The Return of Doctor Mysterio

Things end and it's sad. But things begin again and that's happy

Ok, first things first. New Doctor Who for the first time in a year: YAAAAAYYYYY!!!

It was fairly well broadcast that this story was going to be Doctor Who's take on comic book movies. What's more, even from the preview, there was a strong inkling towards the Richard Donner original Superman movie. It would be an interesting take to see how well they could integrate such a fantastical element into a show that relied on pseudo-science.

Plot Summary A young boy named Grant wakes up to find the Doctor hanging outside his window, having accidentally snagged himself in his own trap. Grant lets him in, initially mistaking him for Santa. The Doctor rewards him by taking him up to the roof and showing him the machine he was building to try and clear the time disturbances around New York. He hands Grant a power gem, which Grant mistakes for medicine for his cough after the Doctor mentioned he is called the Doctor. Ingesting the gem causes Grant's desire to become a superhero to become a reality and he develops the powers of Superman.

Twenty-four years later, shortly after the night of the Singing Towers of Darillium has ended, the Doctor returns to investigate an alien infestation in the guise of the Harmony Shoal corporation. He returns with Nardole, whom he has reassembled to his original body. Breaking in, he discovers an investigative reporter, Lucy Fletcher, also snooping around. They observe the PR director, Mr. Brock's, body being taken over by alien brains, who cut his head open and insert themselves in. The two flee but are discovered by Dr. Sim who prepares to kill them. They are rescued by a superhero called The Ghost, who knocks out Sim and flies Lucy back to her apartment.

The Doctor recognizes Grant and he and Nardole head over to the apartment where Grant works as a nanny. He works for Lucy and she comes up to find the Doctor. Grant ducks back with the Doctor promising to keep his secret for the moment. Lucy interrogates the Doctor and he admits that the brains are an alien invasion that he is investigating. Grant meanwhile flies out for more superhero deeds. Lucy observes these on the television and convinces the Doctor to set up a meeting with the Ghost. The Doctor informs Grant of this and he calls Lucy to set up a meeting with her the next day on the roof. Grant attempts to play it off with Lucy that he has a date, which arouses latent jealousy in her.

The Doctor meanwhile slips out and he and Nardole head back to the Harmony Shoal corporation. Brock and Sim are planning to capture Grant to take over his body when the Doctor shows up. He gives them a chance to depart but they refuse and he vows to stop them. Nardole picks him up in the TARDIS and they head over to the Tokyo office and hack into the main computer, discovering a transmission to a ship in low Earth orbit. The Doctor and Nardole board the nearly abandoned ship where they are trapped on the bridge by a couple of guards.

At the same time, Grant shows up to Lucy's rooftop as the Ghost where they have dinner and an interview. Sensing Lucy's conflicted feelings about the real him, Grant nearly reveals his identity but changes his mind when he worries that it might hurt her. Brock then turns up and threatens to kill Lucy if he doesn't go along with their plan. Grant hesitates but then breaks away and flies off. Brock debates on killing Lucy and keeping her daughter as hostage when Grant shows up in his regular form to put Brock off. Brock holds off killing them while he calls out for the Ghost to come back before he kills one of them.

Dr. Sim signals the ship and from him the Doctor deduces their plan to crash the ship into New York. It will seem as though aliens are attacking, causing the world leaders to come to the Harmony Shoal corporation for protection as the building is designed to withstand the impact blast. From their, they will take over the leader's bodies and prepare for total conquest. Deducing they are not ready yet, the Doctor directs the ship down and prepares to crash it into New York. He also modifies the radio to a signal only Grant can hear and informs him of what is happening.

The Doctor angles the ship at Lucy's building and Grant catches the falling ship, revealing his true identity to Lucy. She kisses him and the two take off where Grant will throw the ship into the sun. The Doctor comes down and disarms Brock. UNIT also arrives and purges Harmony Shoal, although the alien infesting Dr. Sim escapes into one of the soldiers.

The Doctor leaves with Grant promising to retire as he and Lucy settle into a relationship. Nardole tells them of River Song, which the Doctor had been recovering from, and the two take off for further adventures.

Analysis

I've seen mixed reviews of this on-line and I think I fall somewhere in the middle of everything. I generally liked it, but there was a lot that fell short for me and I'd have to call it mostly middling. I can imagine that many reactions will be more extreme as since it has been such a long wait, people are either inclined to love it no matter what because it's been so long, or hate it because they waited for something that didn't do it for them.

