Probably the best out of all the Christmas Specials. Call me a stick in the mud but I’ve never been a fan of the Christmas Specials, they’re far too cheery and panto-esque, they’re mostly written as an excuse to get a good ratings boost as there’s nothing else to watch on Christmas Day and so rarely they get any effort put into them. There’s also the fact that for whatever reason the specials have to be written by the showrunner, and there’s only so many ideas one guy can have for a Christmas themed episode, Moffat in particular having written eight during his tenure and a ninth one just recently.

While The Husbands of River Song does have a lot of the things that drive me nuts about the Christmas Specials, it does also have some strong heartfelt moments what with it being the supposed closure to the Doctor and River Song’s relationship onscreen. In spite of the grating running joke that River (someone who boasts knowing the Doctor better than anyone) can’t seem to work out the obvious, Alex Kingston and Capaldi do make for one of my favourite Doctor/River pairings.

My thoughts on River’s story arc in the show has been mixed to negative, especially with how her character ended up being completely underwhelming compared to what was promised back in 2008, but here we get probably the best conclusion you could get out of her. The ending sees the Doctor finally close the circle on their complicated history by taking her to the Singing Towers, the place where River told him was their final meeting before her death. Now of course in the Doctor Who universe, there’s always the opening for her to come back onscreen, in fact I’d say the more years go by, the more likely it gets in building her up as a major returning character to generate some buzz around a future series. But personally I’d be happy with this being her swansong onscreen, I think it’s as good an exit as you could hope for.