Twice Upon a Time (TV story): Difference between revisions

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Line 317: Line 317:
* The Twelfth Doctor wears his [[sonic sunglasses]] again. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)|The Magician's Apprentice]]'' et al)
* The Twelfth Doctor wears his [[sonic sunglasses]] again. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Magician's Apprentice (TV story)|The Magician's Apprentice]]'' et al)
* The Twelfth Doctor gets concerned when the First Doctor asks what browser history is. He previously warned [[Osgood]] and Bill not to look at his browsing history. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Zygon Inversion (TV story)|The Zygon Inversion]]'', ''[[Smile (TV story)|Smile]]'')
* The Twelfth Doctor gets concerned when the First Doctor asks what browser history is. He previously warned [[Osgood]] and Bill not to look at his browsing history. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Zygon Inversion (TV story)|The Zygon Inversion]]'', ''[[Smile (TV story)|Smile]]'')
* The Twelfth Doctor's regeneration caused significant damage to the Tardis, much like how the Tenth Doctor's regeneration did the same, with [[Eleventh Doctor|their]] [[Thirteenth Doctor|successors]] having to deal with the result. (TV: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* The Twelfth Doctor's regeneration caused significant damage to the Tardis, much like how the [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth Doctor']]s regeneration did the same, with [[Eleventh Doctor|their]] [[Thirteenth Doctor|successors]] having to deal with the result. (TV: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')


== Home video releases ==
== Home video releases ==

Revision as of 01:31, 28 December 2017

RealWorld.png

Twice Upon a Time was the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special. It was the final episode under showrunner Steven Moffat's tenure, and featured the last regular appearance of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

Concluding the end of the Twelfth Doctor's life teased in World Enough and Time and shown throughout the events of The Doctor Falls and this episode, the ending showed the Doctor's regeneration and introduced Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, marking the first female incarnation of the Doctor in the series history.

After a surprise appearance at the end of the last episode the First Doctor had his first full appearance on the programme since The Five Doctors. Here, he was portrayed by David Bradley, who had previously played the original actor William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time. This was the first televised interaction between a "classic" Doctor and a BBC Wales era Doctor since 2007's Time Crash. Archival footage from The Tenth Planet is used to bookmark the First Doctor's place in this story. The special also introduced Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, credited as "the Captain", a new member of the Lethbridge-Stewart family.

Ben Jackson and Polly Wright make a brief re-reappearance in the programme for the first time since their exit in 1967's The Faceless Ones. Bill Potts joins the two Doctors, and Captain Lethbridge-Stewart, as a Testimony glass avatar. Past companions Nardole and Clara, briefly, make similar appearances, the latter of which the Doctor regained memories of after having lost them previously in Hell Bent. The "good Dalek" Rusty, from Capaldi's second episode, Into the Dalek, makes his second appearance—in Villengard, a location mentioned only once before on television, in 2005's The Doctor Dances .

Synopsis

In the Twelfth Doctor's final chapter, he must face his past to decide his future, discovering hope in his darkest moment. But can he convince his original self to also change?

Plot

The episode opens as a flashback to when the First Doctor combated the Cybermen from Mondas. He is freed from his restraints by his companions Ben and Polly, the threat over. However, he is weak, his body beginning to regenerate. Refusing to give in, he leaves his friends to be alone. He wanders the South Pole, mumbling to himself that he will not change. Nearing his TARDIS, he hears a voice in the distance declaring themselves the Doctor. He approaches the man, who is knelt down in the snow, outside his TARDIS, rebuking his statement as he declares he himself is the Doctor.

Things shift back to the present, from the Twelfth Doctor's perspective, who gets to his feet, shocked at seeing the First Doctor. The Doctor is delighted at meeting his first self, but realises that he is refusing to regenerate. The First Doctor is confused and dismisses his future self as another Time Lord, before noticing the TARDIS. The Doctor reacts joyously at the First Doctor calling the TARDIS the ship but he dismisses him, too busy puzzling as to why it is suddenly bigger with larger windows. The Twelfth Doctor retorts him, stating it happens as the TARDIS can't "keep [her] tummy tucked in" forever. However, the snow suddenly ceases to fall, capturing the pair's attention. In the distance, another man in World War I attire addresses them, asking if one of them is a Doctor. The Twelfth Doctor looks at the man and asks "are you trying to be funny?"

