Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 13 - The Wedding Of River Song

THE PLOT

Faced with imminent death, The Doctor seeks answers as to exactly why he is fated to die at a certain fixed point in time. After a journey across time and space, in which he learns more of the menace known only as The Silence. Satisfied by the answers he finds, he goes to face his death unflinching... only for River Song to attempt to change that which cannot be changed. Suddenly, The Doctor finds himself in a reality where all of time is happening at once. Where Roman Centurions wait for red lights, children live in fear of pterodactyl attacks in the park and Winston Churchill is the Holy Roman Emperor of Britain...

THE GOOD PARTS

* Steven Moffat's script offers us a lot of spectacle - from flying balloon cars and a cross-continent steam-engine to a deadly game of electrified chess and

* Lots of solid performances from the whole cast. Matt Smith is never going to be my favorite Doctor but he has been nailing the role lately and gets some great moments here.

THE PROBLEMS

* Even after a second viewing, the Timey-Wimey aspects of this script are a bit confusing. I originally thought that The Doctor had some way of making himself fire-proof rather than that he was inside the robot disguised as him when River "killed" him, though we knew he was there when he married River in the alternate timeline.

* Rory plays the fool. Again.

* For that matter, how do The Doctor and River "touch" to restart time when it's really a robot body?

* The first question is "Doctor Who?" That's a little bit meta even for Steven Moffat.

THE FINAL VERDICT

A solid conclusion for the series that leaves us with more questions than answers. The cast is top notch and Moffat's script offers us a lot of bang for our buck. Shame you get the feeling that the cool bits were created first and that the plot was added in later.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 12 - Closing Time

THE PLOT

With the date of his death fast approaching - from his perspective, at least - The Doctor takes one final trip in the TARDIS to check up on old-friends and companions. His last stop is the home of Craig Owens - The Doctor's former roomate - who is still together with long-time crush Sophie and all alone with their baby for the first time. The Doctor only plans to stay for a long enough to say hello... but then he notices something strange. What follows is an investigation into a nearby department store, where the lights are flickering, people are disappearing and strange silver rat creatures roam the shop floors virtually unnoticed.

THE GOOD PARTS

* Craig's one of the best characters to come out of the time of The 11th Doctor and it's good to see him again. More, it's good to see that things with him and Sophie did work out.

* The Doctor's scenes talking with Alfie - sorry, Stormageddon - Dark Lord Of All - are quite funny and it's nice to see that his ability to talk to babies wasn't a one-off gag.

* Is there a stipulation that every episode must feature at least one scene of Matt Smith being charming while dealing with a group of children? I don't know... but the brief scenes where he's playing in the toy department and his farewell to the children in the street before going to face his death are magical.

THE PROBLEMS

* It's never fully explained just how The Doctor has managed to integrate himself into the staff of the store. At first I thought his name-tag was made of the same stuff as psychic paper, making people see whatever they wanted to see but it looks more like The Doctor was using the same psychic whammy he used to calm down Little Stormageddon.

* It doesn't really matter in the end what the trick is, save that one wonders why The Doctor hasn't used it in the past when he needed to blend in somewhere or convince someone of his bona fides. Perhaps he picked it up between this episode and the last (he could have traveled for a longer time than indicated after dropping off Rory & Amy) but it would have been nice if he'd said "New trick I learned after I last saw you, Craig..."

* Granting that The Sonic Screwdriver is the biggest McGuffin in the universe, it's hard to believe it can turn a baby mobile into a miniature planetarium projector with the push of one button. I don't think there's an App for that.

* Even with their new and improved appearance, The Cybermats are still crap monsters.

* Even The Doctor seems embarrassed by how he ultimately defeats The Cybermen with Love.

THE FINAL VERDICT

It's cute and it doesn't take itself too seriously but this is still strictly an average episode. The only thing that makes it work is the charisma of Matt Smith and James Corden, who turn in a pair of amazing performances. It is to their credit that they make the random bits of comedy and pathos far greater than the rather weak plot based around yet another Cyberman invasion.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 11 - The God Complex

THE PLOT

The Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves in a hotel where every room is filled with a nightmare. A worst nightmare. And somewhere out there is your worst nightmare. All you have to do is find your room. Teamed with other stranded souls and with no clues other than the written account of another woman taken by the monster wandering the labyrinthine halls, our heroes struggle to find a way out before they all succumb to the beast’s power, beginning to “Praise Him" just before the end comes...

THE GOOD PARTS

* This episode has a great metaphysical concept - a hotel full of nightmares. There's a reason why hotels are a frequent setting for horror movies - there is nothing quite as inherently uncomfortable as a place that is meant to be homey but is equally not a home. This is the kind of story really only Doctor Who can do.

* Lots of Grade-A nightmare fuel here for the kiddies. From the parent who is angry about your grades to the requisite scary clowns, scary girls and a room full of living, laughing ventriloquist dummies. *shudders* And I thought nothing could top the faceless dolls from Night Terrors.

* This episode has easily the best supporting cast of any episode this season, with all of the characters being instantly sympathetic - from the nerdy Howie to the sharp-witted Rita.

THE PROBLEMS

* The ending, I am sad to say, is rushed and lazy. It’s a bit unbelievable that The Doctor can so easily shatter Amy’s faith in him with just a few words in under a minute.

* Equally unbelievable is The Doctor’s trashing a room in anger over the death of a woman he barely knew. Why is that unbelievable? The current incarnation of The Doctor didn’t show that much anger when he feared Amy had been kidnapped and she and her baby were in danger. I can believe he'd be angry. I can't believe he'd vent that anger in such a childish and violent fashion over this point.

* Finally - The thing Amy finds the most faith in is The Doctor not abandoning her? The Doctor always saving her? Seriously? This from the wife of The Last Centurion? Again, I say - Rory is too good for Amy.

