Deep Breath: 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 7/10
Kill the Moon: 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 9/10
In the Forest of the Night: 4.5/10
Dark Water: 9/10 Death in Heaven: 8/10 [revised +0.5)
A solid series (the only series that I would consider to have just one through-and-through clunker) in which even it's lowest rated episode was still infinitely better than anything that was on the other side. Held together by top notch lead performances, some great guest stars, an intriguing mystery and a number of character-driven arcs which paved the way to the finale ( and watching the reactions to those invested in Danny Pink makes it a whole different experience).
I was told that by the end of the series, I would be bowing down to the superior knowledge of those who stated outright that Moffat couldn't change up the series from his previous three efforts. Unfortunately, I will be doing no such thing. This has easily been the most satisfying Moffat series for me - and the veering off-course of Series 6 feels like a long time ago now. Oh and the deaths. The deaths!
Deep Breath 8.5/10
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robot of Sherwood 6/10 (re marked after rewatch)
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 8.5/10
Kill the Moon 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 10/10 (fave so far)
Flatline 10/10
In the Forest of the Night 4/10
Dark Water 9.5/10
Death in Heaven 8/10
Deep Breath 9.5/10
Into the Dalek 9.5/10
Robot of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
The Caretaker 8/10
Kill The Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 9/10
In The Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water/Death in Heaven 10/10
A great ending to an excellent series IMO. 'Permission to squee', indeed!
Other series finales since 2005:
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways 10/10
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday 9/10
The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords 9/10
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 8/10
The End of Time Part 1/The End of Time Part 2 8/10
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang 7/10
The Wedding of River Song (not viewed)
The Name of the Doctor 7/10
Deep Breath 9.5/10
Into the Dalek 10/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 10/10
The Caretaker 9/10
Kill The Moon 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 10/10
Flatline 10/10
In The Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water/Death in Heaven 10/10
After a lazy Sunday complete series re-watch (not done that for a series since series 4:o)
Deep Breath 6/10.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 1/10
Listen 9/10
Time Heist. 5/10
The Caretaker 7/10
Kill The Moon. 6/10.
Mummy on the Orient Express 8/10.
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night. 3/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death in Heaven 5/10
A solid series (the only series that I would consider to have just one through-and-through clunker) in which even it's lowest rated episode was still infinitely better than anything that was on the other side. Held together by top notch lead performances, some great guest stars, an intriguing mystery and a number of character-driven arcs which paved the way to the finale ( and watching the reactions to those invested in Danny Pink makes it a whole different experience).
I was told that by the end of the series, I would be bowing down to the superior knowledge of those who stated outright that Moffat couldn't change up the series from his previous three efforts. Unfortunately, I will be doing no such thing. This has easily been the most satisfying Moffat series for me - and the veering off-course of Series 6 feels like a long time ago now. Oh and the deaths. The deaths!
Deep Breath 8/10.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 7/10
Time Heist 9/10
Caretaker 8/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 10/10
Forest of the Night 6/10
Dark Water 9/10 Death In Heaven 7/10
Disappointing. The Doctor was largely ineffectual, even when made President, Missy's plans made no rational sense. I didn't like the death of the UNIT girl and the "science" and rationale of the Cybermen's creation and the Nethersphere was not particularly credible.
On the plus side, it was still an exciting and dramatic ride, I liked seeing UNIT again and I loved the use of the Brigadier.
Deep Breath: 7/10
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 6/10
Listen: 9/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 8/10
Kill the Moon: 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 8/10
In the Forest of the Night: 8/10
Dark Water: 9/10
Death in Heaven: 9/10
Right, so here we are. The series is over and it's time to fill in last marks. I've decided to knock down Robot just one mark because it really is terrible on rewatch. This leaves us with the most consistent series since the reboot nevertheless and one that certainly was one of my favourites, up there with Series 5 and 7.
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 7/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 9/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 8/10
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water 10/10
Death in Heaven 9/10
Total score: 101/120
Average score 8.42
Which puts it just below series 7 (8.46) but to be honest, I loved them both. Series 7 had more standout episodes but there are more from Series 8 I would really enjoy rewatching.
