DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES SEVEN

Series Seven, in so many ways, reminds me of Season Twenty. It knows that it's coinciding with a major anniversary and is trying to be a bit special. But, maybe, it might have been better if it was just a normal season! 

There is still quite a bit of brilliance going on within both these periods. Twenty, for instance, had some incredible stories like Snakedance and Enlightenment. Even Mawdryn Undead was quite strong. Seven, we'll see, will contain similar tales. These sort of high points mean we're not getting something fairly abysmal like Season Seventeen or Series Two. But we're also not getting something supremely awesome, either. Which becomes more readily apparent since these are meant to be special seasons. 

THE FIRST HALF - THE TROUBLE WITH BLOCKBUSTERS! 

Moff had a sort of weird vision for the first half of this season. He wanted every episode to feel like a blockbuster movie. He even had posters made up for each one that made the story look like it was some major Hollywood production. 

It was a cute idea, I suppose. But one that I felt really didn't work that well. There were, in fact, two major problems with the whole concept: 

1) A blockbuster movie needs a blockbuster budget. While New Who looked gloriously better than the embarrassing visuals the Classic Series used to produce, it was still a TV show. It only has so much money being put into it. It was never going to be able to give us the glitzy effects we'd get from some film with a 300 million dollar budget. 

Look at Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, for instance. The CGI dinosaurs were more-than-passable at the time. But the budget still wasn't really good enough to give us the sort of Jurassic Park feel that it was trying to achieve. In fact, because the money wasn't there, the effects have aged poorly.  Nowadays, one can see fairly clearly several instances where the onscreen characters are interacting with effects that will only be added later in post production. The "fringing" is quite bad, in places.  

2) Because a good Blockbuster is meant to be about Spectacle, the script will often suffer at the expense of the flashy visuals. The plot to the story will lack complexity or nuance so that the audience experiences the maximum effect of a thrilling roller coaster ride. But there really won't be any more to it than that.  

This is an absolute terrible direction to take something like Doctor Who in. I come to the show for adventures that I can appreciate on several levels. Yes, there should be a certain "wow factor" to any good Who tale. But there needs to be all that other good stuff too. I'm looking for complex plots with fleshed-out characters and themes that are explored with a flair of artistic expression. Blockbusters rarely have any of these attributes. So, basically, Moff's decision strips away just about everything that I genuinely love about Doctor Who!  

THE FIRST HALF - WILD, WILD WEST 

These last few Reviews have, more-or-less, been looking at the stories of the season in chronological order. I figure it's time to mix things up a bit. So let's examine things in a slightly different way for a bit and start with A Town Called Mercy. 

It's a funny tale in several ways. Firstly, it doesn't really go for that "let's make everything a blockbuster" theme and seems more like a Spaghetti Western. This is actually one more problem with this whole idea. A few of the stories don't really suit the theme. 

Town Called Mercy also feels quite a bit like a Star Trek story. Particularly Next Generation. In my foggy recollection, most every episode of STNG raised some sort of moral dilemma that the crew of the Enterprise must face. They would gather in lounge-like meeting rooms and discuss the issue from every side. And then discuss it some more. And debate and discuss. Then discuss and debate. And then re-hash all the issues the debates and discussions had already brought up two or three more times. Then, finally, in the last few minutes of the episode, something would happen that resolved the conflict. Oftentimes, the solution came about through no actual actions that the crew of the Enterprise, themselves, were taking. So all that talking the problem through for the better part of the episode had no real effect on the final outcome. 

Mercy tends to work the same way. With some contrast to STNG, it does start off pretty fun and gives us quite a bit of action. Until the Doctor finally figures out who Jex is. At which point, great amounts of debate and discussion ensue. Can someone do something horrible and, somehow, redeem themselves? Is it right to sacrifice one life so that others will be saved? On and on it goes. Admittedly, a bit more action is thrown in here and there to keep us engaged. But, for the most part, it's way more about arguing on the various subjects of the debate than we really need. 

In defense of the story, there is still some pretty good stuff going on. Isaac is a really great character who is excellently portrayed. It is quite touching when he's shot and passes his badge on to the Doctor. There's also a very nice speech that the Doctor delivers to the lynch mob about "violence never ending violence - only extending it" that deserves far more credit than it gets. But, alas, monologues from Pandorica and Akhaten always tend to dwarf these things. 

And then there's the Gunslinger. The Gunslinger, quite honestly, is a total bad-ass. He not only has cool built-in weapons, but it looks very cool when he teleports. And I love all his Terminatoresque POV shots. He's meant to still be guarding over Mercy. So the character is easily accessible for future appearances. I would love to see him come back. Even if it's more of a cameo. Like, maybe, the Doctor assembles another army like he did in Good Man Goes to War. It would be awesome to see him return for even just a few minutes. 

THE FIRST HALF - THE CHIBNALL STUFF 

To the best of my recollection, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and Power of Three are the last scripts Chris Chibnall submits to Doctor Who before he becomes its Head Writer. He's written several before this season, of course. Which would lead one to believe that the show would keep producing his stuff. But he probably just got too busy with Broadchurch and really didn't have time for anything else. 

What this means, unfortunately, is that these two stories are probably the first ones we go back to when we hear that he is becoming the Head Writer. Which alarms us a bit since neither of them are particularly spectacular. 

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, to its credit, does the best job out of all the stories in this section of the season of meeting Moff's thematic stipulations. It really does feel like a Blockbuster film that's been squeezed down to fit the small screen. Even the title has that attention-grabbing, sensationalistic tone to it that all movies of this nature need. 

Which means, of course, that the story is ridiculously light on plot. Really, there's not much happening, here. Some mean guy kicked a bunch of Silurians out of their ship but can't pilot it, now. That's the core premise. Chibnall was smart enough to bring in some extra companions to create a few inconsequential subplots. But it's still not anywhere near adequate. 

It's still a nice thrill ride, of course. With lots of fun involving various species of dinosaurs. Solomon is a great villain, too. Although we get nowhere near enough of him. Particularly since Bradley does a great job with the part (they should really bring him back, somehow. Everyone should decline any of his wedding invitations, though!).  Oddly enough, my favorite action moment in the whole adventure is when Rory and his Dad successfully steer the ship. It's a fun little father-and-son moment that they play up really well. 

There are, however, more problems with the story than just the light plot. The two comedy robots, ironically enough, aren't particularly funny. I wouldn't even call them annoying. They just fall really flat. Not sure if it's the dialogue that's been written for them or the ineffectiveness of the voice actors. Or a combination, thereof. But the whole gag just never really works. And their absolutely awful stormtrooper aim when the Doctor and friends are escaping on a triceratops is really painful to watch. 

Overall, though, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is still a passable romp. Power of Three, however, is never all that particularly easy to sit through. 

It has its moments. Giving so much focus to Rory and Amy just before they are about to go does work quite well, in places. It gets us all-the-more attached to them so their departure in the next story feels even sadder. The scene with the Doctor and Amy having a big heart-to-heart works very well at achieving this, too. 

This is also the story that introduces Kate Stewart. A character I fall instantly in love with even before I find out who her Dad is. The presence she will develop in the show over the next few years will resonate as strongly as her father's once did. She's really quite marvelous. 

These two traits, alone, save Power of Three from being an absolute stinker. But the story doesn't really have much beyond that. 

If we're being absolutely honest, the whole thing's a bit dull. There are some engaging moments involving the cubes or the silly misadventures that occur during Amy and Rory's anniversary. But, for the most part, it's a fairly uninteresting plot. 

This is yet another story during New Who where the ending starts to get pretty messy. This is actually a fairly common trait in the Revived Series. I blame it on just how rushed a story has to be, sometimes. The writer just doesn't have the proper time to set up the ending the plot needs. So they just, sort of, slap something together and hope the audience isn't paying too much attention to the gaping plot holes. 

First off, I get that a certain level of unusual coincidence sometimes has to happen to get the narrative to work. But there is such thing as too much coincidence. And making a trans-dimensional entrance to a spaceship just happen to be at the hospital Rory works at is a shining example of this. 

But the weirdest part of the whole story is when the Shakri hologram dude just disappears and leaves the main controls unattended. Are you really not going to put some defenses in place (you know, like you did earlier in the story?!) when someone who is openly opposing you is standing right there? Nope. Just leave all the important stuff that they can use to stop you right at their disposal. The Doctor's explanation of: "He was never there to begin with!" makes it all feel even sillier. No doubt, it was meant to make the Shakri sound more mysterious. But, instead, they just look dumb! 

THE FIRST HALF - THE MOFF STUFF 

One could praise Moffat for writing the best stories during this part of the season. But, the plain truth is: the competition really wasn't that fierce. Which does, in some ways, make it look like he needs to do his job better. As a Head Writer, he shouldn't just be making sure his material looks good. He should be polishing everyone else's work too. 

There seems to be this weird consensus amongst fandom that Moff  doesn't write well for the Daleks. I'm not sure how that idea was actually formed. Aside from Series One, Daleks stories during the RTD era were pretty lackluster. Whereas I quite liked Asylum of the Daleks. It's tightly-written and explores an interesting concept. I also like that it's a different kind of plot for the Daleks. Usually, they're forming some great plan for universal domination. This time, they just want the Doctor's help with a problem. 

The episode also comes up with what I thought was a great compromise for the fans that didn't like the update to the Dalek appearance. The bronze-liveried ones are still around, but they're the grunts. The Teletubbies are more of a ruling class. So we'll still, mainly, see the ones the fans seem to like the most. With the less popular ones only making the occasional appearance. Sadly, this still wasn't enough. The Teletubbies would get phased out altogether very soon. 

Seeing the old model Daleks in the asylum, itself, was also quite cool. I'm actually amazed they weren't featured more prominently. All the creepy stuff with insane Daleks and nano-cloud-infected humans was quite chilling. As I said, it's a great story. It also makes sure to do what it says on the tin. It's meant to mainly take place in a Dalek asylum and it does exactly that. 