THE FINAL VERDICT

A brilliant concept and wonderful supporting cast is let down in the end by a rushed ending. It's truly scary - even to adults - at points but ultimately it's merely an okay episode.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 10 - The Girl Who Waited

THE PLOT

Traveling to the vacation planet of Apalapucia (The second-most popular vacation spot in the universe), The Doctor, Amy and Rory quickly find that the entire planet is under quarantine. The good news is that the plague only affects beings with two hearts, so Amy and Rory are quite safe. The bad news is that Amy gets locked on the wrong side of the quarantine zone, trapped in an accelerated time bubble where her whole life will pass in one day - a kindness contrived by the natives of Apalapucia, so says The Doctor, because it allows the infected to live out their whole lives before the plague takes them while allowing their loved ones a chance to "watch them live instead of watching them die."

Kindness though it may be, Rory and The Doctor aren't crazy about that option, so they contrive of a way to use The TARDIS to break the time bubble and rescue Amy. They are successful, but arrive a relative 36 years too late. And the 60+ Amy Pond they find is not very happy with them and in little mood to cooperate in helping them save "the real Amy". Now, Rory is faced with a sadistic choice - which of the women he loves does he save?

THE GOOD PARTS

* Surprisingly, Doctor Who has done very few stories about alien diseases and just what problems a space/time traveler might have in seeking medical treatment or what role they might play in further spreading a plague. It's a nice touch to see this sort of thing being addressed on the level of high-science, with the story exploring how one race might used advanced technology to try and solve a very human problem - coping with death.

* Arthur Darvill shines in this episode, doing an amazing job playing up the Rory's internal conflict. On the one hand, he feels guilty about what happened to Old Amy and feels he has a responsibility to save her after she waited for him to save her. There is also the unspoken suggestion that maybe - just maybe - he likes the idea of an Amy who fully understands and appreciates everything he did while waiting for her as The Last Centurion. But on the other hand, he still has a chance to save "his Amy". The Amy he can grow old with. The Amy who may not understand him but whom he can spare the pain of loneliness that he endured for her.

* Karen Gillian gets some of the best material she's ever been given as an actress in this episode and runs with it. We've seen time and time again what Rory would do for Amy but this is the first episode that truly gives us an idea of just how much Amy is willing to sacrifice because of her love of Rory. She was willing to spend years trapped in a pocket dimension, waiting on a rescue she wasn't sure was coming... because she thought he was worth it. She was willing to give up her life to give him a chance to grow old with her... a version of her, anyway.

*The theme of The Doctor staring into the abyss too long and now being just as much of a monster as the creatures he fights returns but never has it been lain out so plainly. Steven Moffat explored this concept recently in A Good Man Goes To War and in Series 5 in The Pandorica Opens. It even came up a few times during Russel T. Davies' tenure as showrunner, in episodes such as The Runaway Bride and Journey's End. Indeed, Rory echos the accusation Davros made to The Tenth Doctor - "You’re turning me into you!" This further links this episode to yet another reoccurring Doctor Who theme - the monster that turns you into a monster.

THE PROBLEMS

* While the make-up used to make Karen Gillian look older is quite good, one wonders why the BBC couldn't have sprung for a wig or some dye to give her a few grey hairs?

* One small logic problem: Amy has access to an Interface that can give her nearly any bit of information she needs. Why doesn't the Interface allow her to contact the people running the hospital and tell them that she doesn't belong there?

THE FINAL VERDICT

Possibly the best episode of the Series so far. Certainly the most touching.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 9 - Night Terrors

THE PLOT

The Doctor, Amy and Rory travel to modern-day England to after the Doctor’s psychic paper receives a message from a boy named George asking for someone to save him from the monsters in his cupboard. Posing as social workers, the three scan the apartment complex with The Doctor eventually finding George and his frantic father.

George apparently suffers from acute pantophobia -the fear of everything. Dismissing his talk of monsters as paranoia, his parents are at a loss as to what to do with him. Of course The Doctor knows better than to ignore a frighten child who sees what others don’t but even he is at a loss as to just what is living in George’s cupboard along with all the toys and other items that made him scared…

Meanwhile, as The Doctor makes his house call, Amy and Rory find themselves falling down an elevator into a most unusual home, where nothing is real and the other residents of George’s apartment building seem to be winding up… and being turned into living dolls!

THE GOOD PARTS

* This episode could stand alongside Blink or The Girl In The Fireplace as single-episode stories you could use to try and explain the concept and theme of Doctor Who to that one person in your circle of friends or family. You know the one I mean - the person who has never understood it, probably never tried, thinks the whole thing is a bit silly and then one day they say, “Well, all right…FINE. Give me ONE episode to watch and show me how awesome it is”.

* I’ve mentioned before how, in his most basic and ideal state, The Doctor is every child’s ultimate imaginary friend – an adult who acts like a kid, who knows everything but is still willing to listen. Matt Smith (who has been finding all the right notes for The Doctor lately in his performances) epitomizes this concept in a truly magical moment where he uses the Sonic Screwdriver to power on several of George’s toys from a distance and then just sits back in delight as he shares in that brief second of relief.

* The whole episode is suspenseful and appropriately spooky and atmospheric, with the mystery of the cupboard being played out masterfully. Three cheers for the set-designers and props people on a job well done!

THE PROBLEMS

* Doing research for this article, I found that it was originally meant to be the fourth episode of Series 6 but that it was pushed back, with very little being rewritten. While the script is a good one, I dare say one thing should have been rewritten – most of Rory’s dialogue. Rory in this episode sounds like old Series 5 Rory – the one who was rather reluctant to get on the TARDIS in the first place, who snarked non-stop about how much better The Doctor was than him and why didn’t Amy go marry him?

* On that note, you’d expect Rory – The Last Centurion – to at least try beating the monsters that are turning his wife into a giant blank-faced doll with the mop stick he is holding, rather than standing there in slack-jawed horror as she is grappled.

