Doctor Who: The Best of Days is a beautiful final scene from Steven Moffat
By James Aggas
A few weeks after its release on YouTube, we take a look at The Best of Days, former showrunner Steven Moffat’s final contribution to Doctor Who.
Earlier this month, a brand new short was released on YouTube as part of Doctor Who: LOCKDOWN. While the tweetalong for the two-part Series 10 finale World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls was canceled, The Best of Days, written by Steven Moffat for the tweetalong, was still released.
Like most of the lockdown videos, the story The Best of Days tells is a simple but effective one. Set very firmly in 2020, it takes the form of two messages: one from Nardole, who’s still fighting off the Cybermen on the colony ship seen in The Doctor Falls, and one from Bill, who’s living an ordinary life on Earth.
The video seems to sum up both characters nicely. Nardole still provides plenty of humor, particularly in how optimistic he is about life, despite how obvious it is that it isn’t easy. Bill gets plenty of funny lines too in her side of the story. But it’s also more grounded. Perhaps more grounded that you’d expect for Doctor Who…
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Direct commentary
As Bill reveals, The Best of Days is set firmly in 2020. There are quite a few mentions of the lockdown and how much she misses everyone. But the video proves to be even more topical than that, as there are clear nods to the Black Lives Matter movement. Even by New Series standards – which hasn’t exactly been subtle when it comes to politics – it’s surprisingly direct.
But it also feels right. The BLM movement has been incredibly important these last few weeks. Bill taking part in it isn’t exactly too much of a surprise. Interestingly, Moffat revealed in a tweet that actress Pearl Mackie had helped him with that particular part of the story. It’s a very fitting acknowledgment of what’s going on in the world right now, and one that suits the character nicely.
Why am I only covering this video now? Well, as much as we try to keep on top of everything at Doctor Who Watch, personally speaking, I wanted to delay watching this. Mainly because, as Steven Moffat revealed, it’s the last thing he ever plans to write for Doctor Who. While his era might have been as divisive as, well, any other showrunner’s, it’s still sad to see him say goodbye to it.
But at the same time, it’s also nice to have one more little scene from him. Especially one that works so well as a goodbye to both Bill and Nardole, too. So while we can certainly hope that he writes at least something else for Doctor Who one day, overall, The Best of Days isn’t a bad way for him to say goodbye to the series for good.
Next. Free Seventh Doctor episode from Big Finish. dark
What do you think of The Best of Days? Do you think it handled current events well? Do you think it’s a fitting goodbye for Bill and Nardole? Should Steven Moffat write for Doctor Who again? Let us know in the comments below.