Doctor Who Christmas's specials can be divided into two categories: epic adventures at the beginning or end of a Doctor's regeneration (The Christmas Invasion, The End of Time, The Time of the Doctor) and one-off, usually more comical, stories. This episode falls into the latter category and the lightness of the story is welcome following a very dark Series 9. The tone of the episode is set with the appearance of the first guest character (Nardole played by comic actor Matt Lucas) and the Doctor's re-introduction wearing novelty reindeer antlers. It is Nardole who mistakes the Doctor for a skilled surgeon and summons him to his employer, the time travelling archaeologist, River Song.
It was thought that River Song's role in Doctor Who may have concluded after she last appeared as a hologram in The Name of the Doctor (2013). There is a slight concern that River's reappearance contradicts continuity with that episode because River had shown no hints of awareness that the Doctor would live on beyond his thirteenth regeneration. However, it could be explained that the timeline has since altered or that River was hiding the truth. Writer Steven Moffat was obviously keen to see Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston act together for the first time, and their chemistry and the characters' relationship is refreshingly different to that between River and Matt Smith's Doctor.
The twist here is that the River doesn't recognise that Doctor. This brings their relationship full circle because it is a reversal of River's first appearance in Silence in the Library (2008). We also get to see what River gets up to when the Doctor's not around. Her behaviour is amoral, marrying the tyrant King Hydroflax (Greg Davies), in order to gain possession of the precious diamond which is lodged in his brain. River's actions reminds us she is not a suitable full-time companion for the Doctor; that role requires a moral conscience.
Much of the episode's wackiness derives from antics with King Hydroflax's disembodied head and his robotic body. The Doctor and River flee the robot body with the King's head in a bag and the body takes poor Nardole's as a replacement. Young children watching will have enjoyed these aspects. There is not much sense of threat and this is suitable for an earlier broadcast time on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, there is limited sophisticated comedy for the adults. The banter between the Doctor and River is not as funny as it should be and many of jokes, such as the Doctor feigning surprise at the TARDIS being "bigger on the inside", are quite obvious.
River steals the TARDIS and takes the Doctor to a starship restaurant where she intends to sell the diamond in Hydoflax's head. Here , the episode changes direction and explores the lead characters' relationships more thoughtfully. River reveals that her diary, given to her by the Doctor in Let's Kill Hitler (2011) is nearly full and she, and the audience, knows this means her life is nearing its end.
The plot takes an "awkward" turn when it transpires that River's buyer, and the rest of the restaurant patrons, are actually a followers of the King. The Doctor and River amusingly try to talk their way out of this predicament before Hydroflax's body turns up seeking a new head. The Greg Davies head is disintegrated; the comedic talents of both Davies and Lucas are rather wasted. The cowardly maitre d' Flemming (Rowan Polonsksi) promises Hydroflax that he can get the Doctor's head through River. She admits that she loves the Doctor but states that he does not love her back: "He does not go around falling in love with people" (perhaps excluding the David Tennant's Tenth Doctor). Finally, the Twelfth Doctor reveals his identity to River before she reveals her escape plan; her prior knowledge that the starship will be hit by a meteor strike River delivers an excellent pay-off line to Flemming: "I'm an archaelogist from the future. I dug you up!"
The crashing starship conclusion is underwhelming, perhaps because of the similarities to previous Christnas specials Voyage of the Damned (2007) and A Christmas Carol (2010). Escaping the crash on the TARDIS, River and the Doctor find themselves on the planet Darillirium. Finally, we see their last night together, as it was established back in 2008, and he gives her the special sonic screwdriver, Many casual viewers will have missed these continuity references but the touching final moments bring a satisfactory conclusion to a fairly average episode.
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