I, like every other Whovian, look forward to the Doctor Christmas Special every year. The 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi teams up with a comic book hero to save New York. Steven Moffat channeled his love for comics into a beautiful yet funny episode of Doctor Who. Using Clark Kent as his inspiration, he wove a brilliantly entertaining Christmas episode. Moffat has stated that he took inspiration from the Superman films of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The lively episode pokes fun at superhero clichés which can bring out your inner child. Yes, superheroes and Doctor Who. Sign me up any day. Comic books are fiction, but much like in Doctor Who, they are entertaining works of fiction and art that have kept us enthralled for years. God bless Steven Moffat’s love for comic books!
The 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi drops in and meets a little comic book fan named Grant. Through a misunderstanding, Grant swallows an alien crystal thinking it was medicine. The stone grants him the wish to be what he wants, and being a comic book fan; Grant gets superhero-like powers. Taking jabs at superheros, we see scenarios played out with an alien twist; because aliens are always on the attack to take over on Christmas on Doctor Who.
My favorite take aways from the DVD release are a few lines in the episode and the DVD extras. It gives fans a chance to see behind the scenes with all the hard work, passion and little intricaies that go into bringing an episode to life for our enjoyment.
Despite all of the awesome comic book references in my opinion the bright spot of the episode was the ending exchange that was both heart warming and heart wrenching.
Doctor Who fans have seen the ups and downs of each Doctor regenerated, and we too have loved each personality and story line that comes with it, some more than others, but it is always painful to say goodbye. At the dinner table The Doctor becomes somber when they ask him where he was away for twenty four years. The Doctor dodges the question and attempts to leave. When pressed The Doctor turns around and addresses what pains him to say out loud, “Things end, everything ends, and it’s always sad but everything begins again too, and that is always happy. Be happy, I will look after everything else.” In my opinion The Doctor is referring to himself reflecting on his experiences and pain. I also feel that it is away for the writers to prepare fans for a new regeneration and new Doctor.
In my humble opinion, this episode is showing us the pain Moffatt, and Whovians around the world feel when The Doctor regenerates and when a new companion departs or passes. We all know Steven Moffatt is leaving the show, and like any good writer, make you feel the pain of change. So I leave you with one of my favorite lines from the end of this episode, and you determine what it means to you.
“He is the Doctor. He is very Brave, and he’s very silly, and I think for a time he is going to be very sad, but I promise in the end he’ll be all right. I’ll make sure of it.” ~Nardole