The scene then shifts to the soldier's perspective, flashing back to 1914, Ypres on Christmas day. The soldier, a captain in the British Expeditionary Force is in a shell hole in the battle field, his revolver aimed at a German soldier, who also has his sidearm trained on the Captain. The Captain speaks English to the man, wishing they spoke English too or he spoke German. Both men realise they will kill each other in self-defense, their respective troops far away in their trenches, unable to assist either of them. Just as the Captain prepares to accept his fate and fire, a wave of energy flows through the field, freezing everything except the Captain. The Captain exits the shell hole, wandering around in wonder at the instance. A bright light suddenly flashes, capturing the Captain's attention. It suddenly encapsulates him, the soldier finding him in a room as lights flash with only "timeline malfunction" filling his eyes. He suddenly collapses to the ground in the arctic, hearing the two Doctors discussing the static snow. He approaches them.

The scene once more shifts back to the Twelfth Doctor's perspective. A portal of light opens in the distance, the two Doctors approaching it. The First Doctor orders the portal to reveal itself, while the Twelfth Doctor claims the planet is protected, surprising the First Doctor as he does not know who guards it. However, the light quickly vanishes, surprising the Twelfth Doctor as "that almost never works." The First doctor returns to the Captain, telling him to enter his TARDIS, the Twelfth Doctor coaxing him to follow. They enter, the First Doctor becoming surprised at seeing the desktop theme so different; he fears he has been burgled. The Captain is too in shock, but more in surprise at how much bigger it is on the inside. The Twelfth Doctor attempts to convince his younger self they are the same person, even displaying he too is regenerating. He even points out that the First Doctor's TARDIS is 70 feet away, proving the one they are in is actually a much older version, hence the size increase. Regardless, the First Doctor remains skeptical. The Captain hears them mention "World War One", which the Twelfth Doctor confirms, saddening the soldier as he felt the Great War would be the only conflict to reach such a scale, causing the Doctor to apologise: "spoilers". The First Doctor notices the Captain's unease, telling the soldier to sit down and orders the Twelfth Doctor to fetch some brandy.

Initially perplexed, the Twelfth Doctor does so, retrieving a glass. He hands it to the First Doctor who queries if he has had a glass, which his future self sarcastically confirms, given he has had 1500 years to do so. The First Doctor presses on, calling the Twelfth Doctor a nurse because he is "gentle", like a woman. The Twelfth Doctor tells his younger self that he can't say that, as he will be around many people who will dislike such a statement in the future. The First Doctor, seeing the Captain calm down, examines the new desktop theme, crticising how his successor has turned the "most powerful ship in the universe" into a "restaurant for the French". Before the Twelfth Doctor can reply, the First Doctor spies his older self's electric guitar, something the Twelfth Doctor tries to dismiss as his younger self surmises he has played it given it is the only thing that is not covered in dust. Regarding the dust, the First Doctor voices his disappointment in discovering that Polly must no longer be around to clean the TARDIS. Once more, the Twelfth Doctor tells his younger self to stop saying things like that.

Cast

Main cast

Guest cast

The Tenth Planet
And introducing Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor

Uncredited

The Tenth Planet
Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Arc of Infinity
The Happiness Patrol
The Night of the Doctor
The Day of the Doctor
The Parting of the Ways
The Waters of Mars
Journey's End
The Pandorica Opens


Crew

to be added

References

Culture

Technology

Biology

  • Rusty scans the Twelfth Doctor, noticing his life signs are failing.
  • When the First and Twelfth Doctors shake hands, regeneration energy glows intensely from them.

Food and beverages

  • A soldier is seen drinking tea.
  • Both Doctors has brandy inside one of the roundels in each of their TARDISes.
  • The soldiers are drinking beer.
  • The Twelfth Doctor tells himself to never eat pears.

Sport

People

  • Captain Lethbridge-Stewart and a German soldier both had no desire to kill the other, wishing the other spoke English and German, respectively.
  • Everyone except The Doctors, the Captain and the glass avatars freeze on the spot when time freezes.
  • The First Doctor remarks that it's a shame Polly Wright isn't around, saying that Twelve's TARDIS is in need of cleaning.
  • Bill Potts returns to the Doctor's side.
  • Bill tells that Heather, the sentient oil girl, came back for her.
  • Bill comes to realise the two Doctors are the same man.
  • Bill asks the First Doctor about his reason to run away.
  • The Doctor finds Rusty inside a tower in Villengard.
  • Rusty projects a video of a Professor Helen Clay.
  • Clara Oswald appears to the Twelfth Doctor and his memories of her returns.
  • Nardole returns to say goodbye to the Doctor.
  • Nardole reveals that he used to have nipples made of glass, and that he has invisible hair.

