The Return of Doctor Mysterio really was a test of everything it claimed to be. It claimed to be a Christmas special episode of Doctor Who. The core problem with the whole thing is that all of those elements were lacking... it didn't really have any Christmas elements to it really (barring the pre-credits) which alone is fair enough, after this many years shoehorning in the holiday aspect is more of a hinderance. But then the episode also largely sidelined the Doctor himself... his role in the story was very much secondary for much of the runtime which isn't only a problem because the show has been away for a whole year, but also because the episode boldly claims by virtue of its title that it will be a 'return' for him. It really wasn't, as the episode even points out itself in the end, essentially. And then perhaps most troubling was that the episode lacked anything particularly 'special' about it. 'Special' doesn't have to mean anything specific, but it should certainly mean something that The Return of Doctor Mysterio isn't.
The focus of the episode is an attempt to embrace the superhero craze that is currently in the middle of taking the world by storm. The problem starts with the fact that this craze kicked off several years ago now. Other films and shows have figured out what works and what doesn't with the genre, and have had the time to capitalise on that - with significantly bigger budgets as well, whilst also committing to the genre rather than just passing it by for a single story. It all means that Doctor Who's attempt to take on the superhero concept comes across as incredibly amateur, and frankly a little bit behind the times (just like the kind of dating remark about Pokemon). Whilst the nods to famous comic books might have been a great minor inclusion for a few viewers, it's a baffling choice of focus for a story that needs to reintroduce Doctor Who after a relatively large gap. Put simply, the episode ends up depending on the superhero aspect to actually work - and again it doesn't really satisfy...
The superhero himself is Grant, aka The Ghost. A bit of convenient plotting and exposition at the start sets up the whole premise that is to follow. After that things then struggle to gain much footing. The episode never really makes it clear how The Ghost operates exactly... some scenes imply his very existence is something of a surprise to characters, whilst others show him saving the day on public television and insisting that 'duty calls'. The character of The Ghost is then subjected to one awkward CGI scene and one clunky bit of direction after another. The few attempts to actually portray his powers were poorly realised - ranging from the holding up of the falling spaceship, to the frequently bad shots of him flying over New York. Grant was a better character than The Ghost, and Justin Chatwin did a good job at differentiating between the two in a believable way. But overall the writing was just not up to scratch - a combined blend of poor pacing, and focusing on the wrong elements of the story throughout made Grant largely forgettable in the end.
Lucy was the best new character in the story. Whilst cut entirely from the Lois Lane template - so much so that it wasn't so much a nod to Superman as a cheap knock-off at this point - she was quite fun and interesting. Charity Wakefield played her brilliantly, and in a random highlight from the episode was actually given a scene where she was able to assert a sense of both character and purpose (namely the quite good 'Mr Huffle feels pain' scene). Rather sadly, her brilliance was hindered by something else in the story - something that doesn't bode particularly well...
Nardole. There was just no way that Nardole didn't feel shoehorned in...literally walking into scenes where he'd previously been absent, and where he's randomly travelling around in the TARDIS by himself having anecdotal travels that sound far more interesting than what is actually going on. Then frankly adding next to nothing to the story anyway, his only purpose so far apparently being to perk the Doctor up post-River... a needless inclusion given how beautifully last years special wrapped all that up. The Doctor's sense of loss about River doesn't feel like it really needed sharing so bluntly (even as a fan of the character, the references to River here smacked of a need to shoehorn in some sense of sentiment). So all in all Nardole was just an unnecessary spare piece, and one that technically denies a character like Lucy the chance to be a one-off companion...which would have felt like a much more natural fit and may have paved the way for some better handled character content. It doesn't bode well that Nardole felt shoehorned in here... it's not a character anyone is really looking forward to seeing in the first place, so to have him just stroll in and get in the way of what could have been something more is just down right frustrating.
Whilst Nardole is by far the biggest problem with this strange episode, it never really stopped there. The whole thing felt quite budget... the scenes in the spaceship looked awful, and even trying to argue that it's not all about appearances doesn't hold up well to scrutiny when the plot was as mundane and lacking as it was. The villains weren't interesting or well developed, there was a decent idea in there that got wasted, and the decision to leave their story open-ended served only as another frustration.
The episode has a few fun moments along the way, but like the previous special it fails to strike a balance with daftness and decent drama. The latter is lacking in both cases, and The Return of Doctor Mysterio suffers all the more for not having Alex Kingston or indeed an equivalent to the superb ending that The Husbands of River Song was at least afforrded. Probably the weakest Christmas special from Moffat since his Narnia-inspired yawn-fest, this had the odd moment of fun but none enough to make it feel worthwhile. All of the great ideas that could have been pursued in the only episode of 2016, and none of them executed - nor the idea it went for being executed particularly well either. It's not a worryingly awful kind of episode that speaks for the general quality of Doctor Who, but it feels tired - Moffat has nothing to say about Capaldi's Doctor here and isn't delivering decent enough characters or concepts at this point to make the story passable. Praise to Capaldi, Chatwin and Wakefield but elsewhere this will be one of those episodes that becomes a chore to sit through very quickly. And it's a shame, as it follows a Christmas special that was a similar chore, and a Series 9 finale that was similarly frustrating. With Nardole letting the story down, and the trailer at the end also proving the BBC has a poor grasp on how best to promote the show, it seems Series 10 does have a lot to prove now.
