I prefer 'Fathers Day'. The way everything was solved was sorta plausible (I cant think of a more logical alternative, and there is no scientific proof that its impossible since no-one has gone back in time to create a paradox yet) although surely The Doctor would have had his memory erased too, but Time Lord translates to GOD so whatever. The concept of reapers removing paradoxes would make some sense if we were given more info about their origin, but I guess there was not enough time. But, compared to Series 5, this episode had...you know...Drama, Tension, Emotion, and actually made a modicum of sense. You know...stuff that made Doctor Who enjoyable.

Anyway, I've only seen the first 5 mins of the special. Although, judging just by the opening, it sucked. I saw Amy and Rory (I hope someone in the special explains why Amy is wearing her Kiss-O-Gram uniform and Rory his Roman Armour when Rory isn't an Auton any-more and Amy quit that job at the very first episode of last series) commandeer THE FREAKING STARSHIP ENTERPRISE!! I'm serious! It looks exactly like the Starship enterprise from the last Star Trek on a £10 budget! Star Trek should sue the BBC! I mean....OH MY GOD!!! That is the fastest way to kill any expectations or hope since the Marine-Bada$$-Stereotype-General in 'Avatar'! I'm sorry, I'm sorry to press the bullcrap button this quickly...but...HOW DO YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT!?!?! 'Turkish Star Wars' wasn't as blatant as this!!

Then The Doctor bursts in through the fireplace to a more orgasmic introduction than Jack Sparrow, and starts acting EXACTLY like David Tennant in front of Dumbledore (I thought you were dead? Or did The Doctor lock you in the Pandorica). Again, I blame the writing, since Matt Smith is pretty good in non-Moffat-written-episodes. And according to the Doctor, Santa actually exists. Yes...The Doctor just said Santa exists. My mind blew at the stupidity of that statement. I mean, really? REALLY? Its so stupid I dont know how its stupid. Just....no. Its more 'no' than your epic-fail running gag of "___ are cool". Congratulations, we are only 5 minutes in and you've already beaten last Episode for 'Facepalm Moment Of The Year'. Well done! I've already abandoned all hope - and trust me, I had to use all my willpower to keep an open and fresh mind when viewing this.

Then I had to go to Christmas Dinner. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Sadly, I have it Sky Plus'd, so I can view this...thing when I get the Living room to myself. I can't tell you how much I'm not looking forward to it now.

Ya know, watching the entire special...it wasn't quite as bad as I expected. Sure, its the worst Christmas Special yet, but on the Moffat-scale it was OK-ish. Still cannot go within a Jupiters distance near his previous works ('Blink', 'The Girl in the Fireplace' etc)

As I established - the opening sucked. It still does. I do not take back any of my previous comments. But, I suppose after such a catastrophically bad opening, things can only get better. Heck, 'Alone in the Dark' would look good after that abysmal opening. It also wins an award for most forced, awkward, clunky, and bad line ever spoken - topping "Too Bad you....will die!" and any dialogue spoken in 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'. The winner IS:

"The ships going down....Christmas is cancelled"

That was so bad, its not even funny. And its made even worse when Amy, who has spoken many runners up to said award in her time, says "Its Christmas!". Urgh...

But, things do pick up. But first we have to enjoy Dumbledore nailing into our heads that he is an a$$hole more than that insufferable Corporation guy from 'Avatar'. Yes, we get it - Dumbledore is the equivalent of Scrooge. We got it from the freaking trailer! We dont need any more demonstration of it! And then the Doctor goes and breaks every established rule of Time and Space according to Doctor Who.

Yep. It turns out - as Brickman points out - that Mr Moffat didn't watch 'Fathers Day', or he DID, but not very carefully. He saw that you have to prevent someone from dying to screw up the space-time continuum more than Moffat has screwed up Doctor Who....but he forgot to watch the other 44 minutes of the episode and know that both changing past events and TOUCHING YOUR PAST/FUTURE SELF CAUSES FURTHER DAMAGE!!! Sure, its probably not enough to end the world right there....but its enough to send at least a few reapers down!! This is what got the Doctor eaten!! And absolutely nothing happens when Dumbledore touches little-Dumbledore?!?! BULLCRAP.

And speaking of Bullcrap.....FISH IN THE AIR?? It makes sense....but its the stupidest thing I have ever seen in Doctor Who. And this is the franchise that has bought us Satan, Santa, Mummies, and Power-Ranger Daleks (No! I'm not letting that go!!). Although the line "There is a Shark in your Bedroom" is pretty funny.

And how does Dumbledore's dad know EXACTLY how many days the Opera-Singer-who-I-swear-I've-seen-before has to live? And why does his portrait re-appear? Dumbledore is still in the present, only his memories not his surrounding change, you freaking idiot!!

And how does Dumbledore remember his two alternate pasts? Surely if its being changed he would just remember one? I thought that was the entire point? The fact he remembers his old past is never used...so why have it?

But...this all being said....the idea of the Doctor changing the past at first seems like an incredibly clever idea. If 'Fathers Day' didn't completely contradict everything in this episode, it would have actually sorta worked. But its rendered stupid when Dumbledore remembers both pasts, and the fact that ITS TOTAL HORSE CRAP!!! Why would you completely crap over Russell T Davies just for an ok-ish idea to be used.

