Doctor Who: Christmas Specials Reviews

So far Whovians have been treated to 10 New-Who Christmas specials. 5 (or 6 if you count The End of Time P.1 & P.2 seperately) with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, 4 with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and 1 with Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, with the upcoming The Husbands of River Song adding another Christmas episode to Capaldi’s tenure.

The Doctor Who Christmas specials are a HUGE part of Christmas Day in Britain, especially for me. While my family are playing games, I can be found watching Doctor Who, no exceptions. Here are some summaries and general thoughts about the Christmas specials so far, in anticipation of the 2015 Christmas special ‘The Husbands of River Song’.

The Christmas Invasion

The first Christmas special of New-Who, this follows the Ninth Doctor’s regeneration into the Tenth Doctor. With the Doctor suffering post-regeneration side effects, it’s up to Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith and companion Rose Tyler to help him recover, and eventually save the day, alongside returning character Harriet Jones, played by Penelope Wilton who previously starred in Aliens of London. The Sycorax invade London, and following an attempt by Rose to bluff the leader, The Doctor is all better and defeats the Sycorax leader in a duel, in his pyjamas. The episode is fun and quirky which perhaps gives an insightful look as to who the Tenth Doctor is following a darker regeneration, despite the Doctor allowing the Sycorax leader to fall to his death. It’s a decent episode which lends itself to a few plot lines in future episodes (Donna becoming the Doctor-Donna to be specific), however it doesn’t stand out in comparison to future Christmas specials. 

The Runaway Bride

The Doctor, Donna Noble, and… a giant spider woman; the Empress of Racnoss. Donna gets teleported while walking down the aisle, which leads to an amusing conversation when Donna has to jump from a car to the TARDIS, in which she yells “I’m in my wedding dress!” to which the Doctor replies by complimenting how nice she looks. Lots of things happen, eventually leading to the final showdown where The Doctor almost commits genocide only to be stopped by Donna. It’s a greatly comedic episode, however saddening the ending may be with the loss of Donna’s fiancé (however evil he ended up being, it was still sad), and Donna’s heartbreaking declining of the Doctor’s invitation to be his companion. Nevertheless, it’s one of my favourite Christmas specials, it’s funny, Catherine Tate’s initial one-off appearance is brilliant (side note – Donna returning as a companion was also brilliant).

The Voyage of the Damned

The Voyage of the Damned is my favourite Christmas special, with the surprising and unusual addition of Kylie Minogue (and Duke off of Tracy Beaker) being a benefit for the episode, adding some unexpected spontaneity. Set on an interstellar replica of the Titanic (as well as a small bit of London with some Wilfred Mott), the episode sees the Doctor team up with potential companion Astrid (Minogue) and some other characters (Duke from Tracy Beaker and Bannakaffalatta) take on the Heavenly Host (actually quite terrifying) and Max Capricorn, only to see Astrid sacrifice her life to defeat Capricorn, returning for a quick goodbye as ‘stardust’ (aka sentient atoms) only to fly off and roam space as energy, a heart-warming yet sad farewell to Astrid. This episode is highly dramatic, with many supporting characters losing their lives (the Van Hoff’s being a particularly sad one), as well as the death of Astrid and the Doctor’s final farewell to her. The Voyage of the Damned is a truly exhilarating yet touching episode, and is not only my favourite Christmas special, but one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who as a whole. 

The Next Doctor

This is a fun episode, and the setting was was nice, however I have a hard time coping with the inclusion of the Cybermen in this episode, which brings it down. The addition of David Morrisey’s Jackson Lake as a man who believes he’s the Doctor and Rosita as his companion helps the episode come alive, however as mentioned before the the inclusion of the Cybermen, while necessary for the episode to have an antagonist, is perhaps overdone, more specifically the ‘CyberKing’, which even in the Doctor Who universe where we have living fat and a robot dog, seemed a bit too silly. While the Jackson Lake-storyline is interesting, it’s slightly obstructed by the Cyber-inclusion and thus brings the episode down. 

