Twice Upon a Time (Doctor Who)
The Twelfth Doctor meets his first incarnation before regenerating.
"Twice Upon a Time" is a 2017 Christmas special of Doctor Who, serving as the final regular appearance of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and the first official appearance of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay, and features David Bradley as the First Doctor. It was the last Doctor Who story produced by Moffat as showrunner.
Quick Facts
- Number
- 276
- Episode name
- Twice Upon a Time
- Doctors
- Peter Capaldi – Twelfth Doctor; David Bradley – First Doctor
- Companion
- Pearl Mackie – Bill Potts
- Director
- Rachel Talalay
- Writer
- Steven Moffat
- Producer
- Peter Bennett
- Executive producers
- Steven Moffat; Brian Minchin
Facts from the source article.
Plot
At the South Pole in 1986, the First Doctor refuses to regenerate and encounters the Twelfth Doctor, who is similarly reluctant. They meet a confused First World War British captain displaced from 1914 during a stalemate with a German soldier. The three are taken aboard a large spaceship, where they meet Bill Potts, though the Twelfth Doctor doubts she is real. The ship's glass-like holographic pilot offers them freedom if the Captain returns to his moment of death. Refusing, they escape in the First Doctor's TARDIS to the planet Villengard. There, the Twelfth Doctor meets the rogue Dalek Rusty, who grants access to the Dalek Hivemind. The Doctor learns the pilot and its ship, Testimony, extract people from their timelines at death and archive memories into glass avatars; Bill is an avatar. Seeing no evil, the Doctors agree to return the Captain to his timeline. The Captain asks them to watch over his family, introducing himself as Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart. The Twelfth Doctor shifted the Captain's timeline forward to the Christmas truce, sparing his life. The First Doctor decides to regenerate, says goodbye, and returns to the South Pole. Alone with Bill's avatar, the Twelfth Doctor argues she is not real, but she restores his erased memories of Clara Oswald. He returns to the TARDIS and regenerates, imparting advice to his next incarnation. The Thirteenth Doctor is delighted to be a woman. The TARDIS suffers system failures; the Doctor falls out as it dematerialises.
Production
This was the last Doctor Who episode written by Steven Moffat as showrunner; he returned in 2024 to write for series 14. Incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall wrote the final moments, allowing him to write Jodie Whittaker's first lines, similar to Moffat writing Matt Smith's first words in "The End of Time". Moffat announced in January 2016 he would step down after series 10, but the 2017 Christmas special was not initially mentioned. The change almost caused the special's cancellation, as Moffat planned to leave after the series 10 finale and Chibnall did not want to start with a Christmas special. Moffat stayed to produce one final episode to preserve the Christmas slot, rewriting his series 10 finale plans to include Capaldi. Mark Gatiss said he cried at playing the Brigadier's grandfather after reading the script. The Haisman Literary Estate pursued legal action regarding the character; Haisman's granddaughter publicly denied this. The estate asserted control, stating Archibald was the Brigadier's great-uncle from "Night of the Intelligence". The episode uses a scrapped plotline from The Tenth Planet, where the Doctor refused regeneration. Peter Capaldi confirmed in January 2017 that series 10 would be his last, leaving after the Christmas special. Jodie Whittaker's casting was announced on 16 July 2017.
Broadcast and reception
The episode aired on BBC One on 25 December 2017, watched overnight by 5.7 million viewers, the sixth highest of the day across all channels. It received 7.92 million total views and an Appreciation Index of 81. In the US, BBC America broadcast it the same day to 2.2 million viewers. Cinema releases occurred in Brazil on 25 December, Australia and Denmark on 26 December, and the US and Canada on 27–28 December, with bonus features including behind-the-scenes footage and a tribute to Capaldi and Moffat. Reviews were generally positive; 88% of 25 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus called it a gratifying homage and a thoughtful, warm, funny passing of the torch. IGN's Scott Collura praised the regeneration and Mark Gatiss's performance. Entertainment Weekly's Dana Schwartz also praised Gatiss and the closing moments. Vulture's Ross Ruediger commended the nostalgia and the conclusion of the Twelfth Doctor's arc. The Daily Telegraph's Michael Hogan gave a negative review, criticising Moffat's writing as self-indulgent, overcomplicated, and boring.
Home media
The DVD and Blu-ray for this episode arrived in Region 2 on 22 January 2018, followed by Region 4 on 7 February and Region 1 on 13 February. An Ultra HD Blu-ray version came out in North America on 25 September 2018 and in the UK on 24 September. Paul Cornell penned a novelisation for the Target Collection, released by BBC Books in paperback and digital formats on 5 April 2018. An audiobook narrated by Gatiss followed in June 2018.
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