* While this episode is a wonderful introduction to the basic themes of Doctor Who for new viewers, I fear that experienced Who-ligans may find themselves viewing this episode with a heavy sense of déjà vu. A child who fears something strange in their bedroom? Bit like the young Amelia Pond in The Eleventh Hour, isn’t it? Faceless monsters that make you like them with a touch… just like the gas-mask boy in The Empty Child, right? A child who turns out to be something quite alien? Fear Her. Of course these stock concepts have been used in science fiction throughout time and space, so I can’t accuse writer Mark Gatiss of being unoriginal. It’s just a shame that such a strong script should be so dependent on concepts that have been done recently, done before and debatably done better.

THE FINAL VERDICT

This is a wonderful episode, despite being made-up of a hodgepodge of stock science-fiction concepts and themes that Doctor Who has done before. It is saved by two things; some wonderful performances by the cast (Matt Smith in particular stands out) and some masterful direction which milks some true suspense out of what could have easily been another Monster-Of-The-Week story. It may not be the greatest episode ever but it is one of the most quintessential Doctor Who stories ever.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 8 - Let's Kill Hitler

THE PLOT

Checking in with Rory and Amy, The Doctor reports that he still hasn't tracked down their daughter, though he is quick to point out that - logically - they know he IS going to do it eventually. Joining them unexpectedly is their old friend Mels, an dodgy sort who is driving a car that she admits isn't hers... just before the sound of sirens can be heard in the background. Fully aware of who The Doctor is (though he has no idea who she is), she pulls a gun, motions everyone into the TARDIS and suggests they go kill Hitler.

The party arrives in Germany circa 1938... just in time to save Hitler's life from a most unusual assassin. Nobody is particularly happy about this, even before Mels is accidentally shot by Hitler, starts to regenerate and then tries to kill The Doctor...


THE GOOD PARTS

* Moffat is a great idea man and is very good at developing those ideas in a brief span of time. One such idea is the assassin who comes after Hitler - a group of miniaturized people piloting a human-sized, shape-shifting mecha, traveling around time seeking out the most vicious villains in history in order to make them experience all the pain they ever caused others just before they died. That concept alone would be a wonderful story by itself, never mind being one aspect of a bigger story. And that is why we love Doctor Who so much.

* Mels' real identity isn't much of a shock but what comes after IS rather surprising.

* The scene in which The Doctor screams while being confronted with images of all the Tenth Doctor companions whose lives he screwed up is magical. Matt Smith nails the core of The Doctor in that moment, as we can see that the pain of the poison in his system hurts but being reminded of his past mistakes hurts more.

* Who would have thought that you could turn the phrase "You will die in 32 minutes." into a hilarious running gag?


THE PROBLEMS

* There are a few minor logical plot holes. It seems rather unlikely, for instance, that our time-traveling assassins would get so far as they did in infiltrating Hitler's offices only to just then realize they had come too early as they're about to torture him. This is the sort of thing you'd expect a bunch of experienced time-travelers to research well in advance. Also, why in the name of all that is good-and-plenty is the TARDIS able to crash through the wall of Hitler's office without anyone coming to investigate? You'd expect there to be two-dozen storm-troopers coming through the door in less than a minute!

* I suppose if you can steal from anyone you can steal from yourself. Still, I can't believe that Moffat wrote in the "Well, I KNEW that you knew..." scene as The Doctor and River try to one-up one another during their Mexican stand-off, mirroring the similar scene between The Doctor and The Master in Moffat's Doctor Who parody story Curse Of The Fatal Death.


THE FINAL VERDICT

A solid episode that, thankfully, has little to do with its' attention-grabbing title. Moffat manages to surprise us with the promise of one of the many important historical figures never directly dealt with in the show before only to ignore it completely in favor of a chaotic but enjoyable character piece.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 7 - A Good Man Goes To War

THE PLOT

The title says it all really.

Forming an army out of various beings from across time and space who owe him favors, The Doctor leads an attack against the forces who had kidnapped Amy Pond. But who is ultimately behind the kidnapping? What sinister plans do they have for Amy and Rory's daughter? And why is River Song absent from the final battle?


THE GOOD PARTS

* One of the greatest thing about Doctor Who - to my mind anyway - is its' rich universe. There has always been a suggestion in all of the shows, comics, novels, radio plays and what not that there is a whole, big universe out there full of wonders we haven't seen yet. By that token, there are adventures that The Doctor has experienced that we haven't seen. This episode runs wild with that concept, introducing a host of characters that we've never seen before who we are told have adventured with The Doctor before. Among these are a Sontarnan soldier forced to work as a nurse and a lesbian Silurian from Victorian London, who was apparently responsible for killing Jack The Ripper. (Well, if you ignore Doctor Who Comics #2, #3 & #4, anyway...)

* Rory gets the most bad-ass moment in the history of bad-ass moments at the start of the episode. Indeed, this has inspired some to declare him The New Chuck Norris.

* The twist at the end, while obvious in retrospect, is pulled off well. And the clues were there for us to figure it out the whole time. Mind you, I suspect it's going to make rewatching a lot of the last two seasons interesting... just watching the reaction of River Song in response to things happening to Amy and Rory...

* Miraculously, there's actually a sense of suspense going into the next episode. We KNOW The Doctor is going to be successful. The proof is standing right there. But we don't know just how he's going to do it.


THE PROBLEMS

* If anything, this episode tries to do a little too much. The quick cameos are fun as are the new characters we are introduced. And yet somehow, it isn't enough. Hopefully we'll be seeing some of these new characters again later on.

* It's a small thing, but I would like to have seen more interplay between Rory and the Sontaran Medic. A nurse who becomes a warrior and a warrior who becomes a nurse? Hell, they should get their own spin-off!


