Doctor Who: Ranking Each NuWho Christmas Special
3. Twice Upon A Time
Twice Upon A Time is an episode of the show the engenders mixed feelings. It is the close-out to the Capaldi and Moffat era’s of the show, and is really a sort of book-end on the last ten years. Chris Chibnall would go on to do a soft reboot of the series in his inaugural year as showrunner, and so Twice Upon A Time truly is the end of the show as it had existed for quite a long time.
Unlike the vast majority of Doctor Who episodes, Twice Upon A Time stands out for one key reason; there’s no villain. The Doctor had already been “killed” during the season 10 finale, shot by the Cybermen as he heroically tried to stave off their inevitable invasion of the human homestead. There was no need to have him killed again and so this episode doesn’t. Instead, we watch as The Doctor fights the mental battle as to whether or not he is going to regenerate again.
Some of the tension is robbed from this by the fact that season 11, Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker had all been announced prior to this episode airing. It’s a bit of a shame as if anyone was ever going to be good enough to fool the audience into thinking that The Doctor was truly going to die it’s the team of Moffat and Capaldi.
Twice Upon A Time is many things; it’s funny and fun to watch. It’s contemplative and reflective upon the show as a whole. It is also, incredibly sad. The Doctor meets his past self and we reflect on how far he has come in the 50+ years since the show began. He cheekily bends the rules of time once more to allow a soldier caught in World War One to live.
And whilst Tennant’s exit may be the one oft remembered as the breaker of fan’s hearts, Peter Capaldi’s goodbye speech, offering advice to his future self, perfectly encapsulates both the incredible nature of The Doctor and his inherent tragedy. “Well, go on then…one more life won’t kill anyone. Well…except me…” he says quietly. Adding just one last thing to the Doctor Who mythos, popular fan-legend is that Capaldi nailed the entire farewell speech in a single take. Truly, a legend.