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“TWICE UPON A TIME: TWO DOCTORS, ONE FAREWELL”

Twice Upon a Time marks the end of an era, serving as both Peter Capaldi’s swansong and Steven Moffat’s final script as Doctor Who showrunner after steering the ship since 2010. Originally broadcast on Christmas Day 2017, this special also functions as a multi-Doctor story, taking place in the final moments of The Tenth Planet (1966). The First Doctor—played here by David Bradley, who previously portrayed William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013) and later took on the role of the First Doctor in Big Finish audio dramas—finds himself on a final adventure with his future self, as both struggle to accept their impending regenerations.

The cold open is a fantastic hook, seamlessly blending clips from The Tenth Planet with a modern reimagining of its final moments. This effectively introduces the idea that, much like Twelve, the First Doctor initially resists regeneration, buying himself some extra time with one last adventure between leaving the Snowcap Base and returning to the TARDIS. It’s a clever use of a narrative gap—very much in the style of Big Finish—to slot in an untold story without contradicting existing continuity.

A MEETING OF MINDS (AND EGO)

Time itself is unravelling at the South Pole, freezing snowfall in mid-air while a First World War officer, Captain Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, is inexplicably pulled from the trenches. Mark Gatiss gives a strong performance in the role, though the later reveal that he’s the Brigadier’s grandfather edges into fan service territory. His presence mostly serves as comic relief, playing the bewildered third wheel to two Doctors bickering over who’s in charge.

The interplay between One and Twelve is a highlight of the episode. Though vastly different in demeanour, they share a core stubbornness, each reluctant to acknowledge the other as their future self. Their back-and-forth banter is reminiscent of the best multi-Doctor stories, filled with playful jabs and one-upmanship. Yet beneath the humour, there’s genuine poignancy as they slowly come to terms with their fates.

THE TESTIMONY – A FRAGMENTED THREAT

The episode’s central mystery revolves around the Testimony, a crystalline race from the far future that harvests the memories of the dying, preserving them in digital afterlife form. It’s an eerie and intriguing concept, tying neatly into the special’s meditation on death and remembrance. However, the Testimony ultimately feel underdeveloped, taking a backseat for much of the runtime. Their role in the narrative is overshadowed by an obligatory Dalek detour that, while visually striking, doesn’t add much beyond padding the episode’s length.

A more successful emotional thread comes with the return of Pearl Mackie’s Bill Potts. Though technically a construct of the Testimony rather than the original Bill, her presence is instrumental in guiding both Doctors towards accepting their destinies. The story also revisits the Christmas Truce of 1914, a rare moment of peace in wartime that thematically reinforces the Doctor’s ethos of hope and reconciliation.

THE BRADLEY DEBATE – A QUESTIONABLE CHARACTERISATION

David Bradley is a fine actor, and his take on the First Doctor works in broad strokes. However, his portrayal deviates noticeably from William Hartnell’s original, coming across as overly gruff and anachronistically chauvinistic. While The Tenth Planet did depict One as a bit crotchety, he had mellowed significantly by that point—certainly not to the extent of making outdated comments about Polly cleaning the TARDIS. It feels like an exaggerated caricature designed to highlight how much the character has evolved, but it does a disservice to Hartnell’s legacy.

That being said, One’s criticism of Twelve’s reliance on technology—echoing the War Doctor’s jabs at Ten and Eleven’s “sonic screwdrivers” in The Day of the Doctor (2013)—is a nice touch, showcasing how much the Doctor has changed across regenerations.

A CINEMATIC SEND-OFF

Visually, Twice Upon a Time is stunning. The icy South Pole landscape, the eerie halls of the Testimony ship, and the war-torn ruins of Villengard are beautifully realised. Rachel Talalay’s direction ensures a grand, cinematic feel, fitting for Capaldi’s final bow.

The episode also serves as a bookend to the Twelfth Doctor’s journey, with echoes of his earliest episodes and the resolution of his unfinished business with Bill. His farewell scene, where he briefly recalls Clara, mirrors Eleven’s emotional send-off in The Time of the Doctor (2013).

Capaldi’s final monologue inside the TARDIS is heartfelt, though it does linger a little too long. Then, in an explosive regeneration scene reminiscent of The End of Time (2010), we get our first glimpse of Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor—just in time for her to be unceremoniously thrown from the TARDIS, ending the Capaldi era on a literal cliffhanger.

📝VERDICT: 8/10

A sentimental and reflective send-off, Twice Upon a Time succeeds as an emotional farewell to Peter Capaldi, even if its plot is somewhat meandering. The interplay between One and Twelve is engaging, and the Christmas Truce provides a fittingly hopeful note to end on. However, the Testimony feel underused, the Dalek sequence adds little, and Bradley’s First Doctor is an exaggerated take that may irk long-time fans. Visually stunning and thematically rich, but a bit uneven in execution.