Anyway folks, it's been great fun, as ever agree to disagree, I'll see you all at Christmas.
Deep Breath 6/10
Into The Dalek 7/10
Robot Of Sherwood 5/10
Listen 8/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 6/10
Kill The Moon 7/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night 4/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death in Heaven 9/10
Deep Breath: 7/10
Into the Dalek: 7/10
Robot of Sherwood: 5/10
Listen: 8/10.
Time Heist: 8/10.
The Caretaker: 5/10
Kill the Moon: 4/10.
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 10/10
In The Forest Of The Night: 4/10
Dark Water (6/10) / Death in Heaven (2/10): 4/10
Deep Breath - 10/10
Into the Dalek - 9/10
Robot of Sherwood - 6/10
Listen - 11/10
Time Heist - 7/10
The Caretaker - 8/10
Kill the Moon - 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express - 8/10
Flatline - 9/10
In the Forest of the Night - 7/10
Dark Water - 9/10
Death in Heaven - 7/10
I was happy with the series, really looking forward to Xmas Day , for the special.
Deep Breath - 6/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Time Heist - 8/10
The Caretaker - 6/10
Kill the Moon - 7/10
Mummy on the Orient Express - 9/10
Flatline - 7/10
In The Forest of the Night - 8/10
Dark Water - 8/10
Death in Heaven - 6/10
Last Christmas - 8/10
The first big question that lingers about Last Christmas is whether it belongs to Series 8 or Series 9. I imagine most people don't care, and they can just skip reading this bit. In years gone by the festive special has typically been part of the series that followed it (with The End of Time and The Time of the Doctor being exceptions to the rule). But Last Christmas follows a series that was an episode shorter than usual, and also only finished little over a month ago. The title, and epilogue feel to the story makes it feel very much part of the Series 8 mould - its tone, and characters and the big build-up at the end were all products of what Series 8 had laid out. As such, despite its absence on the series boxset for me Last Christmas and presumably all festive specials from now on act as epilogues to each series, rather than prologues. In the case of Last Christmas, it was a welcome move that gave the episode its strongest elements.
The Inception-inspired dream plot was handled well enough. The rather mind boggling concepts in Inception were simplified a bit here - maybe still a bit too much to completely catch for anyone who had already been making merry, but sensible enough, and logical enough within the confines of the show. The Dream Crabs were an interesting menace, nowhere near as iconic as they could have been but very decent enough for the story at hand. In fact part of what made the threat stand out as one that was quite decent was that they felt like the kind of threat you'd find in the middle of a series proper. The episode itself was quite typical of the show, not trying to make a real show of itself but simply doing what it does best - monsters and soft sci-fi.
When it came to the interjected dream elements the episode was perhaps at its weakest, though by no means poor. The inclusion of Danny was a surprise, and it would have been a nice surprise if he'd been a remotely interesting character in Series 8 as a whole. It was nice to give him a more dignifying, respectable final scene within the show. But as a character Danny Pink just didn't work, and the only truly positive thing I have to say about his inclusion was that he wasn't brought back from the dead - a notion so scary in thought alone that it highlights how many missteps this episode could have taken that it avoided. For any failing it has, it's made better by the fact there were many others it could have had that it didn't.
Perhaps the weakest element, which was one that should have worked a whole lot better and was probably what brought the episode down, was Father Christmas. His role felt somehow forcefully interjected despite the fact that the explanation for his involvement was really rather decent. But the portrayal was probably the biggest problem, as as suspected for a long while before now Nick Frost was a peculiar choice for the role. Aside from a couple of quips and witty remarks, and the odd funny line that was simply funny rather than being funny because of the actor or the character, Father Christmas wasn't a particularly inspiring character. As the source of last hope, he was a bit of a non credible Santa. His inclusion ultimately consisted of scenes made to look cool - astride a reindeer, the admittedly well-rendered sleigh sequence towards the end. The character makes sense, but the portrayal was bizarre considering what the episode was going for. At the same time though, Nick Frost's limited capability as an actor (although I'm happy to be proven wrong, but he does seem to play the same type in everything he's in) wasn't remotely offensive, and it probably helped to keep the schmaltz out a little bit.
