Yea but if that "old Clara" had been the real ending, you're failing to acknowledge the MASSIVE plot hole that would have created. Most of the tension in the story before that comes from the fact that these characters are slowly being killed (by way of eating) by these crab monster things. There's no way that Clara would've woken up still alive 62 human years later, she would've been dead WELL before then. And don't you dare say that's a nitpick because there's no goddamn way it is
Apparently I'm in the minority for this thread of fans of liking Clara, and I'm thrilled to hear she's back for another go (and apparently the whole series, not merely "the first few episodes", as it seemed to be the case before). and it's not just because I've got a crush on her either
I think she's genuinely an interesting character. And frankly, the complaint of "it's become too much about her, and not the Doctor himself"... well, but think about it. The show's 50 friggin years old now, he's had plenty of time where it's been entirely about him, and I'm sure he'll have plenty more. So I don't mind a stretch where a companion is given a significant amount of focus, as long as it's a good character, and it's not like it's left NOTHING for him.
Overall I quite liked this episode, it's not easy to have an episode be technically mostly comprised of "only a dream", but still be quality. Because for one thing it still moved the overall story forward in a big way, it got the Doctor and Clara back together. Although it did seem fairly obvious to me from pretty early on that the 4 "sleepers" in the infirmary were the science team members, and that they'd already all been attacked and captured. It's still too soon after my viewing to really know how it measures up to most of the other Christmas shows, well except of course the "Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" which was not only by far the worst Christmas show ever, but among the worst of ALL NuWho episodes.
also, nominee for best line of the entire special: Nick Frost saying (with the Peter Capaldi accent) "It's all a bit dreamy-weemy..."