Species

  • The First Doctor ask the Twelfth Doctor if he is a Time Lord.
  • The Twelfth Doctor says the First Doctor was "weak as a kitten".
  • A bird freezes mid-air.
  • Glass avatar, part of the Testimony, are creatures with ability to freeze time and extract memories and personality of a dying person so they will remain forever.
  • The TARDIS team encounters Kaled mutants which has mutated even further.
    • The Captain first thinks they are rats, saying he is used to those.

Locations

Events

The Doctor

  • Due to the timelines being out-of-sync, the First Doctor forgets trying not to regenerate and the Twelfth Doctor does not remember it.
  • The First Doctor's face is, according to Twelve, "all over the place" as a result of him trying to hold off his regeneration. This also results in him regaining the strength he had lost during his fight with the Cybermen on Snowcap.
  • The First Doctor doesn't know who his future self is, and keeps denying it even after the Twelfth Doctor reveals himself to him. Only after the Testimony shows him snippets of his future does he finally give in and accept it.
    • The First Doctor first thinks the Twelfth Doctor is another Time Lord trying to capture him for running away with a TARDIS.
      • The First Doctor later attempts to make the Captain understand better, saying that the Twelfth Doctor is his nurse, however improbable due to him being a man.
  • The First Doctor tells the Twelfth Doctor that he assumed he would get a younger appearance after regenerating.
  • The Twelfth Doctor tells the First Doctor that between those two there are "a few false starts".
  • The Doctor is called "The Destroyer of Worlds", "The Oncoming Storm", "The Shadow of the Valeyard", "The Beast of Trenzalore", "The Butcher of Skull Moon", "The Destroyer of Skaro" and "the Doctor of War".
  • The Twelfth Doctor calls the First Doctor Mary Berry.
  • The Twelfth Doctor attempts to distract the First Doctor with the blinking lights on his astral map after his unfavourable remark to Bill about Twelve needing her for cleaning his TARDIS.
  • The First Doctor admits to being afraid of regeneration.
  • The First Doctor says he travel around to get a question answered about why there is good and evil in the universe and how the balance is held between the two.
  • The Twelfth Doctor admits to only pretending to like Bill's rug.
  • The First Doctor regenerates into the Second Doctor.
  • The Twelfth Doctor regenerates into the Thirteenth Doctor.
  • The Twelfth Doctor's ring falls off of the Thirteenth Doctor's hand, as it doesn't fit on.

TARDIS

  • The First Doctor calls the TARDIS "the Ship".
  • The First Doctor remarks on the exterior changes; the windows being the wrong size, the blue colouring having changed and its size having expanded.
    • The Twelfth Doctor says its size is because of all those years having been "bigger on the inside".
  • The First Doctor disaproves of the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS, saying about the console room that it is "the flight deck of the most powerful space time machine in the known universe, not a restaurant for the French".
  • The Twelfth Doctor still has blackboards in his TARDIS.
  • Bill remarks the windows are the wrong size.
  • The First Doctor's TARDIS has a name tag on the console that says Bernard Wilkie.
  • The Cloister Bell is ringing in the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS.

