"The Husbands of River Song" is the only Christmas special written by Steven Moffat I've really enjoyed.

The others have been varying degrees of OK-to-Oh Dear. "The Time of the Doctor" was particularly poor and an awful send off for poor old Matt Smith.

I don't think RTD got it right every Christmas either, but overall I enjoyed his efforts a lot more.

I actually find Moffat at his best when he's being silly and that's probably why I enjoyed the 2015 Christmas special so much - it was just a fun romp.

One good thing about this year's Christmas special is that we should, once again, have the new season trailer at the end like we used to. That in itself will make it worth watching!

Talking PIctures is a great channel, they show a lot of classic and quite a few obscure British film and TV gems.
It's also available of Freeview too on channel 81.

Justin Chatwin (Shameless US) is playing a superhero in the Christmas special. Nardole is also the companion for it .....

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-...om-a-superhero

Yessss.....I think I'm out on this show - which I've loved and supported almost all my life, incidentally - until Moffat moves on to ruin something else.

I can't wait. Nice to have an international flavour to it this year as well, in terms of the casting.

I maintain I'm reserving judgement concerning Nardole until we actually see what they do with him. But it's hard to not feel disappointed when the supporting star name of this years Christmas special was a background character in last years.

On the subject of Nardole comparisons to Donna as well, of which there's been a few, Donna was a character who got her own Christmas special and was generally quite popular in it, and then was the fully fledged companion later on. Nardole was a bit-part in someone else's story, and so far remains a bit-part in someone else's story... the desire to revisit him when he was never particularly popular (or unpopular... he really just made no impact) is small.

Again, reserving judgement, but I have to say that the whole Nardole thing so far comes across as one of the most bizarre moves the show has pulled.

I am not a fan of Nardole as well. And another issue i have with him as a companion, all be it we had a small glimpse of his character he is extremely one dimensional. This will then effect the story itself

I wasn't exactly "Hurray, Matt Lucas is back!" either, but yeah, we'll see.

I was lurking on various forums, including here, at the time and some of the reactions to Catherine were extremely negative both for 'Runaway Bride' and then the announcement she was coming back full time, though. I mean, some really nasty stuff. Thinking back, I'd enjoyed her performance and the 'screwball comedy' vibe of that story and had thought "Oh, that's curious." when I'd heard of Donna's return. Didn't predict that she'd become my favourite companion full stop, mind!

eta And of course we got Cribbins after his brief cameo in 'Poseidon Who' as part of the deal too. *Bonus*!!

Moffat might make a decent character out of him yet, it's always possible. But where this Christmas special is currently concerned it's hard to muster much excitement. Mark Gatiss has spoken favourably of it but I'll admit I have much time for Gatiss with Who anymore, and the Nardole news doesn't do it any favours. I'm indifferent to the news about Justin Chatwin really.

To prove I'm not just utterly cynical though, I am excited for Class, and the stuff involving Peter and Pearl for Series 10 has looked great.


I remember being so put off of 'the bride' simply because of how obnoxiously jarring her introduction was in Doomsday. I wasn't a fan of Catherine Tate particularly either and was ready to dislike the Christmas special (I was still missing Eccleston, and with Billie Piper going too I was being a cynical teen). Then I saw it and shut up - she proved me wrong, I loved her.
Clearly I didn't learn though as when she was announced as the companion for Series 4 I reverted right back to my previous cynicism and expected the worst. She proved me wrong once again and she became my favourite companion (though Clara kind of draws with her now).
Ironically the only time I looked forward to seeing Donna was when she was confirmed for The End of Time, which ultimately proved to be the only time seeing her was disappointing (not Tate's fault admittedly).

I was never nasty about it, but I presumed the worst and was proven wrong...twice! The difference with Nardole is that I don't much rate Matt Lucas and he didn't prove anything from his one appearance so far. I won't jump the gun and presume the worst, but there's not enough good to go on yet to be particularly excited. I should imagine if the upcoming Christmas special does a decent job at making Nardole likeable then my interest in Series 10 may go up significantly.