The twist with Oswyn Oswald was absolutely great. Even if her normal voice coming over the comms seems a bit tricky to reconcile! I'm okay with guessing that she, somehow, created a way for that to happen in order to re-enforce the reality she was believing in. It takes a bit of headcannon to fix the flaw but this isn't one of those "Why was Sutekh given everything he needs to escape?!" situations where we have to fill in too many gaps to get it to make sense. It's not that big of a stretch to work out a viable explanation. I also loved how intrigued I was by the mystery of Jenna Coleman being in the episode but then dying. It's a great set up for the second half of the season. 

Asylum of the Daleks also does a fairly good job of giving us that blockbuster vibe. Those great sweeping shots of the Dalek Parliament do a particularly good job of making us feel like we're watching a big-budget Hollywood film. Although, the inference that the Daleks are ruled by some form of democracy does seem pretty silly. The Dalek Prime Minister, however, does look kinda cool. Would love to see more of him. 

Angels Take Manhattan, on the other hand, doesn't feel like a blockbuster at all. It's an old-timey detective story. And, aside from one major problem, it all works quite well. 

While every Weeping Angel story will always live in the shadow of Blink, Angels Take Manhattan does prove that there's still plenty of mileage left in these quantum-locked monstrosities. They continue to be terrifying and Moffat is always expanding upon their lore to keep them interesting. In fact, this adventure seems to link quite a few things together within the different episodes that have featured them. It seems likely, for instance, that the extinct Aplans that are mentioned in Time of the Angels were wiped out by the same sort of battery farms the Angels were trying to establish in New York. I'd also guess that those Angels we see scavenging at Wester-Drumlins in Blink are more survivors from the disaster Amy and Rory created in 1928. It's entirely possible that one of the four that are now trapped in the basement was also the Angel in the graveyard that took away Amy and Rory. 

Of course, the biggest deal going on in the story is that this is the final outing for Amy and Rory. Their departure is beautifully-handled. That big moment on the ledge of the building is ridiculously intense and really does show us how strong of a couple they genuinely are. Leaping out and hoping everything will be okay is a nice big blatant metaphor for what marriage is. And the image works nicely. 

And now, we must discuss the one big problem: 

I get it, it's hard to do a story with Weeping Angels in New York and not want to make the Statue of Liberty into one of them. But you can't do that without providing a rational explanation for how a giant friggin' statue can move through the streets of friggin' New York and not be seen by anyone!! It's a bit too much to swallow. 

I do have one other super minor problem with this tale. At this point, I was getting tired of companions almost always being forcibly separated from the Doctor in order to finally leave the TARDIS once and for all. I guess it would be hard to stop travelling with this near-magical being who can take you anywhere in Time and Space and you might need to be stranded in a parallel universe or trapped in a storm of time paradoxes or something like that in order to truly give it all up. But I also think it's possible that people can just behave the way most companions in the Classic Series did. One day, they could just come to the realization that it's time to leave. 

Unfortunately, there will still be quite a while before companion farewells are going to get written that way, again. 

THE FIRST HALF - CONCLUSION 

I do wonder, sometimes, if I misunderstood Moff's vision for these particular five stories. Only two of them really seem to fit the description of "Blockbuster". Is my definition of the term too strict? Or was he actually just trying to create episodes that felt like Hollywood genre films? But, even if that was the case, how does Power of Three fit in? I don't remember there being any popular Hollywood movies about cube invasions! 

I think, if we really want to appreciate this particular period, there were other arcs and/or themes going on that deserve far better attention. 

Amy and Rory finally leaving is definitely one of them. It really did seem like everything we needed to explore about these two was settled by the end of Series Six. But Moff adds this very nice Coda to their relationship in these last few episodes. We watch them make the transition back to their normal lives but still love the Doctor for everything that he has done for them. It's a beautiful process to observe. 

A much more subtle but interesting arc is the moral decay that the Doctor seems to be going through during this period. He ruthlessly sends Solomon to his death during Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and seems quite ready to do the same to Jex during Town Called Mercy. Amy echoes a sentiment once expressed by Donna: it's not good for him to travel alone. He seems to lose some of his compassion when he does. Fortunately, he will be getting obsessed with the Mystery of Clara soon and this will get him on a straighter path for a bit.

INTERMISSIONS BEGINS: 

THE SNOWMEN 

Thanks, so much, Moff for giving us a very different kind of Christmas Special, this year. The Snowmen is both sinister and funny but isn't making such a concerted effort at tugging at the heartstrings as Doctor, Widow, Wardrobe tried to, last year. Also, we're not getting any dialogue like "humany wumany"!   

A lot of Christmas Specials also have the tendency of being very self-contained. Production knows that there's a ton of audience that is really only coming in to enjoy a Christmas Day tradition and doesn't really watch the show much outside of that. The Snowmen, however, is surprisingly relevant. It sets in motion the whole "Who Is Clara Oswald?!" arc that permeates the second half of the season.  

Finally, there's the gorgeous fan service of bringing back the Great Intelligence. Again, Moff is quite obnoxious. He puts the letters "GI" up all over the place to tease us. Oblivious loser that I am, I never clue in till the Doctor starts talking about London Underground in the 60s. I still don't quite get everything till the proper Reveal at Clara's grave. 

INTERMISSION ENDS 

Into the second half of Series Seven we go. Again, I'm going to skirt around chronologically-reviewing the stories. Instead, I'll discuss them in order of preference. 

Before I begin, it should be noted that I think all of the episodes of this section of the season are, at the very least, decent. There's nothing here that smacks of Creature from the Pit or The Next Doctor. I don't sit there, at the end of it, regretting the time I spent watching it. 

But some of these tales definitely have more flaws to them than others. As we reach the top of the list, however, I'll admit that one or two of these stories achieved some degree of brilliance.   

Anyhow, here goes. Starting at the bottom: 

Journey to the Center of the TARDIS 

There are a few problems that weigh quite heavily on Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. Its biggest one also affects a few other stories in this particular period. 

Quite simply, the directing feels very flat. A I watch the episode, I'm very disconnected from everything that's going on. I'm having an especially difficult time feeling an attachment to any of the characters. The Baalen Brothers aren't particularly likeable, of course. But that doesn't mean we still can't find them engaging. So there's no excuse for me to not really care about them. Truth be told: I'm not even all that interested in Clara and the Doctor during this episode. When absolutely no one in the story is resonating with you, that's usually the fault of the director. 

The other real problem with the adventure is that the title creates an effect that I like to call the "Invasion of Time Expectation". If a good chunk of the plot is meant to take place within the TARDIS, then we're anticipating a decent exploration of the place. Yes, there will be lots of wandering around in corridors. But we do expect that time will also be spent in some interesting rooms. At best, Journey allows a glimpse here and there into some interesting spots in the TARDIS. But not really much more. The shots of Clara wandering down a corridor with an observatory and swimming pool CGIed into the background feel especially cheap. It all becomes a bit of a let-down. Basically, don't throw us into the TARDIS for the entirety of an episode and then not show us much!    

There are some redeeming qualities, of course. The ultimate revelation of what the TARDIS zombies were was quite clever. I also like the big confrontation the Doctor has with Clara at the cliff's edge. The whole adventure becoming an aborted timeline that only the Doctor remembers was also a neat way to conclude things. There's a lot of well-executed timey whimeyness, here. 

Overall, however, the story only succeeds so well. Which is why it sits on the bottom of this particular list.

Cold War 

The Ice Warriors are finally being brought into the New Series! Yay! Green men from Mars might be a huge cliche, but I still love these guys. 

Of course, this would be even more exciting if the story didn't feel as flat as Journey to the Center of the TARDIS did. Once more, I'm not really experiencing much of an attachment to anyone. The scientist who likes Ultravox and Duran Duran is the only one who particularly stands out much. I do remember being legitimately upset when Skaldak grabs him and it looks like he might actually get killed. In that moment, I realized that I cared about him a bit, at least!   

Doing a story about the terrors of the Cold War twenty-or-so years after it's over is probably not the wisest choice, either. It's fine to go back into the 80s and make a historical piece. But trying to showcase the futility of a mutually-assured destruction doesn't really feel all that particularly relevant, anymore. 

The other problem I have with this one is that it re-hashes The Ice Warriors just a little bit. Once more, a Martian is found in the ice. Do these guys just not know when to come in from the cold?!  

Nightmare in Silver

Poor 'ole Neil Gaiman.  He had such a difficult act to follow! 

The Doctor's Wife is a piece of absolute brilliance. One of the best stories from the New Series. Whatever script he wrote next for the show would live in the shadow of his first contribution. 

When I heard he would be writing a Cybermen story, I was quite interested in seeing how Gaiman would treat this particular monster. And he did do some very interesting things with them. I really loved the concept of the Cybermites. All you needed to do, now, was throw a few bugs at someone and they would start converting into Cybermen. I also loved how adaptive these horrible monsters had become. The way that they kept upgrading to deal with the various obstacles that were being used against them was quite interesting to watch.

Unfortunately, some more bad directing seems to step in and damage all the great writing this episode gets. Again, things are feeling quite unengaging. Some superb casting helps to nullify some of this.  Warwick Davis has a ridiculous level of screen presence that does massively help the story. Matt Smith also does an incredible job of playing against himself as he fights the influence of the Cyber Planner. 

But it's still not quite enough. Nightmare in Silver still feels a lot like Cold War and Journey to the Center of the TARDIS. Something that is cranked out rather than properly produced. Which is a shame, really. It's a great script by Gaiman. Maybe not quite as strong as his first one, but still very good. But this is another story where the direction feels a bit like it's been phoned in. I can see why he stops submitting after this. It's hard to want to write scripts for something that isn't realizing your vision particularly well. 

Rings of Akhaten 

We're moving out of the flatter stories that are merely passable and into the stuff that starts to genuinely impress me. 

Although, I wouldn't say that fandom holds Rings of Akhaten in the same place in their heart as I do. I seem to recall lots of complaints about it. I'm not sure why, though. Maybe singing aliens and space mopeds are a bit too silly for some peoples' tastes. But it's actually the sort of stuff I go to Doctor Who for! I like my sci-fi a bit weird and not taking itself too seriously! 

