Drama,Science Fiction,TV Movie
United Kingdom
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time is the 2017 Christmas special episode of the popular British science fiction TV series Doctor Who. It features Peter Capaldi as the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor and marks his final appearance as the titular character.
The episode starts in the midst of the First World War, where the Doctor is stuck in a trench. He encounters a British Army Captain named Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart (played by Mark Gatiss) who has been teleported from the battlefield moments before his death. The Captain is confused and disoriented after being suddenly separated from his unit, but the Doctor realizes that the mysterious alien he encountered earlier is responsible for the Captain's transportation.
The Doctor and the Captain are taken aboard the alien's ship, which is slowly freezing to death due to an unknown malfunction. The alien, who is revealed to be a Testimony, a sentient and benevolent entity that has been recording the memories of every sentient life form in the universe as a way to preserve their essence forever, tells the Doctor that it is bringing him and the Captain together for a special purpose.
As they prepare to face their respective endings, the Doctor and the Captain are shown glimpses of their past lives. The Captain is revealed to be the grandfather of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, a famous recurring character in the Doctor Who series. The Doctor, on the other hand, receives a mysterious message that causes him to question the nature of his next regeneration. He is visited by his previous incarnation, the eleventh Doctor, who tries to convince him to not regenerate and to die in his current form.
The climax of the episode sees the Doctor and the Captain deciding to embrace their respective endings. As the Testimony prepares to take the Captain back to the battlefield to fulfill his destiny, the Doctor has a vision of several of his previous incarnations, who encourage him to embrace change and continue living. He ultimately decides to regenerate into the thirteenth incarnation, who is revealed to be a female Time Lord played by Jodie Whittaker.
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time is a poignant and reflective episode that pays tribute to the past while also setting the stage for the show's future. It serves as a fitting conclusion to Capaldi's tenure as the Doctor while also laying the groundwork for a new era of the beloved sci-fi series.
