It's been a LONG time since we've done a Throwback Review. So let's pick up where we left off: with an insufferable TARDIS couple realizing that things are just a little bit complicated, and a heaping helping of nostalgia from the Archetypal Companion and the Shooty Dog Thing.
It's still Christmas, darn it! And the Doctor Who series isn't over yet! At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself, by inviting National Public Radio's Petra Mayer and Doctor Who: Verity!'s Tansy Rayner Roberts over to 2MTL to talk one last time about Last Christmas, Steven Moffat and Clara Oswald.
Jolly old St. Nick? Radagast to the Doctor's Gandalf. Dreamcrabs? Scary. Mystery North Pole outpost? More and less than it seems. "Last Christmas"? Several levels of delightful.
Sure, the Cybermen looked impressive in the Series 8 finale. But were they sufficiently Cybermenny? Is it time to rethink the Cybermen, or better yet, take a break and bring them back to first principles?
It's a Time Dilation episode of 2MTL, in which the "Two-minute" part becomes a colossal lie! Joining me in reviewing Series 8 and predicting Doctor Who's future are:
- Lynne Thomas of Verity! and Uncanny Magazine!
- Kyle Anderson of Doctor Who: The Writer's Room and Nerdist.com!
- Graeme Burk of Reality Bomb and Who's 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die!
- Mark Goodacre of the NT Pod and one of my favorite 2MTL episodes ever, 2MTL 316: What IS "Doctor Who Canon" Anyway???
Best. Moffat. Finale. Ever.
Best. Moffat. Series. Ever.
And yet, somehow, I'm not sure how much more I can take!
Sometimes the BBC can't help but spoil the surprise. Sometimes the reveals aren't all that revealing. Sometimes you dismiss the obvious because it's too obvious. Sometimes it doesn't matter, because the episode is brilliant and even wickedly funny because there's no surprise.
Series 8's more unhurried pacing reaches its apex with the "lyrical and beautiful," per Steven Moffat, "In the Forest of the Night." Did the episode hold interest? Did The Doctor and Clara resemble themselves from just a couple of episodes ago? Well….
Yes, yes and more yes, as this supposedly "Doctor-Lite" episode gives us both Clara-as-the-Doctor and The-Doctor-as-someone-who's-thinking-he's-doing-his-job-too-well.
"Mummy on the Orient Express" does what it says on the tin, and. while not a "romp" as such, it's perfectly timed after last week's angst and controversy.