Oh, and the Doctor popping in back and forth throughout someone's life. That sounds familiar......um.......THE GIRL IN THE BLOODY FIREPLACE!!! YES! STEVEN MOFFAT HAS RAN OUT OF THINGS TO RIP OFF, SO HE'S RIPPING OFF FROM HIMSELF!!! That is the lowest thing a human being can do - to re-cycle your own idea. Wow! Just when I still had an inch of respect left for Moffat, he tops himself. LITERALLY!!

Again, the showing Christmas future by showing mini-Dumbledore himself could have been really good...BUT ITS COMPLETELY CONTRADICTED by 'Fathers Day'. The Reapers should be spraying barbecue sauce over them all by now!! Someone send a copy of 'Fathers Day' in the post to Moffat, and tell him to watch it - then watch his god-awful excuse for a Christmas Special.

And, in typical Moffat style - the episode comes to an end more abruptly than a speeding Ferrari crashing into a concrete wall. Uh...wasn't Opera-Girl supposed to die? Uh....are you just going to let that tiny plot-point go? Do we assume she survives through the power of whimsical magic? It kinda puts a damper to your happy ending, doesn't it? Its like if Luke Skywalker was told he had Lung Cancer at the end of Episode VI! I'm sorry, I cannot cope with these Moffat endings. I'm coining the phrase 'Moffat Ending'

'Moffat Ending'
When a story is supposed to be conclusive with no possibility of a sequel or further instalment opened (i.e, 'The Incredibles'), but leaves several plot threads unsolved, and with rapid pacing. This also refers to an ending taking place only a few minutes after the climax.

Poor Matt Smith. He's so desperately trying to find his own character - but no-one knows what his character is, so we just get a mess as the writers try to pin what personality his has. At the moment its a very inconsistent cross between David Tennant's version of The Doctor, and Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka. I dont blame Matt, Matt does a really good job with the shoddy material he's been given, I blame all the writers who have no clue about his personality due to Moffat having no idea either. It all goes down to Moffat....Moffat is the modern day Scrooge who has lost his Writers Spirit.

Speaking of which; Charles Dickens is spinning like a hurricane in his grave. Stop and listen to it. Its louder than Michael Jackson was when they released a post-death album of work he never wanted to release. If Dickens knew of what would become of his creation, his reaction would be exactly like the one in the post above mine.

End of rant.

Oh bugger! How could I have missed that one out? Sorry man - its stuff like this that wonders why I managed to get an A* in English Language (plus an award for my skillz in that subject) when I cannot spell to save my life. I guess my examiner was drunk, just like I was when spelling your user-name wrong.

Either that or I was so driven by anger that I was typing so fast trying to fit everything that was making me angry onto the post that I didn't check the spelling. Even with a spell-check on my browser I still get my spelling completely wrong....

From the Wibbly-Wobbly-Timey-Wimey department:
"The Tenth Doctor to Wed His Young Female Clone"

BUMP

Just thought that those who were scarred by 'Love and Monsters' too may like this (WARNING: Some naughty words)
] - although I think the Angels Two-Parter from Series 5 was FAR worse....maybe I should publish my own review...

I've also been listening to all the classic Doctor Who Theme tunes. All are incredibly retro and incredibly awesome, but my favourite is definitely the original 6th Doctor Theme.

Just watched the Doctor Who Comic Relief Special. I cant really criticise it, because no doubt Moffat wrote it within a very short time (although there is no difference in writing style) and the cast and crew were not paid as its all for charity - which is a brilliant cause.

But...it wasn't funny, so it failed at its basic objective. The farcical situation could have been nice, but there was no charm: The running joke is that Amy is wearing a short skirt - which distracts everyone because apparently the Doctor, Rory, and Amy's Driving Instructor (why mention this?) are perverts.

You know...for kids!

The Doctor tries to whack up the intensity by saying that "Time will collapse!!"...which he says every other episode anyway. The whole thing is too short to be intense, so it should just a quick little comedy...which is isn't!

My only real nitpick is: Why is it that when the Doctor first goes through the TARDIS he instantly arrives back inside, but when everyone else goes through it they vanish for various amounts of time?

As I said - I cant really criticise it, because its for charity. And none of the Comic Relief specials have ever been good, so I guess its kinda pointless to assume that this is something extra special....

Blink, I would argue, was legitimately scary, at least during the first viewing. I'm sure there are other such episodes, but that's the first that comes to mind.

I would debate your claims that Doctor Who hasn't been good for years, the stories are weaker, and it's now aimed at a younger audience, but you paint with such a broad brush it's impossible to deal with specificities.

I agree Blink was good, as was The Empty Child and Dalek. But they will never be as scary as the old black and white episodes. Despite the fact they had massively lower budgets something about 'em always seem to scare the crap out of me. I'm going to have to say the Empty child was the most successful of the new incarnation though, kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time.
I also agree that the Scarecrow episodes were good, they were actually well written and directed unlike half the others in that series. I really like period dramas, so any episode that goes back in time and actually creates a decent atmosphere wins extra points.
But it still doesn't stop me hating the whole comedy act Tennant and Smith have done in their roles. They take the childishness too far.