Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Better Late Then Never

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I think it's a sign of the times that the BBC were just pleased that this episode got into the top 10 in terms of ratings over Christmas. Years ago it would have been the top rated programme.But times change, just ask the Doctor. Capaldi's Doctor has divided opinion more than any other Doctor, and he's not been helped by weak writing, or in this case, just a weak plot.There are moments of quality, that's actually the frustrating thing, but there's nothing in this episode to make me alter my opinion that Capaldi leaving with Moffatt is perhaps the best thing to try to revive a flagging show before the BBC wields the axe.Perhaps it's time anyway.

If this, the latest special, is any indication, then new show runner Chris Chibnall can't get here quick enough. This is without question, the worst special episode of the New Who and inarguably the single worst episode of the run yet. And I am in no way a Moffat hater. Last year's special, with the exception of the horrid Matt Lucas, was the best ever. Moffat has shepherded, in my opinion, one of the show's finest eras and has written shome of the show's finest scripts. This is not one, and it's extremely low quality in all respects was shocking. This is Moffat Doctor Who? Was it supposed to parody the super hero genre, or pay homage to it? You simply don't know. I feel it would have been better if Moffat had turned this over to someone with a better grasp of the genre, because he seemingly has none. The superheroics are extremely lame as is the very generic menace. Of all the characters that could have been brought back from previous seasons, we get the astonishingly obnoxious and hateable Nardole, played by the equally obnoxious and hateable Matt Lucas. And the moment he asked for the little boy's room? That was without doubt, the single most disturbing television moment of 2016. I simply cannot believe that passed the script editing process. What's next for the show, an appearance by Gary Glitter? I sincerely hope the series did not jump the shark. But even if it didn't, this one had the show strapping on the skis. An absolute new low for Doctor Who, a total insult to the fans and the hard work of Peter Capaldi. I pray it doesn't get worse than this. Jerry Warren's "Wild World of Batwoman" did superheroes better. And yes, I know how horrific that sounds. Doctor Who may be in for his greatest threat yet, Moffat's final season.

There was really nothing that excited me about the return of Doctor Who for the Christmas special; generally they are only so-so episodes, and too often they overplay the seasonal aspect and throw lots of glitter-like aspects into the mix (by which I mean stuff that looks nice from a distance but is a mess and an annoyance when you get to it – source, I have a small daughter and lots of things with glitter stuck to them, and over everything else). On top of that the promotional poster looked cheap and silly – much like the superhero costume itself; and the title (The Return of Doctor Mysterio) screamed of cheese. So, like Doctor Who generally, I almost come at it now with a much lower bar for what will work for me – ie if it is not awful, then it must be one of the good episodes.And by that yardstick, this Christmas special was quite enjoyable. It featured a topical (if overdone) genre of superheroes, had some sinister creature elements, showed restraint in a lot of areas, and generally was interesting in what it did with the characters. Generally it was greeted by those around me in the same way – satisfied indifference, which I do think is sometimes what this show is happy with – particularly in these big seasonal event shows. However this is not to say that the special is a good watch, because it isn't, and there is a lot to be irritated by. It wastes the aliens – it has some sinister images and ideas but doesn't follow them up, and the invasion plot really has limited menace. It does have a nice romantic plot but it doesn't do it that well, it is very much BBC sitcom level (and that is not a good thing). I liked the restraint it showed regarding the seasonal stuff, and that Matt Lucas was not a big part of it and was really limited in his impact (enough to be a good addition, not enough to be too annoying).In the end it is an okay Christmas special but suffers from the same issue that much of Doctor Who – it really doesn't know what it wants to do, and feels produced by committee. The mix of content doesn't always work, and as usual we end with the Doctor being all dark and alone – something Capaldi can work with, but is never really fleshed out as it should be. In the context of Christmas Day though, it did work well enough to pass muster thanks to the state of the audience, and the low expectations/requirements the vast majority will have brought with them.

I thought the Return of Doctor Mysterio was a nice, well rounded episode. I still like the Husbands of River Song much more, but these two specials are completely different episodes with different objectives. They're both light-hearted for the most part, but Husbands focuses more on the Doctor and River's story while the Return of Doctor Mysterio just wants to be an entertaining hour of television that continues Doctor Who's tradition of having a Christmas special. What I really liked about this episode though was that it wasn't afraid to be fun. Capaldi and Nardole made a great team, and their words to Lucy and Grant at the end of the episode were probably the highlights of the episode. I do think that the best parts of this episode stemmed from the references to the Doctor and River Song's relationship and her death at the Library though. Those small, yet deeper moments really made this episode for me, and it's nice to see Capaldi's Doctor develop a bit more and show that he really is attached to those who travel with him and to see that Nardole has different sides to his character. While I wasn't a huge fan of director Ed Bazalgette's episodes in series 9, I liked how he made this episode feel like a comic book and how there was such a long pre-credits sequence. I think he did a great job directing this episode. The writing seemed a bit weaker in this episode than usual: the Doctor's "Plan B" seemed rushed and was a bit hard to follow in the moment, and there were a few lines here and there that felt unnecessary. Aside from that, Grant and Lucy were good characters and it would be cool for them to come back in the future of the show. The actors who portrayed them were good and the Doctor has obviously impacted their lives in a big way. The villains weren't really threatening though and to be honest I'm not that excited to hear that Osgood might be coming back. I hope that the cliffhanger with the brain aliens is developed a bit more next series though.Overall, I think that the Return of Doctor Mysterio was a nice episode. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was funny, adventurous, well acted and directed, Matt Lucas and Peter Capaldi were great, and it had a pretty nice ending as well.