The other characters in the story were well-acted, particularly the two younger women. The older characters felt somewhat sidelined which was a great shame. They had decent stories to them, though again the delivery was a bit peculiar. Dropped in with them fairly quickly, the episode seems to assume we'll just like them automatically. And whilst they're likeable enough to carry the episode through, we don't get enough about them to make them as interesting or endearing as they could be. On a sort of 'monster fodder' scale, they were easy to remember on a first-name basis, but they won't go down as character greats.
Once again though, Last Christmas shows up Series 8 as a strong series for character where its leads are concerned. The icy and rocky relationship between Twelve and Clara is cleverly handled in the story - never becoming too heavy-handed, but staying as poignant and meaningful as it was before. He may have many misgivings, but Moffat has delivered with these two time and time again. And the decision to keep the Clara reveal a secret until transmission paid off brilliantly - it almost felt like a Christmas present from the show itself when it ended on an undisputedly happy note. It teased a poignant and frustratingly depressing ending. Sometimes I enjoy a depressing ending, but somehow Moffat has actually managed to tap into positive emotions in an incredibly strong way with this one, and despite a shaky final episode to the main series has made the prospects for Series 9 that little bit brighter.
I'll admit that Last Christmas was the first festive episode I missed upon initial broadcast in the past ten years. I had extremely low expectations for it, and minimal interest - the only other time I had that combination was ahead of The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe which went on to fall short of my expectations still. This was thankfully a different story, and a story I'd happily watch again - even for those final few minutes. (And on that subject, Murray Gold deserves a lot of praise despite disappointing me in the past couple of years).
It doesn't have the class or style of A Christmas Carol, and it is very clunky in places too but Last Christmas is a commendable special which is more than you can ask for. It serves as a wonderful epilogue to Series 8 and closes that chapter - leaving us somewhere hopefully a little brighter for Series 9.
LAST CHRISTMAS COMPARED TO OTHER CHRISTMAS SPECIALS...
The Christmas Invasion - 7/10 (6th)
The Runaway Bride - 8/10 (2nd)
Voyage of the Damned - 6/10 (7th)
The Next Doctor - 5/10 (8th)
The End of Time: Parts One and Two - 5/10 (9th)
A Christmas Carol - 9/10 (1st)
The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe - 3/10 (10th)
The Snowmen - 8/10 (5th)
The Time of the Doctor - 8/10 (3rd)
Last Christmas - 8/10 (4th)
RTD at Christmas - 31/50
Moffat at Christmas - 36/50
Can't help wondering if, perhaps, the reason the averages get better year-on-year is because we are all, basically, fans of the show and people who're critical of it are likely to air their criticism in the thread dedicated to the episode and then leave it at that, rather than also coming into this thread and giving low scores.
The other thing to bear in mind is that the statistical "scatter" is probably just as important (and offers more of an insight into opinions) than an overall average.
If you have a series that scores, say, a 6 on average and the scatter ranges from 5 to 7 then you have a series where the overwhelming majority are moderately satisfied with it.
Conversely, if you have a series that scores a 7 on average then but the scatter ranges from 4 to 10 then it might, at first glance, seem more popular even though what you actually have is a series which is appealing more to a much smaller segment of the audience.
Personally, I'd say the latest series deserves, perhaps, a 6 on average and that far too many episodes deserve no more than 3 or 4 while 1 or 2 episodes earned an 8 or 9 and help redeem the average.
The other thing to bear in mind is that the statistical "scatter" is probably just as important (and offers more of an insight into opinions) than an overall average.
It's called standard deviation and you can easily calculate it if you felt like it.
Deep Breath: 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 7/10
Kill the Moon: 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 9/10
In the Forest of the Night: 4.5/10
Dark Water: 9/10
Death in Heaven: 8/10
Last Christmas: 7/10
Feels very much a closure to Series 8 than part of Series 9.
