Merry Christmas in July! Fittingly enough, here at the exact mid-point between Christmases, I have just watched my second Doctor Who Christmas episode in two day. That being said, it is certainly the least Christmassy of all the Christmas episodes to date. So let's talk about that.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The genesis of the title of this episode comes from when Peter Capaldi visited Mexico as part of the Doctor Who World Tour back in 2014. The show there is called Doctor Misterio ("Doctor Mystery", because the literal translation of "Doctor Quien" apparently sounds weird in Spanish). Capaldi loved that title so much that Steven Moffat promised to use it in an episode name. Mix in Moffat's love of comic books, especially Superman, and you have today's story.

The only actual nod to Christmas in it happens at the very beginning, when the Doctor has a WhateverDevice on a Manhattan rooftop that looks like a Christmas tree. Other than that, the whole thing is a pretty straightforward mashup of the classic superhero origin story and an alien invasion. Kind of like a significantly less gritty Watchmen.

The gist is that the Doctor encounters a young boy named Grant who accidentally swallows a magical WhateverCrystal, which bonds with him and gives him super powers. Flash forward two decades, and Grant is now Superman The Ghost, saving Metropolis New York City from bad guys and disasters while pining after intrepid reporter Lois Lane Lucy Fletcher. 

Meanwhile, the Doctor has apparently removed Nardole's head from the Hydroflax robot suit from the previous story and grafted it onto a new body. That all gets explained later in the season. Anyway, the Doctor is still grieving over the death of River Song, and that coming right on the heels of the loss of Clara (who he doesn't properly remember, but he remembers that he has forgotten, if that makes any sense). So, yeah, the Doctor is trying to get back into the swing of things but still pretty wounded, and Nardole is there to keep him from going all Lonely God on the Universe.

Also meanwhile, a slow-motion alien invasion is in progress via the multi-national corporation Harmony Shoal, which is actually a bunch of flappy-headed aliens from The Shoal of the Winter Harmony, who featured prominently in the whole Hydroflax caper. They have a plan to take over the world, which involves creating a massive panic by blowing up New York City. So, that's gonna be a problem.

The heart of the story, though, lies in the complex relationship between Grant and Lucy. He has been pining away after her since grade school, and is currently the nanny for her infant daughter. Except, you know, when he is off flying around the city as The Ghost. Of course in the end he saves the day, and reveals his secret identity to Lucy so that they can live happily ever after.

Oh, and the Harmony Shoal flappy-headed aliens get busted by UNIT and handed over to Osgood. Sucks to be them.

As befits a Christmas episode, it is a fairly trifling story that is more about having a fun yarn than any serious and weighty plot elements. I liked it just fine. This is a case where the show tries to do a little genre bending and actually pulls it off pretty well. The comic book stuff fits right in, and there are some pretty cool visuals with the aliens just kind of flipping their heads open along a diagonal slit across their face. I definitely like Nardole as a companion, mostly because he is not particularly impressed with the Doctor. I mean, he's not exactly dismissive, but he is also not in the usual "oh Doctor you're so amazing" camp, which is a nice change.

Tomorrow I begin the final season of the show for this project. I am only thirteen days away from the finish line. Can you believe it?

STATS:

Doctor(s): Twelfth
Companion(s): Nardole
Episode(s): The Return of Doctor Mysterio
Steps Walked: 8,617 today, 3,535,794 total
Distance Walked: 4.41 miles today, 1,849.45 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 6,747 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 1,029 total
Weight: 247.56 lbs (five day moving average), net change -59.74 lbs