And then, of course, there's the speech. Gorgeously-written. I love it when he talks about seeing universes held together by the will of a madman. I was like: "Hey! He's talking about The Three Doctors!" This is also where we see a huge difference between Ten and Eleven. If Tennant had been performing the monologue, the whole thing would have dripped with angst. Smith still delivers a bunch of sadness but gives it a much more interesting undertone. He seems almost proud of the pain he's suffered. The choices he makes in his delivery make the whole scene so much more enjoyable. 

There are a few problems with Akhaten. But I still find it to be a reasonably good story. We need more adventures like this, in fact. So often, the Doctor just talks about all the strange worlds he's seen but is just hanging around in modern-day London a lot! He needs to actually go to these places more frequently and let us witness them for ourselves. 

The Crimson Horror 

As much as I love seeing the Doctor heading off to weird alien worlds, the earthbound stories do seem to be doing particularly well during this part of the season. Especially the Historicals.

The Crimson Horror is another tale that is great fun. Nothing too complicated. A crazy old woman with a worm attached to her chest is up to no good with some red goo. But a good time is had with it. The Paternoster Gang continues to be entertaining, too. I also enjoy how the narrative is done in a non-linear manner for a bit. Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling deliver great performances that really help to make the story shine. It's always great when this mother and daughter work together.    

This a great example of how hit-or-miss Gatiss' writing can be. Crimson Horror is a script that I put in the "good pile". But he's done some serious stinkers, too. In fact, I actually consider Idiot's Lantern one of the worst stories of New Who. He even has some middle-of-the-road stuff like Victory of the Daleks. Basically, he's a bit all-over-the-place! 

I know many have felt he should have succeeded Moff as Head Writer. But his track record does make me feel a little trepidatious about that idea. He's just a little too inconsistent. Yes, the two stories Chibnall wrote in the other half of the season were a bit "meh". But they were still passable. Overall, his scripts held up. He had also created a ridiculously-successful TV series just before he was handed the keys to Doctor Who (yes, I know Gatiss has had some success with other shows he worked on, too - but I don't think he ever quite hit the level of Broadchurch). Sorry kids. Based on qualifications alone, Chibnall was the better man for the job! 

Anyhow, a bit of a digression, there. Sorry! Bottom Line is: Crimson Horror is definitely a good time! 

The Bells of Saint John 

Given how simple and straightforward it is, this story still ends up being quite delightful. A mysterious being is hoovering up souls through the Wi-Fi and makes the mistake of trying to snatch up someone the Doctor has become intensely interested in. There's really not much to it all, really. But Bells of Saint John is an especially fun romp. 

The last ten minutes or so have some really great surprises. The Doctor re-jigging a "spoonhead" is a magnificent little twist. And the Great Intelligence being back already was a fantastic Reveal. Moments like these make such a basic plot worth the watch. Even re-watches remain enjoyable. The surprises may be gone, but they're still very entertaining. 

And then, of course, there's the anti-grav bike. The Doctor riding it up the side of the Shard is probably one of the most ludicrous things the show has ever done. But I still grin ear-to-ear every time I watch the sequence. It's just so awesome!       

Hide 

Up until this story, I felt Blink was the most terrifying Doctor Who episode, ever. Those damned Weeping Angels were absolute nightmare-fuel in that. 

But then we get to Hide. An adventure that starts off as a traditional haunted house yarn. But it really does contain some of the creepiest visuals the show has ever given us. I legitimately get the chills watching this episode. The scare-factor goes through the roof. 

What makes Hide even more enjoyable, however, are the tonal shifts. It starts off as just a fun little spooky story. As we start seeing that the ghost isn't really a ghost, things change to some hard sci-fi for a bit. Then it makes a sharp turn back into scariness as the Doctor gets stranded in the forest. And then, finally, it becomes a romance. As all this happens, the writing remains tight and the story-telling is completely engaging. It's an extremely clever plot that still remembers to have a heart. It's especially impressive that the actual "monster" in the story turns into someone we desperately want to see saved so he can be re-united with the love of his life. 

Hide is quite brilliant. In some ways, it should be considered the best story of this part of the season. However, I am a sucker for fan service. Which is why there is just one story that manages to beat it. 

The Name of the Doctor 

If I'm being completely honest, I was in love with this episode within its first few seconds. Actually letting us see the moment where the Doctor and Susan steal a Type Forty TARDIS and escape into the cosmos was totally cool. But to then have Clara chasing after various incarnations of the Doctor had me foaming at the mouth! Like Power of the Doctor, it was a new and different way to do a multi-incarnation story. In fact, it's such a unique technique that I almost don't really consider this to be a story that involves several different versions of the Doctor. And yet, it is.   

What's even nicer is that, beyond those first few minutes, we do really get a great story. It's a bit on the simplistic side. It even feels like things are dragging ever-so-slightly as the Doctor deliberates over diving into the "wound in Time" to save Clara. But there's still just enough meat there to get us to feel like there's more than just fan service going on. There is a real plot, too. And it's all quite breath-taking as we see this absolutely terrible fate awaiting the Doctor on Trenzalore.  

And then, of course, we get to the last few minutes where there's some more totally cool appearances by previous incarnations. Any dissatisfaction that I was experiencing over the lightness of plot or even the slightly blatant padding gets forgotten. I'm blown away by some more of the previous Doctors that are showing up as we finally get the full answer to the Mystery of Clara.  It's all quite wonderful! 

Finally, though, we get the tease to end all teases. Who the Hell is John Hurt meant to be?!!!     

SEASON CONCLUSION

If we want to get all super-technical and pedantic, Series Seven ends here. I'll still talk about the two Specials after this, but let's stop to take a look at what we've gotten, thus far. 

There's a lot of things that I greatly enjoyed about this season. The very first and last episode were, in my mind, Classics. I loved Asylum of the Daleks and adored Name of the Doctor. But the stuff in between met with mixed results! Angels Take Manhattan, Crimson Horror, Hide and a few other stories like them are quite good. But we also had Town Called Mercy, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and certain other episodes that were, quite honestly, a bit dull. 

What this means, of course, is that Series Seven really only works so well. I would even consider it the weakest season Moff ever produced. The fact that this is a season that also falls on an anniversary year makes its flaws all-the-more apparent. 

Still, I wouldn't call this an actual "bad" season. There's enough quality story-telling going on in it to save it from that status. But it's also just a bit disappointing, in places. 

THE SPECIALS - PART ONE: A GREAT DAY 

I've talked about Day of the Doctor in a few other entries, already (Top Ten: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html Best Anniversary Ever: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/11/review-overview-what-constitutes-good.html). As always, I'll try to cover new ground, here. 

This might be the episode that has had the most expectations put on it in the entire history of the show. This isn't just an Anniversary Special, it's an adventure celebrating the first fifty years of a franchise. It has to accomplish sooo many different things in the span of about ninety minutes. There's no possible way it will ever be able to accomplish the task. 

And yet, Day of the Doctor is a thing of magnificence. It really does tick every single box that it needs to - and then some! Who, for instance, expected a future Doctor to show up in the plot?! And, while I'm not the biggest Tom Baker fan in the world, his cameo at the end was still absolutely brilliant. 

If I'm let down by anything, it's the fact that the whole storyline with the Zygons feels a bit light. But then, having a slightly shallow plot has been a long-standing tradition in Doctor Who Anniversary Specials. Both The Three and Five Doctors don't have much going on in them, either. So I'm willing to let it slide!    

I really don't think there could have been any better way to celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary than what we ended up getting, here. Moff really did pull off the impossible.    

THE SPECIALS - PART TWO: A GREAT TIME 

From one highly-anticipated episode to the next! 

Everything over the last three seasons has been building towards this moment. What truly awaits the Doctor at Trenzalore?

Quite a bit more than expected, really. I mean, we knew the Doctor wasn't really going to die. That much was obvious. But, just like Series Six, we're interested in seeing how he's going to get out of it. And, of course, there's been this whole mystery building about the Silence and the Question That Must Never Be Answered and other stuff of that nature that we're finally expecting some answers to. There's a lot that has to happen in Matt's Final Hour. 

But, just like Day of the Doctor, we get more Bang for our Buck than we bargained for. Who expected Time of the Doctor to address the fact that the Doctor had used up all his regenerations? I mean, Moff could have skirted around it a bit longer and claimed that Ten regenerating into Ten didn't really count. There's so many things to deal with in this story that it would have been understandable if he had pushed this back to Capaldi's regeneration. 

Instead, he faces the problem head-on and comes up with a more-than-acceptable solution. Everything ties together quite nicely and the Big Story that the entire Eleventh Doctor Era has been telling reaches a very satisfactory resolution. It was even quite cool to see another incarnation live out a full life and regenerate of old age! 

Time of the Doctor also sees the first use of a writing technique that Moff will enjoy engaging in a few more times over the coming years. He seems to like to "wrong foot" us a bit. He gets us to expect one thing and then delivers something entirely different. With Time of the Doctor, we were imagining some huge epic battle on Trenzalore. And we did get to see just a hint of it. But the emphasis was definitely a lot stronger on watching the Doctor settle into a small village and become its protector. I don't think anyone thought we'd be getting this sort of plot in Eleven's final tale. So that's the one Moff gives us. And I quite like it when he plays that sort of trick from time-to-time. 

END OF AN ERA 

And.... that's it! Another Doctor gone. 

I do really feel that Eleven left too soon. I found him to be very watchable and he could have, easily, kept us engaged for another few seasons.  I'm thinking a Pertwee Run would have been just right. 

Part of the reason I feel this way is the simple fact that I really hate that no New Who Doctor ever sticks around for more than three seasons. But, more significantly, Eleven really was a great Doctor. Matt Smith was incredible in the role. I'm also very happy with how his whole Era was put together. I loved that it was telling one long arc with a few smaller ones built into it. Everything about this period really shines. It's not perfect, of course. But it actually comes pretty damned close. 

I know so many fans consider the Tennant Era to be the "glory days" of New Who. What we're actually getting for a Sixtieth Anniversary Special seems to indicate this. Personally, if they were going to return to a favorite period of the show to celebrate sixty years of Who, I would have preferred some extra episodes from Eleven's time as the Doctor. Maybe he finds a way to reach Amy and Rory, after all, and has a few more adventures with them. 