The Final Verdict: One of Steven Moffat's best scripts ever. And that is saying something! Virtually flawless, with its' only real flaw being that this story deserved two episodes rather than the story told in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People. There's just too much going on and we could really have used more time with all of these characters as The Doctor built his army.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 5 & 6 - The Rebel Flesh & The Almost People

THE PLOT

Forced to land the TARDIS due to the turbulence caused by a solar Tsumani, The Doctor, Amy & Rory touch down in 22nd Century Earth. Seeking sanctuary in a nearby monastery, our heroes discover a mining operation that is pulling high-quality acid directly out of the earth using clone labor - beings called "Gangers", that are controlled through a telepathic interface by workers who are safely kept away from the acid in special safety harnesses.

When the storm turns serious and lightning sets off a power surge through the complex, the miners awaken to discover that their Ganger counterparts have gained sentience... and they aren't too happy about the prospect of being "turned off", since clones have no rights and there's no reason for the company to keep them alive. The Doctor quickly finds himself stuck between two factions with no reason to trust one another, pleading for a peace that will be difficult - even for him to arrange. And Amy's strange visions of a woman in an eye-patch continue...


THE PROBLEMS

* When you get right down to it, the story here is nothing new. The idea of artificial life being used to explore the question of "What Is Humanity?" has been done to death and, I'm sad to say, done better. Blade Runner comes to mind immediately.

* The subplot with Amy being reluctant to accept the Ganger Doctor in "The Almost People" is completely pointless, serving only to inject artificial drama into a situation that is tense enough already.

* This two-parter is fairly well padded-out. It really could have and SHOULD have been one episode.

THE GOOD PARTS

* Despite the broad concept being old hat, the actual mechanism for the "Gangers" is inventive.

* The individual performances are excellent overall, particular the Ganger miner who elects to replace his human counterpart so that his/their son will not grow up without a father.

* The final shots of a pregnant Amy Pond, waking up in a Ganger harness somewhere far away from The TARDIS as she goes into labor is a truly horrifying image and an effective bit of horror that perfectly sets up the next episode.



The Final Verdict: There's not a lot of originality here but it is carried off well despite that. Lots of good performances and an effectively chilling ending make this one enjoyable, if not particularly likely to make anyone's Top Ten lists.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episode 4- The Doctor's Wife

SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUTS!


THE PLOT

While in mid-flight, there is a knocking from outside The TARDIS. This confuses The Doctor as there shouldn't be any way that anything should be able to come in contact with The TARDIS while it is traveling... except for another TARDIS or something created by a Time Lord.

Cue the entrance of a strange little cube, exactly like the one that The Doctor once used to send an emergency message to the Time Lords (As seen in the 2nd Doctor story The War Games!) It turns out the message is from The Corsair - a Time Lord and old friend of The Doctor's - and that it was sent from a pocket universe outside the normal flow of space and time. Excited by the prospect of another Time Lord being alive, The Doctor charges forth, jettisoning spare rooms from the TARDIS to get the extra push needed to dimension jump.

Upon landing, The TARDIS console suddenly powers down completely. Further investigation reveals this pocket dimension to be a giant scrap yard, populated only by two strange humanoids called Uncle and Aunt and an Ood Servant they call Nephew. There's also a madwoman named Idris, who kisses and assaults The Doctor, saying many confusing things. And the whole place is ruled over by a sentient force called House. All of which is fascinating to The Doctor but not nearly as pressing as the issue as where The Corsair is... or the dozens of other Time Lords he swears he can hear the voices of in the air around him.

It is only when The Doctor finds a chest full of message cubes that the answer becomes clear... and only then that he notices that the scrap around him is made primarily of TARDIS parts. House takes possession of the now-empty TARDIS, while Amy and Rory are still inside it, and makes a break for the other universe... leaving The Doctor trapped on the quickly cooling asteroid with the woman Idris, who is now housing the soul of The TARDIS!




THE GOOD PARTS

1. All The Questions We Get Answered!

It's amazing how many long-debated questions Neil Gaiman answers so matter-of-factly in this episode. For instance, Wholigans have long debated whether or not it is possible for a Time Lord to become a Time Lady or vice versa - that is to say if regeneration can cross gender lines and if there is a chance that - someday - we might have a female Doctor. With an off-hand remark about The Corsair being a nice man - and a nice lady a few times - The Doctor confirmed that there's a chance he could become a she. Someday.

There's also been a suggestion among the The Fandom that The TARDIS - which we've known to be independently intelligent to some degree since the third First Doctor story Edge of Destruction - was taking The Doctor who where he needed to go to help people, thus explaining away why The Doctor always seems to find trouble no matter where he goes.


2. All The Questions We DON'T Get Answered!

The idea of The TARDIS (or indeed, all TARDISes) having souls has been a part of the show mythology for sometime - and for all that this episode does to explore the concept, we get surprisingly little explanation for just... how? How does a machine develop a soul? Are Time Lords themselves placed into the machinery? Answers are not forthcoming... nor should they be. Doctor Who works best when there are still mysteries to explore and The Doctor (and his technology) should be a part of that mystery as well.


3. Running Up And Down The Same Corridor Over And Over

The bits with Amy and Rory trapped inside the TARDIS halls are very effective - both for the horror involved - and as a neat twist on the cliche that all Doctor Who stories that do not feature a bunch of people running around a rock quarry consist of endless scenes of people running up and down the same corridor over and over.


4. No Annoying Amy/Rory "Do They Really Love Me?" Sub-Plot

Well, okay... there is a bit where Amy stumbles across the body of an apparently dead Rory, who took the time as he was going mad from loneliness to scrawl several thousand variants of "I HATE AMY! DIE POND!" over and over on the walls of a hallway in his own blood. But that doesn't count and it's a neat way to illustrate how much Amy is in love with Rory... that the fear of being hated by him is such a crippling thing to her.


