# Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 - Matt Smith's final episode (spoilers as it airs) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149 "2013-12-25T15:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/61 "2013-12-26T21:56:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > “The Doctor” > > I was trying to figure out what the hell they ate, and how after that long they weren’t all ‘kid with the banjo on the porch’ from the small gene pool. Christmas wasn’t the only town on Trenzalore, so presumably people came and went in the town. Lem also said that it was a “human farming planet”, explaining the food. > [@akrako1](#): > > didn’t they say in a previous episode that the current (Smith) doctor had been in that form for hundreds of years? he’d come along and pickup Clara for an adventure now and then, but they made it seem like he’d been in that form for a long time. Yet he didn’t age one day! He’s stuck at Christmas for a similar amount of time, and he aged to an old man. Seems like a little bit of a plot hole. I know Christmas can be anxiety generating and stressful for some, but still!! har har de har har My fanwank is that Time Lords can kind of suspend their age at whatever point they want (typically, but not always, at the same age they regenerate to), and whatever quirk of biology that allows them to do this eventually wears off and they begin to age rapidly to match that form’s real level of aging (in Time Lord years, of course). We know they can die of old age, the First Doctor did, and keep in mind that 11 is definitely one of the longest lived doctors. During the Amy/Rory seasons it’s stated that he’s been joyriding for several hundred years, and pretty quickly jumped from “around 900” to “1200”. It was also implied that he spent a couple centuries getting over Amy and Rory getting sent back by angels. I suspect he spent well over 1000 years in that form. Though I agree the “sudden onset” aging was a bit weird, I think he was sufficiently long lived that I can accept him dying of old age. Anyway, I liked this episode a lot more than the 50th, personally. I liked the 50th, but to me it felt like an episode that could have happened in the middle of a regular season. This episode really felt like something special, even if it was perhaps a liiiiiiiiitle up its own ass in plot. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/62 "2013-12-26T22:14:36Z")
Maybe the Doctor (Time Lords in general?) ages when he’s stuck in one place—he’s always running, so that’s when the years catch up with him. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/63 "2013-12-26T22:28:53Z")
I am really hoping that Capaldi will see an end to the My Imaginary Boyfriend writing that’s plaguing the show more and more. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/64 "2013-12-26T22:57:50Z")
> [@For You](#): > > The plot gap that troubled me: the Doctor lived in Christmas for three hundred years, a town enclosed by an honesty field, and not once in all that time did any person (say, an innocent child) ask him his name. I don’t know how its supposed to work but being forced not to lie doesn’t have to be the same as being forced to answer every question. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/65 "2013-12-26T22:59:22Z")
My biggest hope is that this episode represented the shedding of a lot of accumulated baggage, all those half-resolved hints and teases, all of those things that hung in the air and in the end just weighed the show down too much. Ultimately, they started more than they could finish, and keeping things a bit lighter on the epic drama would be refreshing for the show. I suppose the ‘bring Gallifrey back’-arc is a must now, but keep it out of focus a little. Establish the new Doctor with a few fun monsters of the week, develop the characters, resist the temptation to go on yet another epic universe-saving adventure. You don’t have to have the whole of reality hanging in the balance all the time to keep things interesting and exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/66 "2013-12-26T23:22:45Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t know how its supposed to work but being forced not to lie doesn’t have to be the same as being forced to answer every question. Yeah, they established you can lie by omission: “Oops, should have mentioned [my sonic screwdriver] doesn’t work on wood”, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/67 "2013-12-26T23:23:53Z")
That’s been my biggest beef with the Moffat years. He doesn’t seem to remember that the show can and should be _fun_. At least some of the time, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/68 "2013-12-27T01:16:07Z")
> [@For You](#): > > The plot gap that troubled me: the Doctor lived in Christmas for three hundred years, a town enclosed by an honesty field, and not once in all that time did any person (say, an innocent child) ask him his name. > [@Jragon](#): > > Yeah, they established you can lie by omission: > > “Oops, should have mentioned [my sonic screwdriver] doesn’t work on wood”, for instance. Well a couple of things - he could peremptively introduce himself, or there is a semantic difference to weaselword things - what do you call yourself vs what is your name. If the common question is So, stranger, What do you call yourself, you can get away with truthfully saying that you call yourself The Doctor. If it is So Stranger, what is your name? you are stuck. I think he would preemptively tell people his nickname first. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/69 "2013-12-27T01:56:25Z")
To several comments here - I reserve the right to love episodes and to be underwhelmed as they happen. I also got a River Song vibe from Tasha Lem and could completely see River Song creating herself even in this timey whimey stream. I mean we have Impossible Girl having gone into a tomb and a enrgy stream remains that now never existed. Cause and effect are mere plot conveniences. Doubt it but would not rule it out. River was notable for her absence even in his thoughts. A shout out to Amy but not to River? She is the dog that did not bark and that inner psychopath line is too Riverniscent to let pass without thinking that they are thinking about it. After all the build up of these plotlines the denouments seemed anticlimatic. That was the seige of Trenzalore? Whoosh a bit of timelord ex crackina and his regens are reset and his death undone. Meh. Excited for the next show though! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/70 "2013-12-27T02:35:00Z")