I do get where you're coming from re: Nardole. I liked the scene with him and Capaldi with his Antlers, but he generally didn't stand out at all. There's bound to be some depth given to him if he's going to be recurring though? Time will tell.

I try to forget about Donna in 'End of Time'. Can anyone do a 'Mind Wipe'?

Regarding Nardole, although I neither particularly support or am against his return, what I will say is that I will give him a chance on the basis of :

Donna was pretty much a 2 dimensional gobby woman in the runaway bride, and only got further development because she was recast in a more permanent role, with time to explore her.

Jack wouldn't have moved past a rugged rogue trader had he not been in more than one story (and in fact, the campness we associate with Jack was basically absent in that story). Again, the character became more the character we know because of stories past his first one.

River would probably just be 'that future lady from the library episode' had she never been brought back rather than a character who we've seen go through so much, and have such a unique relationship with the Doctor.

The paternoster gang wouldn't exist, was it not decided to bring Vastra and Jenny back, and team them up with strax, after their initial appearances in A Good Man Goes To War.


My point to all this, is that last year, nothing was done with Nardole because he was a one episode joke character, made for laughs only, and not even the main focus of the episode. Now though, he is being brought back as a character who is intended to appear in multiple episodes, so he may well (and will likely at least somewhat) develop far more than we've seen so far as a character.

Christel Dee visited the read through and has said that Nardole is a bit of an anti-companion in the Christmas special. She also seemed to really like the episode.

I'm giving Nardole a chance at least, but it's a bit different to the other characters you mention. Captain Jack was a little different in the first series (and preferable in my opinion, but I digress) but then he was around for the entire back third of the first series in order to get a bit more character work in, and was established in a story that made room for him to have a bit of mystery.

River Song was written in as a character who was crucial in the Doctor's future. At the time there was no guarantee we would even see River again after Series 4. The future she spoke of was so decidedly vague that it could have worked either way and I've not forgotten how divisive it was when people were considering whether or not Moffat was going to try and get Alex Kingston back. At any rate she was integral from the start, appeared in a story that made room for a bit of mystery surrounding her, and then her subsequent appearances technically worked backwards from there... adhering to continuity whilst maintaining as much freedom with the character as possible too.

Similarly the Paternosters were structured as characters who knew the Doctor in some capacity. And even when brought back they were and largely remain very divisive. I don't mind them much myself, but I don't mind that they're not around any more either. And if bringing back Nardole is to evoke the same kind of reaction I can't really say it's worth it, much less when he's filling the companion role in the first episode for a year. Many don't like that Strax is the token Sontaran in the show, because he's essentially comic relief and amounts to little more than that.

Opinions on Donna are divisive, but I quite liked her in The Runaway Bride despite not expecting to. She's the closest thing right now in terms of a comparison to Nardole but even then she was given centre stage in her own Christmas special and significantly fleshed out before her full-time return. It also likely helped pairing Catherine Tate with Bernard Cribbins, whilst Series 4 also benefited from having the kitchen-sink-ensemble showing up along the way - appearances from Martha, Rose, River and various other characters now make Series 4 a bit of a convergence point for the show.

As I said I'm still going to give him a chance myself, but I maintain that it is one of the most bizarre moves from Moffat during his time. Aside from the fact that I don't think a single person was asking for more Nardole (whereas at least the possibility of more River after Series 4 was something worth debating, and Jack after Series 1 felt like an inevitability etc.) it's just weird to have the headline star of this years Christmas special to be someone who was far lower in the ranks a year earlier. Matt Lucas and Moffat have a lot to prove where he's concerned I think. Here's hoping it works out well.

Who says he's the headliner, and that we don't have a bigger star/returning character reveal announcement still to come?.