Story notes

  • The cinematic release featured two documentaries: The End of an Era, a retrospective and behind-the-scenes look, before the showing, and Twice Upon a Time, an in-depth look into the making of this Christmas special.
  • Twice Upon a Time features a "Previously on Doctor Who..." sequence saying "709 Episodes ago" and showing footage from TV: The Tenth Planet with William Hartnell, Anneke Wills and Michael Craze as the First Doctor, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson respectively. The footage slowly morphs Hartnell into David Bradley, and Lily Travers and Jared Garfield then appear as Polly and Ben, who then proceed to reenact the missing bits on Snowcap from said episode.
  • Rachel Talalay had actually shot a number of scenes from The Tenth Planet, with a complete set reconstruction, recast characters, and the series 10 Mondasian Cybermen. She said in an interview that she tried to make both the set, and the cinematography, as accurate to the original scenes, and original production values, as much as possible. She did admit to having fun with some parts of the set in particular, and embellishing with a "60s feel", and noted that some details of the action had to be invented. These scene recreations were not used in the final edit of Twice Upon a Time; the original footage was used in its place. However, these specially shot re-tellings were shown in the cinema feature DOC: Twice Upon a Time.[12]
  • The First and Twelfth Doctors meeting also features the scene acted out differently in TV: The Doctor Falls and Twice Upon a Time, similar to how episodes in the 60s reshooting the prior scene’s cliffhanger, often resulting in little differences. The same situation also occured when TV: The Runaway Bride followed the TV: Doomsday cliffhanger 11 years prior.
  • The recreated Hartnell TARDIS interior set actually included props from the original set in the 1960s. As told by Mark Gatiss, these included the brass pillars, which are indeed the brass pillars from way back in 1963. Other aspects of the set were recreated.[12]
  • The Twelfth Doctor's regeneration has a new visual effect, and even sound effect, to those used previously in the BBC Wales series. Resembling slow traveling, elongated golden lightning. It is the first regeneration for the Doctor, since the Seventh Doctor's in 1996, to use an effect which is visually distinct from that seen in The Parting of the Ways, with the Ninth Doctor up to The Doctor Falls.
  • Toby Whithouse is the second person involved in the BBC Wales series as both an actor and a writer, following Mark Gatiss.
  • Given that the First Doctor is amazed and confused about the Twelfth Doctor's sonic screwdriver, this story makes PROSE: Venusian Lullaby non-canon, as it features the screwdriver used by the First Doctor.
  • This is the third consecutive regeneration story to include the word "time" in the title, following The End of Time and The Time of the Doctor.
  • This is the second multi-Doctor story to feature a regeneration, and the first in which it is the current incarnation of the Doctor who is shown to regenerate. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
  • Nikki Amuka-Bird is credited as "Helen Clay" on-screen, and as "The Glass Woman" in Radio Times.
  • When Bill's glass avatar and the Doctor talk and she restores his memories of Clara Oswald, the music from The Husbands of River Song when the Doctor and River were on a date before the Singing Towers of Darillium plays.
  • Nardole having invisible hair was already jokingly stated by Steven Moffat in a BBC post episode interview. There he also stated that Nardole was the only one able to see it through his glasses and that it was purple.[13] Matt Lucas had been aware of the invisible hair, but not the glass nipples.[12]
  • The Twelfth Doctor's final lines about his name and how humans would understand it are directly taken from a theory Capaldi stated at a press screening interview of The Pilot.[14]
  • The Twelfth Doctor's line "never, ever eat pears" is a tweaked version of the one in a hidden scene in TV: Human Nature by the Tenth Doctor. It was also said in TV: Hell Bent by the Twelfth Doctor.
  • This is the first regeneration story in the revived series not to have any direct connections to the Last Great Time War.
  • This is the third televised multi-Doctor story, after TV: The Two Doctors and Time Crash, that is not an anniversary special.
    • Time Crash was also written by Steven Moffat.

Ratings

  • 5.70 million (UK final)[15]

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

Digital releases

to be added

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Archival footage from TV: The Tenth Planet.
  2. ↑ In archival footage
  3. ↑ In archival footage
  4. ↑ In archive footage
  5. ↑ In archival footage
  6. ↑ In archival footage
  7. ↑ In archival footage
  8. ↑ In archival footage
  9. ↑ In footage from The Waters of Mars, the Tenth Doctor says, "they all died."
  10. ↑ In archival footage from Journey's End, Davros names the Doctor "Destroyer of Worlds!"
  11. ↑ In archival footage, a Cyberman from The Pandorica Opens is heard saying, "You will be assimilated."
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 DOC: Twice Upon a Time
  13. ↑ Doctor Who: The Fan Show - The Aftershow Ep 1
  14. ↑ Doctor Who: The Fan Show – 2017 Christmas Special
  15. ↑ Ratings; DoctorWho TV
v • e
Doctor Who television stories
 
Seasons 1-4: William Hartnell
Season 1: 1963-1964
Season 2: 1964-1965
Season 3: 1965-1966
Season 4: 1966
 
Seasons 4-6: Patrick Troughton
Season 4: 1966-1967
Season 5: 1967-1968
Season 6: 1968-1969
 
Seasons 7-11: Jon Pertwee
Season 7: 1970
Season 8: 1971
Season 9: 1972
Season 10: 1972-1973
Season 11: 1973-1974
 
Seasons 12-18: Tom Baker
Season 12: 1974-1975
Season 13: 1975-1976
Season 14: 1976-1977
Season 15: 1977-1978
Season 16: 1978-1979
Season 17: 1979-1980
Season 18: 1980-1981
 
