n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If, like me, you don't like the pre-titles scene, do not switch off your TV. It turned out to be the only part I didn't enjoy. In fact, the next scene immediately turns into excellence, and the following story, if not exactly new, is told in perfect Dr Who fashion.The Doctor and a group of scientists face a creature straight out of Mr Moffat's bestiary, one which comes alive when you think about it. Or so it seems. The reality is more complicated, but not so complicated that you'll be lost in it. This episode doesn't so much try to manipulate you, as it makes you enjoy being knowingly manipulated. To many, this might remind of the movie Inception, which is likely one source of inspiration. To me, it goes much earlier than that, as it plunged me back into countless RPG sessions in the Call of Cthulhu oneiric universe. Me happy.There's plenty of mystery, spooks and laughs in here. There's subtext as well, for others to analyse. Plenty of emotions, done well this time: they fix what didn't work for me in the season's finale (or earlier). And this episode has a simply superb ending, so much so that I decided to skip fridge logic time and stay in the dream as much as I can.

How many times do you hear someone saying something like "I didn't expect much of it, but it was alright", or conversely "I had heard such great things but it was only alright"; same outcome, but the receipt of that outcome is much more of a positive when you expected less, not more. Of course with Doctor Who it is normal that you expect less, but it almost feels deliberate that the show caused my expectations to drop so low this time. After a reasonably okay final few episodes (aside from some terrible decisions), we got Nick Frost popping in as Santa ("stunt casting" as Theo rightly calls it) to announce the Christmas special – something that made me feel this special would be even more silly and festive than usual.Starting the episode, this is precisely how I felt as we had so-so comedy from Frost and his elves, making me feel like this was going nowhere but even lower than I had feared. The move to the North Pole doesn't help this, since we see a character dancing to Slade in an attempt to avoid some form of danger – really making me cringe. However from here we get thrown into a horror movie of sorts, with some images that sort of made me questions what we have done to ourselves in the last 25-30 years that Aliens once got an 18 but yet these very similar images are now family TV-viewing. This is not the Mary Whitehouse coming out in me, because I thought it was great to have something to shake me and the special out of a festive stupor.From here the content is weirdly mixed; with Frost still hanging around but yet this horror going on at the same time. It doesn't really work as it is happening, but gradually it works in retrospect as the plot falls into place. Mixing Aliens and Inception kind of works, and although the plot doesn't totally hang together (moving quickly at times to try to stop viewers asking too many questions), it is broadly pretty engaging. The ending felt like it was two endings – the second of which was thrown on once they got the thumbs up from Coleman that she will return for the next season (which is what they did in the end – which is a shame because the first ending was much better). The writing is mostly okay but as usual it cannot control itself and we get silliness thrown in, along with clumsy references like we are stupid. The cast are solid and in particular this episode shows the value of Capaldi. While Smith was part of the silliness, this slightly dour Doctor sits outside it with a cynical edge, so the viewer can sit with him, so when he reluctantly goes with it despite himself, it feels easier to accept (namely the "do you want a go scene" – which would have been totally different with a childish Smith begging to have a go). This cynicism in word and presence works to the show's favor – particularly in a silly show like this. Coleman is okay, although I really hope they find a reason to have kept her in the show; personally this previous season would have been her "big" one in terms of story, but they have done that and also not gotten too much good work from her. Frost is funny once you realize that he is not the whole show, and generally the supporting players are decent enough without being anything too amazing.So, against my expectations this was actually quite good. The tone is wobbly, and the plot doesn't make anywhere near as much sense as it would like you to think, but it is enjoyably scary and at least brings in all the Christmas silliness in a way that allows it to have it, but also treat it as a side issue at the same time.

Doctor Who's Christmas special episodes are usually cheesy funny happy episodes. I expected nothing else when I saw the trailer featuring Nick Frost as Santa Claus. This episode, while still funny and in the spirits of Christmas, was more than that. I honestly did not expect this episode to be as good as it was. The episode messes with your mind as you don't quite know what is happening at certain points in the episode. It's a combination of the horror movie Alien and the mind bending thriller Inception. It's full of twists and surprises and will keep you watching until the very end. As usual I love Peter Capaldi's portrayal of the Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman's performance as Clara is as astonishing as ever.Worth a watch! I will definitely be re-watching this episode next Christmas!

"Last Christmas" is an intriguing episode with great performances with a rather dark Christmas theme.As the final special to wrap up Series 8 starts, it seemed like another mediocre Doctor Who episode. But as it progressed, it gained attention and mystery. The concept for the episode is not the one you would expect compared to the past specials. It has a rather dark atmosphere (which the 12th doctor is known for) and the new monsters were terrifying than ever. The episode's plot revolves around a group of people including Clara and the Doctor stuck in North Polo with a bunch of dream crabs trying to get them. But what they don't know is that they might all be in a dream, within a dream and so on. Nick Frost surprisingly delivers an excellent portrayal of Santa Claus and didn't go all childish and cheesy. Capaldi remains intact as he gives yet another fantastic performance as the dark and rude Doctor in which fans should be able to get used to this by now after one whole series and a special. Clara had some definitive and emotional moments, yet some felt a little bit useless and drawn-out. There are a ton of great and well executed shocking moments in this special which is bound to glue audiences to their seats. Certainly the highlights of this episode were the concept and shocking moments. There were also a ton of references in the episode which will give you a smile or at least make you laugh. Of course, the Christmas theme was present in the episode as well. However, the Christmas Theme did not balance kind of didn't balance with the dark atmosphere of the episode at start. It felt like at the end they remembered that all they did was add Santa so they squeezed right in some Christmas spirit in which it did work for the most part. To put it in one sentence, the Christmas special felt like Inception, but with Santa in it. Nonetheless, it is certainly one of the best Christmas specials Doctor Who has had so far.-Slow start, +the dark atmosphere and mystery throughout the episode, +the new monsters were terrifying, +nice concept (which seemed to be a little like Inception) +great performances, -some drawn-out scenes -the balance of the Dark atmosphere and Christmas spirit didn't blend well.Verdict: 8.5/10