A Tear-y But Not Unhappy Ending

It's good that Shakespeare didn't know about the (im)possibility of timetravell, otherwise, 'The Angels Take Manhattan' is pretty close to what his Romeo and Juliet would have looked like, and, it would have also made about as much sense.

But let's start with the praising. It is needless to say that if you were not touched to tears by this telematic masterpiece, then you should take care because you may be made of a material which might come in handy for the Weeping Angels. What worked with the Statue of Liberty, might work with you as well. Even though, to be fair, Moffat failed to tick off every emotional scene possible of his to do list, after all, after promising to take care of the Ponds last week, the Doctor has yet to tell Mr. Williams the sad news, namely, that he is never going to see his son and daughter-in-law again*. Except if the Doctor gives him a lift, even though I guess that this idea was dismissed for obvious drama-lessening (and not science-fictional) reasons.

Now, back to this season's mid-season final, which is, among other things, an homage to Rory's two main abilities, namely, waiting and dying. Here he got to do it (sometimes) even simultaneously: he was waiting for his death. Besides, he made sure that nobody will ever die more often in a single episode.

On a more serious level, the plot displayed one of the reasons why Moffat would win any script-writing competition over RTD, he made clear that he is not taking things too seriously. Only the Mighy Moff can come up with the idea to include several jokes into what would be Romeo's and Juliet's dying scene in Shakespeare's equivalent (the moment where Rory realises that he has to jump off the building) without ruining the moment. First, he makes Rory claim that the Statue of Liberty got impatient waiting for him visiting, and secondly, he, the Big Rory Pond cannot jump off the wall. I love him, well Moffat, for that scene alone, and then the following dialogue in which Amy persuades him not to jump without her is the cherry on the top. Actually, those few minutes are maybe the best written and acted moments in Who. Give Darvill an Oscar, you know what, give both guys, or even better, all three of them, one of those shiny statues...

Still, as with many of Moffat's twisted storylines, there seems to be a label on it: For Enjoying Only. As soon as you start to think about it, its magic magically disappears. And I'm serious, do not even start asking the question how it should be possible. I'm not sure if Moffat knows, even though he will certainly say otherwise. Like, maybe most importantly, since when has the Doctor not been able to visit, explore, mess with, or even drink tea with a fixed point in time if it serves a purpose. Or is there something terribly important I have been missing since 'The Wedding of River Song'? Well, yes, we all know that it is a rule, but especially Matt Smith's (BTW, again fabulously acted) Doctor is proving not to be too picky about that specific law. The risk of blowing up whole NY seems to be a risk the guy from that other season (who faked his own death, erased his timeline and created a fracture in the space-time-continuum which was big enough to allow dinosaurs to roaming the streets of London, and Dickens giving a live interview on BBC Breakfast) would have taken...

This ties in with the 'Oh my dear, it is written in a book, and you know what's worse, I've already read it' rule. Knowing someone's future does not create a fixed point in time either, well, it kind of does because Moffat says so, but why did that not apply for the Doctor dying at Lake Silencio? (OK, I know, time itself fell, has fallen, falls (?) for the Doctor's Teselecta-trick, but how stupid can time really be?).

Not to mention a few other, seemingly rather minor things. Right, I can just about believe that almost nobody in NY is aware of the fact that the statues are moving, but someone has to notice that the Statue of Liberty has gone for a walk...

Sadly, it is because of such (at times unnecessarily) missing backup-stories that the plot feels a bit hasty, as if Moffat would have been too busy to give it a second thought. Do not get me wrong, I still, think this is the best farwell episode I've ever seen, nevertheless, I cannot help but have the feeling that with a bit more effort he could have got it all right, and not just 95% of it.

But anyway, it seems we have to take such small discontinuity errors (or the pseudo-physical universal and everything overriding rule of 'because Moffat says so') for granted, otherwise, we would have never got into the delight of the Pond's heartbreaking farewell which is on the best way of becoming a memorial of Doctor Who's core message (never be alone) and provides the two of them all in all a tear-y but not completely unhappy ending.

*EDIT: Oh, I see they have taken care of that. Still, I think it should have been the Doctor's job to deliver the message, even though, I have to admit, this way it was almost more heartbreaking.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Even though this may seem to be the most obvious set up for a usual Doctor Who episode I guess there are not many people who can write an episode about dinosaurs on a spaceship with the story making sense and including about as much humour as if it were written by the legendary Douglas Adams. Admittedly, the story has certain flaws: most significantly, I am not sure if I like that the Doctor decides to kill Solomon. Sure, that space-trader is a real baddy, after all he committed genocide to get hold of the Silurans' 'bounty' but does that make his death more acceptable? The obvious answer is yes, even though the Doctor would have been able to come up with a different, less deadly punishment, as that is what he seems to be famous for (e.g. 'Human Nature', 'School Reunion', come on, in 'Daleks in Manhattan' he was even willing to negotiate with the Daleks!)

