doctor is that while his performance has consistently been a good one, great at times, he has been bogged down by overly complicated stories, and the whole saga that comes with River Song.This episode tries to do a lot of things, and showcase all that Smith brought to the role. So we get lots of broad comedy, lots of brooding, and lots of silly plot points I think you need an MA to understand.The final moments though are quite touching and makes us realise why we are going to miss this version of the Doctor. Which really, is what a regeneration episode should be all about.

Scarecrow-88 The final adieu to Matt Smith, the Doctor of my thirties (with Tennant and Eccleston the Doctors of my twenties), and his work on the show will be remembered and his presence missed. He had some real delights during his three year tenure as one of the most beloved characters in the annals of television science fiction. While "The Day of the Time Lord" will probably be regarded as one of the very best Smith ever participated in, his work with Jenna Coleman after the wonderful Karen Gillan has certainly be treasured by me, and their final time together in "The Time of the Doctor" is a gift that kept giving all the way until Peter Cipaldi emerges as the next Doctor to the take the reins. Doctor Who? What is the Doctor's name? If he admits it aloud in the town where you cannot lie, Christmas (appropriate for the time of year when this episode premiered), on the planet Trenzalore, the Time Lords can return. However, all of the enemies against the Time Lords await around the orbit of this planet and the Doctor will protect his people if it means he must stay put and age 300 years. Jenna Coleman has really been a treasure as Clara Oswald, a masterful casting find that has been an emotional support system needed after we lost Gillan, quite a beloved Doctor companion in her own right. Coleman's spirited, vibrant, lifeforce has been a pleasure to see mature during her time with Smith as his companion. The casting over the years for this show has been so superb, it is no wonder the show has thrived successfully. Oswald realizes that the Doctor has a great obligation and tries to encourage him to allow her to be there alongside him but he loved her too much for that. Piper really set off the new era of friendly relations with the Doctor when cast with Eccleson as the companion. But with Gillan and Coleman, the camaraderie and bond between the Doctor and companions transformed significantly into something far more substantial. No longer was the Doctor haughtily holding himself in superior fashion to his associates: they were treated respectfully, protectively, and even lovingly. Smith really changed the way we looked at the Doctor: his translation of the character was wonderfully his own. His face and eyes, his energy and pizazz, and the comedic attack Smith devoted to his character to give him an enthusiastic quality so full of life was a joy to watch week after week. Following Tennant wasn't easy considering many (including me) believe he's one of the all-time greats to play the character, but Smith's approach to the character made him so lovable and huggable. To think, all of that and his Doctor faced one of the most turbulent eras in the history of the character: to help defend Gallifrey and save it even, not to mention protect his Time Lords and the name of the Doctor, Smith wasn't just involved with "dinosaurs on a space ship" or "Cyberman attempting to mind control him during a chess game". Certainly Smith was Buster Keaton to Tennant's Charlie Chaplin, but both were brilliant and had their place in history.Seeing an elderly Smith seemingly unable to no longer save innocents against his adversaries, his Doctor vulnerable and perhaps broken, it was refreshing to see the companion, Clara, come to the rescue. She appeals to the Time Lords to help the Doctor as the Daleks descent and potential victor appeared imminent. To be there as the Doctor was momentarily young again only to lose his face to Cipaldi was a fitting end for Oswald (as was her time with him as an old and tired man), and Gillan's brief return to greet him (in his memory) one final time was poignant. I was definitely teary-eyed. Saying goodbye to someone so fondly appreciated and enjoyed can be quite tough. Smith was able to bid us that, dwelling on how change is certain whether we want it or not. Cipaldi emerging and needing help to operate the Tardis with Clara stunned is a hoot! Protecting the planet was a "church", an order led by Tasha Lem (Orla Brady) and her military but even they cannot hold off those pesky Daleks forever. During his time on the planet, the Doctor befriended a kid in the town of Christmas which took us back to Amy Pond as a little girl. Also included is a Christmas gathering at Clara's home with her needing the Doctor's help as a "boyfriend" in front of her mom, pop, and gran.If I had a criticism is that the special effects can be variable and sketchy, but for Smith's final episode, the bad guys are in abundance. Ultimately, the decision to provide a "pal" in the guise of a Cyberman head he nicknames "Handles" for assistance (readings and warnings) actually leads to a rather sad moment when it finally dies due to malfunctions and age. Writer Moffet's use of time has always been rather demanding and not without being perplexing, expecting us to go with it regarding what happens to the Doctor, and this episode does the same. The split in reality allows for there to be a visual crack that could lead to the Time Lords arriving through it as a gateway.

