Really Surprised!

Fantastic!

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This episode does so much wrong I can make a whole review listing stupid stuff from it off the top of my head. -The kid has both DC and Marvel comics. Either he's smart enough to appreciate Marvel or he's dumb enough to be a DC fan - he can't be both.-The Doctor never explains why he was setting up a trap on top of the roof. -The Doctor doesn't spend Christmas taking the kid around the universe trying to get the thing out of him (this is just a better idea for a story I came up with - also it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that the Doctor doesn't try to get the thing out of him).-The music is mixed so loud that its next to impossible to understand anything anyone is saying. -Its pretty dark. Normally, I wouldn't be against that but this is a special, something that people who aren't regular fans of the show are more prone to watch. I don't see how putting some of the ugliest character designs I've ever seen in your special is a very good idea. -This is a Superman parody. On its own, that sounds like it could be good, right? The problem is that they do nothing with it. The "love interest is a reporter that can't tell the difference between friend and hero even though they barely do anything to alter their appearance" isn't funny on its own. Its frustratingly annoying unless there are jokes.-Its not funny. I'm not saying that Doctor Who is a comedy, but its usually somewhat light-hearted, even in more serious episode. This is a show that is somewhat known for witty (and sometimes goofy) banter. There are a few scenes that try to be funny but they barely work. Only one or two jokes actually work, and that's being generous. There is Pokemon Go reference that was already dated when it came out, and it doesn't even make sense in context. Its a very bad idea to inject internet culture into your movie or show because by the time it comes out the internet has moved on. A guy being a "Manny" isn't funny on its own. The only thing that's funny about this episode is how much it fails. -This ends on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved, and its painfully stupid. Honestly this episode has a set up that could have gone in dozens of different directions (one of which I mentioned). They did nothing with the plot they picked, and I wouldn't even recommend this episode to fans of the show.

Well, I'm a big comic book fan myself, so this 2016 Doctor Who Christmas Special was right down my street. No doubt it was show-runner Stephen Moffat's response to the Doc's army of super-heroic rivals on TV from Marvel & DC but either way, it was a win-win for me. The only real concession to the season itself was the Doctor's initial Christmas Eve meeting with young Grant, effectively the latter's origin story for his super-powered adult alter-ego The Ghost, the comedic nature of which immediately tells you this isn't going to be one of the Doc's more serious adventures.Fast forward to the future as the Doctor and now fully-grown Grant are pitched against an alien race out to replace all the world leader's brains with their own. Given recent events across the water, one has to wonder if they succeeded in their aim at least in America. There's an engaging sub-plot with the jaw-jutting super-hero moonlighting as the meek-mannered nanny of his schoolboy-crush-now-grown-up crime reporter Lucy with the three of them coming together to save the world leaving the youngsters to fall in love, naturally at the very end (well Superman married Lois in the end, didn't he?).Along the way, for comic-fans there was a nod to Superman's creators Siegel and Shuster, elsewhere there were lots of humour, nice New York motifs and better-than-expected special effects. I'm not keen on Matt Lucas so his dimwitted character grated on me somewhat but Capaldi is on good form, plus I liked the actors who played the young couple in best Superman and Lois style.A really fun, light-hearted one-off episode, with nary a Christmas tree in sight.

I've been a Whovian for the better part of half a century. I go back to Patrick Troughton.I have thoroughly enjoyed this rebooted Doctor Who since Ecclestone. I think that Tennant and Smith were fantastic. Their companions have been superb also.I have tried to enjoy Capaldi's tetchy incarnation but its been a challenge. That challenge has been getting bigger since Clara left us. I do hope the coming season breathes new life into the franchise.But if this 'special' is anything to go by, my hopes are dwindling. First the premise. Aliens invading the Earth.... Oh wait. That wasn't the premise this time. Just a byline. Almost a distraction from the actual premise which was just a weak rip off of Lois and Clark.I waited a few days before writing this review because I wanted to see it a second time... It didn't help.Since Clara left us its been downhill.And can somebody tell me what Matt Lucas' irritating character adds to the program?

After such an absence of the show I looked forward to this very much, despite being underwhelmed by the trailers. A show we all love which has a distinctly British feel to it, I did not like the American setting, in my humble opinion it felt like it was trying to be something it's not. That uncomfortable feel was further pushed by the Superhero, something we've not encountered on the show before, it just felt like they were trying to force the show into a direction it's not meant to be in.I can't criticise the acting, I love Capaldi in the role, if the powers that be aren't careful, he will unfortunately be remembered in the same way that Sylvester McCoy was, the actor that saw the cancellation of the show.A very stylish episode with some snazzy special effects, but sadly a woeful script, an uninteresting adversary, it's no surprise to me that audiences are turning off.Mr Moffat you have given us some treats in your time, but please don't utterly destroy the show before you leave. This episode has genuinely left me fearful for the future of Doctor Who. Rubbish. 4/10