That would have worked far better for me. 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES SIX

Series Five is a great big giant success. The show goes through its first major behind-the-scenes shuffle but everyone seems pretty damned happy with the results. I'm probably happier than most. Everyone seemed madly in love with Tennant and RTD as they made their departure. Whereas I was starting to get a bit tired of both of them. So Moff coming along and changing things up as much as he did brought me greater delight than most. While he didn't stray too far from the roots his predecessor had planted, he made just the right amount of changes that I needed. 

With his first season now under his belt, where does he go from here? Well, if he was truly following in RTD's footsteps, this would be a lather, rinse, repeat situation. We would get another season that has a huge fairy tale vibe. Rory and Amy would have some more relationship problems. River Song would show up in a non-linear manner and still not really reveal any secrets about herself. Then the Universe would blow up again and the Doctor would fix it! 

Quite beautifully, though, Moff goes for something entirely different. Firstly, he messes with the whole structure of the season by sticking a break in the middle of it. On top of that, the nature of the season-long arc is changed radically. Since 2005, the Doctor has been facing threats to the Earth or the Universe, itself, as he reaches the season finale. This time, Moff turns the threat inward. The danger is to the Doctor, himself. Just to be even wilder with altering the format, we even start learning some of River Song's bigger secrets!  

And now, of course, I'm even happier. This is what Doctor Who is all about. It re-invents itself on a regular basis and finds new directions to explore. Sometimes, bad choices get made. The show goes in a way it shouldn't and we get something like Timelash! But this is still far better than tired, old, formula-driven fodder. 

Moff making a few significant changes to the formula of the show pleases me to no end. I will admit upfront: Series Five was a bit better than Six. But, if Moff had just tried to duplicate what he'd done in his first season (as RTD did for, basically, his entire reign), things would have been far worse. 

THOSE FIRST FEW MINUTES...

Is there anything that draws us in more intensely than those first few minutes of The Impossible Astronaut? Watching the Doctor get brutally murdered in front of us is bound to grab our attention. But what makes this sequence all-the-more memorable is that it is executed (no pun intended) very effectively. Especially when you factor in all the various timey-whimeyness that is going all around it. River Song is having a picnic with the Doctor, Rory and Amy while being fully aware that another version of herself is going to climb out of the water in a moment and kill the Doctor. Meanwhile, another version of herself is also currently gestating inside Amy's womb. The Doctor still attempting to regenerate after he's been shot is another interesting nuance. As are all the various reactions the characters have before, during and after the assassination. The Doctor does a great job of being brave as he sees the astronaut emerge from the lake. Rory loyally does what is needed of him to dispose of the Doctor's body after he's killed. River fires uselessly upon herself and says something cryptic. And Amy just openly mourns the loss of her friend. Even Canton Everett Delaware the Third has a fun little moment as he tells the trio that he will see them again. It's all just so ridiculously iconic. 

Of course, we know the Doctor isn't really going to die, here. Something will happen that will, somehow, alter the course of what we've just witnessed. Or there's something deceptive going on. All is not as it seems. We can't say for sure. But this is probably the best "hook" anyone has ever used to get us to watch the rest of the season. We're certain the Doctor will, somehow, find a way out of this. But we're dying to see what trick he's going to use.  

Series Six is off to an amazing start. 

BEYOND THE HOOK... 

Certainly, those first few minutes of Impossible Astronaut grab your attention. But this is a two-parter. How does the other hour and fifteen minutes of the story fare? 

Basically, Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon is good. Really damned good. So damned good, it almost makes it into my Top Ten. 

Like Pandorica Opens/Big Bang, all the resources the Doctor needs to defeat his foe are subtly planted into the plot. We just don't see them till the Doctor actually takes advantage of them. Moffat is even more obnoxious with how well he can hide things than he was during the Series Five finale. Right at the beginning of the second part, he drops a big clue like: "I'm going to use Neil Armstrong's foot!" And, of course, we still don't get what's going on. Not until we reach that final confrontation with the Silence 

And what a confrontation that was! This just might be the best villain tell-off/victorious moment for the Doctor we've ever had. Everyone is on fire, here. The Doctor knows his plan is about to succeed and is actually being playful with his enemy. River Song is extra saucy, too. And I absolutely adore it when Amy asks if their flirting is important! I also love how we still cheer a bit during all the intense action when Amy calls Rory a stupid face. It's a gorgeously-written scene that everyone grabs by the horns and really makes shine. Including the director. The pacing is so crucial at this point and he makes sure to capture it perfectly. 

We should probably address one important issue: the Silence are vaguely similar to the Weeping Angels. They both can get up to some nasty things when you're not looking. But I will say that there are still enough differences between them that I'm not going to turn into one of those nasal-voiced pedants that has to proclaim things like: "Moffat is a hack! He can't come up with any original ideas!" 

Or, at least, I'm not going to say it here. Perhaps in the next few paragraphs! 

THE DIP AND THE RISE 

Like Vampires of Venice, Curse of the Black Spot is our weakest link. Again, not an actually terrible adventure. It has its moments. But it's definitely the poorest story of the season. 

Just like Vampires, the ending gets pretty messy. The Doctor, Amy and Captain Avery let the Siren take them to the other dimension where the spaceship is. Why are they not confined to beds like everyone else? Essentially, they're left to wander around and discover things because the plot needs them to. It does look as though all the beds are finally full. But that is just a bit too much of a lucky coincidence! 

And then there's Rory. Turning him into Kenny from South Park never actually bothered me. They always found clever ways to write him back into the show after he appears to have died. So I actually quite enjoyed it when he's killed but, somehow, resurrects (also really loved the "Oh my God! They killed Rory! You bastards!" memes!). When he briefly kicks the bucket at the end of this story, however, it doesn't really work. The whole scene would have been better if Amy had just been good at CPR. Or the Doctor saves him, somehow. Or something like that. Just not what we got. Killing Rory, officially, is starting to happen too much. And is happening in a way that feels far too contrived. 

My other major beef is that stories about alien technology not functioning properly and causing huge problems is also getting tiresome. We've been getting it a lot when Moff's in charge of the writing. Some of it has been brilliant, of course. Empty Child/Doctor Dances and Girl in the Fireplace were excellent tales that used this idea as their core premise. Black Spot doesn't use the device so well. And, really, we just need a break from this sort of plot. Fortunately, Moff learns his lesson and does give it a rest for a bit after this.

Like Series Five, the poorest episode of the season is then followed by the one of the best. 

There are some people that actually complain about The Doctor's Wife. They claim it's nothing but fan service and, therefore, can't get into it. If this was merely a 46-minute episode where the Doctor is doing nothing but talking to the TARDIS the whole time, I'd find myself agreeing with them. Instead, it's an interesting and even mildly-terrifying adventure where one of the side-effects of the main plot is that the Doctor is able to talk to the TARDIS for a bit. The main focus of the tale is defeating House. The fan service is an almost cosmetic addition. 

Which is the true beauty of this tale. Yes, it is a love poem about the Doctor and the most important relationship in his life(ves). We absolutely love it when the Time Lord complains to his vehicle about how she doesn't always take him where he wants to go. And then she points out the she always took him where he needed to go. It's a great moment that truly summarizes the entire history of the show. But it's still something that's kept in the background. Where it's meant to be. A story like School Reunion could learn a lot from this!   

It is also massively cool to see Neil Gaiman writing for Doctor Who. It gave the show some solid street cred amongst fans of other franchises. "Oh!" we'd say to a Star Wars geek, "You're a fan of Gaiman, are you? Did you know he's written for Doctor Who? Hasn't written any Star Wars stuff, though, has he?! Clearly, Star Wars isn't good enough for him!" It helps, of course, that Gaiman is a gigantic fan of the show. So much so, that he calls the episode The Doctor's Wife. Knowing the extremely obscure story behind the title. 

FLESHY STUFF 

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People has a fair amount heavy-lifting to do. While the main arc of the season is an attempt to help the Doctor avoid his own death, there is also a second ongoing story. Amy seems to be having a serious feminine problem! This adventure faces that issue head-on and ends up giving us one of the most brutal endings to a two-parter that we've ever seen (or is this, perhaps, actually a three-parter?!). Because of the gorgeous set-up these two episodes create, we can't wait to see A Good Man Goes to War.

At the same time, this story does something intensely unique. It creates a giant red herring in the main arc of the season. "Ahhh!" we all say as we see the Flesh copying the Doctor, "This is how he's going to get out of being killed! He'll send in a Flesh version of himself to get shot!" Yes, the copy made of the Doctor dies at the end of Almost People. But we figure he'll just make another one. 

All of this distracts us from the fact that, after only one episode, we are shown the real solution to the problem. Again, I must admire Moff's bravado. One would think he would place the Teselecta later in the season so that we can really take the time to stew over the Flesh. I love that, instead, he presents us with something else that can alter its form almost immediately afterwards 

Most importantly, though, Flesh/People has a solid plot all on its own. Like the Weeping Angels two-parter last season, it doesn't just take care of various arcs. It has some actual meat to its core premise, too. I particularly like how, even though both sides proclaim it, this isn't actually an "Us and Them" situation. The humans aren't entirely good and the Flesh aren't totally evil. It's more like a Silurian story. There are jerks and nice folks on both sides. 

The Doctor's ultimate plan of having Jimmy speak to his son was exceptionally clever. He knew that the encounter would get either version of him to see how ridiculous things were getting and change his ways. Which, in turn, would create a domino effect with the rest of his "side". It's really quite brilliant that this is what resolves the conflict. Ganger Jimmy carrying on in Human Jimmy's place to bring up his son was also quite touching. 

After a pretty crazy cliffhanger, A Good Man Goes to War has a lot to live up to. Impressively enough, it really does succeed. Even the pre-titles are pretty damned cool. After the opening credits, it's great fun to watch the Doctor assemble his army and put his plans into execution. All of it comes together quite smoothly. And I love it as Eleven gives Danny Boy the order to attack Demon's Run and then pretends to be a spitfire! 

