Day 360. Always crashing in the same car. (26/12/13)

As the festive season moves on and the year end approaches, as I arrive at the stopping point of what we've had here and start to plan for what will replace it, as I reach the culmination of a twenty seven year career and decide on what will be next, I've naturally become somewhat obsessed with the constant repeating cycle of death and rebirth, of ends and new beginnings.

So we should talk about Dr Who really shouldn't we?

There appears to have been a fair amount of internet chatter from both fans and casual viewers complaining about last night's Christmas special which saw the end of Matt Smith's tenure in the almost titular role.

Too long, too confused, too convoluted, answered nothing, tried to sneer too much, explained little but convinced itself that it had all the answers, convinced itself that it was far more intelligent than it really was, far more intelligent than its audience.

Nonsense, all of it, utter nonsense.

Steven Moffat's script for this 800th episode managed to tie together every plot thread from Smith's four seasons as The Doctor into one hour of almost perfect resolution. It could be argued (and I've certainly already tried) that the entirety of the last four years were encompassed by this one show; the threat implicit in the very first seconds after Smith replaced Tennant, the crack in reality in Amy Pond's room, was revealed as a message to The Doctor - a cry for help which would also serve as the catalyst for his change, the presence of the villains from two years ago that had never been fully explained was sharply delineated here as we saw both their creation and destruction.

One can only assume that this entire four year arc was constructed perfectly in Moffat's head from day one, that his focus on folklore and fairy tales and the malleability of multiple time lines crossing each other was implicitly and explicitly part of the character of this particular incarnation of the timelord. The reset that appeared to have occurred at the end of the 50th anniversary show was reset once again here.

In a story that spanned 300 years, involved all the series' major villains and saw the lead character approach death via ageing in a naturalistic (if somewhat extended) manner we were presented with high drama, broad comedy, Shakespearian references and musings on mortality. Above all of this though, we were given (in the last 15 minutes of extended goodbye) genuine emotion. The farewell here was from both this version of the character and from the actor playing him; Moffat's script gave Smith the chance to verbalise (one assumes) how he felt about having played the part and then topped his final speech by reuniting the two major touchstones of the 11th (or 13th as it transpired) Doctor's time.

I may, in all honesty, have had something in my eye at one point in this hour. Possibly more than one.

And Peter Capaldi? A brief introduction as expected, a confused new being in a new situation. Sometime next year we will find out what kind of Doctor he will be; we have seen the nature of the show completely reset and know nothing of what comes next - the possibilities are endless.

Beginnings. Fantastic things.