Since it's not quite 2015, I think it's safe to lump the Christmas Special in this topic. So, on that note, you can grab the episode for 4.99 (HD) on iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon! Perhaps Google Play as well.

they released the christmas episode already?

edit: Also, very sad to see clara is going to be back again. Can't they kill her off already? Where is Donna 2.0 or something?

Why are you hating on Clara? She's barely been with the Doctor. :/ I found Donna to be too whiny and complaining all the time. Rose was a sob story, we didn't get anything truly good until Amy, and Clara herself does a good job of holding her own against the enemies that go after the Doctor.
I just don't get it. :/

No, sorry. That does sound like it was implied. It's just available for pre-order. Get a few extra videos and stuff as we lead up to the big day.

ah, well, at least I will be home for it anyhow.

tinfoil time: Santa is really a Dalek kills Clara.

I gotta say that I had serious doubts for Steven Moffat's originality there at the end. It just seemed too close to Time of the Doctor. Otherwise, I felt like the nested dream thing was just a bit too cheesy and I wish that we had a real Santa instead of this dream conscious dude.

I was actually distraught when Clara was old, I totally fell for it. I really wanted for her to get a proper series of travelling in the TARDIS without having to go home every episode. It looks like we might finally get that!

On a related note, what else does everyone want to see in Series 9?

+ I would enjoy a Missy return to see how she can further develop.
+ A 2nd companion would be cool, but I'd be just as happy with just Clara if she's a dedicated companion.
+ More than anything, I'd love some kind of Ecclestone appearance to acknowledge 10 years of the new series, even if it's just a web minisode like The Night of The Doctor with McGann last year. But I know the chances of him agreeing to appear as The Doctor again are almost non-existant

Christmas special was actually really good, but for the most part I didn't really enjoy series 8.


I'd list the episodes from favorite to least favorite as:
-Listen
-Mummy on the Orient Express
-Last Christmas
-Flatline
-Time Heist
-Deep Breath
-The Caretaker
-Robot of Sherwood
-Into the Dalek
-In the Forest of the Night
-Dark Water
-Death In Heaven
-Kill the Moon

I still don't get all the Clara hate. :< She does a fantastic job when the writers actually write well for her.

I don't hate clara, I just hated the plot for most the episodes this series. Some of them had cool ideas but ended badly. I was really disappointed with the finale especially. The whole part about how Missy had set up Clara and the Doctor to meet was pointless. At first it was like *woah didn't see that coming*, but it was never mentioned again and honestly had no effect on the plot. They just tucked it in there randomly. I also thought the idea that Missy's whole plan was a bit farfetched.

I watched the Christmas special on Monday, and while it was good Doctor Who fun, I must admit that I was relatively underwhelmed with the story. Once again, it felt to me as if Doctor Who was being just a little too tryhard with leading the audience through a complex plot, and in this case, the complexity felt a little too close to Inception for comfort. Finding a way to fit Santa Clause into a Doctor Who episode without actually confirming that Santa Clause exists in canon was clever enough, I'll give them that, but like the majority of the Season 8 episodes, I just wasn't enthused about the episode.

For me I think the major thing I was looking for in the Christmas special (and no doubt so were many other viewers) was some kind of solid answer on Clara regarding her leaving or staying. I'm glad that she's staying and hopefully living full time in the TARDIS for a while. For some reason I enjoy the show more when the companion isn't returning home every single episode.

I wonder how many of you lot noticed the role reversal close to the end? Comparing to 11th's last episode, old Doctor vs young Clara and Old Clara vs Doctor. Having to help the ancient other self pop the thing.

I didn't see that as a role reversal. Though maybe I'm missing the part of the first episode you're talking about. I just attributed that to the Doctors habit of usually getting time wrong (as per the 11th's first episode where 5 minutes was 20 years or something).

Also, I still think they're in a dream.

Moffat is back in action, being a terrible person:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/6fec5341-a0c9-439e-9c75-34e0cae1af56

Really? As many of the commenters on the BBC's Facebook post about this said, when Moffat can bring anyone back from the dead, it completely undermines the emotional impact of past (and future) deaths in the series.

I read about that. I'm guessing visiting Osgood before the incidents of her death, most likely. We're supposedly going to see explanations on why Peter's face shows up so often in the series over the last few years. That will be interesting to see.

....we know there are two Osgoods wandering around, one of whom is an alien and doesn't know it. It seems pretty obvious what's going down here.

Watching the video here: http://www.cultbox.co.uk/videos/doctor-who-video-watch-river-songs-timeline-in-13-minutes

I caught the bit where she tells the Doctor: "Oh, I have pictures of all your faces, you never show up in the right order, though."

Was this a hint at setting up a way to avert her death, or leave open that she'll be back somehow? Food for thought.