So because of the absence of Doctor Who episodes for the entirety of 2016, this is the first episode aired since the last Christmas special. I kinda knew just by looking by the advertising that I wasn't going to enjoy it, because the inclusion of superhero elements looked incredibly cheesy.This is meant to be a science fiction show. The laziest bit of writing I have ever seen is when the Doctor accidentally gives the little boy in the beginning a "wish granting crystal" which gives him his superpowers. If you're writing a science fiction show, at least have some fictitious science-y justification as opposed to full blown fantasy.Also, this episode is a straight up Superman ripoff, down to the hero wearing spectacles as his secret identity. All the tired clichés are still here, Capaldi is once again being let down by weak writing, and I just lost hope for the show at that point.Completely forgettable plot, Matt Lucas is brought back for no reason, and Justin Chatwin is playing the hero? Really? The guy who portrayed Goku in that abomination of a live-action Dragonball Z film? Sigh.Needless to say, I wasted an hour of my life.

One plus for the Doctor Who creative team is they're consistent. 2015's Christmas Special was blah. 2016's Christmas Special was blah.I think I have this thing figured out. Cable TV stations run Christmas specials through November and December. The majority of these are what I call cut rate Christmas specials. They're romantic comedies that are set at Christmas time. Other than the time - there are a few Christmas decorations, some snow, maybe a Christmas dinner - the specials have nothing to do with Christmas. They're mostly about some girl and guy getting together.This episode is a cut rate Doctor Who episode. It takes place in a Doctor Who setting, but it's mainly about a girl and guy getting together. It's secondarily about the Doctor's grief at losing one of the many loves of his life.This one uses the now becoming generic Doctor meets someone when they're a child, and then Doctor checks in throughout their life.It also has the Doctor create one of his wonder machines. This is a machine that's so complicated the Doctor can't even begin to describe what it does or why he built it. He blathers some ridiculous explanation, then he immediately admits that explanation is baloney.The end of the episode is a coming attractions for Series 10 of "Doctor Whaaaa". There's a new cockney companion basically saying "Doctor Who is gonna be so COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

There was really nothing that excited me about the return of Doctor Who for the Christmas special; generally they are only so-so episodes, and too often they overplay the seasonal aspect and throw lots of glitter-like aspects into the mix (by which I mean stuff that looks nice from a distance but is a mess and an annoyance when you get to it – source, I have a small daughter and lots of things with glitter stuck to them, and over everything else). On top of that the promotional poster looked cheap and silly – much like the superhero costume itself; and the title (The Return of Doctor Mysterio) screamed of cheese. So, like Doctor Who generally, I almost come at it now with a much lower bar for what will work for me – ie if it is not awful, then it must be one of the good episodes.And by that yardstick, this Christmas special was quite enjoyable. It featured a topical (if overdone) genre of superheroes, had some sinister creature elements, showed restraint in a lot of areas, and generally was interesting in what it did with the characters. Generally it was greeted by those around me in the same way – satisfied indifference, which I do think is sometimes what this show is happy with – particularly in these big seasonal event shows. However this is not to say that the special is a good watch, because it isn't, and there is a lot to be irritated by. It wastes the aliens – it has some sinister images and ideas but doesn't follow them up, and the invasion plot really has limited menace. It does have a nice romantic plot but it doesn't do it that well, it is very much BBC sitcom level (and that is not a good thing). I liked the restraint it showed regarding the seasonal stuff, and that Matt Lucas was not a big part of it and was really limited in his impact (enough to be a good addition, not enough to be too annoying).In the end it is an okay Christmas special but suffers from the same issue that much of Doctor Who – it really doesn't know what it wants to do, and feels produced by committee. The mix of content doesn't always work, and as usual we end with the Doctor being all dark and alone – something Capaldi can work with, but is never really fleshed out as it should be. In the context of Christmas Day though, it did work well enough to pass muster thanks to the state of the audience, and the low expectations/requirements the vast majority will have brought with them.

Its Christmas time again, thus we are treated to our first Doctor who episode in an entire year and... well... the word dull comes to mind. First things first this was supposed to be a Christmas story, think back to the 'Christmas invasion' where the Earth was saved by a satsuma and ended with a charming scene of the Doctor opening presents and pulling crackers or a Moffat era story like 'The snowmen' maybe not the most Christmassy episode ever but it was set at Christmas time with a Christmas themed villain, now look at this years special, which bar an opening scene had little to nothing to do with the actual holiday. The theme was "super heroes" the genre I'm sure we all associate with the winter season and not, you know, like the summer when all the major superhero movies come out. That's not exactly a bad thing and I wouldn't hold this against the show if the story was good but I'm a huge superhero fan and I've read, watched and played stories so much better than this. The show felt like a golden age comic come to life with all the nonsense plot points, technobabble and leaps in logic that were products of a shoe string budget and a system were the art was drawn before the story was written. Doctor who does not have these excuses yet still comes off like babies first Superman story. The Doctor takes a back seat in his own special only appearing to act like the whimsical madman with no room for character development, this is, I'm afraid the legacy the Moffat will leave for his era of Doctor who, the earl of Deus ex machina who only exists as a plot device to move the plot forward, never breaking for character development. This episode spends far too much time with characters who are really bland, the point of Clark Kent is that he's dull and mild mannered to contrast with the Superman persona yet so why does the show stick us with the Ghost, a character whose boring and underdeveloped with powers never defined so I never get the sense anyone is in danger because much like Sup's in the 90's Ghost could just pull out a new power from anywhere and snap his fingers till the bad guys poof away. The episode climaxes with the Ghost catching a falling space ship but we're never shown the limits of his strength so the character never seems like he's in any danger. Sadly the show takes one to many directions from the 90's when it comes to the art style, it loses the vibrant colours that were a staple of the type of stories the episode references and tries to emulate. The episode has a gray filter hanging over it and if it wasn't for the accents the show could have taken place on a mild June night in Manchester. The bad guys are all right one part face hugger, one part Krang from TMNT with the kind of plan you'd expect from a race that can build faster than light spaceships but not exist outside of jars without help. Nardol, the character that people expected to be the downfall of this episode added a sweet bit of comic relief and made the show that little bit more bearable with some genuinely funny lines and this episode gave us the first look at the new season so watch it if you've got the time but it might be worth downing an energy drink cause the dull tone and grey filter might just send you off to sleep.