It’s back! It’s back! Doctor Who is on television again, and after weeks of reviewing Torchwood, you have no idea how happy this makes me. The Doctor and Ponds hit 1930s Germany, and to be honest, Hitler is the least of their troubles.
But still, I did mutter some dissent towards the end of the last run. Have things picked up over the summer?
Let’s Move This Along
Well, the bad news is that the cliffhanger regarding baby Melody, not to mention all those hanging threads about who Madame Kovarian is and how she’s connected to the Silence, none of them are progressed at all, bar small teases in the dialogue.
But the up-side is that I didn’t mind, because the episode was great fun. Perhaps all those painfully slow episodes of Torchwood are getting to me, but things happening at breakneck pace, the bare minimum of standing around, surprises and small reveals, exactly what I was looking for. It reminded me of the old Russell T. Davies era, actually, playing up emotion and big bangs alongside the paradoxes, and I thought the combination worked well.
And no, they didn’t resolve much, River Song’s continuity may now be beyond human understanding, but it was a merry stroll regardless, with good moments for all the main characters. Oh, and the Tessalecta was the best alien concept in a while.
Let’s Hug Rory
As well as picking up the pace, they finally gave Rory a substantial role, other than “whipping boy”. It’s dubious whether this is a response to fan complaints about what a little bitch he’s been, as Let’s Kill Hitler was surely written some time ago, but it’s good to see. If he’s going to hang around, let’s give him something to participate in aside from angst.
I could probably pick holes, such as the fact this “half-way premiere” might not make much sense to new viewers, along with the weird totemic use of “fishfingers and custard”. Also, the actress playing “Mels” was perhaps a bit shouty and CBBC, and I’m growing a little weary of River Song, for the most part; I’m not sure the character is rounded enough to support all this exposure. But this particular week, it didn’t bother me much.
Because I reckon could be the best episode of series six so far, with only The Doctor’s Wife as competition. Check the episode out on iPlayer (or watch it again there, like I’m going to) and let us know if you were as excited as me.
More Doctor Who on Dork Adore | Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut
Nick Bryan
Nick learned to read and write at an early age. This has developed into an unhealthy need to either write stories or consume them for later dissection. He reviews film and TV on Dork Adore and The Digital Fix, lives in London and enjoys a nice white beer.
Follow Me:
Being Human: Series 3, Episode 1 – Dork Adore
Merlin: Servant Of Two Masters – Dork Review
Merlin: The Dark Tower – Dork Review
Can we survive a whole hour in Woodbury? The Walking Dead S3E14 – Dork Review
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
This episode was crazy. Moffat is banking credibility with me at this point, breaking or making up stuff is annoying and removes any serious effort to tie in continuity. River ‘gave up’ all her regenerations? How and she’s no longer a Timelord now, The Doctor stays the only one again? At the same time it does explain how the Doctor can’t sense her presence as a Timelord.
At least the Doctor knows exactly when he dies and since he is a fixed point, what is he going to do about it. Though now we know (or do we?) that it isn’t River Song who kills him. Ugh.
Was she ever a timelord? Her parents are both human, she’s a human with timelord-esque properties thanks to being conceived in the TARDIS. Which means… she’s a new thing and Moffat can pretty much do what he likes.
But from a story mechanics point of view, it makes the stories more dramatic if River can actually be killed. If all your main characters are basically immortal, harder to care when they get shot.