But otherwise, loved the Dinosaurs, loved Rory's dad, loved the golf balls. And if there wouldn't have been the short scene between Amy and the Doctor ('You'll be there till the end of me. - Or vice versa') this could have been the most enjoyably shallow episode of all time. This way, it is the most enjoyably shallow episode including a short scene which tries to add some depth to it by dealing with the topic which the Doctor has been avoiding ever since a companion set foot into his TARDIS.

So all in all, 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' is an episode which promised to be fun, and it seems that was also the thing on which Chibnall was focusing, even though a few historians may be less fond of his answer to the lack of records referring to queen Nefertiti (Nefy's) later years... But never mind the historians.

Remember...

Now, that was what I call an almost 5o minute long teaser for season 7. Even though I'm not too sure about the soon-gonna-be-the-new-comapion's name: Oswin Oswald. Seriously? And, doesn't the whole thing seem to be familiar: the Doctor witnessing the death of a future companion, even though technically this time it does not necessarily need to be the future death of a future companion... besides, the Doctor does not seem to know. Or is it just me who thinks that there is something haunting about Oswin's final words 'Run you clever boy and remember'. Admittedly, there is a tiny possibility that this is the way how she will die after all. Nevertheless, let's not forget the one and only lesson we should have learnt from season 6, namely, not to take anything for granted, especially when it comes to story archs crafted by the Mighty Moff.

Talking about story archs. Is the Doctor fighting the Dalek's masterplan of turning everybody into Dalek-protptypes what this year's season is going to be about? Could be. And I have the feeling that the Dalek's not remembering their archenemy may have also some other additional, yet unexplored consequences than them chanting the two words for which this series has been famous...

However, the episode also operates on a different level. The fact that the Doctor is some sort of responsible for the Ponds almost breaking up gives an interesting touch to the story, just as the constant misinterpretations of eggs-termin-ate (which may be syntactically a perfect Japanese sentence BTW). Not to mention the sad irony of a 'I'm human'-chanting Dalek-human (or human Dalek, after all?) who indirectly becomes the reason why the Doctor manages to escape his future most likely cause of death (i.e. death by Dalek) ones more.

The only slight downside I can think of is the lack of one-liners, something Moffat is famous for. Then again, the primary purpose of 'The Asylum of the Daleks' seems to have been to present a mouthwatering appetiser of season 7's remaining episodes, and it certainly did not fail to accomplish that.

The Big Moff at his Best...

...so far.

It shouldn't be hard to notice that this time it was the Big Moff's pen which brought 'Time of the Angels' to paper.

I have to say I don't know whether he has planned this all along (good, I guess it is safe to say we know he hasn't) but this was a great combination of Moffat's best creations, River Song and the Weeping Angels. Additionally, Moffat lives up to our expectations by writing a great story with an awesome cliffhanger. Fans can't wish for more, can they? (Hold on a sec, whichsing for more is our  number one privilege, so yes we can...)

Anyway, I guess I don't need to point out that IMHO this was very likely the best proper episode so far. I like the way River is teasing (and at the same time not-teasing) him about his future. Plus, whatever she has told him when they were , it was surely not very romantic and the Doctor seem to have reasons not to trust her with his life, unlike her, as she isn't missing a chance to point this out. Further, she says she has pictures of all his faces and although we don't really know how far that really goes, we have good old Doctor Who school-book reasons to assume that all in all there can't be more than 3 portraits of the Doctor in that diary.

BTW, I think this was the first time the Doctor has bit a companion of him. I hope Timelords aren't venomous (lol).

Ok, I bet that it's not only me who want to find out what that incredibly stupid and dangerous idea is going to be...

Cheating Time...

Let's face it, there seems to have been a curse on Doctor Who's finales. Or am I the only one who doesn't have any of them on their 'Recommendable Doctor Who Episodes' list? Maybe not. And having twice of them a season would not have been exactly my idea of a solution; but the same person who invented double-finale-seasons, is apparently the one to break the spell. Even though admittedly solving the problem by writing a Doctor Who parody will hopefully not become the standard solution of how to deal with the usually hopelessly self-important and overrated finales. 

I dare to say, that The Wedding of River Song is the first finale which I consider to be entertaining, because that's what parodies are. Of course, this comes at a cost due to which some (especially older) fans may be less fond of, namely, to achieve this Moffat breaks maybe every single of Doctor Who's unwritten Golden Rules:

First of all, you and I know that the Doctor will never die, at least not before completing his 12th regeneration. So, when we saw the Doctor's death in 'The Impossinle Astronaut' for the first time, most of us knew it could not be real. So the only remaining question was which paradoxical set-up was Moffat going to use to save the Doctor. Of course, using a Teselcta-Doctor-double is not the cleverest twist the Big Moff could have come up with, after all it triggers more questions than answers, but if we think about the finale as a parody, it may just do.

Then, there is the date. So, the whoniverse was supposed to end on April 11th 2o11 at 5:o2 pm. If it had been true, wouldn't it have been more effective to air episode 13 on April 11th? This way it seemed like one of those newspaper articles announcing that yesterday the world/time/universe ended. With a whimper not a bang, that's why we need a note.

