[sc:dwtop]

Doctor Mysterio a.k.a. The Doctor has returned to Earth after 24 years. He is still reeling from the death of River Song.  But this Christmas brings adventure with the superhero The Ghost.

Doctor Mysterio:

The Doctor (Capaldi) is no comic book superhero, but his actions this Christmas have given rise to one.  The Ghost’s (Justin Chatwin) origin story begins when Grant was in elementary school. The Doctor is trying to correct all the time anomalies he has caused in New York.  His plans go off the deep end when Grant swallows the gemstone meant to power the device.  The Ghost of Love and Wishes gemstone powers a person’s wishes using the power of the stars.  Grant’s comic book filled mind transforms him into a superhero. Doctor Mysterio commands him not to use the powers, but that is not going to happen.

Grant has fallen in love with Lucy Fletcher (Charity Wakefield) but she married his best friend.  Mr. Lombard skipped out once Lucy had baby Jennifer.  But Grant stepped up and became her Nanny so she could continue her career as a journalist.  He saves the day as The Ghost and is back home in time to give Jennifer her bottle.

Lucy is on the case of the Harmony Shoals corporation and its’ New York chair Mr. Brock (Tomiwa Edun).  She pays off a cleaner to use her uniform and ID and sneaks in later.  Mr. Brock and Dr. Sim (Aleksandar Jovanovic) are having a heated discussion about the number of brains in the vault.  The Doctor and Lucy overhear and sneak away when the alien controlled surgeons switch Mr. Brock’s brain with an alien one.

DB 214 - The Return of Doctor Mysterio - Lucy Doctor

The alien in Dr. Sim’s body confronts The Doctor, Lucy and The Doctor’s traveling companion, Nardole (Matt Lucas). The Doctor rescued him after the events of “The Husbands of River Song.  Lucy, The Doctor and Nardole are in a tight spot when The Ghost comes to the rescue. He knocks out Sim and takes Lucy home.  Grant is confronted by The Doctor and Nardole and he is anxious because Mrs. Lombard is coming home. Lo and behold, The Doctor realizes Mrs. Lombard is Lucy.  He is dealing with two humans with dual identities.  She questions The Doctor effectively and learns the scoop on the aliens, but all she really wants is an interview with The Ghost.  The Ghost calls and OK’s the interview.

DB 214 - The Return of Doctor Mysterio - Phone

Lucy is jealous of Grant having a date and Grant is jealous of her having a date with The Ghost.  They are jealous of themselves.  Lucy and The Ghost have their interview date, but Lucy realizes she has been overlooking her love and attraction to Grant.  Before he can reveal his true identity, Mr. Brock and the surgeons take Lucy hostage.  They want The Ghost for his powerful body. It looks like all is lost.

DB 214 - The Return of Doctor Mysterio - Brock

The Doctor and Nardole have discovered the aliens’ plan to use their ship as a bomb.  It will blow up New York City except for Harmony Shoal’s building.  This will cause leaders all over the world to escape to the Harmony Shoal building in their capitol.  The aliens then can take over their bodies and rule the world. The Doctor and Nardole try to take over the ship but all they can do is cause it to crash ahead of the aliens’ schedule.  The Doctor can’t reach the TARDIS so he calls on Grant to stop the ship.

Grant stops the ship, revealing his true identity to Lucy.  The Doctor tells the aliens to ship out because he is protecting the Earth and UNIT is on the way. Looks like Osgood is in charge of UNIT but, in true comic book style one of the aliens has taken over a UNIT soldier.  Grant is ready to hang up his cape and settle down with Lucy.  The Doctor has been gone for 24 years but is back to protect the Earth.  Lucy questions him because, she knows he is sad because of a woman.  The Doctor is brave, silly and now sad, but he will be OK.  Nardole is there to help him recover. The Doctor’s last line it telling not just about his relationship with River Song, his life in general but also, possibly the foreshadowing the new season.

“Things end. That’s all. Everything ends. And it’s always sad. But everything begins again too, and that’s always happy. Be happy. I’ll look after everything else.”

Our Thoughts:

Cory, Wayne and I were grateful to be able to do this special roundtable podcast.  We had fun discussing the Christmas special. Doctor Mysterio was a fun romp through the comic book genera.  We suggest you watch “The Three Husbands of River Song” back to back with “The Return of Doctor Mysterio.” It may have been a year since we saw The Doctor but for him it was yesterday.  The wibbly wobbly timey wimey nature of things.  We hope you enjoy our quick thoughts in the podcast.  We like you are looking forward to seeing The Doctor in the Spring!

Coming April 2017:

Connect With Us:

Head on over to https://www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback and use the form on that page to submit your written or audio message. You can also use the Speakpipe widget to record something using your devices microphone. And of course you can call our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. We’d love to hear from you.

You can Follow Golden Spiral Media on Twitter at GSMPodcasts and Facebook.com/GoldenSpiralMedia. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.

[sc:dw]