The Return Of Doctor Mysterio (2016) Christmas Review

"No, I'm not fucking John Simm, you hair gel-dripping crybaby!!
And a merry fucking Easter to you too!!"

The Return Of Doctor Mysterio is exactly what was promised: a charming callback to the more lighthearted superhero movies as well as our first glimpse of a Doctor who's moving to a new era. 

WRITTEN BY

Steven Moffat, who has given me hope that he can deliver some truly great storytelling one last time. You can definitely feel he's starting to let go, but in a good way. He's building the bridge for Chibnall with characters who are all set for new and thrilling adventures and I couldn't be happier.

PLOT

The Doctor accidentally gives a young comic book nerd superpowers and discovers in the future that he's become a superhero known as "the Ghost". Meanwhile, the servants of Hydroflax come to Earth to colonise the planet and replace their key authority figures.

ANALYSIS

It's a superhero romantic comedy mixed with a sci-fi thriller. And the problem is that whilst both are pretty well handled, they just don't mesh very well. At one point, I began to get annoyed because the story spent so long on the relationship between Grant and Lucy that it seemed to be losing focus. 

Actually, scratch that, there is very little focus at all. It's incredibly hard to follow what exactly is going on and why it all matters. The pacing is sadly atrocious and lets down what is actually a really good story. It just has this incredibly random, disjointed feel to it. It's a fun, witty, even heartwarming adventure with no cohesion. 

CHARACTERS

There's just something awesome about seeing Peter Capaldi do slapstick comedy. You never expect it from him, but it actually works really well in this story. My favourite scenes with him was when he was interacting with the young Grant. The young nerd and the old fogey, both outcasts. They connected so well and both of the actors gave great performances. 

Matt Lucas is great! I know people went mad over Nardole's return, but it does actually make sense and work within the narrative. He has this quiet eccentricity to him, and some deadpan wit that matches with the Doctor's perfectly. They immediately come across as great pals, and I can't even begin to explain how much I've missed this sort of companion. I'm glad we're having him around for Series 10 as well.

I was told Justin Chatwin was not a particularly good actor, and boy, they were wrong. I actually wouldn't mind if he was a superhero lead in a show. He's fairly charismatic and the father-son relationship he had with the Doctor was a highlight of the episode. 

Now for the less successful characters... I didn't like Charity Wakefield as Lucy. Not one bit. First of all, her doll is creepy. And her obsession with the Ghost bordered on psychosis. At least that's what I got from her performance. I didn't like how aggressively she handled the Doctor, it was... weird. I'm not sure if she was intended to be neurotic(as a counterpoint to the sassy and confident Lois Lane), but whatever they were going for, it didn't work for me.

The villains were weak. I never cared for the Hydroflax gang to begin with and I don't see the point of bringing them back if all they were going to do was try and conquer the Earth. In fact, given their newfound proclivity for taking human hosts, I'd rather see the Slitheen make a comeback. 

NOTES

*So, yeah... apparently the Twelfth Doctor still has trouble with human anatomy as he thinks a child is 36 and needs to draw glasses on Superman to figure out that he's Clark Kent. I don't get it, no other incarnation has this trouble.

*What race is Nardole supposed to be, exactly? Because he's super British(he can't tell a restroom from a little boys' room).

*Are there actual cases of reporters breaking into office buildings to get their story? Or is that just a movie thing?

*I just want to say... I love the name "Dr. Mysterio". It's the only nickname that Twelve has that I actually like("Dan Dangerous" from Scotland Yard, ???)

*Seriously, what was up with that creepy doll? If I was the Doctor, I would've burnt it and called for psychiatric help.

*Why was the intro not Christmassy, like the other Twelfth Doctor Christmas specials? Is this part of Moffat's attempt to tone down the Christmas elements from the episode to appeal to grumpy fans? I definitely missed the snowflakes.

*Those spaceship corridors look identical to the ones from Under The Lake. A little redressing would've been nice.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The Doctor mentions that New York has plenty of time disturbances, which was established in The Angels Take Manhattan. Not really a necessary callback, but a logical one.

2) The Harmony Shoal bad guys were established in The Husbands Of River Song. As I already mentioned, I don't think they're particularly interesting bad guys. Didn't need to see them again.

3) Nardole explains how River Song's death affected the Doctor to Lucy and Grant. This was definitely an unnecessary callback. We didn't need to bring River up in this episode. The Doctor's moving on from the past, that's it. That's all we needed. Why would Nardole tell them this? It seemed cheesy and even out of character for him. I'm pretty sure the Doctor would've told them if he wanted them to know.

4) UNIT make a cameo at the end, and apparently, we're going to have another Harmony Shoal story since they possess one of the officers.

BEST QUOTE

"With great power comes great responsibility." - Technically a Spiderman quote, but hey, classics are classics for a reason.

CONCLUSION

It's a bit of a headache, but hey, you can say the same about alcohol and we all love that, eh? Eh? 
...
It's a good episode. 


Now, let's talk a bit about Series 10. Personally, my feelings are mixed. My main hope of course is that Peter Capaldi does not regenerate. If that happens, I'm already satisfied since it means we get to see his incarnation improve under Chris Chibnall!

Some truly wonderful news is that Rona Munro, the writer who penned Survival(a story I cannot wait to review), is coming back to do an episode in Series 10 called The Eaters Of Light. I'm certainly excited.

I'm looking forward to the historical episode that's been promoted. I also can't wait to see more of Nardole and especially "the Landlord", played by David Suchet.

Now, things that concern me: Bill Potts. From the Series 10 clip and that one-off scene with the Daleks, she seems like a rerun of previous new series companions. Plus Ace(but she's almost a new series companion anyway). I'm just not sure if it's going to work or not, yet. I hope it will, and that Nardole's presence is enough to ensure a unique dynamic between her and the Doctor. 

Also, The Emoji Planet. I don't even... that's a rubbish idea, okay? That's just a rubbish idea.

And of course, as I mentioned above, more of the Harmony Shoal aliens. I just don't care for them as villains right now. I hope they're more interesting next time.

Still, at least positive thoughts definitely outweigh the negative ones, and I'm looking forward to Series 10!! Merry Christmas!!