I think people are way too hard on this episode, sometimes.  David Bradley is charming as hell as the First Doctor, and the jokes are just that.  They're pretty funny to be honest because they aren't too far from the actual writing of the First Doctor at times, too.  I like how the writing makes use of the Christmas Armistice in a big way, too.  That's a nice use of real history to tell and effective story that's pretty rare for the Moffat era.  Plus the way the aliens weren't evil was a fun twist we don't often get to see.  It's a very charming and hopeful story overall, one I quite enjoyed on the whole.  While it definitely gets overblown at times (the speech at the end is way too long for my tastes), I think it's pretty great overall.

At first I had a grudge against this episode for what they did to my favorite gremlin old man the First Doctor, but I rewatched it with the explanation from the novelization in mind (that One was just doing that to annoy Twelve) and it became ten times funnier and also very enjoyable. It's a fun episode, even if it's very uncharitable towards the early show and the time period it was written in.

And here we are. The end of the Capaldi era. The end of the Moffat era and, if we're being technical, the end of the Christmas specials. From here on in, Doctor Who give us Chibnall, Whitaker and New Year's Day specials - but that's a story for another year, I think.

Settling down to this, I remembered all the various disparate parts of the story - WW1, glass people, Rusty, Bill, the Captain and, of course, the 1st Doctor.

And therein, setting out my stall early on, lies the problem with Twice Upon a Time. It's a list of items in search of a plot.

I would go so far as to say that Twice Upon a Time is possibly my least favourite Christmas Special. I can't decide if it's better than The Return of Doctor Mysterio or not. It's slightly less dull but with it's lack of actual story survives only because it has some individually interesting elements.

Firstly, let's talk about the 1st Doctor and David Bradley. Bradley is good. He does bring a performance reminiscent of Hartnell and is entertaining throughout. Prior to rewatching this, I've been very aware of the criticisms levelled at Steven Moffat's characterisation the 1st Doctor and how he makes him into a misogynistic old man with none of the actual sparkle of the 1st Doctor. I often dismiss the rantings of GB particularly when they're levelled at the various showrunners and, although I remembered some iffy lines about Polly doing the cleaning, I didn't remember it being an issue as such.

I was wrong. It is awful. Moffat does present a 1st Doctor who is sexist, old-fashioned and only superficially like the version played by William Hartnell. It's like he's taken Bradley's performance as Hartnell himself and transposed that into the character of the 1st Doctor, seemingly ignoring the magical wizard that Hartnell actually gave us. I don't think the Doctor said the sort of things coming out of Bradley's mouth and the problem is only compounded by the the 12th Doctor's constant apologising for what he says, drawing unnecessary attention to it.

There are a couple of gags which are amusing - such as Bill's hint that she is a lesbian - but they work much better directed at the WW1 Captain than to the Doctor who, let's face it, is a gentleman of the universe to boot. It's a huge misstep on Moffat's part and a shame that a fan of the series would go so far down that road.

Another disappointment of the 1st Doctor element is the re-creations of The Tenth Planet. Now I know that, for timing reasons in the episode, we don't get to see a lot of what they actually intended to show - more of it is shown in the accompanying behind the scenes documentary and it does look rather fun. However, the morph from Hartnell's dialogue to Bradley finishing the same scene is clunky and unconvincing and the less said about the stand-ins for Polly and Ben the better - Ben is about 3 feet too tall for starters.

The plot, as I say, is practically non-existent. It's basically the Doctor meeting some characters - the Captain, Bill, his earlier self and Rusty the Dalek and then finding out that there are nice glass people saving people's memories which means he gets to say goodbye to Bill, Nardole and Clara. It's almost like a sci-fi version of This is Your Life.

The whole 'holding off regeneration' stuff is pointless and it's an aspect of the modern series I actually rather dislike - the 10th Doctor's 'I don't want to go' was bad enough, but this stubborness to avoid the inevitable just makes the Doctor seem horribly arrogant. I'm not a fan of Capaldi's 12th Doctor, although Series 9 and 10 had helped me warm to him a little, but Twice Upon a Time only helps to cement him as one of my least favourite Doctors.

The Captain and WW1 scenes are about the only part of the episode I truly enjoyed (aside from Pearl Mackie's glorious Bill). Mark Gatiss does his usual stiff upper lip schtick. I always find Gatiss's performances to be too coloured by my experience oh him in The League of Gentlemen. Although I find him entertaining, I don't find him particularly convincing in straight dramatic roles. The reveal of the Captain's identity is nice, but I'm not sure it's earned - although at least it goes some way to redressing the horrific story choice Moffat made with the CyberBrig.

The re-creation of the WW1 Christmas armistice is a beautiful scene and it's easy to see why the cast found it just as moving even whilst filming it. But it's too little too late to make up for the aimless wandering of the rest of the story.

I wonder if this story was the victim of circumstance. It's fairly common knowledge that Moffat hadn't even planned on doing Series 10 but with Chibnall unavailable, he rescinded and went ahead with one final season. Then, it became clear there would be no Christmas special if Moffat didn't do it. I actually, completely coincidentally, re-watched World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls before Twice Upon Time. The Doctor Falls would have been a much better regeneration story for Capaldi and Twice Upon a Time is very much a story I don't think Moffat knew how to write and certainly one that we didn't really need.