Furthermore, I don't remember a season during which people, DIY-journalists, or according to Steven Moffat even worse, grown-ups, would not have been complaining about Doctor Who's far too complex storyline. And no doubt, bearing this in mind, the Big Moff wrote the most complex story-arch in Who's up-to-date-history, which gives, as a side effect, the running gang, What is bigger on the inside? a new answer: Steven Moffat's brain. He is the only one who can keep that finale and River's story in there. At the same time.

Talking about running gangs. Wasn't, back in the old days, the shows title supposed to be one? Well, now, almost 25 years after its 25 year anniversary we learn it's not a running gag, it is the question of the universe, which should be never asked nor answered.

And last but not least, if you had asked an old whovian whether the Doctor is ever going to change his martial status, the answer would have been a definite 'no'. Well, we could argue that the 'wedding' (lovely low-budget-bowties-are-cool-ceremony BTW) took place in an alternative universe which never happened, for what the wedding actually did never take place. But, of course that would be too easy. Because with Gallifrey being used to govern alternative-universes, they certainly made sure that their wedding-ceremonies are binding ones, no matter when and in which universe they happen to be conducted. So, I guess the 'I-do' is binding. And I know, there was never an actual I-do... but maybe that is what the kiss in Gallifreyan terms is supposed to be.

Oh, and we didn't really expected to see River in a white dress, did we? Then again we don't know much about time-lord-ish weddings in the first place...

But there is more to the episode than its immense fun factor. This was the first time since 2oo5 that the finale did not mean the end of an era, and Moffat kept his promise, we got answers. River is the Doctor's wife, and she is also in prison for killing him, without having actually killed him. Sort of. At least that seems to be how River's storyline is set in Moffat's mind. But come on, isn't it ironical that the Mill, the Champions of Law and Order, doesn't care about River committing a 'fake' murder, however, she still has to suffer its real effects? Although without the Teselecta the whole situation couldn't have happened in the first place. Is Moffat hinting at the universal police being as corrupt as the Russian government? And what about time itself? If everyone in the world believe a lie, does it become the truth? Ok, maybe things start to become too philosophical...

Anyway. Let's move on to the parts which were even less  answered. Like almost everything about season 5. Or most crucially what or who made the TARDIS explode causing Big Bang number 2? The Silence? And if yes, shouldn't we have come across that voice declaring 'Silence will Fall' from the TARDIS console by now? Maybe we'll find out next season. Even though personally I think that season 7's quest is more a 'when no living creature could speak falsely, or fail to answer, a question will be asked. A question that must never, ever be answered. Silence will fall when the question is asked...' -thing. So who knows, Moffat may manage to tackle both.

The Doctor's Choice

You should never ever begin with the end, but let's make an exception. Mostly because it did not make my eyes water, although I have the feeling that it wanted to. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed by that because in 'School Reunion' I was not too familiar with Sarah Jane's and the Doctor's common past, nevertheless I did not need to to feel the sadness when he said goodbye to her. And now, in spite of knowing all of Amy's and the Doctor's story, that certain sad feeling wasn't there. The reason for this might be that 'The God Complex's ending feels too much as being part of the plan. It seems the Doctor always intended to drop the Ponds there, not this soon, but he prepared the house and Rory's dream car for them, knowing where and when to find them, when needed. Moreover, with two episodes left, it appears unrealistic to believe that this was really the actual end.

Anyway. There is more to write about than the last minutes of yesterday's story; namely the Minotaur. I've seldom come across a better researched Who-story, and one which also uses the additional background information this sophisticatedly. The way Toby Whithouse turns the Minotaur's story into the Doctor's is a picture book exapmle of how to write good drama. Also the Doctor saving Amy by sacrificing her faith in him was genuinely touching. After all, he does need her all the same. Moreover, I'm glad that we did not see the Doctor's room, because it gives us something to speculate about.

What I'm less sure about are a few other loose ends. E.g. what was that fuss about the goldfish? I have the feeling it was never meant to be there. Or is it secretly called Jim? And why didn't Amy tell the Doctor before he left her that she knew about lake Silencio?
Well, maybe it's just Moffat being really clever and trying to confuse us with a few hints regarding the finale. Even though I'm not too sure about that. IMHO whatever happened in the 8Os hotel has not much influence on season 6's closing episodes.

The Greatest Love Story Gone Timey-Wimey

If Shakespeare had added time-travel to his Romeo & Juliet he could not have written it better than Tom MacRae wrote his 'The Girl Who Waited'.*

Maybe I am repeating myself, but I have seldom seen a comparable emotional episode which was as 'comfortably' cheesy-less as this one. However, I have to admit, that even if this episode is the creation of a genius, am I the only one thinking that Amy asking 'where is she' is not the last scene in the actual script? How can the now-Amy remember that anyway?

