It’s a new year my fellow Whovians and that means another Christmas Special has come and gone. Series 9 started filming this month so that means new episodes are on the horizon and I, my dear friends have decided to stop being a lump on the couch playing Smash Bro’s Wii U, Final Fantasy X remastered, and marathoning Agents of Shield. I am back and for my first post of the year I decided to give a brief talk of the past Christmas special as well as what I believe series 9 will bring us. So remember folks, my TARDIS Talks are full of spoilers so if you aren’t okay with that and/or haven’t seen Last Christmas yet then turn away now and allow this cat in a TARDIS to be your final warning.
So Death In Heaven left us with so many unanswered questions that I was hoping we could rely on the special to fill in the blanks. Last Christmas didn’t have the answers, but what it did give me was hope that next series would provide the answers we need. What the episode did provide was an Inception-esque gimmick that very quickly went from well executed to bordering on ridiculous and then snapped back to being well executed in a matter of moments.
I liked the dream crabs as a bad guy and I especially liked that someone brought up the fact that they looked like facehuggers from Alien. These were the second alien being this series that looked like that. Remember Kill the Moon? The moon spiders looked like facehuggers as well. The dream crabs were nice and creepy and once they were attached, reminded me of the Clickers from Last of Us. The whole dreaming gimmick was great but started to get old in the middle but somehow they brought it back again with the very last one.
Seeing old Clara blew my mind and actually fooled me. I thought she was going to get a heart breaking ending just like Donna and Amy and Rory had. Poor Clara never saw the Doctor again until her last days, never married, and when the Doctor finally came back, she was too old to travel. Then when the Doctor realized he was still dreaming I was too happy to feel exasperated that it was yet another dream. All in all the dreaming was well executed and avoided the Groundhog Day feeling much like Edge of Tomorrow was able to do.
The one small problem I had with the special was the death of Albert. It was foreshadowed a little too well. It’s a Doctor Who Christmas special so someone had to die. In some cases, like Voyage of the Damned, they throw a red herring (Communism is one of my favorite red herrings) into the mix so we don’t see the death coming. In Voyage of the Damned Rickston Slade was my pick since he was such an a-hole but in the end almost everyone else but him died including Astrid Peth who I would have loved to see come back as a companion. Other times the Christmas specials we know who’s going to die because it’s a very important part of the story. Remember Abigail Pettigrew from A Christmas Carol? I knew she wasn’t going to survive the episode but it was turned into part of the plot. Another example would be Matt Smith’s final bow The Time of the Doctor when we all knew he was going to leave us. Albert’s death was telegraphed a little too well and it actually happened. He was a red shirt. He got a few lines and not a whole lot of time in the limelight and to top it all off he was kind of creepy so when he died I wasn’t surprised at all.
One of my favorite parts of Last Christmas is also going to be my transition into my predictions for series 9. Danny Pink made an appearance and I think it said more for the future of the show than anything else. Clara was willing to die just to be with a Danny who wasn’t even real. So now that she’s back with the Doctor, and confirmed to be returning for all of series 9, this year is going to focus on the search for not only Danny but Gallifrey as well. I know, I know, I said this before but I still think it’s true and now more than ever. The Christmas special had both The Doctor and Clara admit to each other that they lied and it also implied that they were miserable so either this year we’ll finally see the hunt for Danny and Gallifrey OR Steven Moffat is a terrible human being. I’m not saying both of them will be found this year. What’s more than likely going to happen is that Danny, at the very least, will be found and that will be Clara’s exit for the series and we’ll find huge hints for Gallifrey
Other predictions I have for the new series aren’t too surprising or far fetched. The first is that The Mistress will come back at some point. I know, this isn’t a hard prediction to make since it’s already been confirmed that Michelle Gomez is reprising her role as Missy aka The Mistress. This is very very good news as Michelle Gomez was amazing rightfully deserves more air time. My next prediction is that Madam Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax will come back at some point, maybe right before Gallifrey is found or if there’s some sort of battle to reclaim it. Another idea is that while the planet may be found, the Doctor may not be able to go there. Not right away at least. The writers could save that for series 10.
Once Gallifrey is found it’s going to get real interesting. The New Who episodes have never taken place at a time where there are other Time Lords around with the exception of The Mistress/Master. Remember, the 9th Doctor started when he was fresh off the Time Wars and dealing with what he did. So when Gallifrey returns, it may change up the show. He, or she if we ever get a female Doctor (which I think we should have at some point), can no longer play the “I’m the last of the Time Lords,” card.
Doctor Who series 8 broke records in America as the most watched out of all the years of Doctor Who. That being said, I think we’re in for a long wait. Remember how long we had to wait for series 8? At least, if felt long. I’m really bad at remembering when TV shows premier and I usually have to play catch up right off the bat. All of you who read my TARDIS Talks probably know that by how long it takes me to write a review. I hope to be more on the ball for series 9. So stay with me folks as I watch more movies while I wait for Doctor Who Series 9 to air.
Questions? Comments? Drop me a line at billiamreviews@gmail.com.