The one-two punch of The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor ticked off some major bullet points for the franchise. Paid homage to the show’s five decades of history? Check. Reunited several Doctors past and present? Yup. Revised the Who mythology so the show can keep on trucking for another 50 years? You bet. But they did leave a few unanswered questions. For one, how did the Doctor avoid the death on Trenzalore that he’d already seen the evidence of only a few episodes before?

If you recall, the seventh season finale “The Name of the Doctor” presented the time lord with a grave fate, both literally and metaphorically. On the bleak surface of Trenzalore, he saw his own final resting place, entombed within his TARDIS, grown to gargantuan size after the loss of its master. Inside, all that was left of the Doctor was a “temporal fissure” representing his timeline. So…how exactly did he avoid that fate, which had been previously categorized as something that he couldn’t avoid? (And yes, we realize the futility of asking questions like that in a show about time travel…)

With 2013 in its final hours, we decided to look back on the year that was, and remember the moments from science fiction TV and television that really stuck with us, that we’ll still be thinking of years from now. Needless to say…

SPOILERS BELOW!

Kiera Finally Tells Carlos The Truth (Continuum)
In season 2, Continuum found a more compelling and urgent narrative drive. My favorite moment was in the sixth episode, “Second Truths,” when Kiera finally tells Carlos who she is. By this point, Carlos has worked with Kiera for a season and a half, and although she’s an exceptional agent, he becomes increasingly concerned, especially given the VPD leadership’s blatant distrust of her. Carlos can’t fathom how Kiera can look at a crime scene or suspect and get scads of information immediately — more and more, she seems either unhinged, evil, or both.

“And now it’s time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven’s hour is over now, the clock is striking Twelve’s.” Tonight Matt Smith’s journey as the Doctor reached its end, and with it the time of the Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Eleventh Doctor. It had quite a challenge ahead of it, following on the heels of the epic “Day of the Doctor,” but it succeeded admirably by telling a large story through a small, personal lens. It bookended the Matt Smith era with countless callbacks, wrapped up many of the dangling questions and bits of mythology showrunner Steven Moffat had left us with over the past several seasons, and gave Matt Smith a proper, memorable exit. Before handing him a new face (and kidneys). Here are three things we loved about “The Time of the Doctor.”

Spoilers, sweetie!

It’s all come down to this: Matt Smith’s final hour as the Doctor. After three seasons playing the wandering Time Lord, the Eleventh Doctor’s time has come, and we know one thing for certain: by the time the latest Christmas special is over, the era of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor will have begun. And it the rumors are true, showrunner Steven Moffat will have cleared the deck for the show to carry on through another five decades of life.

We won’t delve into those rumors here, because if you’ve managed to remain unspoiled this long, who are we to ruin the fun? Instead we’ll give you the basics: the official synopsis from the BBC and the trailer. You’ve got Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, the Silence, and that place the Doctor most dreads: Trenzalore. The Time of the Doctor premieres tonight at 9/8c.

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars — and amongst them, the Doctor. Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Now that the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special is well in the rearview, and we’ve all had a chance to digest that particular meal, we can turn our full attention to the annual Christmas special, this year titled The Time of the Doctor. In preparation for the holiday festivities, BBC has dropped a fun first clip from the special episode, which airs Christmas day.

Humans aren’t the only ones in the universe who like to get together with friends and family on December 25. Time Lords, or at least this specific one, seems to dig it as well. While this quick video doesn’t reveal much in the way of story, it does give you a peek at a fun little shared moment between Clara (Jenna Coleman) and the Doctor (Matt Smith). Silly Clara, you can’t use a Sonic Screwdriver to cook a turkey, what the hell are you thinking? To quote her travel companion, “Nothing does turkey, you’d need a time machine.” Well wait just a minute…

Around here, few things scream holiday cheer quite like the annual Doctor Who Christmas special. This year has a increased level of significance, due to the fact that we will bid a fond farewell to the eleventh incarnation of Time Lord, ably played for the last few years by Matt Smith. That’s going to lead to some tear-filled Whovian eyes, to be sure. And because we’re losing one Doctor, as you all know, we get to welcome another. As it turns out, the twelfth manifestation of everyone’s favorite two-hearted alien who jumps through time and space will look a lot like British actor Peter Capaldi. Because you can never get too much of a look, we’re back with a huge new collection of stills from this year’s special, “Time of the Doctor.”

There’s a ton for fans to pour over in these photos, and it looks like the Doctor, old and new, will have his work cut out for him. In no particular order, he’ll face down a horde of Daleks, some Weeping Angels, and a woman named Tasha Lem (Orla Brady). At least she looks pretty sinister. He’ll also have to deal with some Cybermen, both the usual futuristic metal guys, as well as some that look like they’re made out of wood. Yeah, we’re not sure about that, either. Perhaps they’re like vintage, prehistoric Cybermen from a museum or something.