5. The Doctor and His "Wife"

Really, the whole conceit of The Doctor and The TARDIS finally getting a chance to talk... really talk... is a brilliant one. And the Interplay between Matt Smith and Suranne Jones is perfectly executed.




THE PROBLEMS

1. Why So Surprised, Doctor?

Granting that the exact circumstances are different, The Doctor probably shouldn't be as surprised as he is by The TARDIS being depowered after leaving The Universe. After all, the same thing happened in the Second Series episode Rise Of The Cybermen.


2. Not To Be That Guy, But...

... as original and wonderful as the idea of The Doctor and The TARDIS being able to communicate directly is, I'm afraid it's been done before and done recently. And irony of ironies, it was in the Doctor Who comics.

Doctor Who: The Forgotten has an Amnesiac Doctor being guided out of a trap by the soul of The TARDIS, who manifests itself as various ex-companions of The Doctor as needed. The two are able to communicate for quite a while, with The TARDIS calling itself The Doctor's first and oldest companion and - in one touching scene - manifesting it's soul as Susan, The Doctor's Granddaughter, so that he could - in some fashion - say goodbye to her.

I don't think Neil Gaiman read the comic in question before hand and I'm not accusing him of plagiarism. I just had to note this before all the other Wholigans start singing about how original the conceit of this episode was and give a shout out to one of the best Doctor Who comics in recent memory.




The Final Verdict: Hopes were high going into this Neil Gaiman penned episode and he did not disappoint. The mythology of the show is referenced and enhanced, but we're left with more questions than we are given answers. And that is all too right. A well-paced script is backed by some excellent performances, leaving us with the best episode of the Series thus far.

Doctor Who Series 6 - One More Mystery: Who Is The Eye-Patch Lady?

What's up with the lady in the eye-patch who keeps peeking in on Amy?

She first showed up in Day of The Moon, when Amy was exploring the orphanage. She appeared through a hatch in the door, which later disappeared. Amy was startled by the woman and asked who she was, but the woman ignored her and said "No, I think she's just dreaming" to someone else inside the room. When Amy opened the door, there was nobody there...

She showed up again in Curse of The Black Spot, as Amy was waking up. This time she seemed to make eye-contact with Amy and said "It's fine. You're doing fine. Just stay calm.".

Thoughts? Theories? Let's discuss it below.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episodes 3 - The Curse Of The Black Spot

SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUTS!


THE PLOT

The Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves aboard a becalmed pirate vessel. After a misunderstanding involving the proper treatment of guests on a pirate ship and a demonstration as to why real pirates kept their weapons locked up when they weren't at hand (vis a vis Amy being thrown into the hold where the weapons are kept in an unlocked chest) our heroes find that the pirates are deathly afraid of even minor injuries.

Why? Because of a mysterious black spot that appears on the hand of any man who is injured and a green-glowing Siren, whose song draws the cursed men to her, only for them to disappear at the touch of her hand. With the TARDIS becalmed as well and the Captain's sickly son on-deck, it will be up to The Doctor to unravel the mystery of the Siren and save the day.




THE PROBLEMS

1. The New Introduction. Specifically, What Is Missing From It.

Go ahead and watch this intro again. See if you notice something important that Pond forgets to mention in her summation of who she is and how she came to be with The Doctor.




By 'we' you are including Rory, right? The man you didn't mention in all of the flowery talk about your imaginary friend who came back for you and took you away to have adventures all around time and space? The man you are, presumably sharing a bed with as husband and wife in one of the spare rooms on the TARDIS?

Just checking.


2. How The Heck Did The Captain's Son Go So Long Without Getting Nabbed By The Siren Or Spotted By The Crew?

He had The Black Spot on his hand because of his illness and he quickly became a target for the Siren once he was discovered. Thing is, he really should have been claimed much earlier. Think about it - even if the Powder Room where he hid was dark and dry with no reflective surfaces at all, he'd still have to come out for water sooner or later. And the minute he got near a reflective surface... WHAM!


3. The Siren Being A Computerized Medic Just Doesn't Make Sense!

Okay - the idea of a holographic doctor that can instantly teleport its' patients to the hospital with a touch is a novel ideal. Very useful that. Could be a wonder in search and rescue missions were it not for one small problem. Namely, that The Siren is totally dependent upon its' patients being able to reach out and touch it.

It never moves to the injured men! It always gets in close, sings a soothing song and then draws them out to touch it. While that's not bad for a man with a cut finger, I can't imagine it doing much to help the men with a broken leg or somebody pinned under a ton of rubble.

For that matter, what if someone gets trapped under something and there's no light to create a reflection nearby?


4. Where Did The First Mate Go?

He just disappears halfway through the episode! Maybe there was a cut scene where the Siren got him that wasn't in the American broadcast?


5. Deja Vu - The Sensation That You Are Doing Something You Have Done Before.

There's a lot of ideas here that may seem repetitive - not just to long-time Doctor Who fans, but to fans of the more recent series as well.


6. Deja Vu - The Sensation That You Are Doing Something You Have Done Before.

There's a lot of ideas here that may seem repetitive - not just to long-time Doctor Who fans, but to fans of the more recent series as well.

(Yes, I know that is a terrible, awful, cliche joke. And yet, I'm still making it because an episode this uninspired and repetitive doesn't deserve original material. XP )

In all seriousness, this episode doesn't have much that hasn't been done in other Doctor Who stories and been done better. The Doctor Dances explored the idea of a mechanical alien doctor that proves unable to treat humans properly much more effectively with a mystery that didn't feel so anti-climactic. And the idea of a computer-based intelligence manipulating more primitive beings due to a programming error is such a Doctor Who cliche I shouldn't even have to mention it having already been used last season in The Lodger. To say nothing of the numerous classic Doctor Who episodes like Stones of Blood and The Face of Evil that are based around the same premise. Even the idea of a story where The Doctor gets menaced by pirates isn't original (i.e. The Smugglers)

7. The Doctor Doesn't Know CPR?

This one is kind of nit-picky. And I know that it would take away from the scene where Rory has to tell Amy how to save his life and the romance as she literally has to breathe the life back into him. But it did bother me that The Doctor didn't take a hand in things.

