All the ‘plot’ is mostly superfluous fluff and when it’s time to say goodbye, it’s beautifully shot, gorgeous to look at and nails the emotion. Looking over it, ‘Twice Upon a Time’ is constructed to give Capaldi the most fitting send-off and when it comes down to it, that is what this episode really gets right. Murray Gold’s final score has some nice call-backs, Mark Gatiss and Pearl Mackie both do well and there’s a few unexpected cameos and it all builds up a beautiful scene in the World War One trenches that works extraordinarily. Thankfully the rest of the special holds up pretty well. Though the point is raised as to what the First Doctor will go through if he continues to live, it’s never followed through or discussed – instead it’s shoehorned aside for more digs at the sonic glasses and shock at the idea of a lesbian which makes it feel a somewhat wasted opportunity. While it keeps the special’s tone light it unfortunately means we don’t see how Bradley’s Doctor reckons with what is shown to be a troubling future complete with Moffat’s ominous titles and footage of destruction. Instead the episode frames him as a patronising old British stereotype, complete with disdain of the French (odd given how his favourite time/place was the French Revolution) and an expectation to make female companions cook and clean. While I won’t deny that the First Doctor comes from a sexist time, he wasn’t, at least so overtly. ‘Twice Upon a Time’ is constructed to give Capaldi the most fitting send-off The relationship between them is mostly defined by how old-fashioned and sexist the First Doctor is compared to the progressive Twelfth. However, their material while containing a number of laughs and allowing them to work off each other well has issues. At the centre of the episode are David Bradley and Peter Capaldi as their respective Doctors and both actors give their all.
‘Twice Upon a Time’ has a lot riding on its shoulders as it marks the end of the Moffat era and Peter Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor and on the whole, it’s generally good, albeit very flawed. Both men meet and from there mayhem, call-backs and the end of an era follow. 709 episodes early, a fact revealed by the special itself, the First Doctor is dying and comes to a similar conclusion, leading him to wander into the icy wastes of Antarctica, refusing to die.
In the aftermath of ‘The Doctor Falls’, the Twelfth Doctor refuses to regenerate in an icy wasteland.
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