Stuart Donovan On the whole it was OK.It never stood a chance of eclipsing The End Of Time and sadly the writing again let the episode down. Large parts of it felt really stretched like most of Moffat's episodes. Series Five in particular seemed a struggle just to get to forty minutes an episode. The fact that the show maintains such a high profile is simply down to the cast. For the most part the cast have had little to work with but they've always shown they're more than capable. I particularly liked Orla Brady as Tasha Lem, she brought a nice element of classy flirtatiousness to the role and like most passing allies she showed an outstanding loyalty to our Time lord.Jenna Coleman, who was not a pleasing appointment for me, was again not really given any chance to prove me wrong and that she can be a strong companion. Despite the fact that she has been awarded such a pivotal role throughout all of Who history, it has never really been explored properly. Matt Smith again showed that he has the ability to carry the show and keep you focused when the story seems to be slipping away which is all too frequently in my opinion. He had his work cut out here as there were long periods were the story stalled and it was left to him to engage the audience single handedly.On first viewing I felt the regeneration to be all a bit brief but I didn't take into account the need to use the first part of the sequence to annihilate his attackers so it was a productive use of the process. Thinking back to ten's regeneration he used time whilst his regeneration started to take a trip down memory lane to say goodbye to his companions. Thankfully Smith didn't do this, though it would have been nice to see Rory, maybe even River. But if we'd have had that we'd have got Craig too and we don't need any more James Corden on TV. The morph did seem a bit swift which gives ten's actual regeneration morph points over Smith's but having said that eleven's was much more pivotal and destructive than any before.On the whole The Time of The Doctor wasn't displeasing but it wasn't great either.The writing must improve. Capaldi is in now and I have high hopes for what is to come.

bob the moo OK so on one hand the Christmas Special of any television show is not going to be the place to come with very high standards and hopes – of course TV can be good over the holidays, but generally it is as bloated and filled with excess as our food. The audience are there but not up to much and as a result you tend not to get the best showing up on the screens – just the biggest; and not too much comes bigger than this show at the moment on the BBC. This Christmas Special is not just that though, it is also the handover from Smith to Capaldi and as such more of a big deal.The plot here tries to set that up with a very big story involving every villain you've seen and even the rift in time and a former companion showing up. The stakes are high with an aging Doctor stuck in a standoff, essentially the only thing preventing another time war, however at the same time it is Christmas so we have turkey being cooked, paper hats and so on. The two sit uncomfortably together because it feels like the plot should be bigger or the Christmas triviality should be the focus, but not both. The "bigger plot" is the one that is main one in the end and this has plenty of noise and explosions but no heart, so it sort of distracts but doesn't engage – it certainly doesn't convince as something going on for hundreds of years at great cost. The problem for me (besides not really caring) was that it is all noise and empty movement, there are very few smaller moments and those that there are seem so isolated and cutoff from everything else that one wonders if they got left in the edit by mistake. So a small moment as the Doctor loses an old friend (albeit a badly explained one) and a scene with Clara's Granny both offer nice moments but they are there in a rather exploitative way, not as part of the story – or at least this is how they feel.The regeneration we've all come from is equally overblown. I cannot say if this was always the case as I can only remember the most recent ones but I would love it to be more of a quiet affair someday. The appearance of Capaldi is encouraging as he has an older intensity but this is tempered by the episode we just watched – Capaldi may be good but ultimately he works with what he is given. Smith's exit is not a great loss – he suited the material of the last few seasons in that he can run and shout and wave his hands around and to be frank this is often the main things being asked of him. Coleman remains brighteyed and flirty; I liked her a great deal for this but I hope they can find a story soon that offers her more to work with as an actress. The supporting cast are fine but the only one that stands out (Brady) just feels like a lazy clone of River Song in terms of writing and subsequent performance.Time of the Doctor isn't awful by any means, it is just very so-so and lacking in a lot. The comedic Christmas moments are decent but feel pushed into the bigger plot because of it being shown at Christmas; meantime the bigger plot is marred by lots of noise but no substance and it doesn't really engage as a result. It is a shame for Smith, but his last episode really does stand as a potted summary of so many of his episodes – lots of running and noise to distract and provide light entertainment, but not a great deal else apart from one or two moments which are good but feel isolated in the middle of all the rest of it.