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.

jvm0393 A little bit of backstory in the writing of this episode, Chris Chibnall (who is now the showrunner and Executive producer of Doctor who) was originally supposed to write this episode however decline, so Moffat was left to write this episode and it really shows. I watch this with my dad on the day after Christmas and within ten minutes of the show my dad fail to sleep, that's how exciting this episode was. The story is non-existent and the plot is paper thin, I don't think I can even explain the plot to you it's that weak. Basically the story involves the two doctors (12th and 1st) they get abducted by a ship run by a glass-like holographic computer, they escape to another planet where the 12th Doctor gets information from said computer from a Dalek of all things, they return to 1914 Earth and say farewell to each other before regenerating in their respected tardises, that the story in a nutshell. The Characters are no better, we are introduce to a WWI British field captain whose name isn't even reveal to us until the end of the episode and the First Doctor played this time by David Bradley. I like David Bradley in this, he plays William Hartnell's Doctor really well, however because Moffat is a complete Jerk he decided to make the First Doctor sexist which is pretty disrespectful to a man who has been dead for 42 years, not only that but William Hartnell never said or did anything sexist on the show. The whole thing comes across as a bit mean-spirited and should have been left out. Bill the Lesbian makes a comeback and her reason on why she has returned only makes sense through the eyes of Moffat. First she turns into a Cyberman, then she turns into a puddle girl, now she is made out of glass and we don't know if that's really her. Humpty Dumpty look alike Nardole comes back only to say farewell to the Doctor as do Bill and Clara (a Character I hate). You would be mistaken to think that this was written by multiple people as the episode doesn't have any real purpose other than for the 12th Doctor's companions to say goodbye which was done in The Doctor Falls which if you see my review wasn't a great story either. Everything that you see in this episode is unoriginal and has been done before though much better. Even the regeneration is unoriginal, the whole combustion whilst the Doctor (or whoever) holds his/her arms in a cross like position has been done so many times now that it's beyond tiresome not to mention destroying the Tardis whilst regenerating which was done far better in the End of Time. I like that they use the morphing effect on Capaldi's eye as it transitions into Whittaker's eyes and the use of the Bad Wolf theme not use since the End of Time, 7 years ago. The last three minutes of this episode is probably the best part, the Doctor (now played by Whittaker) presses a button and the Tardis blows up and then she falls out of the Tardis, I don't know why but I found that whole scene amusing especially the way she's falling. After watching this episode I rewatching previous regeneration stories in DW and I noticed a glaring error with this episode, the Doctor (mainly the 12th Doctor) isn't heroic. In all other regeneration stories the Doctor is always heroic despite the odds that are against him, we saw him face his fears in Planet of the Spiders, save the universe in Logopolis, risk his life to save Peri in Caves of Androzani and stop his own people from destroying the Earth in The End of Time. Here not only is the Doctor withholding his regeneration because he doesn't want to, but he also sends the WWI captain (yeah did you forget about him?) back to Ypres so he would die, fortunately for the captain he doesn't die because of the Christmas truce. Ohh as for the Captain's reveal it turns out his the Grand Uncle of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart which is just shoehorn in.

jc-osms Well we all knew how this one was going to end so it was really just a case of how also departing writer and show-runner Steven Moffat would get us there that mattered. In so doing he found a nice juicy part for his sometime collaborator Mark Gatiss with character whose identity I guessed long before the end and a story which saw us encounter the Doctor's first incarnation, plus the reincarnations, or so it seemed of Bill Potts and more briefly Nardini and more welcomely, Jenna Coleman as Clara. There was a mysterious presence going by the name of Testimony, a glass-formed creature which handily gathers and retains the memories of individuals on the verge of death, a meet-up with a reformed Dalek and of course at the climax, the at last welcome regeneration into new doc, Jodie Whittaker.For once then the doctor wasn't pitted against some galaxy threatening do-badder, although I felt the lack of any sense of danger, coupled with the inevitability of the outcome, rather took some of the edge off the episode. The commemoration of the Christmas 2014 World War 1 Armistice (remembering this episode was this year's Christmas Special), was apt and tastefully rendered. Perhaps more could have been done in the interaction between the two Doctors, although the old doc's antiquated sexist outlook couldn't have been more accidentally topical if it tried.I'll certainly miss Capaldi's waspish humour and yes, his Scottishness, but with a new writing team as well as the first ever female doctor the next season will be intriguing to say the least.I wish Ms Whittaker well in the part and will be keenly anticipating the new doctor's new adventures in the coming year.

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."