But apart from that, thumbs up, after all who can't be in love Amy's and Rory's very own episode?

There are many greatly written moments to chose from, but maybe the most notable thing about this story is how MacRae uses the way the companions see the Doctor as a plot device, something until know only the Big Moff was famous for.

E.g. 'Still, anything beats a fez, eh?' is not only a witty statement, or marks the first time future-Amy laughs in 36 years, but it creates a bond between her and Rory. It brings back all those other memories she and 'her Rory' shared a long time ago, and this may be the moment she starts to give the two of them a second chance.

Another remarkable scene of this kind is Rory's 'You're turning me into you.' which may certainly not be the bit most viewers are going to remember. According to the rules of old-'Who' the companion is not there to criticise the Doctor, even though I know that this also occurred back then. However, in this episode it is the point the story stops belonging to the Doctor and starts being that of Amy and Rory, even though I personally can't imagine the Doctor doing something else in that situation than handing the responsibility of making that choice to Rory. Usually we have the Doctor playing this part, choosing between possibilities and feeling sorry for the outcome because of the situation not offering a perfect solution.

Nevertheless, MacRae develops this idea further, into something we are not unfamiliar with. 'Sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it.' And this is what Amy does, she takes her future into her own hands, even if it means to cease to exist. Well, knowing what happened in 'The Impossible Astronaut' there is obviously more to it than that...

The scene most people do remember, and are never going to forget, is when Amy makes her choice. 'Three Words: "What about Rory?"'. This and begging her husband to keep that door shut, no matter what was my 'Who' moment of this season (up to know), because it is there for only one reason: showing how much she loves him. This Juliet is willing to commit suicide because she knows that after that her Romeo will be able to live happily ever after with the version of the Juliet he should have grown old. Although a part of herself is fighting this idea, in the end she loves him more than herself, what makes her willing to pay the highest price only pure love can pay.

And although I did not have tears in my eyes, I think Shakespeare himself could not have plotted it better than this.
________
*I'm one of those people whose teacher made them read Romeo & Juliet, twice, and I did not really enjoy it. Up to the balcony scene it was ok, but after that I felt like wasting my time...

The Scariest Place in the Universe...

'Night Terrors' is the stuff usually Moffat episodes are made off. But only on the surface. It has the the basic fears of children as main topic: night, darkness, monsters (weather in the cupboard or under the bed is not that important), with the only difference that Moffat writes better scripts.

What I really loved about it was the old fashioned creepiness, and come on, you can't do much wrong when setting a story into a giant dolls house occupied by giant, snobbish dolls living on posh wooden food, can you? Yes you can. Am I the only one thinking the solution of letting George's dad save the day was a bit off the track. I'm not saying that parental love is not powerful, but Mark Gatiss could have backed things up more. This way it felt a bit as if he had recycled a few things from other episodes: The relationship between the parents and the child who does not feel to be accepted is clearly inspired by Moffat's very own 'The Empty Child', while George having the power of letting his fears become real has 'Fear Her' written all over it. And then there was the Doctor who is trying to act human-like and fails which was an homage to last year's 'The Lodger' (not to mention the perception filter). Even though I have to admit, that listening to the Doctor mentioning some of the Gallifreyan good-night stories belongs to its best scenes.

To sum up, the story did not turn me into a big Gatiss fan, but neither against him. Some of the dialogues were top, most of them were a rather stupid, but all in all, it could have been worse. Maybe we are just too Moffat-spoilt...

Let's Kill The Doctor

I guess that was the original title of the recent episode, but it would have been too obvious. After all, Moffat's latest masterpiece was not really about Hitler; who spent most of it in a cupboard.

Actually,
'Let's Kill Hitler' is nothing else but a demonstration of what you can do when you are the one and only headwriter of Doctor Who. Nevertheless, this does not save it from coming pretty close to parodying our beloved series, but let's start with something different first.

It's only fair to admit it has its moments and in addition also the certainly most unforgettable quote of this season: 'I was on my way to this gay gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, ‘Gosh, the Third Reich’s a bit rubbish, I think I’ll kill The Führer.'

But back to those 'moments'. The prequel is certainly one of the most imaginative one we had this season, come on, you can't open a season much more spectacular than letting the Doctor's companions search for him via crop-circles. Not to mention Mel ruining the effect with a sports car... and with the trio, sry, quartet ending up involuntarily saving Hitler from being tortured to death and beyond by the Teselecta, the champions of justice. And that's when things start to be a bit ridiculous. But only a bit, because it gets compensated by Hitler being locked up in the cupboard, the magnificent quote I just mentioned in the foregoing paragraph and Mel proposing to the Doctor just before she dies.... and regenerates. What brings me to the next point on my imaginary list of random things.

Good, Melody is Mel who is River, only that she doesn't know yet. Or throughout the plot of this episode. And while most of us can live with the unrealistic fact that this is the first time the Doctor learns about his companion's childhood friend's existence (her not doing weddings is not a real excuse) the one really amazing thing about this is that nobody, not even Rory or Amy are too surprised by their daughter's let's say timelady qualities. Come on, when did they exactly catch up on their daughter being less human and more timelord, or on regenerations, to start with. And isn't particularly Rory's behaviour a bit odd?