Deep Breath 8/10.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 7/10
Time Heist 9/10
Caretaker 8/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 10/10
Forest of the Night 6/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death In Heaven 7/10 Last Christmas 8/10
A clever premise and a fun, Christmassy episode with a twisty but ultimately feel-good ending.
Comments
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 7/10
Kill the Moon: 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 9/10
In the Forest of the Night: 4.5/10
Dark Water: 9/10
Death in Heaven: 8/10 [revised +0.5)
Always be rewatching.
A solid series (the only series that I would consider to have just one through-and-through clunker) in which even it's lowest rated episode was still infinitely better than anything that was on the other side. Held together by top notch lead performances, some great guest stars, an intriguing mystery and a number of character-driven arcs which paved the way to the finale ( and watching the reactions to those invested in Danny Pink makes it a whole different experience).
I was told that by the end of the series, I would be bowing down to the superior knowledge of those who stated outright that Moffat couldn't change up the series from his previous three efforts. Unfortunately, I will be doing no such thing. This has easily been the most satisfying Moffat series for me - and the veering off-course of Series 6 feels like a long time ago now. Oh and the deaths. The deaths!
Series 5:
9, 5, 3, 8.5, 9, 7, 8.5, 7, 7, 6.5, 9, 9.5, 9.5
=7.58 average
Series 6:
7.5+7.5+ 7.5+8+7+7+7+ 8.5+8.5+7.5 +9+8.5+8+8.5
=7.86 average (including the Christmas special)
Series 7:
7.5+8.5+6+5.5+7.5+9+9+8.5+6.5+7+8+6+4+7.5+8.5
=7.27 average (including the 2 Christmas specials)
Series 8 = 7.71 average
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robot of Sherwood 6/10 (re marked after rewatch)
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 8.5/10
Kill the Moon 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 10/10 (fave so far)
Flatline 10/10
In the Forest of the Night 4/10
Dark Water 9.5/10
Death in Heaven 8/10
Into the Dalek 9.5/10
Robot of Sherwood 8.5/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 7.5/10
The Caretaker 8/10
Kill The Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 9/10
In The Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water/Death in Heaven 10/10
A great ending to an excellent series IMO. 'Permission to squee', indeed!
Other series finales since 2005:
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways 10/10
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday 9/10
The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords 9/10
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End 8/10
The End of Time Part 1/The End of Time Part 2 8/10
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang 7/10
The Wedding of River Song (not viewed)
The Name of the Doctor 7/10
Into the Dalek 10/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 10/10
The Caretaker 9/10
Kill The Moon 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 10/10
Flatline 10/10
In The Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water/Death in Heaven 10/10
Deep Breath 6/10.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 1/10
Listen 9/10
Time Heist. 5/10
The Caretaker 7/10
Kill The Moon. 6/10.
Mummy on the Orient Express 8/10.
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night. 3/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death in Heaven 5/10
My sentiments exactly.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 7/10
Time Heist 9/10
Caretaker 8/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 10/10
Forest of the Night 6/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death In Heaven 7/10
Disappointing. The Doctor was largely ineffectual, even when made President, Missy's plans made no rational sense. I didn't like the death of the UNIT girl and the "science" and rationale of the Cybermen's creation and the Nethersphere was not particularly credible.
On the plus side, it was still an exciting and dramatic ride, I liked seeing UNIT again and I loved the use of the Brigadier.
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 6/10
Listen: 9/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 8/10
Kill the Moon: 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 8/10
In the Forest of the Night: 8/10
Dark Water: 9/10
Death in Heaven: 9/10
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 7/10
Listen 10/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 9/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 8/10
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night 7/10
Dark Water 10/10
Death in Heaven 9/10
Total score: 101/120
Average score 8.42
Which puts it just below series 7 (8.46) but to be honest, I loved them both. Series 7 had more standout episodes but there are more from Series 8 I would really enjoy rewatching.
Anyway folks, it's been great fun, as ever agree to disagree, I'll see you all at Christmas.
Into The Dalek 7/10
Robot Of Sherwood 5/10
Listen 8/10
Time Heist 8/10
The Caretaker 6/10
Kill The Moon 7/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 8/10
In the Forest of the Night 4/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death in Heaven 9/10
Into the Dalek: 7/10
Robot of Sherwood: 5/10
Listen: 8/10.