And then we get to the major plot twists. Both are very well-constructed. Kovarian getting the last laugh by making Melody a Flesh baby was quite brutal. And the Big Reveal about River Song being Melody in the future was very surprising. For me, at least. I seem to remember a whole slew of fans saying things like: "I knew who she was ten minutes into Silence in the Library!" Which, admittedly, is me making a ridiculous exaggeration for the sake of comedy. But then, I think many of these fans were exaggerating, too. Or, quite possibly, full-on fibbing. I saw absolutely no predictions of this nature in the fangroups before the episode went out. But, suddenly, after the story was transmitted - people were coming out of the woodwork claiming: "I knew it all along!" Why didn't you put your money where your mouth was and claim this before Good Man Goes to War was shown? It's kinda hard to believe you after the fact! 

Anyhow, we reach the mid-season break in very good shape. A couple of major plot threads get resolved but there's also a huge tease of adventures-to-come. If this is what Moff is going to deliver when he breaks a season in half, then I'm all for it!    

INTERMISSION

THE SECOND HALF - PART ONE 

As we get to the second half of the season, Series Six is sitting pretty good. We've got three episodes that were extraordinary. Three that were very strong. And one that was "meh". Which makes for some pretty good stats. 

But now we're doing a bit of a re-set. A very pointed rest in the transmission rate allows for a big change of emphasis in this latter set of episodes. Which is exactly what happens. The second half of Series Six feels a lot less cohesive. The Doctor isn't scanning Amy's womb every episode. There's not as much talk of his imminent death. River Song has less of a presence in the stories. The episodes don't feel as interconnected. Which is not actually a bad thing. But it is an adjustment. This always has the potential to alienate an audience. Things were running on one course that seemed to be working well. But, now, suddenly - things are different. One can't help but think of the old proverb: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" 

I'm more inclined, however, to support this sort of decision. "Never get in a rut!" is a non-existent proverb I've always gotten behind. So I applaud the change of tone that occurs in the second half of Series Six. Yes, we've lost some of that gorgeous dramatic momentum that the first half had. But I still feel that, overall, the season shows a greater sense of artistic merit by going in such a different direction after its break. 

Let's Kill Hitler starts things off nicely and has a few decent surprises in it. I'm particularly impressed that we get even more Reveals about River Song so quickly (once more, of course, fans claimed: "I totally saw it coming from a mile away!") I would have thought Moff would have given the mystery a rest for a bit but he feeds us a little bit more of her origins. He does a pretty good job too of suddenly inserting a character into Amy and Rory's past who wasn't there before. 

Kill Hitler is, for the most part, a fun a little romp that starts off the second half the season quite well. Nothing too extraordinary - if we're being honest. But still a good time.    

Night Terrors comes perilously close to being a second weak link the season. It's still substantially better than Curse of the Black Spot. The plot hangs together quite well. The child actor playing George does an incredible job. He gets so very little dialogue but still conveys so much through his reactions and mannerisms. The director also deserves high praise. He does this incredible job of making so much everyday stuff suddenly seem quite eerie. 

But this is, pretty much, one of the most blatant filler episodes New Who has ever made. It's almost like the briefing Moff gave Gatiss was: "Write me something deeply inconsequential that can be made on a shoestring budget." To Gatiss' credit, he actually delivers an excellent script. But it's just so hard to get behind a story that was made with the same sort of mentality that was put into Time Flight! 

THE SECOND HALF - PART TWO

While the second half of Series Six starts off feeling a bit light and slightly unimpressive, that changes quite quickly with the next two episodes. Both are, quite frankly, magnificent. But I also love how they tell very different tales. It's one thing to create a great story and duplicate it. But to create two that are largely dissimilar shows real talent.  This isn't a production team that works to a success pattern. They truly just know what's good when they see it and run with it. 

The Girl Who Waited is full of wild concepts and a touch of absurdity (those handbots are so goofy! And yet, still menacing). There are lots of big fun ideas at work that make the plot feel very sophisticated and intelligent. But it doesn't stay in its head too much. There's a deeply humanistic side to it, too. I love, for instance, how Amy From the Future doesn't wish to become an aborted timeline. She might not have had the best life but she still doesn't want to be wiped out of existence. Whereas if Girl Who Waited had been about nothing but big sci fi theories, it would have probably missed this beat. 

Karen Gillan really gets to show off her acting chops, here. She does a great job of playing two different versions of her character. Actresses who originally got their start as models tend to get nasty presumptions made about them. That they're just good at looking pretty on film. Karen, however, did actually attend some legitimate acting schools as her modelling career blossomed. She really shows off that training in a story like this. 

The ending to Girl Who Waited is quite brutal. Eleven even seems a bit chilling as he is almost rejoicing that they've "saved the right Amy". But there's a very beautiful side to this all, too. We've all judged Rory and Amy quite a lot throughout the last two seasons. Seen their relationship as being a bit dysfunctional. But this story does a great job of showing us there was a lot more to them than we realized. With this sort of revelation now being made, it does make sense that the Doctor will soon try to drop them off for good. We've explored their characters about as much as we can.    

We leave gleaming futuristic corridors and quickly find ourselves in the 80s hotel hallways of The God Complex. Again, I love how strongly these two episodes contrast each other and yet both tell equally excellent adventures. 

God Complex could almost be described as surreal. And yet, we're certain there's some kind of internal logic going on that we know will get sorted out. The ultimate explanation that we do get for a why hotel has a minotaur and rooms full of nightmares is quite brilliant. Particularly since it makes a quick reference to the Nimon. 

Strangely enough, I quite enjoy the stumbles the Doctor makes along the way as he tries to figure things out. Eleven has this nice fallibility that we see now and again. He just occasionally makes a completely wrong deduction that can even end up costing lives. We've seen this happen before in stories like Time of the Angels and Curse of the Black Spot. Sometimes, he makes bad guesses that have very heavy consequences. For some reason, I enjoy that the writers do this with the character every once in a while. 

Rory and Amy's departure comes at a very odd time in the season. There are still two episodes left. Which leads us to believe that we haven't seen the last of them. Which is the case, of course. But still, it's a very nicely executed farewell. 

THE END (BUT THE TESELECTA HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR) 

With the Doctor now travelling alone, we're getting very close to how things looked at the beginning of the season. Which, admittedly, is some very nice writing. While I did say this half of the season feels less cohesive, it doesn't mean the arc has become completely non-existent. Things are being done more subtly. Which, in many ways, shows much greater skills in the story-telling process. 

Closing Time is the most "RTDesque" story in the entire Moffat Era. The A Plot is sooooo threadbare. In some sense, it almost feels like The Next Doctor all over again. The Cybermen have been thrown in for good measure but haven't really been given all that much to do. Fortunately, they don't come up with a ridiculous plan to build a Cyber-Dreadnought. Nor are there any of those awful Cyber-Shades! But still, they almost don't need to be there. Their presence in the story seems so minute.    

Fortunately, Craig Owen is back. This really helps to distract us from many of the greater problems in the episode. Closing Time is written in a manner that really allows Smith and Corden to play off of each other a lot more than they did in The Lodger. Which leads to any number of endlessly fun scenes. This really does help me to forget that there is very little going on in the actual plot. While I had a hard time forgiving this sort of writing back when RTD was at the helm, it's easier to do so, here. Mainly because this is the only time we really see it happen. Moff has been really good at making sure there's enough real story to actually fill the runtime. So I can let it slide just this once (yes, I know Moff's not the actual writer of the episode but he's still the one in charge of quality control). 

Finally, we get to The Wedding of River Song. One of the more unusual season finales in New Who. It's over in only one episode. Admittedly, it's a little off-putting to not make it, at least, a two-parter. But it's also refreshing for the show to do something so different. 

One of the episode's most curious features is how non-linear it is without actually using any kind of time travel. The story is simply told out of order. Normally, this only happens when characters are darting back and forth with TARDISes or vortex manipulators or other devices of this nature. Having events flow in such a manner without employing the usual framing device gives the whole story a very distinctive feel. 

The best moment of the whole season happens smack-dab in the middle of Wedding of River Song. The way in which the passing of Nicholas Courtney is commemorated is done with great class and respect. At the same time, it's also very sensitive and touching. I remember the first time I watched the sequence and how deeply it affected me. Losing Courtney was very intense. He did a remarkable job as the Brig and I hated that we never saw him properly return to the New Series (yeah, yeah, Sarah Jane Adventures. I know! Spinoffs don't count, though!). It was great the way the show managed to capture that same sadness I was feeling over Courtney by making the loss of his character a pivotal moment for the Doctor, himself. This really is some great writing. A moment like this could have been so easily mishandled and come across as utterly tasteless. 

How the Doctor manages to escape his inevitable death is handled most satisfactorily. Not only was the whole bait-and-switch routine with the Teselecta and the Flesh quite clever, but the way it's ultimately revealed that the Doctor isn't dead was also very good. River's very timey-whimey visit to her mother to let her know the truth of things was a great way to present it. The rapid succession of flashbacks with extra bits added into them made the Reveal much more interesting than just showing us the sequences in their proper order.

While this is a very different way to wrap up the season from what we've seen so far, it's still nicely done. Some seasons have had better finales, of course. But some have also been much worse (thankyou Moff, for never making the TARDIS tow the Earth!) 

NOT SO SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL  

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe had a difficult act to follow. Last year's A Christmas Carol is, easily, the best Christmas Special the show has ever made. It was a fun story that also had just the right level of gravitas to it. And, of course, there were a few touching moments that legitimately drew tears. I'm pretty sure there will never be a better Doctor Who Christmas Special than this one. Moffat, however, made a very desperate attempt to catch lightning in a bottle twice. 

While I wouldn't say Wardrobe and Carol are identical stories, they do both go for a pretty similar vibe. Moff is definitely trying to play with out heartstrings like he did last Christmas. But everything feels just a bit too intentional. The sentimentalism in Carol feels like it happened much more organically. Whereas, here, we get the sense that Moff is genuinely trying to make us cry. So that we'll say something like: "Wow! This was as good as last year's Christmas Special!" 

It's not an entirely bad episode. There are some nice moments. Madge dealing with the loss of her husband but still trying to keep it hidden from her children does actually start making us quite sad. Especially the scene where she reveals the truth to the Doctor. The three soldiers, though a bit underused, also provide us with a very nice laugh (Androzani Major seems to be populated with nothing but ruthless capitalists!) The ending where Eleven, at last, re-joins the Ponds is also very nicely done. Especially when the Doctor experiences his own tears of joy for what seems to be the first time, ever. 