And yes long-time Wholigans, I'm well aware that The Doctor's medical knowledge as depicted across the whole of the series has been erratic at best and that any medical training he has with humans is probably outdated and incorrect. Even allowing that some knowledge may be lost in the regeneration process, I still can't believe that we can go from Ten reverse engineering a cure for Dalek genetic modifications to being completely unable to do CPR.

If nothing else, you'd think it's something he would have learned "just in case" what with the large number of humans he travels with and the amount of danger he gets into.



THE GOOD PARTS

1. This Episode Had Pirates. Cause Pirates Are Cool!

Really! It had Pirates! And Karen Gillian dressed as a pirate... sort of!


2. At Least ONE Writer Is Trying To Keep Amy Pond From Being A Total Mary Sue

She does get her awesome moment with the pirate outfit and the sword and the swinging around... but proves to be somewhat rubbish at it. You can tell she's just barely managing to protect herself when she fights with the sword and she winds up injuring people as she's swinging on the rope as much by accident as on purpose. And as much as I hate the continual Rory/Amy "Do They Really Love Me?" Subplot that should have been resolved forever last Series, it was novel to see Amy being the one worrying about a stray comment and her husband's feelings for her.

3. Matt Smith's Great Performance?

Much as I disliked this episode, one of the few things I did like was Matt Smith's turn as The Doctor this time around. It isn't unusual for The Doctor to not have all the answers but it's very rare for him to jump to the wrong conclusions. And while Matt Smith is never going to he my favorite Doctor, I do think he did a great job with The Doctor here and that he perfectly captured the emotions conveyed by a very intelligent man who hates being proven wrong nearly as much as he hates seeing people being vaporized by a monster he can't explain.



The Final Verdict: Not the worst episode of New Who by a long-shot but still possibly the worst episode of the Matt Smith era. The whole affair feels very rushed, cobbled together out of several reliable stock plot concepts that were utilized to better effect in other stories.

Doctor Who Series 6 - The Mysteries Thus Far

Spoilers Behind The Cut! You were warned...



Right. All safe behind the zero-balance dwarf star alloy walls? Good.

So... here's the big questions we have so far.



Who Was Amy Really Thinking Of When She Was A Prisoner Of The Silence?

Any was taken prisoner but her nano-recorder was left behind, allowing Rory to hear her thoughts as she wishes for rescue. She later said that she was thinking of Rory when confronted about it but - as Rory pointed out - the person she was describing as wishing they would come to rescue her sounded like The Doctor, what with the "falling out of the sky and into her life" line.

Of course one could argue that Amy made her choice last season, making her feelings for Rory quite clear even before she finally married "stupid face". But is Amy being entirely honest with herself? She was certainly willing to run off with her childhood crush on her wedding day before AND tried to force The Doctor into some a most compromising position.

Rory seems to have taken her at her word. On the other hand...


What's Up With Rory And Amy's Memories?

Rory and The Doctor briefly discussed the burning of Rome - an incident they were both present for. The Doctor was there in his first incarnation and was indirectly responsible for starting the Great Roman Fire whereas Rory, as an Auton, was guarding The Pandorica. It is then that Rory reveals that while he has knowledge of what he did during the 2000 years he was guarding the Pandorica, the memories feel incomplete... like something he was told about rather than something he actually lived through.

Amy has a different problem, having lost several days of memory while being held by The Silence. Actually, given that her memory would have blanked every time she saw one and looked away, she could have been there much longer. Which raises the question of...


What's Up With Amy's Pregnancy?

At the end of The Impossible Astronaut, Amy told The Doctor that she was pregnant. Later, when he confronts her on the statement, she backtracks, saying that she was just worried about whether or not traveling in the TARDIS while pregnant might have negative side-effects. The Doctor then runs the TARDIS scanner... which keeps jumping between YES and NO on the pregnancy issue.

It's worth noting that, when Amy was investigating the orphanage earlier in the episode, she found a room with several pictures of a girl - the same girl that was in the space suit earlier. One of the pictures depicts Amy holding a baby and the picture makes Amy truly afraid and nervous even before The Silence show up and take her.

This brings us, naturally to...

Who Is The Impossible Astronaut/Little Girl?

With all the invoking of the standard tropes regarding American urban legends of Men In Black and Alien Abductions - particularly the legends regarding women being impregnated to create alien hybrid babies, it's no small wonder that the most popular theory thus far is that The Silence took Amy's baby and experimented on her for their own nefarious reasons. And yet... that's just one idea. So in no particular order, here's every idea I've had and heard.

1. The Little Girl is Amy and Rory's daughter, augmented by the technology of The Silence.
2. The Little Girl is Amy and The Doctor's daughter, who has inherited her fathers superhuman strength and regenerative powers.
3. The Little Girl is a young River Song.
4. The Little Girl is the daughter of River Song and The Doctor from THE FUTURE!
5. The Little Girl is a clone created by The Silence in an attempt to create their own Time Lords.
6. The Little Girl is just some random orphan who was kidnapped and experimented on by The Silence.
7. The Little Girl is a Time Lord child kidnapped by The Silence before the Time War, kept hidden from The Doctor all this time.
8. The Little Girl is The Lindbergh Baby.



Any questions? Any answers? Post them below.

Doctor Who, Series 6 - Episodes 1 & 2 - The Impossible Astronaut & Day Of The Moon

In the past, I've always tried to avoid giving away the whole story of each episode when summarizing the plot. For several reasons, this is... difficult with this pair of episodes. So I've given a bare bones plot summary - such as it is - below under the cut labeled "The Plot". There will be SOME spoilers but probably nothing that you haven't guessed at if you've seen the trailers for the start of this Series.