The End of Time Part 1 & 2

I’m still sad about this two-parter, because it destroyed my heart. The End of Time is the Tenth Doctor’s swansong, and manages to culminate in a dramatic return for Rassilon and The Master, bringing Gallifrey along in the meantime (which is, however, later lost, again). The episode follows the Doctor and Wilfred Mott attempting to defeat the Master, Rassilon returns with Gallifrey and a few other Gallifreyan characters including one disputed to be the Doctor’s mother. Gallifrey looms over Earth, threatening the horrors of the Time War, which leads to a dispute between Rassilon, the Doctor and the Master, leading to Rassilon attempting to kill the Doctor only for the Master to sacrifice himself for the Doctor. Gallifrey is in a Time-Lock, but Wilfred it locked in the Gate’s isolation chamber, so the Doctor sacrifices his life to save Wilfred. The Doctor is about to regenerate, but not before he visits previous companions such as Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, and Donna, as well as Captain Jack and Verity Newman. He then regenerates into the Eleventh Doctor, my favourite, played by Matt Smith, but not before the Tenth Doctor’s final words… “I don’t want to go”. Tears, non-stop tears. This is an epic story and a true highlight of the Tenth Doctor, who is well-deserving of such an intense, Gallifreyan story. The acting is superb, and the Doctor’s farewell tour visiting his old friends is a delightful way to end the Tenth Doctor’s story. The End of Time is a superb story. 

A Christmas Carol

This was a nice episode, it felt the most Christmas-y of the episodes so far, despite the shark. No, seriously, a shark. Michael Gambon is a surprising addition, playing a cruel and Scrooge-like character Kazran Sardick, who has been in love with Abigail (played by Katherine Jenkins in her acting debut) all of his life, with Abigail being cyrogenically frozen since Kazran’s youth. Abigail has an incurable disease, and thus Kazran is devastated that he cannot let her out anymore. Amidst all this, Amy and Rory are hurtling towards Earth after the ship they are on has been struck by lightning. The Doctor visits Kazran at various stages in his life in an attempt to make him kinder and help save Amy and Rory, and following a whole kerfuffle and a shark eating the sonic screwdriver, Kazran does so by letting Abigail out one last time to sing… which somehow saves Amy and Rory…? As mentioned before, this episode is heartwarming and very Christmas-y in comparison to previous episodes. It’s definitely one to check out, if you can cope with the bizarre inclusion of fish in the atmosphere. (Legit)

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of this episode. It seems a bit unnecessary, although it means well (a touching WWII story) and helps set up future stories. It’s a ‘silly’ and bizarre episode, however heartwarming it is at the end, with the family reunited with their father and the Doctor shedding a tear when he visits his companions Amy and Rory. However, the episode under uses the killer cast it has, which includes Bill Bailey, Alexander Armstrong, Arabella Weir and Sam Stockman, which is why this episode tends to be overlooked, despite its moral compass. 

The Snowmen

Potentially one of my favourite episodes for Jenna Coleman who returns as another splinter of Clara Oswald, in this case, a Victorian barmaid/governess Clara Oswin Oswald. The story follows a reclusive, post-Manhattan (death of Amy and Rory) Eleventh Doctor in Victorian England, aided by Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax (the Paternoster Gang); the Doctor learns of the ‘snowmen’ and decides to help Clara after she intrigues him following a sequence of coincidences. In come the Great Intelligence (voiced by Ian McKellan) and Dr Simeon, alongside the Ice Governess and the Snowmen. After a whole kerfuffle, the Ice Governess climbs up the staircase leading to the TARDIS which is parked on a cloud, the Governess pulls Clara off the cloud. Clara dies after saying “Run you clever boy and remember”, setting up the ‘impossible girl’ storyline and ending a rather dramatic and enticing Christmas special. To summarise, The Snowmen is a very memorable Christmas special for Doctor Who for many reasons – Jenna Coleman‘s return to Doctor Who after playing ‘Not-A-Dalek’ Oswin Oswald, Ian McKellan’s (brief) Great Intelligence voice-over, the Paternoster gang, as well as a darker, grieving portrayal of the Doctor by Matt Smith. 

