The Problem It tries to do far too much in one episode. As with every other standard episode, Closing Time has a 45 minute runtime and features three significant elements all jostling for screen time in the form of; a reunion of the Matt Smith/James Corden double act, foreshadowing of the Doctors death in the next episode, and a small scale Cyberman invasion. Its far too much for 45 minutes and the episode suffers from not having the runtime or the right balance to manage all three at the same time. How To Fix It Pick a story and tone and stick to it. The mix of the foreshadowing of the series finale, the Cyberman plot, and trying to recreate the buddy comedy of The Lodger doesnt mesh well in terms of tone since the first is meant to be ominous and depressing, the second is deliberately humorous, and the third is meant to be exciting with scary moments (particularly when Craig nearly becomes the Cybercontroller). Gareth Roberts got the balance of comedy and the seriousness of a scary villain just about right in The Lodger but it doesnt work here because of the need to build up the finale cluttering up the works. And the power of love ending should be altered as well. Both Gareth Roberts and the audience are above that.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