Seasons 19-21: Peter Davison
Season 19: 1982
Season 20: 1983
Children in Need 1983
Season 21: 1984
 
Seasons 21-23: Colin Baker
Season 21: 1984
Season 22: 1985
Season 23: 1986
 
Seasons 24-26: Sylvester McCoy
Season 24: 1987
Season 25: 1988-1989
Season 26: 1989
 
TV Movie & 2013 specials: Paul McGann
TV Movie: 1996
Specials: 2013
Minisodes
 
Series 1: Christopher Eccleston
Series 1: 2005
Regular episodes
 
Series 2-4: David Tennant
Series 2: 2005-2006
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Series 3: 2006-2007
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Animated special
Series 4: 2007-2010
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Minisodes
Animated special
Seasonal specials
 
Series 5-2013 specials: Matt Smith
Series 5: 2010
Regular episodes
Series 6: 2010-2011
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: Apr 2011)
Regular episodes
(Part 2: Aug 2011)
Minisode
Series 7: 2011-2013
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: 2012)
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
(Part 2: 2013)
Specials: 2013
 
Series 8-10: Peter Capaldi
Series 8: 2014
Regular episodes
Series 9: 2014-2015
Christmas Special
Minisode
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Series 10: 2016-2017
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Twice Upon a Time
 
Series 11-13: Jodie Whittaker
Series 11: 2018-2019
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 12: 2020-2021
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 13: 2021
Minisodes
Regular episodes
Seasonal specials
 
60th Anniversary Specials: David Tennant
Specials: 2023
Minisodes
60th Anniversary Specials
 
Season 1 (2023)-present: Ncuti Gatwa
Season 1: 2023-2024
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
v • e
Televised Christmas Specials
Doctor Who
First Doctor
Tenth Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
Twelfth Doctor
Fifteenth Doctor
K9 and Company
Continuity announcements
v • e
Regeneration stories
The Doctor
TV series
Comic Relief
Comics
Prose
Audio
Home video
Webcast
The Master
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
Alternate universe
Romana
Television
Prose
Audio
Other
Time Lords
Television
Prose
Audio
Comics
Non-Time Lord Gallifreyans
Prose
Shobogans
Television
Proto-
Time Lords
Television
Audio
Others
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
For the purposes of this list, a "regeneration story" is one in which a regeneration is actually and initially depicted. For this reason The War Games is not included below, even though it is commonly thought of as a "regeneration story". It doesn't actually include a clear scene of regeneration, and the preponderance of stories in other media confirms that the Second Doctor did not regenerate at the end of it.
Additionally, immediate post-regeneration stories, like the 2005 Children in Need Special Born Again — and ones like Castrovalva, where the regeneration sequence was replayed — are not included.
v • e
Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
First Doctor era
Dr. Who films
Second Doctor era
Third Doctor era
Fourth Doctor era
Fifth Doctor era
Sixth Doctor era
Seventh Doctor era
The "Wilderness Years"
Ninth Doctor era
Tenth Doctor era
Eleventh Doctor era
Twelfth Doctor era
Thirteenth Doctor era
Fourteenth Doctor era
Fifteenth Doctor era
Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
v • e
Cyberman stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Cyberman story" is one in which one living, authentic Cyberman plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as Dalek are absent due to only featuring deceased Cybermen on display. Stories like Carnival of Monsters, A Good Man Goes to War and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Cybermen's appearance being of little consequence to the plot of the story.
Television
Webcast
Audio

Sword of Orion • Spare Parts • Real Time • The Harvest • Silver Lining • Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Crystal of Cantus • The Reaping • The Gathering • The Blue Tooth • Human Resources • The Girl Who Never Was • The Ultimate Adventure • Kingdom of Silver • Legend of the Cybermen • The Silver Turk • Last of the Cybermen • Return to Telos • The Isos Network • The Tyrants of Logic • Code Silver / Master of Worlds • Hour of the Cybermen • Conversion • Return of the Cybermen • The Gates of Hell • Scourge of the Cybermen • Altered Status • Monsters in Metropolis • Secrets of Telos • Way of the Burryman / The Forth Generation • Bad Day in Tinseltown • Willkommen • Wulf • Übermensch • Auf Wiedersehen • The Great Cyber-War • Sins of the Flesh

Cyberman
Prose
Novels
Short stories
Features
Comics
The Cybermen
Supremacy of
the Cybermen
prologues
Video
games
Complete list of appearances
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=Twice_Upon_a_Time_(TV_story)&oldid=2440561"