But a lot of the plot involving the magic forest or whatever it's meant to be hangs together quite awkwardly. There are even some bits that don't seem to make a whole lot of sense. With little or no explanation, the trees just happen to know that the Doctor will visit them one more time just before the acid rain starts. They seem to think that the best way to lure members of his party to their spaceship is to hatch a wooden statue in front of them and just have it walk away as it grows to an enormous size. Would this really lure anyone to follow?! I'm pretty sure even an adventuresome boy like Cyril would, eventually, just look at those footprints that are growing to a gigantic size and resolve to turn the Hell back and go home. 

Overall, I'd call Doctor, Widow, Wardrobe a bit of a disappointment. Fortunately, Moff seems to admit this to himself. From this point onward, he learns to take the Christmas Specials in very different directions each year rather than try to keep re-creating the effect that Christmas Carol had. 

A COMPLEX CONCLUSION 

I recall Moff admitting something interesting during interviews after Series Six was over. He claimed that he felt he had made various storylines throughout the season a bit too complicated and that, in future, he will try to make the show more accessible to a general audience. It reminded me a bit of some interviews JNT gave in the 90s where he confessed that the Sixth Doctor's coat was a mistake. I make that connection because, in both cases, I am impressed with how unafraid these men were to criticize themselves. But I still savagely disagree with what they said! I adore Sixie's coat and I love how complexly-written Series Six is. 

Bear in mind, of course, that Season Eighteen from the Classic Series is my favorite. A season that is so high-browed that it borders on pretentiousness! So I'm bound to like something like this. I'm even a bit sad that Moff follows through on his decision and tends to dumb the show down a bit from this point, onward. 

Personally, I would have been plenty happy with more seasons like this. I expect science fiction to be something that requires a bit of hard thinking. I want to feel challenged as I sort out what a story's meant to be about. Series Six definitely accomplished that. I would even say it could have been a bit more complicated than it actually was and I would have still been fine. 

  

 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES FIVE

If anyone else but Steven Moffat had been chosen to succeed RTD, I might have stopped watching Doctor Who right there and then. In the History of Obvious Choices, this one reigns supreme. While Davies was toying with the show's formula and trying to get things right through trial and error, Moff always came along and delivered a good solid story. That, oftentimes, stood head and shoulders above everything else that was being served that season. How could we not want someone with his level of talent to not take over as Head Writer?    

Of course, there's a big difference between delivering one good story a season and actually assembling a season of good stories. Would Steven Moffat be able to achieve that? Admittedly, RTD was only so good at the task, himself. Series One and Three stand quite strong. But Two and Four were a lot more hit-and-miss. Would Moffat be able to deliver something better? 

The short answer is: Yes. 

We can't give Moff all the credit, here. He had the advantage of learning from both the good and bad choices made by his predecessor. While RTD was often just shooting in the dark, his successor now had a very basic blueprint to work from. 

But he could've very easily handled this situation in an egotistical manner by throwing that whole blueprint out and starting fresh. Deciding that he knew how to make "proper Doctor Who" and ignoring the lessons that were learnt back when he was just a contributing writer. Fortunately, Moffat is smart enough to build upon the established formula. The first four seasons of the show act as a solid bedrock. But, as Moff's era progresses, tweaks get made here and there that turn the show into something much better than what we had been getting under RTD's watch. 

But it all starts with Series Five. First impressions are always important. An excellent first season from RTD guaranteed a healthy future for the show. This season would be almost as relevant. This was the first year of New Who that was being made with someone else at the helm. If it didn't go well, the audience might lose faith that anyone else could make good Who except the man who first brought it back to the screen. 

Fortunately, Series Five is amazing. Nearly as good Series One. 

THE BEGINNING 

The Eleventh Hour did give me just a hint of concern when I first watched it. Moff does seem to be repeating a common mistake from the last four seasons. Because the episode has the word "Hour" in the title, the Head Writer decides that it needs to last that long (actually, it goes a bit longer!). If you've been reading my New Who Reviews, you know that the need to fill up a one hour episode no matter what often wears on my nerves. Quite frequently, there's not enough plot for the run-time and we have to deal with a bunch of blatant padding. I'd rather an episode run its standard length and feel tight than drag on just so it can hit a certain amount of minutes. 

It doesn't help that we're not dealing with the most intricate of plots. Prisoner Zero has escaped. The Atraxi are coming for him. Because they can't find him right away, they're going to blow up the world. The Doctor's trying to stop them but he's a bit woozy from regenerating. There's not a lot going on, here. 

Admittedly, the padding does have a lot of charm. The Doctor trying out his new taste buds is cute. And it is great that the whole thing leads to fish fingers and custard. But, if we're being honest, the sequence goes on for longer than it needs to. As fun as it is to watch Smith and his antics, some of this would have been fine left on the cutting room floor. 

There are other moments like this. It's obvious things are being padded out. But, for the most part, I'm capable of forgiving it. Because, ultimately, Eleventh Hour is ridiculously fun to watch. And, while it is a very simple story, the way the Doctor resolves the entire conflict with Prisoner Zero is quite clever (I do still feel sorry for Rory, though, when he gets that phone bill!) The Atraxi Tell-Off Scene that follows immediately afterwards is awesome. An absolutely fantastic way to do what is, essentially, a costume reveal! 

The eleventh Doctor makes such a good first impression. He continues the tradition of making the character an over-excited fanboy. But there are enough differences between him and Ten to make me quite happy. The angst and flirtiness have dissipated in the golden haze of regeneration. The Doctor is back to being heroic and fun. Smith really does evoke the personae of an ancient being caught in a young body. And he is, most definitely, a madman in a box. The character is both magnificently-crafted and excellently-portrayed. 

And this is the True Core of Eleventh Hour. Yes, it's a bit short on plot and runs a tad too long, but Eleven is just so damned enjoyable to watch that I'm willing to let it all slide. When it comes to "introductory Doctor tales", this is one of my favorites. I think Castrovalva might be the only one I like better. 

A FEW SINGLES...

The Beast Below is one of those stories that I feel should get more credit than it deserves. Some folks even seem to have a certain degree of disdain for it. Whereas I found it to be quite clever. An Orwellian society that made a horrible choice in order to save itself and is now doing its damnedest to forget it is a very interesting premise. Liz Ten was also great fun. I still love it every time she says: "I'm the bloody Queen!"  I also quite like what the story had to say about human nature. When the star whale comes along to save us, we just assume we have to enslave it. The fact that it's willing to help us out of the goodness of its heart is too foreign of a concept for us.  

There's a nice concerted effort to make sure Amy is useful. We see it in this story and the next. When the Doctor appears to be failing, she comes along and saves the day. I quite like how the scripts are structured that way. A new companion often gets sidelined in their early days. They just watch the Doctor at work and don't, necessarily, do much. In their first few stories, they are so inexperienced in the Ways of the Universe that they can't really offer much help. Amy asserts herself well in Beast Below and continues to do so in Victory of the Daleks. 

Speaking of which, Victory of the Daleks is half-decent. A good little re-creation of World War II and Winston Churchill, himself. It does feel a tad light on plot (whereas Beast Below fills up its time quite well - it barely gives us a chance to breathe, really!) but it's still quite enjoyable. 

I'm not entirely sure how they were able to build "space spitfires" so quickly. They appeared to be just ideas that Bracewell was toying with earlier in the episode. But, within minutes, three of them are mobilized against the Dalek saucer. Other than that, though, I don't have much trouble with this story. And, admittedly, the space spitfires are pretty cool! 

I actually really liked the idea of a New Dalek Paradigm. The re-designed models were, perhaps, a bit too garish and bulky. But that could be easily fixed. In all honesty, their appearance meant very little to me. But I was very interested in seeing how color-coding would influence Dalek society. Specific liveries now seemed to have certain tasks to perform. I would have liked to have seen that delved into more. Unfortunately, Moff made the same choice Lucas made when a lot of fans complained about Jar-Jar Binks. He just rolled over and gave them what they wanted. The Teletubby and/or Power Ranger Daleks were quickly phased out. Which saddened me quite a bit. I actually wanted more of them. Clearly, I was in the minority Or, perhaps, fans who bitch often bitch loudly. To the point where a majority can feel like a minority! 

Both adventures stand fairly strong and continue to propel the season along nicely. Some RTD patterns are still being followed. We're still doing the first three episodes of a season as: "One in the Present. One in the Future. One in the Past (or vice-versa)" And we've got another Historical Celebrity. But, oddly enough, it feels less grating. The stories are using the tropes but varying them enough to feel a bit fresh. Victory of the Daleks, for instance, does feature Winston Churchill - but the plot isn't built completely around him like other Historical Celebrity stories frequently are. Some weird wasp-like creature isn't telepathically-linked to him and is now trying re-create reality in his image. Nor are ancient aliens trying to re-enter our dimension through him. He's still a pivotal character, but the narrative isn't completely dependent on him. It is, in fact, more about the Doctor fighting the Daleks than anything. This gives the tale a very different vibe from what RTD was offering us and makes it all feel less repetitious. 

THE FIRST DOUBLE

I was a bit leery about the Weeping Angels coming back. Blink was brilliant and the monsters in it were absolutely terrifying. But I'm not sure if they merited a second story.  They did seem like a bit of a one-hit wonder. To me, it felt like fighting an evil creature that can only get up to something when you're not looking was an idea that could not sustain itself for more than one episode. 

Turns out those Weeping Angels have more than one story in them. Had Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone just been about not blinking again, I would have felt differently. But we discover several other abilities that the Angels have. We also learn that they won't always zap you back into the past. Sometimes, they'll just snap your neck and kill you. Adding these nuances to them makes a further exploration of them interesting and still quite scary. Blink, of course, is still the better story. But this one's pretty damned good. 

River Song is back. Which is not something that made some fans happy. But she still has her legion of followers and I'm one of them. I think she's a very fun character who was a fascinating mystery. I love how we very gradually find out who she truly is over the next few seasons. It's a very enjoyable arc. I also love how her and the Doctor will keep meeting out of order. I did do an entry a while back where I put their encounters into a "proper" chronology. Easily, one of the most tortuous essays I ever wrote: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2017/03/chronologies-and-timelines-complex.html. 

