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FishyFish

By FishyFish
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Harsin

Harsin

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I thought it was a bit meh. But then the I thought the first 'ending' was quite a nicely written denouement. Then that was ruined because Jenna Coleman realised that this gig is about as good as she's going to get and she's more likely to end up back on Emmerdale than get a Marvel film.

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SqueakyG

SqueakyG

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Liked it. Started a bit weird and shit... I even wondered if the show was finally doing a full shark-jump. But then it turned into one of the scariest and most imaginitive episodes for a long time. Funy that they even pointed out facehuggers and Alien... even though I was reminded more of Half-Life's headcrabs.

The only bad part was the end, where Jenna Coleman's indecisiveness caused them to add a crappy ending after the ending that would have been a wonderful end for her character.

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Alask

Alask

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But annoyed with the way the existence of Santa was debated in the beginning. When you've got a kid in probably the last year of believing, I reckon that bit will have clearly disabused her of the notion, which seems a shame for 6pm on Xmas Day. It certainly made her a bit quiet during that section.

Yeah, I thought that was well off too. I don't think it's right to be suggesting it's mum and dad doing it when there's going to be kids watching who hadn't even considered that as an option. It's Xmas day ffs.

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Gabe

Gabe

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I actually thought the Clara and Doctor moments were quite nice, but the rest of it was a bit dull.

Plus, for a horrible moment I thought they were going to try and retrofit Danny back into things (this was before the dream, but when the Doctor said he wasn't dead near the beginning). As for the ending, clearly Clara being old was the original idea but I don't necessarily think that would have been a good finish for her: "Oh, nobody else could ever match up to you Doctor, so I spent my life alone!" I don't think that fits with everything that had gone before, where it was made clear she didn't love him in a partner-sense.

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The Boatman

The Boatman

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I thought it was a bit meh. But then the I thought the first 'ending' was quite a nicely written denouement. Then that was ruined because Jenna Coleman realised that this gig is about as good as she's going to get and she's more likely to end up back on Emmerdale than get a Marvel film.

She's already been in a Marvel film. Albeit very briefly.

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WibbleWorldGiddy

WibbleWorldGiddy

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I don't really get when Clara was supposed to have got old. One minute she has an alien parasite that will kill her in minutes, the next she's spent decades inter-railing. Dream logic, I guess.

The original story (allegedly) would have established that Clara had been attacked in her 80s, being drawn into a collective dream state. It builds on the throw-away line in the sleigh that everyone had been drawn from different points in time. The title 'Last Christmas' was intended to refer to Clara's impending death and her desire to see The Doctor before she dies. Now that Jenna Coleman is staying, the title loses it's original meaning and the old age bit is passed off as another dream state.

Edit: I thought it was one of the better Christmas episodes, though I am disappointed that Santa wasn't real. Santa's appearance at the end of 8x12 was perfect, so it's a pity it was just a dream induced by face huggers. There's also the dangling plot point of the resurrected kid and Orson being a possible descendant of Clara to address.

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Harsin

Harsin

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Stephen Moffat presents Lord of the Rings.

"At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland and already they were singing again as they went.

But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm ba... Mr Frodo!'

'I jumped off the boat Sam lol!'"

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RFT

RFT

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The girl who was dancing in front of the Dream Crabs should really be the new companion for series 9.

I'd be willing to place a hefty bet that Moffat wrote that bit straight after getting out of watching Guardians Of The Galaxy....
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jonamok

jonamok

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I though that was great xmas fayre. A combination of very silly and rather macabre. Easily the best of the Christmas specials.

Shame if it caused any parent/child awkwardness, but easy enough for any parent to point out that the tangerine on the ledge at the end is a clear clue that Santa really did save the day.

If Doctor Who and Clara woke another time, that means the other guys stayed dreaming and died horribly.

Or rather they died wonderfully.
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Reidles

Reidles

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Count me in the 'loved it' camp. The final act was messy as most of Moffat's stuff tends to be these days, but a lot of that was probably down to the Jenna U-Turn.

Anyway, just wanted to leave some kudos to the wonderful Christmassy themes that were slipped in.

The dreaming and desire to wake up (metaphor for Christmas being like a dream and then back to reality when it's over). The reminder that every Christmas is like a 'last Christmas' - explaining the dying aspect of the story. Christmas is a timely reminder of that we are all dying; and whatever Christmas you have in any given year, is so very different to the ones you may have experienced in years gone by. This may be a bit of a personal reflection, but after spending a day seeing my little ones open their presents, my elderly Gran in home and a visit to the coast to lay a flower for my late stepmum, it seemed to resonate with me...

Even the explanation of the anaesthetic was nice touch to reference the various anaesthetics (overindulgence) we all use at this time of year to get us through the holiday period! ^_^

Anyway, definitely the best Christmas special since A Christmas Carol. So THERE.

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Gregory Wolfe

Gregory Wolfe

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But annoyed with the way the existence of Santa was debated in the beginning. When you've got a kid in probably the last year of believing, I reckon that bit will have clearly disabused her of the notion, which seems a shame for 6pm on Xmas Day. It certainly made her a bit quiet during that section.

It's ok, she's only keeping up the pretence for you.

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Beitel

Beitel

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It wasn't the most original Who-plot (it was almost literally Aliens crossed with Inception) but this one flowed quite a bit better than most Moffat episodes. It was just good fun to watch. Couple of things:

Coleman deciding to continue with the series clearly destroyed the "Last Christmas" theme running throughout, making it not such a tight script as clearly intended. On the other hand, this wasn't exactly the best way to end Clara's run, so it's nice to have second go at that.

But because the plot was very clear it was also a bit too easy to see where it would lead, especially with Santa appearing in the beginning of the episode.

It wasn't on the level of "Listen" or "Mummy on the Orient Express" for instance. But also not that far behind, so still very good for Who standards.

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zxcvbnm

zxcvbnm

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I've got so used to the Christmas specials being shit, I wasn't holding out much hope, but this has easily been the best of them. Very dark in places, gorgeously filmed, with only a couple of ropey effects, and a decent storyline. Some of you are such miserable gits.

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