Another thing which is odd is the Tescelecta. Although we don't know much about River Song, going by their records the fact that she is the one who killed the Doctor seems to maker her a bigger criminal than Hitler himself. Isn't that a tiny bit exaggerated? Or am I just failing to switch off my real-life history lessons?

But the biggest issue is certainly the 'Goodness, is killing you going to take all day?'-part. In fact I'm getting used to the Doctor dying about every third episode.
So she does successfully poison him and he dies a rather painful death, but not before finding out that he is not supposed to die then and there, as on the top of it the 22nd April at Lake Silencio seems to be a fix-point in time. And just after the Doctor takes his last breath River decides to save him, by using up all her regenerations left. So goodbye Berlin in WW2 and hello Utah, although, mark my words: the Doctor won't die there either. Even if Moffat has to (re-)reboot the whoniverse to change that silly fix-point. In fact, changing a fix-point in time may turn out to be pretty handy, Moffat could use it to claim that a few things which happened in the last seasons were changed by that. Not as if Moffat really needed to give us explanations.

All in all, this week Moffat proved again to be the master of timey-wimey stuff, especially timey-wimey love stories. And although he promised us answered, it seems there is at least one question remaining open to speculation: just who let Hitler out of the cupboard?

The 'Let's Kill Hitler Prequel

Is it wrong to say that the Doctor's answer-phone recording was the best bit of it?

Demons Run...

... when a good Man goes to war.

Finales are special. And season mid finals are no exception. And there are two things all of them usually have in common: a, the Doctor loses someone in the end, and b, the plot is on the edge of being dull when watched as a single story and could be roughly summed up in less than 14o's twitter characters, well, almost: Demons run when a good man goes to war, but they are not fast enough. But, the afore mentioned good man and his allies still lose the main cause which they where fighting for, even though in the end this does not seem to matter that much. You see what I mean? Then again Moffat knows how to distract his audience form the main plot by what I like to refer to as the story's wrapping: We have Headless Monks, scenes which would have fitted into any Star Wars-ode and we find out about River's identity, for which we've been waiting for more than 2 season. However, let's not forget that there is just one part of that original question answered which the Doctor asked her in the Library. We are still waiting for the 'Who are you to me?'-bit.

And here we are, at the one of the many problems of the story: River Song's identity. There aren't many people who can't claim their brownies for something they predicted, said, wanted to say but thought it to be too obvious to say, or something along those lines. So, River is a Time Lord, well, Lady; she is Melody Pond; the Ponds are her parents. Did I forgot anything? To quote Dan Martin's not improvable words 'It feels as if every possible theory anyone has posited has turned out to be correct. That's either totally genius or horribly foolish.' This may be the reason for why watching it for the 2nd time does improve people's opinion on it: There are no expectations left.

The second problem about "A Good Man Goes to War" is the war bit. The Doctor simply does not go to war. Not after the Great Time War. Never again. He knows a war's side effects, and he doesn't want to be the one responsible for them. Yes, maybe he isn't counting on things going wrong (which they do), but my overall impression is still that Moffat should have considered the past Doctors' personalities a bit more when coming up with the plot. Yes, it's made clear that he hates doing it. But considering the Doctor's remarkable history on sorting unpleasant stuff out without using violence but his wits (and many, many words), I have the feeling that there should have been another solution. I mean, that's the most attractive thing about 'Who': it's not those with the biggest weapons who win a war, but those making the best use of their brains. Which is usually the Doctor. So, I'm simply not buying this stuff. It's not real 'Who', it's one which could maybe work in a parallel universe, but not in this one.

Still, as already mentioned, thanks to the Big Moff we are only too willing to ignore these disturbing aspects, for the story's wrapping is more than just breath-taking at certain points, not to mention the cracking dialogues. And the cherry on this cake is that although 'A Good Man Goes to War' will be famous as the episode in which River Song's identity was revealed, it also gives us a few hints at the Doctor's past. Because the man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name is right, 'Good men don't need rules'. And maybe one day if we are lucky, we'll indeed learn while he has so many. But before that, let's try and make the best of the upcoming involuntary summer-break.

Today's BBC Breakfast...

was pretty Doctor Who related.

BlogtorWho did a great job in uploading these clips, so here they are. And just a short note. If you are looking for a longer version, DoctorWhoDom [part 1, part 2] has maybe what you are looking for, even though he does exclude the clips from Doctor Who and United and the chronology he uses is a bit odd.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Crazy & Bizarre...

With Doctor Who's season opener being less than a week away, and I know I'm overusing this phrase, but it's true, all kind of newspapers are starting to take an interest into the more or less leading actors of our all time favourite series. The result is that around this time we are getting quite a number of interviews. And The Telegraph is no exception. So, here is their rather ... bizarre interview they did with Karen Gillan. But I'm only posting this so that I can say I did not miss it, because actually it's not too interesting.