The Cracks in the Universe get explored quite heavily, here. Which I enjoyed. At first, I thought Moffat would be taking the same sort of tact as his predecessor did with season-long arcs.  Although he wouldn't be inserting a certain recurring word or words into the occasional script, he would be using a visual cue that would be accomplishing the same effect. We'd just keep seeing that Crack in different places. Until, eventually, it gets explained in the last few episodes of the season. Essentially, we'd be getting Bad Wolf or Vote Saxon but it's the image of a glowing crack, instead!

But he tackled the season-long arc in a different way. More and more, the Cracks will get explained in various episodes. They'll even have a real role to play in the plots of certain stories. Overall, the arc this season won't feel as incidental as it has in the past. Which, to me, is much better writing. Moff isn't just shoe-horning in words like Torchwood or Medusa Cascade every once in a while to remind us there's a bigger plot that's coming along. He's really weaving the arc into the whole narrative flow of the season. 

The Return of the Weeping Angels is more-than-merited. A lot of different things are going on within this two-parter's plot that involve bigger arcs that will develop more later. But, at the same time, the actual story about the Angels is also quite enjoyable. It's wonderfully-terrifying when the Doctor realizes all the statues in the Maze of the Dead are just malnourished Weeping Angels that are slowly waking back up. And I love it when the Weeping Angel is coming out of the video screen to get Amy. 

Blink might be chocked full of iconic moments. But this one's got a few too. 

SOME MORE SINGLES 

Vampires of Venice is the season's weakest link. Still not an absolutely terrible episode. Even quite fun, in places. But it has its fair share of problems. 

Rory is, very much, Mickey all over again. But, somehow, I find him much more likeable. This story really helps to put him in a good light. For most of the episode, he's trying to be a voice of reason. He even does a really good job of calling the Doctor out. But I do like how he eventually comes to terms with the fact that what the Doctor does is important and chooses to help him. 

The vampire girls are delightfully creepy and do a very good job at prowling about and being menacing. I quite like how they're ultimately defeated, too. The poor gondola driver who lost his daughter gets his revenge in a very touching manner. 

But him conveniently having all that gunpowder does lead me to one of the bigger problems in the story. There's a lot of "just happening to have hexachromite in a storage room during Warriors of the Deep" going on, here. Lots of stuff gets placed in the plot that will obviously have a pay-off, later. The 10 000 piranhas that won't recognize their Mommy if she keeps her perception filter on is another blatant example of this. We just know that it's going to have a role to play in how the episode resolves itself.  

The rather silly string of coincidences that make the Saturnyne appear like vampires is quite overly-contrived. It would have almost made more sense to keep the whole vampire theme out of the equation. Although, admittedly, it would be bad to lose the scary vampire girls in their white dresses. However, coming up with the super-complicated explanations for why the Saturnyne don't have reflections but still show their fangs felt largely unnecessary. The story's really about Fish People in Venice - not vampires. The title almost seems vaguely misleading!

The ending of the story also just, sort of, falls apart. After a bunch of capture-and-escaping earlier in the episode, the Doctor is able to just show up in the main court of the fortress-like palace of Mama Fish. And, even after threatening to take her down, she just lets him leave. Which seems like a ridiculously stupid move on her part. You know he's an alien with knowledge and technology that could, potentially, defeat you. Lock him up! 

The final resolution of the conflict is quite underwhelming. The Doctor climbs a tower and flicks a single switch. Which, somehow, gets Mama Fish to commit suicide. Can't she just climb back up and flick the switch back on?!

Finally, there's Son Fish blowing up because Amy pointed her compact at him. It seemed just a bit much to swallow. Maybe the intense light causes a pain so strong that it drives him off. But making him explode?!  

I still don't totally hate Vampires of Venice. It has its moments. But it feels more like one of those painfully mediocre episodes we get in the middle of Series Four. Like Unicorn and the Wasp or Doctor's Daughter. It doesn't fit so well in this season. Where most of the stories are quite outstanding.

It also needs to be pointed out that the Doctor appears to do nothing about the 10 000 piranhas. What happened to them?! Did everyone just stay away from the canal they were in 'till they starved to death?! 

Fortunately, the standards go back up very quickly as we move into the next story. 

Amy's Choice is definitely another one of those Unsung Classics. It's sooo tightly-written with a great premise and a really fun villain. 

I'm not sure, exactly, how you could ever write the Dream Lord back into the show. But I'm sure if someone set their mind to it, they could. He's absolutely delightful to watch. Especially with his constant costume changes! His dialogue is absolutely great. I still love the whole line about tawdry quirks! And, of course, Toby Jones plays him to absolute perfection. A brilliant pieces of casting. He's so good in everything he does, really. He's not afraid to play up the fact that he doesn't fit the mold of "square-jawed heroic male character" and is more-than-happy to take on parts like these with the firmest of commitment. 

Seriously, we need to bring back the Dream Lord. Several times. He should start haunting the Doctor as much as the Master does! 

The premise of trying to get the lead characters to figure out which reality is the truth and which is the dream is great fun. I wouldn't say it's the most original of ideas. We've seen this in sci-fi before. What really sets this plot apart, however, is two-fold: 

Firstly, there's all the extra layers going on as they flitter between the two scenarios. For various reasons, Rory wants one reality to be true. While the Doctor favors the other. Amy, of course, must choose which to believe in. But that decision will have huge undertones. Particularly for Rory. Part of the brilliance of the whole adventure is watching the various reactions of all three characters as they deal with the challenge that has been set before them. It's not just a matter of survival. Whatever everyone ends up believing in will have consequences on how relationships aboard the TARDIS will function. It's a very nice sort of psychodrama going on as they deal with the main plot. Which, as I said, adds a lot of gorgeous extra layers to the tale as it plays out. 

The other thing that really makes the story great is how the whole conflict resolves. If we're being completely honest, Amy has not been the most entirely pleasant of people. Particularly in the way she's been treating Rory. The moment he perishes in the one dream, Amy becomes a very different person. She decides to challenge that reality and die with him. Not knowing for sure if she really will wake up. But also not caring. She'd rather be dead than exist in a world without Rory. As she crashes the van into the house, she settles a crucial element of the plot. More importantly, though, she increases her likeability tenfold. She's realized how awful she's been to her fiance and that she can't live without him. It's a very powerful moment. Much of the instability in their relationship is settled by that sequence. Which is as relevant as the need to defeat the Dream Lord. 

But that ending wasn't quite cool enough. In a great little twist, the Doctor sees through the Dream Lord's deception and blows the TARDIS up so that they all wake up properly. Discovering it was all just a couple of psychic spores in the console was a great reveal. Learning that the Dream Lord was a distillation of the Doctor's darker side was even more awesome. Fan theories about the Valeyard went wild! 

Clearly, the Dream Lord should come back. Perhaps one of the Doctor's greater foes seeks out the spores and, somehow, resurrects him. We then get a few more weird stories that take place in dreamscapes. Then, ultimately, the Dream Lord becomes obsessed with achieving corporeal form. When he does finally find a body, it bears a striking resemblance to Michael Jayston. 

This is my plan, BBC. Commission me to write the scripts and I'll get to work immediately!

THE SECOND DOUBLE 

The Return of the Silurians probably excited more than a lot of other Classic Monsters that have been brought back into New Who. These are creatures that can give us much more nuanced plots. Unlike Daleks, Cybermen or Sontarans, they're not just hell-bent on universal domination. They are no better or worse than we are. A few of them can be evil. A few others can be good. Of course, the same thing tends to happen on the human side, too. Because of these various conflicting motivations, some interesting drama can ensue. 

In some stories involving them, the battle is a bit more two-dimensional. The Silurians and Sea Devils in Warriors of the Deep, for instance, are all fed up with trying to be nice and want to take out humanity for good. And the Sea Devils in The Sea Devils are, pretty much, your average "monster of the week" during the Pertwee Era. Just a couple of guys in rubber suits waving their arms about menacingly who are meant to be nothing more than the latest threat the Doctor must use Venusian Karate on! 

Fortunately, Hungry Earth/Cold Blood goes for the traditional Silurian story approach. There's jerks on both sides and the good guys have to work around them. Which actually makes for some very philosophical and even inspiring moments. The speech the Doctor gives about "being the best humanity has to offer" near the end of the first part was really quite uplifting. Sadly, however, all great speeches in Series Five are forgotten once we reach Pandorica Opens. 

Admittedly, Earth/Blood does run into a similar problem that Doctor Who and the Silurians had. It feels just a bit slow, in places. Silurians has a slightly better excuse for the drag. It had to fill up seven parts! But, inevitably, in a story where characters are trying to find peace - you're going to get some ponderous moments that, perhaps, go on a bit longer than they should. And you can't really throw too much action into the plot since it's all about trying to avoid bloodshed!    

I do find it fairly easy, however, to forgive this one flaw. Stories about having to share our planet with someone else, for some reason, fascinate me endlessly. I love that Doctor Who brings back the Silurians now and again to deal with the topic. 

So it's two very strong stories in a row. I still like Amy's Choice better. But this is a good yarn, too. 

Although, there is one more serious problem that must be discussed before we can truly move on: Silurians with only two eyes were very difficult to accept. They did, eventually, grow on me. But it took a while. And I am hoping that we see some three-eyed Silurians again, someday... 

YET MORE SINGLES  

Initially, Vincent and the Doctor had me a little concerned. Sure, the opening was cool. The Doctor's whole motivation to go on an adventure is the result of something weird he saw in one of Van Gogh's paintings. That's a great way to start an episode. 

But as the story progresses, it feels very much like we're going to get a run-of-the-mill RTD Historical Celebrity tale. The A Plot feels super weak and tons of time is spent just talking about how great Van Gogh is. I'm feeling a bit exasperated. Victory of the Daleks managed to avoid most of these problems when it used Winston Churchill. Apparently, Moff decided to put a second story in the season where the Doctor meets another famous person from the past and has to have next-to-nothing happen in this one!  

