I've realised since listening to this story and loving it that it seems to be a controversial one without much of a consensus on it's quality, both loved and hated. And obviously by my rating I'm here to defend it, because it might be heavy on tropes that have been done before, but that's not a bad thing when it's done well with so much charm like it is here in my eyes. This was the 3rd Big Finish audio I ever listened to after Storm Warning and Sword of Orion, and this one holds a special place as the one which drawed me in to the world of audio for good and made the 8th Doctor really click for me.

The atmosphere and dialogue throughout are brilliant, which really capture a historic and traditional Venician setting, even if that technically wasn't what it was supposed to be. That could be one small criticism of the story, I completely forgot it was meant to be set in the far future, which could be explained away by the strong desire to preserve somewhere as historic as Venice leading to the future there looking just like the past, we can never tell what the future is going to look like. Such an explanation could've been done in just a few lines of dialogue, but is unfortunately missing from the story. I feel like the far future setting was written in to avoid having to do the explaining that would have to happen to fit this story into our own history. Nevertheless it's a very engaging and charming setting in every aspect and whether it's the past like it feels or is actually in the future doesn't feel too relevant while listening.

I can see why some people would think the ending is cliche and predictable, but it's actually the part of the story I love the most. The day was saved with love which has been done a million times before, but here it is done really well and it lands perfectly for me. It beautifully emphasises the beauty and power of humanity which I always think Dr who does best. I loved how the Doctor figured it all out in a beautiful speech, but ultimately all his words couldn't save the day, only humanity could. It's sweet and fantastical and I love it.

All in all it's a gorgeous story in a gorgeous setting which will always hold a special place in my heart for not only being where 8 and Charley settled in to their parts brilliantly in my eyes but also for it's wonderful charm and sentiment. 4.5 stars feels slightly generous but 4 stars isn't enough, it's an 8.5/10 for me.

What I've realised rewatching the 13th Doctor's era, after admittedly not giving it the full time of day at broadcast, is that my god it has pronounced ups and downs, its a rollercoaster. And nowhere is this as apparent to me going from Resolution into Spyfall. Resolution to me is a truly classic story, that allows the dalek(s) to be terrifyingly genius for the first time in such a long time. The dalek feels so real and gritty and creates true fear in me which is so hard to achieve using such a well known and used enemy as the daleks, because it feels so grounded in what is a believable and gripping plot.

I say this because Spyfall is the complete antithesis to everything that Resolution is. Part 1 isn't as criminal as part 2, but I could personally never enjoy a serial that is set up to be so cheesy and filled with overdone cliches without doing anything new with them really, not for me. But part 2 is where the plot becomes completely disparate and all over the place. We spend the time of the episode getting taken from time period to time period across history and after watching I'm not even sure why, except to save the dangling plot pieces that were thrown at us. It was all loosely held together by a thread by three very powerful enemies, at least two of which felt underutilised because of the need to throw as much extravagance into the plot for show. The tech CEO was a convincing villain, who really portrayed a coldness that was maybe my favourite part of the serial. The mysterious race from another universe and the master both honestly felt like they could've been left out to create a better story, we're left with 3 huge personalities as our villains that take up so much space without really clashing or being addressed in much of a meaningful way, their motivations, individually or as a mismatched alliance, never really explained. The Master especially honestly felt like he didn't have to be there, especially with no acknowledgement of the events of the Doctor Falls. It's the most unnuanced depiction of the Master in a long time which is a real shame after just having such a beautiful arc end with Missy, and we don't even know how they're supposed to fit together.

And then of course I take issue with Gallifrey being destroyed again so cheaply, apparently just because the Master had a tantrum, oopsie! The first time Gallifrey was seemingly gone in the time war it was a mythic event that defined the Doctor's character arc for series to come and was the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the greatest war known to time. Just awful for this episode to tack on at the end, "oh yeah by the way. Gallifrey's gone." Character work is far from this era's strong point, and such an extreme event will not be able to have justice done to it I fear. But I know there's more Resolutions to come, and after this showing I can't wait for an episode that will restore my faith.

So, I liked this episode much less when I watched it the first time around on christmas day with my family. I originally rated it 2.5/5 stars, and I think that's because to me it is one of the least christmassy christmas specials, only alongside Dr Mysterio for the christmas episode with the least christmassy energy in my eyes. And I know that's a positive in some people's eyes, that a lot of the christmas specials are saccharine which isn't for everyone, but personally I need my christmas specials to feel christmassy, which doesn't always have to mean excessive sentiment, just look at the best christmas special Last Christmas for how it can be done. Joy's holy sacrifice at Bethlehem obviously has christmas spirit, but I'll get into why the ending didn't do anything for me. Besides that it's just the christmas tree in the time hotel and other random decorations to tie it down to christmas really.

I'm much more positive about it now after a rewatch, although I still stand by what criticisms I did have. I think how the episode makes us feel on the initial watch is especially important on christmas day, when christmas is in the air and we expect a certain type of doctor who episode to fill the traditional role it has.

But on rewatch I really appreciate much more the positive aspects of the story- as a lot of other people said Anita was brilliant. She stands out in a large cast of guest characters as truly being the companion to the doctor in this story, she spends a year with the doctor in comparison to Joy, the titular character, who couldn't even have spent an hour with him!!! I do hope that Anita can return in some form, although I think a full return like Donna made is unlikely given that it seems she found her calling working in the time hotel, but maybe she finds her own way into adventures there- Big Finish pay attention!!!

The whole bootstrap situation that allowed the year with Anita to happen is also classic Moffat flair in the best way, and "It came from nothing. But so did the universe and nobody complains about that" is up there in my favourite quotes honestly. The darker moments of the anger at himself and when he brews up anger in Joy really show off Ncuti's range and that just because the doctor is more of a healed man since 14 doesn't mean he's all sunshine and rainbows, I love it.

But as for the criticisms, I do still think there were too many characters dying that the episode wanted us to care about which wasn’t justified in the little runtime we spent with them. 5 different side characters (including Joy), multiple of which got tears out of the doctor but weren't close to getting any out of me with their sacrifice at the end. I do think this is a good episode, let down by the ending in the last 10 minutes. The fact that Joy didn't get the time of day throughout the episode to justify being the main, titular character she was designed to be means that her sacrifice didn't have much emotional weight to me. And I can't get behind the dead characters gaining god like powers to just up and move the star lightyears away with what seems to be just pure willpower without any other explanation from the episode. They're conscious within the containment unit's systems I understand that, but it was established in the episode that when the star does bloom, it will do so just where it is on Earth.

And this one's more of a side note than a big criticism, but I do think the COVID bit means that part of the episode is timely to a time that has already passed in my eyes. As a political statement it's redundant because the consequences of partygate have already played out, the Tory party are already ruined and all the countries political establishments have punished them dearly for everything they did. The episode isn't saying anything new or insightful about it and there’s plenty things to be angry about that are timeless and not only relevant to events 3-4 years ago. As emotional catharsis, it feels too pointed to be reaching out to a large number of people affected, although I am fortunate enough to not have lost someone in a similar way to how Joy did and have that particular perspective who it could be more meaningful to.

I think this episode is a good special in a general sense, which is let down by it's ending and let down further personally by the fact it's a christmas special that doesn't feel much like one. If it weren't broadcast at christmas it could've got a low 4/5 stars honestly but given everything 3/5 feels fitting. I hope its the start of more Anita content!!!!

Insanely difficult and only the screen between levels can really tell you its even supposed to be doctor who themed but I like a challenge and I got to here to doctor who theme in 8 bit so