If you don't wish to receive any spoilers at all, skip ahead to The Final Thoughts.

I will be writing more about the specific mysteries that are being set up to be explored throughout the season in a later post.


SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUTS!



THE PLOT

Summoned from across time and space, three of The Doctor's companions (Amy Pond, Rory Pond and Dr. River Song) meet in the Nevada desert in 2011... just in time to see a future version of The Doctor's 11th Incarnation be gunned down by an American astronaut. After meeting a fourth former companion of The Doctor (Canton Everette Delaware III), who helps with disposing of the body before disappearing, the trio meet up with a younger version of The Doctor they just saw die.

Following the only lead they have (the name of the mysterious 4th companion), they all travel to The White House in the year 1969, where Canton is an FBI agent investigating the mysterious phone calls of a young girl who keeps calling President Nixon's private line, warning of a menace from space. From there the trail leads to a horrifying discovery and mysteries upon mysteries as Amy Pond continues to see terrifying things that aren't there and discovers that she may have a connection to the odd girl. In the end, The Doctor and company learn they must save the Earth... not from an alien invasion...but from an alien occupation!

THE GOOD PARTS

1. The Silence Are Golden.

I didn't think Steven Moffat could possibly create any creature more menacing than The Weeping Angels.

I was wrong. So wrong.

Because what is worse than a monster that, the second you stop looking at it, will get you? A monster that, the second you stop looking at it, you'll completely forget was there in the first place!

Like most of Moffat's monsters, The Silence are born of a childish fear and the idea that there are things out there... WRONG things... things that only we notice that are just waiting for a chance to slip through the shadows into our reality. The only other writer I can think of who explored this theme as extensively is H. P. Lovecraft. And yet, grounded as it is in the wonder of childhood, Moffat's creatures are all the scarier.

Yes, the concept of great, indifferent squid gods sleeping on the ocean floor are terrifying... but who hasn't had worries about a creepy statue coming to life or the crack in the wall of their bedroom being a gateway to someplace sinister? That realization and ability to build a menace out of a feeling that we all remember from childhood is what makes Steven Moffat's tales of horror all the more effective.


2. A Likeable Nixon?

Moffat has done the impossible and given us a Richard Nixon that is actually a likeable character, while still remaining true to what we know about the man historically. Given that Nixon rarely comes off well in alternative history tales, it's a nice twist to have one of the most infamous American Presidents being portrayed as an amiable sort who is all too willing to go joy-riding across the country, just to tell some soldiers to stand down and enjoy the look of surprise on their face as they see The President himself has shown up to explain who this "Doctor" fellow is.


3. Arthur Darvill: The Most Underrated Actor On This Show.

Seriously, I have not seen anyone praise Arthur Darvill's performance as Rory in everything I've read about this show. Is it just me? Am I the only one thinks he is utterly amazing and has managed to flesh Rory out into one of the best supporting characters the show has ever had?

Don't believe me? Take a look at his face in the scene in which he tries to speak to Amy through a device that is broadcasting her thoughts to him. The Doctor says that it won't work and Rory insists that she'll know he's coming to help her... as she begins broadcasting how much she wants The Doctor to come save her.

I can't recall a better example of non-verbal acting than this moment in which Rory, who had some fairly reasonable issues last year regarding whether or not Amy was really in love with him anymore, seemingly has his worst nightmares confirmed.


4. Excellent Pacing.

Until recently, Doctor Who rarely engaged in Back To The Future/Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure-style shenanigans with characters crossing one another's time lines and sending back instructions to their past selves. Moffat throws in ever trick involving Time Travel that science fiction has to offer and then some into this story. And yet somehow it avoids confusion because the whole story moves too quickly for the viewer to stop and think about why what just happened shouldn't have happened.

THE PROBLEMS

1. It's Not Newbie Friendly.

The thing that makes this such a great episode to long-time fans is also the thing that makes it a damnable nuisance to newcomers - it violates the Stan Lee rule of serial writing, which demands that writers consider that every episode in a serial is potentially somebody's first episode.

I don't think this means we need to have a recap of who is who and who is fighting who and why at the start of every single episode. But Doctor Who has been quite good, since its return in 2005, in making the first episode of each series a good jumping-on point for newbies with simple stories like Rose and The Christmas Invasion standing out as particularly great stories for showcasing what your average Doctor Who story is like to a newbie.

Whatever else you may say about these two episodes, they are NOT simple.


2. The Whole Human Race Is Party To Genocide Now.

The Doctor pretty much proved Davros' charge back in Journey's End that The Doctor was a hypocrite because while he'll refuse to use a gun but that he has no problem with turning people into weapons if it will keep his hands clean.

Granting that he did try and get The Silence to surrender and leave Earth before turning their own powers of hypnotic suggestion against them and that this does fit in with the Tenth Doctor's rule of "No Second Chances", I'm still not entirely comfortable with The Doctor - ANY version of The Doctor - utilizing a plan that requires every person on Earth in 1969 to become a murderer... even if they're killing off a race that has enslaved humanity for millennium.


3. Not Everyone Had A TV Back In 1969.

Granting that there are a probably a LOT more of The Silence in the urban areas and there are certainly more in The States than there are in other parts of the world... The Doctor's plan does rather hinge on all of The Silence being within range of someone with a TV set when they get the order to kill their oppressors.

I'm just wondering if there are Silence agents in Africa, hiding among the poorest villages who are getting out of this situation scott free. Just wondering...


4. Doctor Who is NOT The X-Files.

Effective as the cinematography was in these two episodes, between the story and the scenes depicting Amy Pond wandering around a spooky building and being abducted by The Silence, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a British version of the X-Files for most of the second episode. I like X-Files but Doctor Who should never leave me feeling like I'm watching The X-Files, if you get my meaning. It's an entirely different kind of science fiction.




