# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/121 "2013-12-31T16:30:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sad as it may sound, the above makes more sense than anything from Moffat. That episode was when RTD was in charge? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/122 "2013-12-31T16:44:45Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > That episode was when RTD was in charge? Anything with David Tennant, except for the 50th Anniversary special, was when Russell T Davies was showrunner. When Matt Smith took over, so did Moffat. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/123 "2013-12-31T23:32:36Z")
I miss Tennant and RTD. Whether or not Capaldi is better than Smith, we’ll still have Moffat’s story lines with grand visions yet poor payoffs. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/124 "2013-12-31T23:47:06Z")
What I don’t know about Dr Who is a lot but I do see it sometimes and what I love are the child-orientated unspoken themes. I just watched this and thought aging, mortality, preparing for and meeting death, being true, defiance, love, loss, memory, and more … all addressed without unearned sentiment. Goodness, Moffatt did well with this one. And I’m not much of a fan. Matt Smith was a playground boyfriend through to granddad. I thought it was, at the very least, touching and sincere. At best, a whole education. It was a fine tribute to Matt Smith’s era, and having Karen and he touching faces instead of words was a beautiful goodnight. If there has been a better kids show, I haven’t seen it ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/125 "2014-01-01T02:44:45Z")
Not a Captain Planet fan? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/126 "2014-01-01T11:51:44Z")
Compared to most here, I barely know Dr Who … Having looked again at the 4-minute denouement, holy smoke is that excellent acting, writing and tone. All that stuff about breath on a mirror, who we are being the sum of who we were … as he begins to fade away: “the thing is …” - great acting. The power of memory as he invokes the child Amelia and the adult Amy, what he won’t forget, what you shouldn’t forget about him … damn. Again: no cheap, unearned sentiment. Seemed pretty near perfect to me. Possibly the best 4-minutes of Dr Who I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/127 "2014-01-01T12:11:55Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I also got a River Song vibe from Tasha Lem and could completely see River Song creating herself even in this timey whimey stream. Or the Papal Mainframe is descended from the library computer that River’s consciousness was transferred into and that computer created Tasha Lem as its avatar. Not quite a reincarnation of River, but contains some River inside her. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/128 "2014-01-01T15:10:50Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Or the Papal Mainframe is descended from the library computer that River’s consciousness was transferred into and that computer created Tasha Lem as its avatar. Not quite a reincarnation of River, but contains some River inside her. Oh I like this theory! Anybody have any idea about relative positions on the galactic timeline - the library episode and the final episode Papal Mainframe? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/129 "2014-01-01T15:17:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Anybody have any idea about relative positions on the galactic timeline - the library episode and the final episode Papal Mainframe? As far as I can tell, everything in the Whoverse happens at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/130 "2014-01-01T15:42:55Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Or the Papal Mainframe is descended from the library computer that River’s consciousness was transferred into and that computer created Tasha Lem as its avatar. Not quite a reincarnation of River, but contains some River inside her. > [@aruvqan](#): > > Oh I like this theory! As do I. Makes sense as we know River didn’t have any regenerations left, and she was Evil before she regenerated into River. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149/131 "2014-01-01T16:21:10Z")
I know it’s practically impossible, but I wish they were able to keep the regeneration a secret before it aired. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-christmas-special-2013-matt-smiths-final-episode-spoilers-as-it-airs/677149.md?page=6)