Christmas Day Special: TV Special Review - Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio

Even though I mentioned that I would only be reviewing entire TV seasons as opposed to reviewing each individual episode, that doesn't count one off episodes. What I mean by that is that these are episodes of shows where there was a long break before it and the show is expected to have a long break after it before the season either starts again, a brand new one starts, or nothing happens after it. Either way, its getting a review and on the day of Christmas, I will be once again like I do every year, be reviewing the latest Christmas Special of Doctor Who. Now this year is interesting in that there hasn't been a series which I think is a good thing as it allows the showrunners to have a break from keeping to deadlines and it also allows them to figure out what to do about the show, moving forward. I personally wasn't too sure about this special, but let's see if it's as super as we're told it is:

In presumably the present, The Doctor (reprised by Peter Capaldi) and a rebuilt Nardole (reprised by Matt Lucas) go to seek out brain hunting aliens in New York where they link up with journalist Lucy Fletcher (played by Charity Wakefield) along with a local superhero who behaves and acts suspiciously like Superman and yet has the colors of Batman, simply known as The Ghost (played by Justin Chatwin). What do these aliens want with brains? Well that's what the Doctor intends to find out.

I will admit that I had my doubts about this special and honestly, its not the best one as such. But I gave it a watch anyway and it feels like there are two storylines happening at once. One is the love triangle between Lucy, The Ghost and The Ghost's secret identity. And the other is The Doctor and Nardole doing whatever they can to stop the aliens, occasionally joining together as the episode goes on. I don't like the idea of superheroes in something that isn't really about superheroes and it kind of feels like a mess. So overall, its not a perfect special and it even completely removes Christmas altogether (aside from a mention of it at the beginning), but it was a good effort to try and see how The Doctor would cope with superheroes. Just make sure you do better next time, if there's a next time. 7/10

And to all my followers and fans, hope you have a great and safe Christmas.