Doctor Who: Ranking Each NuWho Christmas Special

River Song is generally a well-liked character across Doctor Who fandom, and fans were a bit confused as to why we had never been shown the “last night on Darillium” that was often cited by the character in previous adventures. Well, it turned out Moffat was saving it for the Twelfth Doctor.

The Doctor lands on an alien planet where he is mistaken for a surgeon. Playing along he is shocked to find River Song proclaiming that she needs the surgeon (whom she doesn’t recognise as The Doctor) to perform surgery on her husband King Hydroflax – a brutal space warlord who happens to have an invaluable diamond lodged in his skull.

A comical romp ensures as The Doctor and River flee Hydroflax, and wind up on a space cruise filled with the worst the universe has to offer. The episode ends on a surprisingly touching note as The Doctor and River begin their last night together. Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston play so well off one another and their relationship feels much more real than it ever did between Kingston and Smith. It’s a shame we didn’t get more of these two together.

The episode also introduced us to one of the Twelfth Doctors new companions; Nardole played by Matt Lucas. He’s a little much in this episode, overplaying the whining and the fear but he goes on to become a wonderfully sarcastic companion in the subsequent special.