The Time of The Doctor

Coming to this episode knowing this would be my favourite Doctor’s final story, I anticipated a huge, fulfilling story and my expectations were high. While the story was complex and seemed to round up a lot of loose-ends throughout the Eleventh Doctor’s run, it seemed underwhelming as a farewell for what is one of the best Doctors of all time. The story itself is perhaps suitable for the tone of the series and the 50th anniversary trilogy episodes, it just didn’t seem suitable for the Eleventh Doctor, perhaps being a more suitable end for the Twelfth Doctor if the story were adapted to fit his overall story arc, as the Eleventh Doctor, while dark at times, was mostly quirky and loving. The Doctor and Clara travel to the town Christmas, on Trenzalore, where a prophecy says that the Doctor will spend the last of his years. The Doctor realises that the ‘crack in time’ is a message from the Time Lords on Gallifrey, and so sends Clara back home so he can spend thousands of years fighting lots of aliens (including the Weeping Angels, Cybermen, and ultimately the Daleks), only for Clara to return to find the Doctor is about to die and so convinces the Time Lords to give the Doctor a new regeneration cycle. Then, it happens. The Doctor begins to regenerate in the Tardis, dropping his bow tie and saying a final goodbye to Clara and a hallucination of Amy Pond, as well as saying “I will always remember when the Doctor was me” and then regenerates into Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. The episode is redeemed by Matt Smith’s performance during his regeneration, notably his final speech, and this sequence has quickly become one of my favourite scenes from Doctor Who’s entire history, however much I may disregard the rest of the episode. To summarise; while the episode itself doesn’t really stand out for me, the regeneration scene does in a way that moves me and makes me appreciate just how brilliant Matt Smith was as the Doctor. 

Last Christmas

Can you get any more Christmas-y than having actual Santa in the episode? Nick Frost is slightly underused in the role, however, in comparison to Natalie Gumede and Faye Marsay who stand out particularly well out of the supporting cast members. So, in this episode, Clara wakes up to find Santa Claus on her rooftop, yep. Santa Claus. The Twelfth Doctor turns up and whisks Clara away in the TARDIS. Meanwhile, at the North Pole (a lot of Christmas for a Christmas special, right?) a group of scientists try to save their fellow personnel from crab-like creatures… a truly bizarre episode, right? The crabs induce a dream state while devouring a person’s brain. However, all of this ends up being a dream, so everyone escapes after dreaming that Santa is flying them home (?!) Everyone wakes up, until Clara is the left whereby the Doctor removes the crab from Clara to find that it’s been over 60 years since they last met, until Santa appears which makes the Doctor realise that it’s, again, a dream. Everything becomes real again and the Doctor asks Clara to rejoin him, to which she accepts. Last Christmas is a fun, if not bizarre, and quirky story with slight hints of darkness throughout which encompasses all things Doctor Who. This episode stands out amongst a few others in all 10 of the Doctor Who Christmas specials so far, and rightfully so, seeing as it embodies all things Christmas. 

The next Christmas special:

The Husbands of River Song

Be sure to check back for my review of The Husbands of River Song, which airs on Christmas Day. The episode will feature Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, as well as Alex Kingston’s long-awaited return as River Song, as well as guest stars Matt Lucas and Greg Davies amongst a few others.

The review will be posted in the next day or two.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be posting some more Christmas themed content throughout December!

Bye!

Totally Culture

Curtis

Adele ’25’ Review

Hello. It’s me, I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to read… my review of ADELE’S NEW ALBUM. YES YES YES!

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‘Hello’ is, of course, the best known track from the album, but in the context of the album’s narrative it’s an intense and moving introduction to the next stage of Adele’s life and musical career. It sets the theme, this being reflection on relationships and the past in general, yet successfully re-establishes place in the music industry. The track itself is truly emotive and powerful, although the opening lines are tender and careful which provides a nice contrast when that develops into the aforementioned emotional power of the song. I do believe that ‘Hello’ will remain one of Adele’s most popular songs for years to come, and rightly so, as it’s a brilliant song. 

