10 things we loved about THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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10 things we loved about THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR

We thoroughly enjoyed last nights Doctor Who episode, The Time Of The Doctor. You no doubt know that it was Matt Smith's final episode before regenerating into Peter Capaldi but if you've not seen the full show yet and want to avoid any spoilers then don't read on.

Just to keep you safe we've added a picture of Captain Jack on a bomb, it has absolutely nothing to do with The Time Of The Doctor...



OK, still here?
Good, let's begin...

1. Handles
Where the bloomin' heck did the Doctor get hold of a decapitated Cyberman head? Not that it matters because we loved 'Handles'. He bought back memories of K9, there was even an affirmative in there. Handles was the faithful friend that stayed with him on Trenzalore for hundreds of years, becoming the Doctor's longest serving companion in the space of one episode.

2. Nudity
In the screen grab above both the Doctor AND Clara are naked!
We don't need to add anything else.

3. I'm wearing a wig!
We all knew Matt Smith would be wearing a wig for this episode, it had been discussed in great length across the internet, but the way Steven Moffatt chose to deal with it was superb. Why not make it part of the story?

4. Tidying up plot threads
From the cracks to the exploding TARDIS, from the oldest question to why silence must fall, it was nice to see several of the unanswered questions resolved so they are not carried on into the Capaldi era.

5. Referencing the series
Throughout the second half of the last season every single episode was full of references to classic Doctor Who episodes, we liked that and are happy to see it continuing. There were many references to past adventures; fish fingers and custard, the Doctor dancing the drunk giraffe and a nod to River Song, but this time our favourite was the appearance of the Seal of the High Council of Gallifrey, nicked off the Master in the Death Zone during The Five Doctors.

6. Wooden Cyberman
We loved seeing a kind of greatest hits of Doctor Who enemies throughout the episode. Daleks, Weeping Angels, Silence and not forgetting The Sontarans waist deep in the snow. But as The Doctor's enemies got more creative and found new ways to attack 'Christmas' this wooden Cyberman appeared. We loved it just because it was a wooden Cyberman, that is all!

7. Jenna Coleman
Clara got to encounter a job lot of Doctor Who characters in just one hour, has a companion ever been exposed to so many in a single show before? We think not.
Plus it was good to meet her family, particularly her Gran! We hope they are still sat there at the table when Clara returns next Christmas with her new, somewhat older 'boyfriend'.
Jenna Coleman was as brilliant as ever and we're very pleased she's sticking around for the next season at least. There's also reason number 2 on this list, we liked the thought of reason number 2 a lot!

8. Regeneration as a weapon of mass destruction
Regeneration has caused damage to the TARDIS before but we've never witnessed anything on this scale! The Doctor quite literally blows everything away, unleashing regeneration energy and destroying Dalek ships left right and centre.

9. That cameo
Nicely done, just enough, "Raggedy man".
Plus, co-incidentally they both had to wear wigs for this scene.


10. Matt Smith
Steven Moffat was quoted as saying he thought this was Matt Smith's best performance in Doctor Who, and we really couldn't argue against that. It was his show, perfectly portraying the Doctor across hundreds of years, protecting a small town called Christmas. His exceptional speech at the tower after accepting a new regeneration cycle was phenomenal. We are going to miss Matt Smith so very much. Somehow he has been more Doctor-ish than any Who have played him beforehand. This was a fitting swansong throughout and the closing scenes didn't disappoint. One last perfectly delivered monologue and a final removal of the bow-tie, he drops it to the ground and times change.
Goodbye Matt Smith, we will always remember when the Doctor was you.

We didn't even mention Peter Capaldi...
...and that's largely because it was really Matt Smith's episode through and through.
Earlier on in the story we did kinda get the feeling that Matt Smith was aging so that when he did regenerate Peter Capaldi would look much younger. We were clearly wrong about that!
So apart from the new kidneys joke and a Scottish accent we don't have much to go on yet with regards this new Doctor (or is that new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new-ish, new, new Doctor?). It looks like bow ties won't be cool anymore and we can't imagine Peter Capaldi in a fez.
We will just have to wait until next Autumn.

What did you think of The Time Of The Doctor?

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