Unquestionably, the best thing about it was the Doctor. He was on point and very good. He was funny but also poignant when he needed to be. He had a lot of witty lines and some funny cracks as well. I also enjoyed his bit play both with young Grant and Nardole. Both had a simplicity about them that played off the Doctor's intellectualism and overlooking of the obvious.

I also really enjoyed Nardole. I didn't remember much about him in The Husbands of River Song but he played much as I expected him to. He was actually a bit better than I expected because he would interject with a simple pedantry in a way that reminds me a lot of my seven-year old son. But unlike a character who can give in to know-it-all-ism, Nardole has a simplicity about him that is refreshing and plays well against the deviousness and lying the Doctor often engages in.

As the Doctor and Nardole were my favorite parts of the story, they also represented a significant shortcoming in this story, in their somewhat limited use. It wasn't that I didn't like the characters of Grant and Lucy, but they seemed pale and boring when compared to the Doctor and Nardole and as a result, I got a bit bored when it was just them on screen. Grant and Lucy also suffered a bit by one other comparison and that was to Richard Donner's Superman.

Grant's powers are obviously Superman inspired, although there were a lot of other superhero references throughout. In that vein, many scenes other other tropes were taken from the first Superman movie, the dinner on the rooftop being the most obvious example. Homages are fine, but when they run so close and so long you start to compare them directly to the original and while the actors who played Grant and Lucy were good, they were not Christopher Reeve and Margo Kidder. It was another scene where the show seemed to slow down and I found myself wandering and not caring about these people and wondering what the Doctor was doing.

I must admit that I am also not much of a superhero movie person. I recognized a lot of little nods: Grant modulated his voice like Batman, the steam of the streets like the 1989 Batman or 1990 Dick Tracy movie, the accidental gain of superpowers like Spiderman, the use of several notable Spierman lines and the trials of having superpowers as a teenager as done in Man of Steel. However, I have not seen a superhero movie since Man of Steel and I've never seen any of the Marvel movies. So a tie in to superhero movies doesn't do much for me as I've somewhat checked out of that genre.

Looking at them objectively, I liked Grant a bit more than Lucy, although she had a better scene with the Doctor. Grant was more affable and did a pretty good job at being both a perfect guy and also the little man you never pay attention to. Lucy was a bit harsher as demanded by the role but suffering from Lois Lane syndrome in not recognizing Grant also made her seem a bit vapid at times. That said, her interrogation of the Doctor was very well done. You know it's a plastic squeeze toy but just her telling you it feels pain and the squeal it makes in addition to her intense stare, you could feel the Doctor's discomfort. She also portrayed an excellent knack for deduction that you could readily believe. It did clash with her non-recognition of Grant, but I still think it added well to her character.

The villains were a bit one-note even if they did have a nice creep factor. My wife, who is not a Doctor Who fan, happened to look up at that time and was unnerved by their appearance. I think I liked them better as the brains though without the apparent tie in to the folks in The Husbands of River Song as they seemed better when they were more original. There was also the small annoyance in that the longer the story went on, the easier I figured it would be for the Doctor to defeat them. They had a nice plan as the Doctor noted, but they were still so easily thwarted that it seemed something of an anti-climax.

There was one thing that stood out for me both in the episode and the trailer for Series Ten and that is a fear that Steven Moffat may run into RTD territory. Russell T. Davis spent some of the last episodes of his tenure indulging in a lot of look back and back slapping. While I appreciate the Doctor's speech about how things change at the end, it seemed a bit of breaking the fourth wall, as though he were trying to assure the watchers that it's okay that he is leaving. It is very similar to the way he had the Eleventh Doctor call Clara at the end of Deep Breath. It was like he didn't trust the audience to accept change unless he gives them permission and I don't care for that.

I'm interested to see what he is planning to do with Bill and how things will go in the tenth series but I got a bit of an Amy vibe and how the American versions were cut with her giving an intro after the cold open. I might have been more sensitive to that due to the flashback I was having regarding the Doctor's speech but it was just another thing that has me on a little bit of an edge regarding the ego of Steven Moffat.

Taken as a whole, it was a fun little romp and people who like superhero movies will probably enjoy this one a lot. I would have liked a lot more Doctor and a meatier villain but you understand that things are going to be a bit fluffier in a Christmas special. I would probably rate it as my least favorite of the Capaldi Christmas specials but still not bad. Middling was my descriptor earlier and I think that's probably the best way to keep it.

Overall personal score: 2.5 out of 5