‘Send My Love (To Your New Lover)’ manages to combine sass and strength in the best possible way. Upon first hearing the track, I wasn’t too sure if it worked. After a few more listens, I warmed to it. I was surprised at the musical direction, the initial indecisiveness being that I was expecting ballad after ballad on this album, yet ‘Send My Love’ is upbeat and fresh. This works in the songs favour, while it could have easily been a ballad, it seems Adele wanted to show strength in this song, and does so successfully by adding some funk and sass. It’s a great song, and could very easily be successful, however I feel it may take a few listeners some time to warm to it. 

‘I Miss You’ also surprised me, in a sense that it’s sultriness was completely unexpected. I genuinely thought I had somehow started listening to a Beyoncé song instead of Adele until the vocals kicked in. Yet, again, Adele manages to give an abundance of emotion and sense of connection in this song, or perhaps a desire for connection in the case of this song.

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Check that high note though, because ‘When We Were Young’ is one of the most touching and magnificent songs Adele has released. Adele has a way of intriguing you with a simple 5 seconds of introduction, and with this song especially you know that it’s going to be that Adele song that makes you tear up. This is the epitome of reflection in this album, focusing on the glamorisation of young relationships, when actually, it’s broken and painful to experience. Adele’s vocals are at an all time high in this song, and it’s easy to disregard the emotion she puts into this song. Take some time to listen to the lyrics, listen to her voice. It’s awe-inspiring.

When I first heard ‘Remedy’, this was the song that got to me the most. The story Adele tells in the song is heart-breaking, it resonates with everyone. “When the pain cuts you deep, when the night keeps you from sleeping, just look and you will see I will be your remedy”. How vulnerable are those lyrics? She’s giving her time to help somebody, she wants to ‘cure them’. It’s something we all experience. The song itself is wonderfully produced, a simple piano, no backing vocals, a stripped-back Adele song that still manages to be poignant and contemplative. Adele really hits the mark with this song.

‘Water Under The Bridge’ is my favourite song from ’25’. I went for a walk earlier (writing this on the day of release) and had this song on repeat for the entire 40 minutes. The song is epic, production-wise, lyrically, vocally, it’s simply epic. The lyrics are sincerly heart-breaking – “don’t pretend that you don’t want me” being a prime example. The production on ‘Water Under The Bridge’ is deceptive, disguising the sadness of the song behind a fun and hip stylised song. Dare I say it, but this is in fact my favourite Adele song of all time, and easily has potential to become my favourite song in general if I don’t overplay it due to loving it so much. Would it be weird to say that I’m actually thankful for this song, because it really is stunning. 

‘River Lea’ is slightly gospel-like which works in the songs favour, because it makes the song much more easy and comforting to listen to. It’s a fun song, ‘River Lea’ manages to be empowering and defining for Adele in her new artistic direction. It’s definitely a song not to be missed.

Similar to ‘When We Were Young’ and ‘Remedy’, my first impression of this song was that it was going to be a heartbreaking song. Perhaps this song has the potential to be ignored when placed against songs such as ‘Water Under The Bridge’ and ‘Remedy’, but it does deserve recognition for remnants to Adele’s past music.

‘Million Years Ago’ is another stripped-back track on the album, with Adele’s vocals being tender and almost considerate. Similar to ‘Love In The Dark’, my initial thoughts were that this song could be pushed aside for the ‘bigger’ songs on the album, but the reaction to ‘Million Years Ago’ on social media, Twitter especially, has glorified the song, which I found interesting. Perhaps a song doesn’t need huge production to be a hit with the listeners, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and listen to a stripped-back song (it’ll still make you cry though).

While ‘All I Ask’ is another stripped-back song, it stands out on the album because of it’s story. One last night with her lover – “what if I never love again”, perhaps something that resonates strongly with listeners. I wouldn’t know, personally, yet it still gets to me. The heartbreak heard so clearly in Adele’s vocals have a huge impact on the song. 

How do you end an album about reflection and heartbreak? With ‘Sweetest Devotion’ of course, a song about the present. Adele’s found happiness, and you can really hear that in this song. She’s found her sweetest devotion, what Adele says is “the one that I belong to”. ‘Sweetest Devotion’ is a fantastic way to end the album, and a reassuring confirmation from Adele that one can actually find happiness, three albums later. 

