The Time Of The Doctor!

Finally got around to watching the Christmas special for Doctor Who. This one was a whopper, as it not only offered a smidge of a Christmas story, but yielded the finale for the Eleventh Doctor himself. Typically for this series of Doctors, the plot smashes along at machine-gun pace, dollops of back story and pinches of revelations dropping like snowflakes, look quick or you miss them. If you like Daleks, they are here of course along with Cybermen, the Silence (who are explained), the Weeping Angels (I am getting really tired of them), and other unnamed aliens, even a few Sontarans make a cameo.

The Matt Smith Doctor has been a huge success for the franchise, there's no denying that. And the new guy will have a time living up to what fans of the series have come to expect. I anticipate a wave of negatives as Peter Capaldi slides into the role, as many fans of this Doctor seem exceedingly fused to Smith's youthful vigor. But Smith was smart to dash away from the role that threatened to swallow him up, and may still do. His silly Doctor needs a rest, and I hope that Capaldi's Doctor is a tad more restrained and somewhat less goofy.

A stern and grumpy Doctor would be a neat break after a decade of dashing types have reconfigured the role to an extent, not always to its benefit. I'd also like to see the series become more story driven and less character controlled. You have to care about people to care about a story, I get it, but it seems too many newer Doctor tales are sappy, not crisp.

I hope for the best, as we enter a new time of The Doctor.

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