5/10
Sperate note, some of the comments directed at Matt Lucas on Twitter are just downright disgusting. He's playing a comic relief character being shoehorned into something more significant, and I raise issue with that. But it's nothing against Lucas himself, who seems to at least be brushing off the comments with ease.
The focus of the episode is an attempt to embrace the superhero craze that is currently in the middle of taking the world by storm. The problem starts with the fact that this craze kicked off several years ago now. Other films and shows have figured out what works and what doesn't with the genre, and have had the time to capitalise on that - with significantly bigger budgets as well, whilst also committing to the genre rather than just passing it by for a single story. It all means that Doctor Who's attempt to take on the superhero concept comes across as incredibly amateur, and frankly a little bit behind the times (just like the kind of dating remark about Pokemon). Whilst the nods to famous comic books might have been a great minor inclusion for a few viewers, it's a baffling choice of focus for a story that needs to reintroduce Doctor Who after a relatively large gap. Put simply, the episode ends up depending on the superhero aspect to actually work - and again it doesn't really satisfy...
The superhero himself is Grant, aka The Ghost. A bit of convenient plotting and exposition at the start sets up the whole premise that is to follow. After that things then struggle to gain much footing. The episode never really makes it clear how The Ghost operates exactly... some scenes imply his very existence is something of a surprise to characters, whilst others show him saving the day on public television and insisting that 'duty calls'. The character of The Ghost is then subjected to one awkward CGI scene and one clunky bit of direction after another. The few attempts to actually portray his powers were poorly realised - ranging from the holding up of the falling spaceship, to the frequently bad shots of him flying over New York. Grant was a better character than The Ghost, and Justin Chatwin did a good job at differentiating between the two in a believable way. But overall the writing was just not up to scratch - a combined blend of poor pacing, and focusing on the wrong elements of the story throughout made Grant largely forgettable in the end.
Lucy was the best new character in the story. Whilst cut entirely from the Lois Lane template - so much so that it wasn't so much a nod to Superman as a cheap knock-off at this point - she was quite fun and interesting. Charity Wakefield played her brilliantly, and in a random highlight from the episode was actually given a scene where she was able to assert a sense of both character and purpose (namely the quite good 'Mr Huffle feels pain' scene). Rather sadly, her brilliance was hindered by something else in the story - something that doesn't bode particularly well...
Nardole. There was just no way that Nardole didn't feel shoehorned in...literally walking into scenes where he'd previously been absent, and where he's randomly travelling around in the TARDIS by himself having anecdotal travels that sound far more interesting than what is actually going on. Then frankly adding next to nothing to the story anyway, his only purpose so far apparently being to perk the Doctor up post-River... a needless inclusion given how beautifully last years special wrapped all that up. The Doctor's sense of loss about River doesn't feel like it really needed sharing so bluntly (even as a fan of the character, the references to River here smacked of a need to shoehorn in some sense of sentiment). So all in all Nardole was just an unnecessary spare piece, and one that technically denies a character like Lucy the chance to be a one-off companion...which would have felt like a much more natural fit and may have paved the way for some better handled character content. It doesn't bode well that Nardole felt shoehorned in here... it's not a character anyone is really looking forward to seeing in the first place, so to have him just stroll in and get in the way of what could have been something more is just down right frustrating.
Whilst Nardole is by far the biggest problem with this strange episode, it never really stopped there. The whole thing felt quite budget... the scenes in the spaceship looked awful, and even trying to argue that it's not all about appearances doesn't hold up well to scrutiny when the plot was as mundane and lacking as it was. The villains weren't interesting or well developed, there was a decent idea in there that got wasted, and the decision to leave their story open-ended served only as another frustration.
The episode has a few fun moments along the way, but like the previous special it fails to strike a balance with daftness and decent drama. The latter is lacking in both cases, and The Return of Doctor Mysterio suffers all the more for not having Alex Kingston or indeed an equivalent to the superb ending that The Husbands of River Song was at least afforrded. Probably the weakest Christmas special from Moffat since his Narnia-inspired yawn-fest, this had the odd moment of fun but none enough to make it feel worthwhile. All of the great ideas that could have been pursued in the only episode of 2016, and none of them executed - nor the idea it went for being executed particularly well either. It's not a worryingly awful kind of episode that speaks for the general quality of Doctor Who, but it feels tired - Moffat has nothing to say about Capaldi's Doctor here and isn't delivering decent enough characters or concepts at this point to make the story passable. Praise to Capaldi, Chatwin and Wakefield but elsewhere this will be one of those episodes that becomes a chore to sit through very quickly. And it's a shame, as it follows a Christmas special that was a similar chore, and a Series 9 finale that was similarly frustrating. With Nardole letting the story down, and the trailer at the end also proving the BBC has a poor grasp on how best to promote the show, it seems Series 10 does have a lot to prove now.
5/10
Sperate note, some of the comments directed at Matt Lucas on Twitter are just downright disgusting. He's playing a comic relief character being shoehorned into something more significant, and I raise issue with that. But it's nothing against Lucas himself, who seems to at least be brushing off the comments with ease.
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