Not everybody is going to like this episode, and I can see why some wouldn't enjoy it. You definitely need a good appreciation for the River Song arc and this character to enjoy this, and it feels like a truly lovely way to sort of close out her story (at least with the Doctor).

Humour is tough. If you find this episode funny, odds are you are going to like it. If you don't, well, it is all going straight out of the window. I certainly found a lot of stuff funny myself, most notably Capaldi's fake reaction to the TARDIS was just excellent, while the "hello sweetie" line was also pretty silly but also full of sentimentality.

Moffat is a bit of a self-indulgent writer who seems to sort of clap himself on the back sometimes for how clever he is within his own scripts. It bothers me sometimes quite a bit but here it feels deserved. After everything he put into River, after all he did to maker her one of the most unique characters in Doctor Who, the dude kind of deserves to have episodes like this. Nardole, on the other hand, is at his absolute worst here. His jokes are the least funny in The Husbands of River Song and it is actually a bit misleading in that this character gets far better in Series 10 but did not leave a good impression here.

Whatever the limitations of The Husbands of River Song there is, and they very much are present, I can't help but enjoy this one and kind of view it as a must-see whenever I'm revisiting this era of Who. It's so lovely and a perfect ending for River, tying up with Silence of the Library in a way I never actually expected them to fully follow through on but really fits nicely with what we know happens to her. A huge step forward for the franchise after, in my opinion, a pretty catastrophic finale for Clara in comparison.

Quietly an underrated masterpiece. Genuinely funny, with a fun and engaging story. Capaldi is having so much fun in this and his chemistry with Alex Kingston is probably the best Doctor/River relationship.

As was with Last Christmas and Danny, Husbands serves as a coda for River and it serves to conclude her story in a very bittersweet way, so much so in fact, I'd say it'd be slightly insulting if she ever returned after this - this is the best ending you could give her and I doubt there's anything you could do to justify any return.

Last year I watched this story but never got around to writing a review. I also realised it was linked, loosely, with the following special The Return of Doctor Mysterio and thought I'd watch them as a pair.

I remember when I watched Husbands on broadcast that I enjoyed it very much as it was just a huge amount of fun. After quite a heavy main series which ended on two quite serious episodes, this felt like a complete breath of fresh air.

Capaldi is much more my kind of Doctor in this story. I know I've been down on the 12th Doctor before but by Husbands I had come around to him. He's silly, funny, witty and occasionally on the back foot. In particular, his interplay with Matt Lucas and Alex Kingston is wonderful. There's a lightness to the episode which perfectly fits a Christmas episode. The initial stuff with Hydroflax is gloriously silly and the second part of the episode on the cruise ship for killers has a bunch of good stuff.

Another thing this story has going for it is the introduction of Matt Lucas's Nardole. Even just in this, at the time supposedly one-off, appearance he establishes a great rapport with Capaldi and only gets a bit too silly when he becomes the head of Hydroflax.

River Song is a character I'm not sure I've ever quite warmed too. She's fine but I'm not a huge fan of Kingston's performance. That said, Husbands is one of her better stories and I think that may be because for much of it she is being 'River without the Doctor' (as is emphasised in the Doctor Who Extra documentary). Her initial scenes are good fun and later, when she has her speech about the Doctor not ever loving her, it's really, rather moving.

I'm a huge Greg Davies fan too - his various comedies (Man Down, Cuckoo), his stand-up and his position as the one and only Taskmaster are all comedy gold. He is brilliant as Hydroflax. It's a 'Max Capricorn'-style of villain but works much better than he did in Voyage of the Damned. He's big (literally) and very silly but I like him.

The only part of the story which doesn't really work for me are the Shoal of Winter Harmony (or Harmony Shoal as they become in Doctor Mysterio). As villains/monster they are fairly non-descript. They pop up on the ship as worshippers of Hydroflax and then one of them splits his head open! It's a horrible effect (in the sense of 'gross' not 'bad'). For me, it's actually a bit too much for Doctor Who. It's a bit too body horror and I'm not sure it fits the series usual tone. I can't really think of any other examples similar to it in the show previously.

But, overall, I like Husbands. It's not my favourite of the Christmas Specials but it's certainly up there in the top tiers. It's silly, fun, has great performances and rather neatly wraps up the whole River Song ar

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.

New Who Review #130

The Husbands of River Song ❄️

This Story was mid. I didn't really like it or get entertained by it. This being rivers final on screen appearance feels wasted by the fact she doesn't know who the doctor is for the most of it. So you don't really get the feel that you should knowing that she's about to go to her death after this. King Hydroflax is an interesting villain but is done too comically which doesn't quite work. It's nice to have a chill lay back story after the stress Fest that was series 9. I really like Nardole and love that this is his debut story. He will be a full time companion in series 10. The Singing towers scene was brilliant. We finally see river getting the sonic that was in the Library. We see the singing towers and at that point we realise that this is her final adventure which is sad. In 2015 I really thought this was the final doctor who story because it ended on what seemed to be a final goodbye to the show backed up by a gap year so I really thought it was over. I was so glad to see a trailer for series 10 in end of 2016 though. Overall an ok story that Wraps up rivers story and gives us a nice Christmas treat. 6/10