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The Return of Doctor Mysterio
"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2016, it is the twelfth Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Ed Bazalgette. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics. The only episode of 2016, it stars Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, and is the first to feature Nardole (Matt Lucas), who was introduced in the previous – Christmas 2015 – episode "The Husbands of River Song", as his companion. The episode is set in New York City, and involves the Doctor and Nardole linking with journalist Lucy Fletcher (Charity Wakefield) and a superhero called The Ghost (Justin Chatwin) to combat brain-swapping aliens. PlotIn New York City on Christmas Eve 1992, an 8-year-old named Grant wakes to find the Twelfth Doctor dangling outside the window of his family's apartment and helps him inside. The Doctor takes Grant to the rooftop and reveals he accidentally set off a device he was building; he enlists Grant to help complete it. However, Grant mistakenly swallows a wish-granting gemstone needed for the device, believing it to be medicine for a cold he has. He is granted his wish to be a superhero. The Doctor fixes the device and makes Grant promise to not use his new superpowers before he leaves. The Doctor returns to New York in 2016, with Nardole, to investigate Harmony Shoal, a multinational research company. They encounter a news reporter, Lucy Fletcher, who is conducting a similar investigation. The group discovers that it is being secretly run by a group of living alien brains that transplant themselves into any living creature they need for their plans. Dr. Sim, an employee the brains already took over, attempts to kill the group when they are suddenly rescued by a masked superhero named the Ghost. Returning to her apartment before her, the Ghost transforms back into Grant, who works for Lucy as a nanny. Lucy returns and interrogates the Doctor, forcing him to reveal that the alien brains colonise planets by taking control of their prominent leaders, with Earth being their next target. Leaving Lucy to prepare for an interview with Grant's alter ego, the Doctor and Nardole track down the alien's ship in a low orbit and board it via the TARDIS. There, they discover that the ship's reactor is in a critical state and realise from Dr Sim that he intends to drop it on New York. The Doctor realises the city would be vaporised except for the Harmony Shoal building. World leaders would then take shelter in the company's other buildings within each capital city, believing Earth was under attack, allowing the brains to take them over. After Dr Sim lets slip the ship is to be dropped at a designated time, the Doctor forces its descent ahead of schedule. Ghost and Lucy are captured by the brains during the interview. Ghost flies away, but returns as Grant to protect Lucy. Unable to change the ship's course during its descent, the Doctor sends Grant a message requesting his help. Grant manages to stop the alien's ship from crashing into the city, but reveals himself as the Ghost to Lucy in the process. Lucy is won over and Grant takes her in tow as he disposes of the ship. The Doctor alerts UNIT and they shut down Harmony Shoal. Production.jpg) Filming"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" was directed by Ed Bazalgette. Bazalgette previously directed the series 8 episodes "The Girl Who Died" and "The Woman Who Lived".[1] The episode was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria and Cardiff, Wales.[2] Various sets were built for the episode to match the look of New York City.[3] Writing"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" was written by Steven Moffat.[4] The story was developed as a loose sequel to "The Husbands of River Song", the 2016 Christmas special.[5] While the episode served as the 2016 Christmas special, it featured very few Christmas elements.[6] In an interview with Radio Times, Bazalgette stated that the script "barely changed" from the first and final drafts.[1] It contains several references to comic books, most prominently Superman. Grant has roughly the same standard powers of Superman, including flight, super-strength, super-speed, being bulletproof, and possessing X-ray vision.[7] CastingThe episode is the first to feature Matt Lucas's Nardole as a companion. Lucas previously appeared as the character in the 2015 Christmas special, "The Husbands of River Song".[6] Release"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" was first broadcast in 2016 on Christmas Day on BBC One.[6] The episode received cinema screenings in Australia and New Zealand on 26 December 2016, in Canada on 26 and 28 December 2016, and in the United States on 27 and 29 December 2016.[8] RatingsThe episode's had an official rating of 7.83 million viewers in the UK, making it the 8th most watched show on Christmas Day 2016.[9] The overnight rating was 5.7 million.[10] The episode received an Appreciation Index score of 82.[9] It also received 1.7 million viewers on BBC America and became the networks top telecast of the year across all key demographics. It was the most talked about Christmas Day television programme on Facebook and Twitter.[11] Critical reception
"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 18 reviews are positive for the episode, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's consensus reads "The Return of Doctor Mysterio is a welcome return of Doctor Who after a year's absence, with the added fun of seeing Steven Moffat take a heroic swing at his version of a Superman story."[12] The Daily Telegraph gave a positive review of five out of five stars and praised the performance of Peter Capaldi and described the episode as having a fun "classic feel".[20] Andrew Billen writing in The Times gave the programme four stars out of a possible five. Billen said that Capaldi was at his warmest and said that Matt Lucas as Nardole brought a "panto brio to an already exuberant episode".[22] The Guardian gave a positive review of The Return of Doctor Mysterio naming the episode "Cosmic baddies are inserting alien brains into world leaders’ heads in the Christmas special. It’s timely, top-of-the-tree fun – and Peter Capaldi and Matt Lucas are a pantomime treat".[2] IGN said "'The Return of Doctor Mysterio' is a pretty lightweight entry in the Twelfth Doctor's oeuvre, which considering the events of last season isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the different elements of the episode don't come together as smoothly as they could, and the emotional through line for the Doctor is treated mostly as an afterthought" but gave it 7.0 out of 10.[15] The A.V. Club's Alasdair Wilkins described the special as "jolly" and "goofy".[23] Home mediaThe episode was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2017,[24] with a U.S. release following on 21 February 2017.[25] References
Bibliography
External links Wikiquote has quotations related to Twelfth Doctor.
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