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As much as I have enjoyed this season of Doctor Who, there always seemed to be something slightly off about it. Not necessarily something bad, although there were elements of it that didn't work, but just...off. Not quite right. Splitting the season in two, airing the first seven in the spring and the last six later in the year certainly didn't help, since it threw the rhythm of the show off completely, requiring it to have two finales in the space of 13 episodes instead of just the one.

When I say finales, I don't just mean cliffhangers, because the show has done two-parters before (with mixed results), many of which take place in the middle of the season anyway. What I'm talking about is that sense of a building narrative reaching a crescendo in the last episode. All that drive and build was present and correct in the first half of the season, which boasted some really fine episodes indeed, but largely absent from the second half. Rather than the usual mix of standalone episodes with a bit of serialised narrative thrown in for good measure, it felt as if Steven Moffat and his team had built the serialised elements into the first half and left all the standalone episodes for the final six, creating a weirdly disjointed feel to the show. It also meant that there was no real build up to the actual finale, with only "Closing Time" and its talk of The Doctor going on a farewell tour serving as the foundation for the finale. Going in, I wasn't entirely sure how Moffat was going to reconcile the fractured arc of the season into a satisfying finale.

Initially, resolution seemed to be the last thing on the show's mind, as the episode began by showing us a version of London that is like ours, but ever so slightly (okay, completely and utterly) different. Cars travel through the skies attached to balloons; children run through parks chased by Pterodactyls who, signs inform us, are pests; and Charles Dickens is being interviewed on BBC Breakfast talking about his plans for a Christmas special that will involve ghosts from the past, the present and the future all at the same time. (Moffat's version of Doctor Who has been fairly light on self-reflexive humour, but I did like that as a reference to the hype surrounding each Doctor Who Christmas special. It was also nice of Simon Callow to come back for a one-joke cameo.) It was a weird and disorientating opening that initially made me wonder if the show had gone completely crazy.

Then, it turns out that Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) is Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and that he has just got back from a visit to see Cleopatra. We're in full on Wonderland territory now as Churchill remarks on the fact that the clocks have not moved from 5:02 on April 22nd, and that they never have. He calls for the Soothsayer, a man who has apparently been talking about the idea of time being broken for a while and it turns out to be...The Doctor! (Who else?) In a Toga! With a beard! He begins to relate a story to Churchill, one that begins with him desperately trying to figure out why he has to die and learning that he plays a central role in The Silence's prophesy; one day, a question will be asked, and if it is answered, the universe will end.

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