To summarise, ’25’ does well with reflecting on the past, the narrative of the album is set clearly from the offset which is pleasant. While some songs can be lost due to the strength of others, when put together the album is powerful and exceeds the high expectations it has had for two long years. Standout songs include ‘Water Under The Bridge’, ‘When We Were Young’ and ‘Remedy’. Welcome back, Adele. 

5 stars

That’s all for now.

Bye!

Totally Culture

Curtis

REVIEWING FROOT – MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

FROO OO OO OOT

Froot, the third album from Marina and the Diamonds has just been released, and I like it. Although, I admittedly do have mixed feelings. 

I would probably say my favourite track is Happy, but I also really love Savages, Forget and Weeds. 

My issue is, and I mean this with the greatest respect, it’s difficult to listen to this album because I’m a male. I don’t feel like I could tell my future wife and children that I listened to this album. I guess it’s the whole concept of ‘masculinity’, and let’s be real I’m not Marina’s primary target audience, I’m probably not even her secondary target audience. However, I’m a huge fan of Marina’s previous work and I do enjoy listening to her new album, FROOT. It’s just a difficult listen because of this feeling that it’s not suitable for a straight, white, slightly posh 17 year old male. Although, I would give FROOT 5 out of 5 stars, just because the overall concept and sound of the album is amazing, and some songs really do shine, even if others don’t. Just for consideration, I would also give Electra Heart 4 out of 5 stars, and The Family Jewels a solid 5 out of 5 stars. The following will be ratings of each song on the album.

1. Happy

Happy is my favourite song on the album. It starts off solemn, yet it progresses into something so inspiring… 

“I believe in possibility, I believe someone’s watching over me”

5 out of 5 stars

2. Froot

While this song is good, I can’t really bare to listen to it more than once. With all due respect, it’s not for me. 

“Living la dolce vita, life couldn’t get much sweeter”

3 out of 5 stars

3. I’m A Ruin

OOOOO OOH OOHH YEAAAHHHHHH

“It doesn’t feel right and it doesn’t feel fair, when I’m planning to move on and you’re still standing there”

4 out of 5 stars

4. Blue

This is such a feel good song, yet the lyrics are the complete opposite.

“For one more night, one last goodbye”

4 out of 5 stars

5. Forget

I could imagine this song playing in a classic American teen’s 80’s film where the group of teens are running through the bleachers. 

“”I’m gonna leave the past behind, I’ve had enough I’m breaking free”

5 out of 5 stars

6. Gold

This song is very calm, it’s just soft and nice. However, it doesn’t really stand out for me.

“You can’t take way the Midas’ touch, so you better make a way for a Greek gold rush”

4 out of 5 stars

7. Can’t Pin Me Down

I don’t really know about this song, I’m still undecided. It’s nice but sometimes it feels a bit too much, you know?

“Do you really want me to write a feminist anthem, I’m happy cooking dinner in the kitchen for my husband” 

4.5 out of 5 stars

8. Solitaire 

This is so The Family Jewels, You go Marina. However, it’s, again, one of those songs you learn to love. 

“Hard like a rock, cold like a stone, white like a diamond, black like coal”

4 out of 5 stars

9. Better Than That

Well snap, don’t mess with Marina. #sassyMarina

“She’s the apple of everybody’s eye with an angel voice, devil in disguise” 

4.5 out of 5 stars

10. Weeds

This is such a moving song, Marina really does rock alternative ballads. 

“You know the problem with history, it keeps coming back like a weed”

5 out of 5 stars

11. Savages

This song is such a powerful societal statement on all the corruption in our world. So many powerful lyrics, so much political commentary. Props to Marina for being skilled enough to write such an important song.

“Murder lives forever, and so does war” & “I’m not afraid of God, I am afraid of Man”

5 out of 5 stars

12. Immortal

This is such a good ending to a phenomenal album. Marina’s soft vocals mixed with an intense lyrical story. Fantastic. 

“That’s what we do it for, to reserve a place, it’s just another part of the human race”

4.5 out of 5 stars

Congratulations to Marina for such a fantastic album. I look forward to the next.