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....