fbpx
Doctor WhoTV

Doctor Who season 10 episode 13: Twice Upon A Time by Steven Moffat.

Be prepared to be regenerated from here in there are spoilers!

Technically, for the final episode of the Capaldi regeneration, there are no surprises. We know actor David Bradley is there to be bring the Hartnell regeneration alive one more time. We know that the Capaldi Doctor has been holding back his own regeneration. There is always the mysterious World War One Captain (played by Mark Gattis) who is plucked from the war front and thinks his own fate is certain. Bill Potts (played by Pearl Mackie) also returns and is just happy to be there. It’s a small cast.

Oddly, there are a lot of surprises. We know some things, like Bill’s transformation, that the Doctor doesn’t know and that wherever they are is freezing time. In many respects, I think ‘Twice Upon A Time’ could equally have been called ‘Transitions’ as there’s a lot of it about. There are also a lot of comparisons, especially showing the versions of the exterior of the TARDIS has grown over time. Then again, it’s a chameleon masquerade. It’s not supposed to be the real thing.

All of these people are drawn into decide what they really want to be or change into and really have no say in it. If anything, the Doctor(s) is/are looking into what is going on. In many respects, this isn’t really an adventure in the ‘Doctor Who’ meaning of the word but a drama. Something that is playing up to Peter Capaldi’s strengths. There are some humorous moments and some truly eye-watering moments when certain people briefly appear to remind of things gone past. It is the tying together of events and you really do have to wonder that if we see earlier regenerations again, maybe someone can stand in for the Troughton Doctor. Why should the original hog all the action. I should say David Bradley did a superb performance but his role seems to have been locked in here.

Steven Moffat did a good job here although I do have to wonder if the younger members of the audience got what was going on. I’m grateful that ‘Doctor Who’ has been shown at an earlier time but I’m not sure if they’ll get what they have seen. I’m still wondering on the first word the Whittaker Doctor has said, not to mention the fate of the TARDIS. That’s as much spoiler as you’re going to get out of me.

A fitting end for the Capaldi Doctor although I hope he doesn’t get nicknamed the ‘drama queen’ by his later regenerations. Can’t wait for the next series.

(c) GF Willmetts 2017

UncleGeoff

Geoff Willmetts has been editor at SFCrowsnest for some 21 plus years now, showing a versatility and knowledge in not only Science Fiction, but also the sciences and arts, all of which has been displayed here through editorials, reviews, articles and stories. With the latter, he has been running a short story series under the title of ‘Psi-Kicks’ If you want to contribute to SFCrowsnest, read the guidelines and show him what you can do. If it isn’t usable, he spends as much time telling you what the problems is as he would with material he accepts. This is largely how he got called an Uncle, as in Dutch Uncle. He’s not actually Dutch but hails from the west country in the UK.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.