Anyway. This week just has started, so I think this won't be the only one we'll have the pleasure of reading this week.

Time And Space - Red Nose Day

... those who still think Doctor Who is mostly aimed at children should have paied more attention yesterday. Still, as an already adult whovian I loved it... well, actually not that much for I think Moffat should stop writing illogical episodes, but apart from that it was... no, not brilliant. I guess it will take at least another year until that word loses its Doctor Who reference.

Back to Time & Space. We understand that Moffat has a strict paradox + paradox = o and not 2 paradoxes policy. But he is wrong with that. There is a reason why that theorem does not work with let's say bana... apples. However, at least we got some sort of an explanation of how the TARDIS could have possibly landed in herself. Well, then that got spoiled by the Doctor telling himself that it's the wibbly-leaver he has to use to solve the situation. We already had that sort of discussion for 'The Big Bang' only that then it was the collapsing universe (time included) which saved Moffat's dignity.
But thanks to the two Amy Ponds' skirts many of us aren't remembering that tiny problem anymore. At least not too well.

So the only remaining thing to ask ourselves is 'What was Amy's question?'. And we finally know why Moffat does insist on those episodes being canonical because he twittered back 'That WILL come back. But not for a while. Oh, how ANNOYING!!'

Moffat's beloved Paradoxes

There has been too many articles featuring Moffat-caused paradoxes lately, sorry for that. But I'm afraid this year's Red Nose Day 'Comic Relief' mini-episodes will just add to an already enormous list.

Although there is to say the Big Moff didn't give too many hints away when talking to SFX, it's still more than enough to tell us that this year's plot seems to focus on a paradox, again. We remember, in his last 'Comic Relief' contribution we had two Doctors, now it will be two Amy Ponds, who even end up flirting with each other. And if things weren't already complicated enough, because after all there might *be* an explanation for someone flirting with themselves (or is that just Amy?), Moffat made sure to introduce also the question of how a TARDIS can land in her own self. I hope this time it will be him solving his own canonical problems. And all that in less than 8 minutes.
Well, giving it another thought it may have something to do with the 'Clone-Doctor' of season 6. Which would be brilliant, BTW.

However, no matter what was on Moffat's mind when writing his 'Comic Relief' episodes, the fuss it's already making is certainly not bad for Doctor Who. And fans are also curious about how 'Life Abroad the TARDIS', as Moffat unofficially calls it, looks like. Furthermore, after several Doctor Who-less months I guess there aren't many of us who care that much about the scientific background anyway.

Halfway Out of the Dark...

Actually, the key-line was 'Don't make my mistakes.' But you can't have that as a title. Or something between that and 'How did boredom even get invented?' (well, I guess not being in the possession of a TARDIS comes quite handy to do this).

Anyway. These 6o minutes has to prove the biggest Moffat critics that there is a reason for that guy having that job. Come on, just compare what RTD used to give us around this time of year... and he even got away with it.

But first things first, here are a few other reviews by The Guardian, SFX and The Telegraph. And after writing this 'review' (if it's one) someone should check whether Lawrence Miles is all right.

So, comparing 'A Christmas Carol' to any other Christmas episode we had so far, the biggest difference was the plot. This year, it wasn't about the end of the universe, planet earth or London, but about 4oo3 people trapped in a crashing space-ship and Kazran being the only one being able to save them. The problem is, he doesn't feel like it. But the Doctor wouldn't be the Doctor if he didn't try to do something about this, a la good old Charles Dickens. Still, after testing a chimney's general chimney-ness (another unforgettable entrance of the 11th Doctor), being let down by the psychic paper which refuses to refer to the Doctor as a 'mature and responsible adult', almost comparing himself to Mary Poppins, breaking a sonic-screwdriver (again!), rescuing and taming a flying shark, making a match between Kazran and Abigail, proving to be bad with card-tricks, and not to forget about marrying Marilyn Monroe, the Doctor finally manages to save the day. And the outcome is one of Moffat's other 'must-sees'.

Maybe its biggest plus point is that the audience doesn't need to be a Whovian to understand what is going on (*cough* not like last year *cough*) but luckily, Moffat didn't forget about us while writing it. I guess, the Doctor appearing in a fez and a Tom Baker scarf are among other things those bits which are exclusively aimed at us. So are Amy and Rory's 'costumes'... Furthermore, there are a few great one-liners and almost even more lovable situations the Doctor get himself into. I just loved the 'Kazran, it's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes.'-bit or his instruction to young Kazran about how to kiss Abigail 'Try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky... Make it part of the plan!'

