Goodbye Raggedy Man (*Possible Spoilers*)

So, I've had a very Doctor Who themed Christmas. Which I am more than happy with. I got a calendar, a Tom Baker screwdriver and 2 books among other little bits and pieces! And there was only more Christmas present to receive. BBC One's installment of Doctor Who. Matt Smith's final outing as my favourite Time Lord. Here's what I thought.

The Story

In the first 10 minutes or so of the story, I was reasonably happy. It had potential. The introduction of Tasha Lem and the funny bits between The Doctor and Clara definitely made for a good story. However, after the cracks were explained and the Doctor found out he was on Trenzalore, for me, it slowly went downhill. Everything after that was a bit jumpy from scene to scene and the Doctor's aging was just glossed over.

"Oh so you've been there for 300 years? Because that's cool..."

The last half an hour was when the episode effectively died. Everything after that just got jumpier and jumpier until, everything was conveniently sorted by power of regeneration energy. It was a bit of a cop out and it only raised more questions than it was supposed to answer.

Oh, and the Doctor had some kind of weird love affair with a Cyber head called 'Handles'?

The Regeneration [Anyone who hasn't seen it should not read this section]

The regeneration itself was a mixed affair. I'm not entirely sure when it occurred. It was suggested at one point that the Doctor regenerated on the rooftop by the bell. Elderly Matt regenerates and Peter Capaldi would emerge from the ground floor door. This was not to be. Instead, as per usual with Nu-Who, the Tardis would be the scene for the regen.

The moments leading up to the regen itself were fairly heart-rendering. It showed Matt's Doctor coming to terms with the fact he was in fact about to change. But, unlike Tennant, he made peace with that fairly quickly. And it was in fact the reappearance of Amy Pond in his mind that would truly make the whole thing truly heart-breaking. The reason being that, obviously, the Doctor can never see the real Amy again and that this Amy was a projection in his dying mind. Clara looked on confused as, once again, the Doctor communicated with a ghost. The words "Raggedy Man, Goodnight" sending Matt into his (I can only assume) proper regeneration.

I'm not ashamed to admit, I was crying like a baby at the whole thing because I knew what was coming. And I kind of remembered how I felt when Tennant left so it was kind of deja vu. But it was the bit with Amy that just set me off completely. I also kind of felt sorry for Clara because, although she knew full well what was coming, she had romantic feelings for the Doctor and didn't want to see him go.

But it was the next bit that wasn't so thrilling. There was no big boom like Tennant, there was very little golden lights and melting faces, instead, it was a very short affair. BANG! Eyebrow's here.

Capaldi's First Moments

I may well become a cropper for saying this, but I wasn't thrilled. Because the regeneration itself was about a millisecond long I was a bit underwhelmed. But I thought he might come out with something fun or start jumping about or something. No such luck.

Instead, Capaldi complained about his kidneys (no age jokes please) and the colour of them before asking Clara if she knew how to fly the Tardis.

I was not as impressed with Capaldi's entrance as I was with Matt's when Tennant left 4 years ago. This is not to say I'm not looking forward to Capaldi, I am, but I was a bit underwhelmed with his entrance. Considering the hype they've made of him it was a pretty poor way to introduce him to be honest.

This is by no way a criticism of Capaldi's acting! It's more a criticism of Moffat's writing.

Conclusion

All in all, the episode was a bit of a let down. Like I say, it had potential in the first half an hour but, considering the importance of Trenzalore and the story of Gallifrey, it was poorly constructed and the episode could've been so much better. Matt's last moments, however, were perfect in every way for me. The speech and the Amy thing was just wonderful. But the episode could've been so much better.

But this is just my opinion. You may not share it but this is just me. Feel free to disagree. But I'll leave you with one more gif of Clara to illustrate how I reacted to Matt's last moments as the Doctor. Thank you Matt for what you've given to the show and good luck to Peter, who begins filming in the next few weeks for series 8!

Good night!