'Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time' Reviews: Fans and Critics Touched by End of Capaldi Era
"Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time" is this year's Christmas special for the venerable series, and it also marks a transition into the 13th Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, along with a passing of the torch to new showrunner Chris Chibnall.
With the series getting a new Doctor, new producer, and even a set of new equipment, this transitory episode has a lot to prepare fans for. That's before the previous showrunner, Steven Moffatt, thought about adding David Bradley, the first doctor, to the mix as The Mirror points out.
Even with a few off-sounding jokes thrown in for the sake of contrast, Daniel Jackson of the Mirror thought that it was "A very special Christmas adventure that rounds off Capaldi's Doctor perfectly," all considered, before giving it four out of five stars.
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The Telegraph's Michael Hogan, however, would disagree with a two out of five. "One of Christmas's most eagerly awaited programmes turned into a turkey: overcooked, disappointing and destined to be chewed over for days," he summed up the whole one-hour special, noting how too many moving parts ruined the already confusing plot.
The show was light on action and heavy on contrived dialogue, weighing the whole experience down, Hogan added. Even then, it had its moments, especially the way "the bickering interplay between the two Time Lords had snap and wit, with a smart running gag about the Sixties incarnation saying un-PC things."
IGN gives the whole episode a 9.5 out of ten, calling the Christmas special a fitting cap to the Capaldi and Moffat era. Over on IMDb, viewers have given it a more moderate 8.6 out of ten, with reviewers mostly blown over by the heartfelt departure of the 12th Doctor.
"Doctor Who" resumes on BBC One in 2018, now with Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor, and she is joined by Bradley Walsh as her new companion.