My biggest fear was that Moffat's adaptation of Dicken's story might turn out to be some sort of a Christmassy musical, especially after a few teasers saying that Katherine Jenkins, who did a great job BTW, is singing two times within 6o minutes. But really everything was just on spot. I mean even the fact of Kazran not letting Abigail out of her ice-y coffin for Christmas in the beginning makes sense in the end. Or that the machine doesn't react to Kazran as the Doctor changed him too much, or how Kazran finally releases Abigail because of his younger self. Besides, when Kazran decides to do that after all, and she finally comes out of her 'ice-box', that was one of those rare Doctor Who-moments that I had some sort of a tear in my eyes.*

Oh, and before I forget it. Fans seem to be a bit in two minds about the Doctor saving or not saving Abigail. In my humble opinion I think he did save her. Because, although that is not exactly what he says to Amy in the closing scene, he still acts a bit fibishly (and I know that's not a proper word). As if he didn't want to tell her something for being afraid of revealing one of his habits. I mean, saving her wouldn't have been a requirement for saving those 4oo3 people on that space-ship. Additionally, the following 'Halfway out of the dark.' sounds way too optimistic... almost as if it was a reference to Kazran's own life.

EDIT: And yes, I know what official sources say. But think about it. If Kazran lost his love on that day it wouldn't be 'Half way out of the dark' for him and Kazran is the only one to whom the Doctor can refer to. Additionally, Moffat is certainly not keen on spoiling his xmas episode by not giving it a 'proper' ending.
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*The other time was, when Wilf said good bye to the Doctor in Journey's End - 'But every night, Doctor, when it gets dark, and the stars come out, I'll look up on her behalf. I'll look up at the sky, and think of you.' that was the tear-jerker.

How to do a proper cliffhanger...

Let the universe end just after reaching half of the time you have to go. That's it.

And basically that's the plot of this week's The Pandorica Opens. For the currant situation is: Auton-Rory killed Amy after a really heart breaking and love-revealing scene, the Doctor is locked up inside the Pandorica, which was actually created for... a nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies, the most feared being in all the cosmos. And, River Song is about to die for being inside the very soon exploding TARDIS which is causing the cracks in time and the end of the whole universe. Well, actually things has been already better than this.

Although I have to admit this is how I would imagine the perfect end of the very last Doctor Who episode ever, Moffat has still 55 minutes to go and to turn this into the perfect happy end of Amy Pond's fairytale. And we know that's exactly what he is going to do.

I Was Not Expecting This....

I seem to be one of those few ones who weren't that fond of this week's episode, but it might be just its teasers which got me too excited... I.Just.Don't.Know.

Anway, to my mind The Lodger is walking the really narrow line between a soap-opera-ish comedy and something which might have been originally some sort of sci-fi, well, maybe before it was turned into an episode. And even back then it was rather bad sci-fi than good one, for although this show has very obviously the label sci-fi on it, this isn't an excuse for not explaining important plot elements. Like, how or through which mechanism were those humans (and also the Doctor) pulled to the machine, or why would a machine explode only because it has a really clever pilot? Or how can a not properly working time-machine keep the TARDIS from landing? Well, maybe it's just me missing something...

But starting at the very beginning, I have to admit, if we cut The Lodger into really short sequences and if we watched them separately, we would get a really entertaining..., ehm, something. Because the only parts of this  episode which worked were it's non sci-fi elements, and, I have to admit that they were outstandingly well done. Indeed, there aren't many not-Moffat episodes having such amazingly well written dialogues and one-liners.

Furthermore, its timing couldn't have been more perfect. Come on, this was maybe the only episode in which the Doctor actually plays football and it was aired just before England faced the USA in the World Cup. Additionally, let's not forget Matt Smith's original plans for the future... Can this be sheer coincidence? Yes it can! Oddly enough, there is even evince that this was *really* not planned. For the whole story is based on a comic strip published somewhen around David Tennant's era, and despite of him not being famous for his football abilities, that original story also features a football-match. So to those who think that these 43 minutes were exclusively written for Matt Smith's Doctor, I recommend to do some research.

However, apart from this and its good conversations there isn't much positive to say about The Lodger. And I'm not absolutely sure whether a football playing Doctor is something positive in the first place. I'm sorry, but it takes more than some witty dialogues to write a good Doctor Who episode. If a good storyline is too obviously not there, there isn't much to save it. And to me this was actually the most pointless and awkward plot I've ever seen in Doctor Who.

In addition, I wasn't exactly comfortable with seeing the Doctor only wrapped into a towel as a result of being in a hurry to save his friend. Sorry, but there is something utterly wrong with that. And yes please, never do that "let's smash our heads against each other to see the world from your perspective" again. Thank you.

Maybe there are a few people claiming that the story was quite funny as a whole, but I think it's already the situation alone guaranteeing that. I mean, the Doctor being forced to act as a human being for a week (or wasn't it rather 4-5 days?) automatically leads to some comical elements. Nevertheless, it's the job of a good scriptwriter to take these good elements and to turn them into an even better and coherent story.

I hope next week's finale-opener will show how it's done in a proper way.

Starry Starry Night...

"If you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of."

Sorry for being late. Well, the only good thing about writing a review after every one else have already informed us about their opinions is that I'm able to say Curti's Vincent and the Doctor is quite dividing the whoniverse. And I know saying this is not worth waiting almost one week to write a review, sorry.