Time Heist: 8/10.
The Caretaker: 5/10
Kill the Moon: 4/10.
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 10/10
In The Forest Of The Night: 4/10
Dark Water (6/10) / Death in Heaven (2/10): 4/10
Avg 6.25 (higher than I was expecting
Into the Dalek - 9/10
Robot of Sherwood - 6/10
Listen - 11/10
Time Heist - 7/10
The Caretaker - 8/10
Kill the Moon - 9/10
Mummy on the Orient Express - 8/10
Flatline - 9/10
In the Forest of the Night - 7/10
Dark Water - 9/10
Death in Heaven - 7/10
I was happy with the series, really looking forward to Xmas Day
Deep Breath - 6/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Listen - 8/10
Time Heist - 8/10
The Caretaker - 6/10
Kill the Moon - 7/10
Mummy on the Orient Express - 9/10
Flatline - 7/10
In The Forest of the Night - 8/10
Dark Water - 8/10
Death in Heaven - 6/10
Last Christmas - 8/10
The first big question that lingers about Last Christmas is whether it belongs to Series 8 or Series 9. I imagine most people don't care, and they can just skip reading this bit. In years gone by the festive special has typically been part of the series that followed it (with The End of Time and The Time of the Doctor being exceptions to the rule). But Last Christmas follows a series that was an episode shorter than usual, and also only finished little over a month ago. The title, and epilogue feel to the story makes it feel very much part of the Series 8 mould - its tone, and characters and the big build-up at the end were all products of what Series 8 had laid out. As such, despite its absence on the series boxset for me Last Christmas and presumably all festive specials from now on act as epilogues to each series, rather than prologues. In the case of Last Christmas, it was a welcome move that gave the episode its strongest elements.
The Inception-inspired dream plot was handled well enough. The rather mind boggling concepts in Inception were simplified a bit here - maybe still a bit too much to completely catch for anyone who had already been making merry, but sensible enough, and logical enough within the confines of the show. The Dream Crabs were an interesting menace, nowhere near as iconic as they could have been but very decent enough for the story at hand. In fact part of what made the threat stand out as one that was quite decent was that they felt like the kind of threat you'd find in the middle of a series proper. The episode itself was quite typical of the show, not trying to make a real show of itself but simply doing what it does best - monsters and soft sci-fi.
When it came to the interjected dream elements the episode was perhaps at its weakest, though by no means poor. The inclusion of Danny was a surprise, and it would have been a nice surprise if he'd been a remotely interesting character in Series 8 as a whole. It was nice to give him a more dignifying, respectable final scene within the show. But as a character Danny Pink just didn't work, and the only truly positive thing I have to say about his inclusion was that he wasn't brought back from the dead - a notion so scary in thought alone that it highlights how many missteps this episode could have taken that it avoided. For any failing it has, it's made better by the fact there were many others it could have had that it didn't.
Perhaps the weakest element, which was one that should have worked a whole lot better and was probably what brought the episode down, was Father Christmas. His role felt somehow forcefully interjected despite the fact that the explanation for his involvement was really rather decent. But the portrayal was probably the biggest problem, as as suspected for a long while before now Nick Frost was a peculiar choice for the role. Aside from a couple of quips and witty remarks, and the odd funny line that was simply funny rather than being funny because of the actor or the character, Father Christmas wasn't a particularly inspiring character. As the source of last hope, he was a bit of a non credible Santa. His inclusion ultimately consisted of scenes made to look cool - astride a reindeer, the admittedly well-rendered sleigh sequence towards the end. The character makes sense, but the portrayal was bizarre considering what the episode was going for. At the same time though, Nick Frost's limited capability as an actor (although I'm happy to be proven wrong, but he does seem to play the same type in everything he's in) wasn't remotely offensive, and it probably helped to keep the schmaltz out a little bit.