But then we get to that ending. At first, I thought this was another End of Time - Part 2 situation. The main conflict of the story had been resolved rather early in the episode. What were we going to do with the rest of the run-time? Was the Eleventh Doctor going to go around and visit all the people he had met so far in the season and see how they were doing?! Maybe even save the lives of a few characters from a Sontaran who is about to shoot them as they deliver some of the most forced expository dialogue in the history of the show?!   

That's not what we get at all, though. Instead, we get time travel being used in one of the most beautiful of ways. As the Doctor takes Vincent to an art gallery in the future, the choice to employ a conventional pop song rather than let Murray Gold score things is brilliant. It gets the moment to stand out all-the-more. Which, in turn, gets our emotional floodgates to open all-the-wider. The various cuts that reveal Vincent's reaction to what the curator is saying about him are pitch-perfect. Tony Curran does an incredible job of playing a man wrestling with the demons of mental illness who is being given too much to take in. But, even in his emotional breakdown, he still recognizes that he's just received the most incredible of gifts. Matt Smith does an equally-excellent job of suddenly realizing he may have done more bad than good by taking him on this trip. As Van Gogh re-assures him that he has accomplished something wonderful, it's impossible for us to not turn into a giant mess of emotions, ourselves. It's the sort of sentimentalism that RTD frequently went for in his era but rarely achieved. Because he, basically, leaned in too hard to the feelings of the scene and gave us something dreadfully sappy rather than genuinely touching. 

It's a moment like this that convinces me the show is in much better hands with Moff in control of things. I really do forget that a good chunk of the episode is actually a bit weak. This sequence really does pluck masterfully at my heartstrings and causes me not to care about any of the flaws Vincent and the Doctor may have had. In fact, if you don't like this story, than it makes me wonder what's wrong with your soul. 

After showing us how well he can reduce us to tears, Moff displays an equal level of competency with comedy. The Lodger is a fun little romp that has just enough of a plot. But it is still, mainly, about giving us a nice laugh before the season finale. It's light. It's fun. And it's got just the right level of charm to make us want to see Craig again a year or so later!   

James Crowden is clearly a gigantic asset to this tale. His comedic timing and delivery turns a fairly sedate storyline into something really engaging. He's just so damned fun to watch. The other plot threads are just-about substantial enough to create a decent episode. But it's really all about Craig's various shenanigans that hold the whole adventure together. We're particularly invested in seeing him finally get Sophie. 

Matt Smith, however, should also get a lot of credit. He is equally-enjoyable to watch as Eleven is trying to figure out "how to be a normal bloke". For the most part, he fails miserably. And much comedy is drawn from this, too! 

Essentially, this story is depending massively on the talent of its two leads. Both deliver incredibly well. 

In many ways, this is another great example of Moff taking what RTD was doing and giving it just the right tweak to get it to finally work properly. Craig and Sophie never quite being able to express their true feelings to each other is definitely the sort of stuff you get in soap opera writing. But, because the emphasis feels strong enough on the sci fi elements, the more "soapish" aspects of the tale don't cripple the narrative. In fact, they enhance it. It's all in the way the content is arranged and delivered. This story does have a bit of an RTD vibe to it. But, because it's being handled with Moff's sensibilities, it really works well. 

THE FINAL DOUBLE

At last, we reach the season finale. A conclusion that has built up quite nicely because of how the arc was constructed all along the way. We're especially intrigued about these Cracks after discovering that a fragment of the TARDIS' exterior was floating around inside one of them. Again, so much better than just mentioning Bad Wolf now and again (or, even more bizarrely, having a character flash back to it being said in a scene when she was not actually around to hear it!).

I quite like how Moff plays: "Let's see just how long we can make the pre-titles last!" It's a very nice sequence that gives us a fun little season re-cap without dwelling on it too long. The final reveal of the painting has a similar impact to the Police Box fragment at the end of Cold Blood. But even bigger, of course. 

When it comes to Pandorica Opens, one of my own best arguments can be used against me. During my Reviews of 80s Who, I would frequently point out that many of the problems fans had with this decade of the show existed just as strongly in the "Golden Age" of the 70s. But, in discussions of that period, they never get mentioned. Because, of course, 70s Who is somehow meant to be absolutely flawless and perfect. 

"If you're complaining about it in the 80s," I would quip, "you've got to be equally-unhappy with it in the 70s"

A similar point could be made about the penultimate episodes of the last two seasons. Both have a pretty simple main plot. The Doctor is trying to get into the Medusa Cascade in one tale and he's attempting to open the Box of Pandorica in the other. That's the whole episode. Nothing more. Both do a bit of a "tribute" to the Head Writer as various characters that they've created all come back for a bit. Both deal with the destruction of the Universe. 

I hated on Stolen Earth pretty badly in my last Review. So it stands to reason that I should despise Pandorica Opens just as much. 

Except, of course, that the similarities between the two tales are largely superficial. The plot to Pandorica, for instance, seems light for a while. But as certain subplots build, we learn that the main story was far more complicated than we first realized. The Doctor's simple quest to open the Box of Pandorica turns out to be a giant trap hatched by his greatest foes. Which leads us to one Hell of a big cliffhanger where the Universe does actually blow up. 

There are many other differences that I could point out about the two stories but I'll just move on. I will, however, add that this does seem like one more of those instances where Moff gets right what RTD failed at. 

The Big Bang is an absolute delight. One of those episodes that completely draws you in and is near-impossible not to watch in just one sitting. It moves at a wonderfully breakneck pace and has some absolutely iconic moments. I love when River Song confronts the Dalek that she thinks has just killed the Doctor. The image of Eleven bouncing about through Time in a fez and a mop is utterly hilarious. Texting "Geronimo!" just before he plunges the Pandorica into his exploding TARDIS is utterly classic! There's just so much to love, here. This is how you wrap up a season!    

Moff does a masterful job of putting everything into the plot that the Doctor will need to re-boot the Universe. This isn't a "hexachromite in the storage room" scenario, however. It's all placed quite cleverly so that we only figure out the full usefulness of the things around him as the Doctor does. Once more, the Time Lord's resourcefulness saves the day. Which is how a good Doctor Who story works. Its protagonist takes what's readily available and uses it in a helpful way. 

There is one controversial aspect to the episode that some fans complain about that is actually a bit valid (Rob agreeing with a fan complaint?! Who's really writing this?!). The Doctor going back in time to get himself out of the Pandorica is a substantially-large cheat. It, pretty much, invalidates any time the Doctor gets incarcerated. He can just use a bootstrap paradox to get himself out! 

While I do see the point of this objection, I still don't find myself particularly bothered by it. All the timey-whimey stuff in the second half of the story is great fun to watch. So much so, that I can overlook the cop-out. Maybe that makes me a bit of a hypocrite. I do wonder if I'd been so forgiving if RTD had written the episode. Whatever the case, it doesn't really bother me. In fact, I kinda enjoy it. 

One of the vital ingredients of New Who is a big, spectacular season finale. This has been known to work to its detriment. Sometimes, all the arc-building that the Head Writer implements in a season just doesn't get the right kind of pay-off. I actually quite like the fact that Season Eleven doesn't really try to achieve anything like this. We just find out what Tim Shaw has been up to. I actually wish we got more seasons like this in the New Series. 

Having said all that, however, I will say that Series Five probably has the most satisfactory season finale in the whole history of the show. The events leading up to it are all well-constructed. And the ultimate resolution to the mystery of the Cracks in Time is highly satisfactory. This is a great little two-parter that finishes up the year beautifully. 

AND THEN A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Up until now, Christmas Specials on the show had been largely underwhelming. On some occasions, we got something passable like The Christmas Invasion. More often, though, a holiday special was something truly awful like The Next Doctor. This is yet one more thing that Moff fixes. For the most part, he raises the bar with festive episodes. 

And he's off to a great start with A Christmas Carol. Eleven was already quite fun and zany throughout the season but he seems to go into overdrive, here. He is utterly hilarious as he jumps around like a fool on Young Kazran's bed. I love how he keeps removing inconvenient characters by getting them to win a lottery that doesn't exist!    

Michael Gambon also deserves huge accolades for his work. Especially when you consider that I dislike Harry Potter so much that I, generally, can't stand seeing actors associated with the franchise in other things (although, admittedly, Radcliffe was brilliant as Weird Al Yankovich!). I am so impressed with the performance Gambon gives as the Doctor starts altering his character's memories. It's such an abstract concept that he brings to life magnificently. We literally watch him getting a soul. Whilst, at the same time, being completely bewildered by what's happening to him. He really does have some amazing chops. Too bad he's in Harry Potter! 

A Christmas Carol is another great example of Doctor Who giving us something truly touching that doesn't have to get shmaltzy or oversentimental. It tugs at the heartstrings - but doesn't tug too hard! 

It's my all-time favorite Christmas Special. 

Thus far, at least. 

FINAL CONCLUSION: 

How different things look as Moff's first year in the Head Writer's Seat comes to an end. Series Four gave us the worst season finale and Christmas Special. We get a full reversal this year. 

As I've said before, I don't want to bash RTD too hard. He was blazing a trail in those early days and there were bound to be missteps. But Moff was wise enough to learn from the successes and mistakes of his predecessor. I also think it was very smart on his behalf to take more of a Graham Williams Approach as he steps into power. He doesn't re-invent the show too much and maintains a pretty similar pattern to what RTD initially laid down. This makes it much easier for the audience to accept all the changes that are going on. As the show progresses, he'll remake things more and more in his own image. But he's easing us into the transition. 

I'm also much happier with Eleven's character. I still remember that fateful moment in Beast Below when the Doctor starts telling Amy about how he's the last of the Time Lords. As the scene plays out, I'm thinking to myself: "Get Ready! Here comes the angst!" But, as the sad old Time Lord finishes his tale, I'm remarking to myself: "Well, he reigned that in quite nicely!" 

The Doctor is back to being a generally fun-loving character who is much more interested in sciency stuff than he is in chasing skirts. While there are many similarities between Ten and Eleven's personalities, the fundamental differences make this new incarnation far more appealing. This Madman in a Box will, in fact, be my favorite New Who Doctor until Thirteen comes along.     

Along with Moff's writing, these two do seem like an unbeatable combination. We'll have to see for sure as new seasons come out. 

But things definitely look promising....