I for my part liked it pretty much, although I have to agree with the common opinion, the ending was a bit cheesy, and I really could have done without the music. The next time they should make sure to get rather the acoustic version than the actual song. But apart from that, I really loved it for Curtis' didn't stopped by writing an interesting story sprinkled with quotable dialogues, but there were also some Doctor Who insiders, which maybe not even every fan knows about, but more about this in a minute.

For a start, the episode's beginning was awesome and it worked pretty well also with the small bits, like the Doctor being irritated by the boys' conversation, just like any other fan of this show.

Then, there was the actual part of the story, with Vincent Van Gogh played by an incredibly good Tony Curran. Some fans might have been upset of Vincent having a Scottish accent, but luckily SFX prepared us for that and those who still haven't got it, this was what point 5 on their preview list, the one about the ongoing TARDIS-gag, was all about.

Indeed, this week's (or rather last week's) list was hotly discussed in several Doctor Who forums. And this leads us straight to our next point (point 1o for any SFX fans) which was, and I quote "a major story element that some will decry as a massive plot hole and others will embrace on a metaphorical level".
To my mind, the only important thing lacking some explenation was "the monster", or rather, why Vincent was the only one who could see it. Nevertheless, the monster is real and I think a far more interesting question is how the Doctor appeared to "Vincent van Goff". (At one point I wondered whether David Tennant would have got the pronunciation right, and yes, actually I'm pretty sure he would.)

Furthermore, while some see the monster as a big unnecessary something, others can't help noticing the extraordinary irony Curtis has added to the story through this. Namely, we have an invisible blind monster, which only a "mad" painter can see.

Taliking about Vincent's mental conditions. I'm glad the way this topic was dealt with, so that his depression was not denied or whatever they could have done with it, but it was very much there. His breakdown and suicide were surely major elements of the episode. But at the same time we were also showed that it was the same man "painting" his famous "Starry Night" picture into the sky, which was the most beautiful scene of the whole episode. The Doctor's line "I haven't seen nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see." couldn't have been more on spot.

Maybe also because of this (and that Amy tries to apply the Doctor's "time can be rewritten" theory and has to recognise that sometimes it just doesn't rewrites itself) the ending was surely tragic. Still, again, the Doctor doesn't fail to hit the mark... And he is sooo right. They definitely added to Vincent's pile of good things.

They killed Rory ... AGAIN!?

Cold Blood was a not bad Sillurian 2 parter, well, the only thing we could have asked for was a good plot, but according to this week's Guardian comments people seem to care less about that aspect as they used to. There was some tension, some weird set of sci-fi rules, some relatives of an "old" alien species, a nice in-between human story (actually there were two of them) and the Doctor more or less saved the day (again). Still, I cant' help thinking that the connection between these parts could have been a bit better.

However, it is very likely that we don't care much about the actual story anyway, because just after we started thinking that now they will be dashing off toward a new exciting place (or Rio), the crack reappears and Rory sacrifices his life for the Doctor and gets consumed by 'the light' and his own fiancée can't remember him anymore (some sort of a Donna-deja-vu, anyone?). Furthermore, as if this would not have been enough, the crack also seems to destroy the Doctor's TARDIS in the future.
Obviously, all these finale-teasers had to steal the Sillurians the show.

Now, I won't write about how complicated (and stereotypical) the Human-Sillurian relationship was in the first place, even without Ambrose killing Ayela out of a weird form of mother-love. Or what Chris Chibnall's idea was when writing it's human germs keeping the Doctor alive, because when looking at it form a biological point of view, also humans need germs to stay alive, so they could not have done the same with them either. And I definitely won't ask myself why the Doctor could pick that TARDIS-bit out of the crack without the light having an effect on him, while Rory was forgotten before the light/the crack even consumed him completely.

Because thanks to Moffat there are a bit more interesting things to write about.

So let's start with those famous last five minute which start with Rory's death.
I'm sure that an average fan must have liked him for giving us another (a more 'down-to-earth') perspective of the happenings. Sure, generally, he was not very heroic, still, he also knew how to shine, how to appeal to a/our human common sense, but not in a boring way. Somehow he was a bit of the counterpart of the Doctor. And that's why he was so likeable.
Additionally, many (traditional) fans were glad about him being some sort of a grantee that we won't have to sit through another 'season 2' storyline.

Still, despite Moffat apparently having something against him (all in all it was him who wasn't against killing Rory three times within only one season!), there is a chance that Amy gets the opportunity to live her life with Rory, because of the simple reason that the Doctor won't allow anything, no matter how terrifying it might be, to harm his beloved TARDIS. For this, he will find a way to get the crack-story-arch fixed (I just didn't feel like calling it a 'crack-problem') and through this maybe Amy and Rory will be reunited in the future.

And next week Vincent Van Gogh will see Amy and the Doctor, and I guess he is also in desperate need of one.