Well, I had fun, and I went all squee at Capaldi’s three lines or whatever. Y’all are some demanding viewers. My personal worst moment was when they had the Angels–the stupid bloody ruined Angels!–show up; I was afraid Moffat was going to make it another Angel-fest. Thank goodness they were just there as part of the Doctor’s Enemies Brigade. Could’ve used some more Sontarran humor, but I’ll take what I can get when it comes to those potato people. > [@Penfeather](#): > > I am really hoping that Capaldi will see an end to the My Imaginary Boyfriend writing that’s plaguing the show more and more. One gets the impression that it should be. He’s an old(ish) man, after all. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I hope Moffat gets sick of the show and passes it off to someone soon. ISTR that back when Smith announced he was leaving, there was another announcement that Moffat would only be staying on for one more season. My fingers are crossed–I have not been impressed with his stewardship of the show. (You never forget your first Doctor, nor your first showrunner, perhaps–how often have I regretted the times I cursed Russell T. Davies’s name.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/71 "2013-12-27T02:36:44Z")
If Moffat is only staying for another season, who would take over? I had heard of Moffat while Davies was running the show, but I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone else at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/72 "2013-12-27T02:41:38Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Maybe the Doctor (Time Lords in general?) ages when he’s stuck in one place—he’s always running, so that’s when the years catch up with him. I was thinking it was a side effect of being in the TARDIS. This was the longest he’d gone without seeing her since he first stole her, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/73 "2013-12-27T02:50:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > If Moffat is only staying for another season, who would take over? I had heard of Moffat while Davies was running the show, but I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone else at this point. No idea. As I said, it’s a vague memory at this point, and one which I can’t be arsed… can’t be… well, apparently he’s [on for series 8](http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a497530/doctor-who-moffat-no-plans-to-leave-im-excited-for-new-doctor.html), but that doesn’t tell us anything. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/74 "2013-12-27T02:54:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I was thinking it was a side effect of being in the TARDIS. This was the longest he’d gone without seeing her since he first stole her, wasn’t it? I’ll accept that. After all, if being born on it can give River freaky Time Lord powers, then why not keep The Doctor forever young? As for the gripes about the Angels, I kind of agree. I really do like the Angels as a concept, and Blink was amazing, but after maybe the second or third time we saw them I got tired of them. The problem is that there’s just not much you can do with them. Bless them they tried with the whole “the image of an Angel becomes an Angel” thing, but their lack of ability to talk and make complex plans is kind of their undoing. I do think an episode with the Vashta Narada vs the Angels could be interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/75 "2013-12-27T03:00:53Z")
It wasn’t great, it didn’t hold my attention well, but omg, I will so miss Matt Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/76 "2013-12-27T04:07:16Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I do think an episode with the Vashta Narada vs the Angels could be interesting, though. O the Silence versus the Angels: would the latter remember to move when the former were no longer watching them? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/77 "2013-12-27T04:47:18Z")
I think they should have gone with this schedule: November - 50th Anniversary Episode Christmas - Christmas Special - no goodbye to Matt Smith, just a regular one Januaryish - A one-off special 75 minute “goodbye” episode to Matt Smith March or April - New episodes with the new Doctor. This would allow the new guy to hop right in very quickly and get the show moving. One, the Christmas episode shouldn’t be the goodbye. Two, the huge delay now for the new guy prevents him from taking over immediately. Just my opinion on their mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/78 "2013-12-27T07:23:09Z")
Tasha Lem would make a very interesting companion: she would transform into a full-on art-deco-salt-shaker and be in a constant state of conflict between high-priestess and dalek. They could do a lot with a character like that. The viewers would never be completely sure whether her role in an episode would be as a collaborator, foil or someone in search of her true identity. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/79 "2013-12-27T09:35:01Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Yeah, they established you can lie by omission: > > “Oops, should have mentioned [my sonic screwdriver] doesn’t work on wood”, for instance. Actually, even that scene contained a direct lie. The Doctor claims his sonic screwdriver has reversed the direction the wooden cyberman’s wrist gun is going to fire in, even though he knows the screwdriver has done no such thing. What’s that but a lie? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/80 "2013-12-27T11:08:58Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Actually, even that scene contained a direct lie. The Doctor claims his sonic screwdriver has reversed the direction the wooden cyberman’s wrist gun is going to fire in, even though he knows the screwdriver has done no such thing. What’s that but a lie? He said that he programmed the screwdriver to do it. What he omitted was that it wouldn’t work. That way the Cyberman compensated for something that didn’t actually affect him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149.md?page=5)