Dr Who Twice Upon A Time: Blu Ray Review

Dr Who Twice Upon A Time: Blu Ray Review

Aka Finally, Peter Capaldi's swansong.

With his regeneration repeatedly hinted at and almost cheapened in some ways, Capaldi's 12th Doctor farewell is an odd sort of an episode.

Having ended the last series by coming face to face with his first incarnation at the end of The Tenth Planet, Steven Moffat spins out a tale which embraces the past, draws a line under the present and looks to the future.

But it just feels so bland.

A threat that's not really a threat, a series of gags that aren't funny aimed at the First Doctor's 1960s based attitudes and a lack of real stakes makes this regeneration tale fall flat.

It's a shame because Capaldi's great; his final moments are heart-breakingly underplayed, imbued with gravitas and sadness. And there's a constant feeling that his Doctor never quite had the material to match.
Coupled with Pearl Mackie's return as Bill, and other nods from the past, there's something about Twice Upon a Time which feels like it just misses out where it should.

Creatively the team feels like it was painted into a corner - certainly Moffat's said he hadn't originally been asked to write this until it was realised the new showrunner and team wouldn't be in place.

And sadly it feels like it in parts - and yet, despite David Bradley reprising his An Adventure in Space and Time alter ego to great effect, the writing's not quite strong enough.

Certainly the ending where we welcome in the 13th Doctor feels like a new era is dawning and potential is there aplenty.

But ultimately, Twice Upon a Time doesn't hit the beats it should and is a different way to pass the torch to the new team.