The other characters in the story were well-acted, particularly the two younger women. The older characters felt somewhat sidelined which was a great shame. They had decent stories to them, though again the delivery was a bit peculiar. Dropped in with them fairly quickly, the episode seems to assume we'll just like them automatically. And whilst they're likeable enough to carry the episode through, we don't get enough about them to make them as interesting or endearing as they could be. On a sort of 'monster fodder' scale, they were easy to remember on a first-name basis, but they won't go down as character greats.
Once again though, Last Christmas shows up Series 8 as a strong series for character where its leads are concerned. The icy and rocky relationship between Twelve and Clara is cleverly handled in the story - never becoming too heavy-handed, but staying as poignant and meaningful as it was before. He may have many misgivings, but Moffat has delivered with these two time and time again. And the decision to keep the Clara reveal a secret until transmission paid off brilliantly - it almost felt like a Christmas present from the show itself when it ended on an undisputedly happy note. It teased a poignant and frustratingly depressing ending. Sometimes I enjoy a depressing ending, but somehow Moffat has actually managed to tap into positive emotions in an incredibly strong way with this one, and despite a shaky final episode to the main series has made the prospects for Series 9 that little bit brighter.
I'll admit that Last Christmas was the first festive episode I missed upon initial broadcast in the past ten years. I had extremely low expectations for it, and minimal interest - the only other time I had that combination was ahead of The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe which went on to fall short of my expectations still. This was thankfully a different story, and a story I'd happily watch again - even for those final few minutes. (And on that subject, Murray Gold deserves a lot of praise despite disappointing me in the past couple of years).
It doesn't have the class or style of A Christmas Carol, and it is very clunky in places too but Last Christmas is a commendable special which is more than you can ask for. It serves as a wonderful epilogue to Series 8 and closes that chapter - leaving us somewhere hopefully a little brighter for Series 9.
LAST CHRISTMAS COMPARED TO OTHER CHRISTMAS SPECIALS...
The Christmas Invasion - 7/10 (6th)
The Runaway Bride - 8/10 (2nd)
Voyage of the Damned - 6/10 (7th)
The Next Doctor - 5/10 (8th)
The End of Time: Parts One and Two - 5/10 (9th)
A Christmas Carol - 9/10 (1st)
The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe - 3/10 (10th)
The Snowmen - 8/10 (5th)
The Time of the Doctor - 8/10 (3rd)
Last Christmas - 8/10 (4th)
RTD at Christmas - 31/50
Moffat at Christmas - 36/50
Can't help wondering if, perhaps, the reason the averages get better year-on-year is because we are all, basically, fans of the show and people who're critical of it are likely to air their criticism in the thread dedicated to the episode and then leave it at that, rather than also coming into this thread and giving low scores.
The other thing to bear in mind is that the statistical "scatter" is probably just as important (and offers more of an insight into opinions) than an overall average.
If you have a series that scores, say, a 6 on average and the scatter ranges from 5 to 7 then you have a series where the overwhelming majority are moderately satisfied with it.
Conversely, if you have a series that scores a 7 on average then but the scatter ranges from 4 to 10 then it might, at first glance, seem more popular even though what you actually have is a series which is appealing more to a much smaller segment of the audience.
Personally, I'd say the latest series deserves, perhaps, a 6 on average and that far too many episodes deserve no more than 3 or 4 while 1 or 2 episodes earned an 8 or 9 and help redeem the average.
It's called standard deviation and you can easily calculate it if you felt like it.
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
Listen: 10/10
Time Heist: 7/10
The Caretaker: 7/10
Kill the Moon: 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express: 9/10
Flatline: 9/10
In the Forest of the Night: 4.5/10
Dark Water: 9/10
Death in Heaven: 8/10
Last Christmas: 7/10
Feels very much a closure to Series 8 than part of Series 9.
Into The Dalek. 7/10
Robots of Sherwood 9/10
Listen 7/10
Time Heist 9/10
Caretaker 8/10
Kill the Moon 8/10
Mummy on the Orient Express 9/10
Flatline 10/10
Forest of the Night 6/10
Dark Water 9/10
Death In Heaven 7/10
Last Christmas 8/10
A clever premise and a fun, Christmassy episode with a twisty but ultimately feel-good ending.
I liked it.