As this episode opens we flashback to the time the very first Doctor is about to regenerate at the South Pole; he doesn't want to regenerate though. It is also time for Peter Capaldi's Doctor to regenerate and he doesn't want to either... he is also at the South Pole and the two Doctor's meet. Their actions are having an effect on time; two soldiers, one English the other German are aiming their pistols at each other in a First World War bomb crater then time seems to stop but not for the English officer. He wanders round the battlefield then suddenly finds himself catapulted through time and space to the two Doctors. Not long afterwards they are joined by what appears to be Bill Potts. There isn't much time for talking though as a spaceship captures the Tardis and the four people. Their captors state that they are 'Testimony' and they travel through time to the moment each person dies for reasons that aren't immediately obvious. Our quartet manage to escape before trying to discover what Testimony is. Things need to be put right and that includes the small matter of The Doctor's regeneration.
I enjoyed this Christmas special. The story was rather fun and it was easy to accept David Bradley as the First Doctor; he does a fine job of playing William Hartnell playing The Doctor. There are plenty of treats for fans including the return of somebody who appears to be Bill Potts and even the brief cameo from Clara and Nardole... although to my mind the latter to appearances were a bit unnecessary. Far better was the identity of the captain whose identity wasn't revealed till the end. There was also an interesting hint to the identity of the German soldier; so subtle I wonder if I was seeing something that wasn't intended... but seeing him sketching certainly made me think of a future German leader who also dabbled in art. Testimony was an interesting antagonist as it was ultimately shown to be benevolent; a refreshing change from the usual series of antagonists. Doctor Who can get a bit PC at times and here it is made clear that the first Doctor's '60s attitudes are out of date; thankfully this is done in an amusing way and does provide a decent number of laughs. The final scene, were the Doctor regenerates was good even if it was really just a teaser for the next series... it was just a pity that the BBC seems to revel in spoiling the surprise by making a big fuss about the new Doctor months before the episode airs rather than surprising the audience. Overall though I'd say this was a fun episode for fans that would probably confuse anybody new to Doctor Who as it features so many references to past events and characters.
I enjoyed this Christmas special. The story was rather fun and it was easy to accept David Bradley as the First Doctor; he does a fine job of playing William Hartnell playing The Doctor. There are plenty of treats for fans including the return of somebody who appears to be Bill Potts and even the brief cameo from Clara and Nardole... although to my mind the latter to appearances were a bit unnecessary. Far better was the identity of the captain whose identity wasn't revealed till the end. There was also an interesting hint to the identity of the German soldier; so subtle I wonder if I was seeing something that wasn't intended... but seeing him sketching certainly made me think of a future German leader who also dabbled in art. Testimony was an interesting antagonist as it was ultimately shown to be benevolent; a refreshing change from the usual series of antagonists. Doctor Who can get a bit PC at times and here it is made clear that the first Doctor's '60s attitudes are out of date; thankfully this is done in an amusing way and does provide a decent number of laughs. The final scene, were the Doctor regenerates was good even if it was really just a teaser for the next series... it was just a pity that the BBC seems to revel in spoiling the surprise by making a big fuss about the new Doctor months before the episode airs rather than surprising the audience. Overall though I'd say this was a fun episode for fans that would probably confuse anybody new to Doctor Who as it features so many references to past events and characters.