Besides, it's all about the story and whether he fits into it. Given that Christmas specials are generally more lighthearted, he'll probably fit into that fine like he did last year. As for the subsequent series 10 episodes, it's hard to know whether his presence will help or hinder them, but as I said, if they develop him into a character with depth, in a way that's appealing, then he could end up an asset to the series.

I'll admit it does seem a little strange when he wasn't any sort of big deal last year, but i'd like to think there was some sort of series reason why Moffat decided he would fit in.

Maybe Moffat is going for an overall lighter tone for his last series.

I remember the outrage when Catherine Tate was announced to be returning as the S4 companion, and the determined belief that ratings would drop and the show would be cancelled (See? Happens whoever's running the show) but ironically she ended up being the better of RTD's companions. I can sympathise with initial skepticisms though, her debut in The Runaway Bride was frankly awful.

Nardole doesn't look promising, but with Doctor Who there's always room to be surprised, and, imo, I have more faith in Moffat than I ever did his predecessor. At any rate, Bill is still the real companion and I think she looks great.

After her stint in the Runaway Bride, I was as sceptical as anyone, but I was glad to be proven wrong, and on past examples, should have known to have faith in RTD's ability to develop a companion.

Anyway, it's for that reason and many more examples beside that I am fully open to giving Nardole as larger role character a fair chance.

Even though it seems a strange choice, I keep thinking that surely there must be a good reason other than just Matt Lucas wanting to come back.

I believe it was confirmed he is filling the companion spot alongside the confirmation of Justin Chatwin's casting.

As for Moffat's reason for bringing Nardole back he's literally said himself because Matt Lucas asked, and apparently you don't say no to someone who's being offered acting jobs across the pond. I (like to) imagine the reality was a little more bureaucratic than that, and the comments maybe even slightly a little tongue-in-cheek, but it's hard to tell, and frankly not the kind of thing that sits well when you should ideally be reassuring people the show is still in good hands. And I say that as a massive fan of Series 9. There has just been some undeniably odd and even poor judgement calls surrounding the show for a little while. I'm having to depend a lot on blind hope that the show will make something out of things I care little for... be that Matt Lucas' character, or indeed even Chris Chibnall's increased involvement a year later. Given that both Hell Bent and The Husbands of River Song both disappointed me to some degree or other too, hearing news I actually like the sound of would be great once again. Pearl Mackie seems a breath of fresh air and I love Capaldi to pieces as always, and I love that they filmed in Valencia of all places too. I just need a little more of that kind of exciting headline...rather than bringing back last years unfunny comic relief, or hiring one of my two least favourite Who writers as the next showrunner.

It may all turn out wonderfully. And if it does I will indeed admit I got a bit cynical for nothing. I more than happily admit I was wrong about Catherine Tate - twice in fact! I'll do it again if Moffat can win me over on this.

Someone who put a Spoiler about the Superhero aspect of the Xmas special a few weeks before anyone else mentioned it has said that Peladon will be revisited in a sort of Brexit story with them not wanting to be a part of the Galactic Federation. Supposedly features the Ice Warriors & the return of Alpha Centauri! Can't see that costume working any better than it did then, which isn't saying much. Would just be hilarious.

He said Axons at somepoint as well in S10. He was right about the Superhero thing but pinch of salt and all that.

Sounds ludicrous and I don't believe it, but if that was true that would be the best Christmas ever. I love Alpha Centauri.

Superhero confirmed for Xmas more or less but the rest is for S10. I find Alpha Centauri's voice gets annoying fairly quickly!

Sea Devils and Peladon could work. Not sure about Alpha though.

Meanwhile Justin Chatwin did tweet a picture of working at BBC studiios yesterday, so I guess that confirms his appearance.

The idea of a Peledon story based on Brexit was suggested on this forum a while back.

Could just be a coincidence but might also be the source of the rumour.

It's a very good idea to do a Peladon on the Brexit and I think it might go down well as long - as it's not too sided!

I loved the idea of CT coming back way back when it was announced. I've never been a fan of ML so I'm hesitant.

from July