The Final Verdict: An effective opening that leaves us with more questions than we have answers about the new alien menace that is threatening Earth and more mysteries than we have clues. Steven Moffat has created another masterpiece.

The only real flaw is that unlike previous Series Openers, this is one not very friendly to new viewers. If you have a friend who is new to Who, loan them your copy of Series 5. Or start them off with Series 1 and Rose. Let them work up to this one.

New Doctor Who Episode Commentaries Coming Soon!

They are coming. Have no fear. I saw The Impossible Astronaut yesterday and am only waiting for Part Two before writing up something on the whole thing.

Doctor Who 2010 Christmas Special - A Christmas Carol

SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUTS


THE PLOT

Amy and Rory, enjoying a part of their honeymoon in the honeymoon suite of a luxury cruise starship, wind up in a bit of a pickle when their ship is caught in a rather nasty storm that prevents them from landing safely. The storm also prevents The Doctor from using the TARDIS to save them and the other people on-board the ship. And the rich, miserly Mr. Kazran Sardick - whose father built the device that controls the skies and the only living man able to control the device that might stop the storm - won't do it. Even at the beset of The Doctor, The President and the 4,000+ people on-board the ship begging for their lives, he sees no reason to have to lift a finger to help others even when it won't cost him a thing.

Faced with a man who has no sense of pity or The Christmas Spirit, The Doctor has no choice but to break the laws of time in order to go back and give him some, playing the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in order to save his companions and the soul of a man most consider beyond all hope.





THE GOOD PARTS

* Steven Moffat's script is a delight. "Christmas Carol" episodes of sit-coms and dramas tend to be the most bland, predictable form of Christmas special there is. And yet, despite the unoriginal title and the fact that we know damn well just what the story we're viewing is (i.e. a rehash of one of the most famous works of English literature in the 19th century), there is just enough original material - including a romantic subplot - to make you forget that you've already read much of this story before.

* Michael Gambon is a most effective Scrooge and his turn here as the elder/Present Day Kazran Sardick will stun those who are only familiar with Gambon's portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in all the Harry Potter films since Prisoner of Azkaban. He perfectly captures the evil of The Scrooge character - one who commits evil not through malice, but through indifference. He doesn't wish to cause others pain - he just doesn't care to prevent suffering.

* Matt Smith really comes into his own playing The Doctor in this episode. Freed from his companions for the better part of the episode, we get an analysis of The Eleventh Doctor's character and how he views people that was somewhat lacking in many of the Series 5 episodes which centered more upon Amy Pond.

* Amy and Rory spending the entire episode in their policewoman/centurion costumes. Why? No explanation is given other than "they were in the honeymoon suite" and no further explanation should be needed, unless you are as pure as the driven snow. Suffice it to say, I'm sure some fan-fiction has already been written.

* The shark. Just... everything with The shark.

* Great music, particularly from a special guest performer who made her acting debut in this episode. Again, I can't say anything until you've seen it.

* Rory is still delighting me as a character, though he doesn't get much to do this time around. Marriage does not seem to have mellowed him and while he and The Doctor do still have the understanding that they developed at the end of Season 5, Rory is still very snarky about his wife's devotion to The Doctor seeming to be greater than her devotion to him and is quick to point out The Doctor's many mistakes.





THE PROBLEMS

* The biggest problem with this episode only becomes apparent after one is finished watching it. Because it is only then that one realizes just how many of the Rules of Time The Doctor violated throughout the course of this episode.

1. Crossing his own timeline, which is supposed to be impossible.
2. Risking a paradox by allowing two versions of the same person from different points in time to meet, which - the Series One episode Father's Day told us - is a VERY BAD THING that weakens the time stream to the point of breaking and causes paradox-eating monsters to show up and "fix" the damage.
3. Changing the course of one prominent life that has already been set by history, which Waters of Mars made clear was an INCREDIBLY AWFULLY BAD THING to do. Even with good intentions.

* There's also the problem of the teenage Kazran Sardick suddenly deciding not to tell The Doctor about what the numbers on the cryogenic freezer mean or about the illness that the love of his life has. Given everything he's seen The Doctor do in his apparent travels on the TARDIS, you'd think the first thing he'd ask would be if The Doctor might save Abigail. I know we need to set up the tragic romance for the final act... but still... you think he'd ask.

* For that matter, why doesn't Abigail think to ask The Doctor herself? She asks him, upon meeting him, if he is one of her doctors and the subject of why she'd ask that question is never raised.

* For that matter, one has to wonder why The Doctor doesn't put two and two together regarding Abigail's illness and the timer on her cryo unit. Granting that Smith's Doctor is a bit oblivious and that he is under quite a bit of pressure at the moment (in theory anyway - more on this in a bit) throughout the episode, you'd think he'd figure something was up.

* There's also very little sense of urgency regarding Amy and Rory's predicament during some parts of the Episode. Of course with the TARDIS, time is on The Doctor's side but it is easy to forget about them when The Doctor takes a goodly amount of time to take Abigail and Kazran joyriding about the Universe.

* The complication in the third act that The Doctor has changed Kazran so much that the electronic device controlling the clouds that responds to his brainwave patterns no longer recognizes him doesn't make any sense given that the machine should have adjusted along with Kazran's memories as time went by.

* Finally, on a personal note... The Eleventh Doctor has got to be the only person in the universe who would view marriage to Marilyn Monroe as an annoyance.



The Final Verdict: Overall, a most excellent episode. There's quite a few plot holes that you could drive a space whale through and the Laws of Time which has governed the show for so long are violated to rather muted effect. Still, the guest performances are engaging and Matt Smith himself shines in what has to be his single best performance as The Doctor thus far in his career.