What everyone asked me this year: "Did you watch Doctor Who?" followed by "Did you understand it?"
"The Time of the Doctor" by Steven Moffat, directed by Jamie Payne. Spoilers after the cut.
Actually, on a second watch the story makes sense, more or less, it's the way it's told that's cack-handed. There's a lot of Steven Moffat's worst traits on show as he tries to cram in a dozen complicated back-and-forths and time travel plot twists in where they're not needed; although I feel like director Jamie Payne should probably take some of the blame for the lack of storytelling clarity.
I say it made more sense on a second viewing, sadly I didn't find it any more interesting. Clara getting dumped back on Earth not once but twice meant that instead of any real emotional impact it just seemed suspiciously like the Moff had no idea what to do with her - if getting rid of her once kills a bit of time, getting rid of her twice kills a bit more!
I did like the way they wove Matt Smith's shaved head and need for a wig into the storyline though. Ironically enough they probably could have got away without that, since one thing I can credit Payne for is shooting Smith so well that the wig wasn't anywhere near as apparent on screen as it was in the still photos that surfaced from the set. Another wig turned up in the end with Karen Gillan's reappearance - I didn't mind this as much as some people, given the fact that if the last voice Eleven heard, albeit in his imagination, had a Scottish accent, it's canonical that that would affect his regeneration and give Twelve a Scottish accent too.
I don't like the new trend for dragging the regeneration itself out for so long, I actually think it's more emotionally affecting if the outgoing Doctor only gets a couple of minutes to say goodbye, usually in the middle of whatever heroic act killed him, before he's unceremoniously replaced. This 20 minutes' worth of screentime with bits of regeneration energy flapping about just makes you want him to get a move on. At least Matt Smith got a better deal than David Tennant's horribly mawkish send-off. As last lines go, "I will always remember when the Doctor was me" is a bit more "It is the end but the moment has been prepared for" than "I don't want to go."
And presumably an ironic final line, as it looks like Peter Capaldi's Twelve will be starting with a McGann-style amnesia. It makes sense I guess, since the relaunch we've had Eccleston regenerating into a Pertwee-style comatose Tennant, then Tennant regenerating into a hyper Smith, amnesia is the next dodgy regeneration new audiences haven't seen. As long as future writers don't bring back the "throttling the companion" regeneration we should be OK.
There's no point judging how Capaldi will play the Doctor based on a couple of seconds of screen time; I wish his opening line wasn't "Kidneys!" though. It's not the exact dialogue I've got a problem with, more that he's the third Doctor in a row to open by telling us he's got new body parts, after Tennant with his teeth and Smith with his legs. Maybe the Moff's been so busy coming up with a last line for Eleven he didn't have time to think of something unique to launch Twelve with.
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