I have no idea what your relationship is to the Time Lord series, but it's always surprising to me when an adversary we may (or rather, in the case of the Czechs, may not) have seen for the first and last time more than half a century ago appears in a current episode.
One of the big returns is the mysterious Toymaker, who will flood Donna and the Doctor in this year's final special devoted to the return of 10. Doctor, played by David Tennant.
The story is simple again, the mysterious Toyman wants to destroy the country again and only the Doctor can save the world.
But it's all about how good the villain is and how good the climax of the story is.
We start with the villain. American TV star, director, writer singer and God knows what else... Neil Patrick Harris has become one of the great bad guys to really "smoke" the country and the Doctor. His character of the Toymaker for more than half the episode manages to tighten his dark side so that we have to worry about the Doctor, and I haven't had such a creepy and scary feeling from a Time Lord in a long time.
Unfortunately the creepy and dark doesn't last the whole episode, and so when the Doctor returns to the present, as part of the episode is set in 1926, the episode becomes fun and stops being so dark. Neil Patrick Harris is one of the stars of the cast, and so his stellar performances as the Toymaker will be remembered by Time Lord fans for a very long time.
Unfortunately, by the time the baddie dances in the UNIT base, one gets bored. Of course, we'll see the defeat of the Toyman and the return of favourite characters, Amy, Rose...and the return of 80s companion Melanie.
What about the new Doctor, played by new actor Ncuti Gatwa? That's how he'll eventually appear too. With not just a new regeneration taking place for the first time, but a new kind of „bi-generation“, it's clear to allow the new Doctor to be independent of his old self. Clearly, the creators have made a backdoor way into the young and funny black man with the new regeneration, so that their favourite David Tennant could return at any time.
I'm looking forward to the Christmas episode, according to the previews it will be very interesting, there will be a flying ship, new aliens and of course a new companion who will mirror the new Doctor, certainly not only in appearance but also in character.
Rating: 90%
Original release 11 December 2023 – Kritiky.cz
