The Name of the Doctor Cliffhanger

I strongly recommend not watching this YouTube clip if you have not seen the actual episode. I'm only posting this because it is the most important scene in 'Who' I can think of as it is the very first time that the almost 50 year old question 'Doctor who?' becomes really teased... So, enjoy and pay attention, as that minute is all Moffat offers us to survive the next 6 'Who'-less months.

She Said, He Said - A Prequel

Now, generally, I don't like prequels. They are meant to be appetisers, but they seldom are... They just end up making you less hungry. And sadly, this one is no exception.

And people should be careful when messing with the Doctor's past. Because there are questions whose answers we do not really want to know. And making it everybody else know, but not us, is not a fair solution to this problem either... 

But I'm looking forward to Clara's secret. Because she is perfect. The only companion who can never die, not properly (hold on, wasn't that Rory last season?). I for my part am dying to find out about the woman in the shop who gave her the Doctor's number in "The Bell's of Saint John". Was she River or someone else... I hope Moffat addresses that next week and that he has an awesome solution up his sleeves; one which is worth revealing the Doctor's secret.

The Big Moff and 'Who''s Golden Rules

 I'm not sure what Sydney Newman (you know, the guy who basically invented 'Doctor Who') would think of the title of season 7's finale episode. Being dead there don't seem to be  many options left but turning over in his grave, even though, he may wait and save that for another occasion, like when someone will turn the Doctor into a woman (*shudder*). But teasing to reveal the biggest mystery in the Whoniverse comes actually pretty close to that. Well, we know Moffat is not *really* up to it. After all, this series is called 'Doctor Who' for a reason,and I'm pretty sure Moffat is aware of that too.You simply cannot go and break 'Who's golden rules at your will.

Sadly, it's almost as if Moffat's big goal was to try how far he can go interfering with those aforementioned rules without actually breaking them: he made the Doctor marrying River, he even killed him, and know he's trying to reveal the one secret which nobody really wants to know. Well, we know it's much ado about nothing, as Moffat has a record on not keeping his promises, but even teasing things like this should be forbidden. If you add something to that part of 'Who's legacy then it becomes to stay forever, just like that odd 13-lives rule (which is there for a really important reason, so I'm not complaining). And as much as I love most of Moffat's episodes, I'm not sure if I want him to have this much power. Because if you're messing with the Doctor's past you're craving your own ideas into stone, and future main editors will have to stick to them, no matter if they like it or not, or if it's worth it. 

On the other side, this is something which would have happened at one point in the future anyway. And I can come up with much worse scriptwriters than Moffat who could have had a go at it (I'm glad RTD didn't). So we can deal with it know, and settle things forever. And let's hope that Moffat has a brilliant solution to deal with this very obvious red herring, i.e. without causing too much damage.

All of Time And Space Outside These Doors....

Oh yes, that's proper 'Who' at its best, and all it takes is a dangerously well organised villain (the Great Intelligence, the one who was also responsible for the deadly Snowmen form last Christmas episode, we remember) and a couple of new mysteries for the Doctor to focus on: who is Clara Oswin, or how is the great Intelligence and she connected with each other? Who was the woman from the shop who knows the TARDIS' phone number? River? Is the Doctor's future self manipulating his past/future and 'making' Clara bump into him, somehow. At least Moffat promises us to find out within this season.

Talking about the new companion... Do you know her most important quality which makes her the perfect companion for the Doctor? He's already seen her dying. Twice. And he suspects that there isn't much he can do about it. So it doesn't matter if she has some fun with him before she ends up in a Dalek and/or a Victorian coffin. Moreover, it's really great to see the Doctor inviting her on board the TARDIS and she turning him down. Well, I guess in *real* life that would be people's natural reaction, it's just that the Doctor and real life aren't really acquainted with each other.Then again, Moffat is the best when it comes to making the least realistic or even logical things appearing real. Where else could you see a girl not being utterly shocked by meeting a *proper* alien. I loved the Doctor's reaction, though 'Yes I am. Are you OK with that?'

Actually, it were the innumerable small moments between the two of them which makes the whole story perfect and adds some real life feeling to it; like the Doctor leaving the jammie-dodgers for her, him hinting at her Victorian past/(future?), well, at least now we sort-of know where her excellent hacking-skills ('Asylumn of the Daleks') come from, or the last minutes in which she asks him to ask her tomorrow again to travel with him, because she'll may say yes then (and we and the Doctor know she will). And when was the last time the Doctor actually received a proper phone-call via the Police Box phone? Or that he heard the 'bells' of 'Saint John' ringing? And we have already a few loose ends which asks to be tied up some time in the future. E.g. what was that leaf thing all about? And why doesn't she want to talk about it?

Sure, there was some sort of a sub-plot going on with those spoonheads which served the Great Intelligence as a tool to 'feed' on healthy, human minds, for whatever reason... And his servants/employees used the wi-fi to do all this, which is some sort of spooky (especially as since a few minutes a new wi-fi spot has kept appearing in my wi-fi list: ALIEN lol) But all this simply demonstrates the Big Moff's magnificence; I guess there aren't many screenwriters who'd use such an elaborately crafted plot  as the background-story to introduce the new companion. The story could have lived up to any standards which poor Russel T Davies set up for 'Who's finales. 

What I don't get is what 'the Doctor saving the plane' scene was about. After all, it didn't really add anything to the story; it simply allowed Moffat to cheat and get done with the the Doctor introducing himself to the new companion, which is part of the actual ritual. And Clara didn't seem too shocked by this new information, either that or she simply couldn't be more shocked as she was in a then still just about to crashing plane. So maybe there wasn't exactly enough time for the information to sink in.

All in all, 'The Bells of Saint John' was a great opener and next week Clara will be on her first alien planet, visiting a place which she certainly won't find in her book. Maybe we'll get an appropriate reaction to the Doctor *really* being an alien then.

Moffat Talks 'Who'

Every year, just before 'Doctor Who' becomes part of our weekends again, the Big Moff gathers his subjects working in the media and gives an interview. Or vice versa. This year's most interesting read comes from Collider. And sadly, it features the general dull 'Jenna-Louise Coleman'-questions (what do you like about her, why did she get the job -  because she's terrific AND a great actress, just in case you wondered ect., ect.) but also some more interesting ones. And no, I'm not referring to Moffat's most favourite episode; seriously, he is the showrunner of 'Who'. He is paid for saying that the next one's the best!

Nevertheless, Moffat is also offered the chance to talk about more interesting stuff, like why he thinks that the Doctor, and the show, needs an excellent companion, or how he manages to come up with the idea for his genuinely creepy monsters, what he thinks of purely historical adventures and his initial idea of bringing back the ice warriors, and so on. Of course he has to say also a few words on 'Doctor Who's 5o-year anniversary, and its function, plus, the cherry on the cake is that tongue-tied Moffat promises to reveal Clara's secret within the next 8 episodes. Which is great news. Somehow I'm starting to tire of far stretched story-archs. River's sub-plot has become complex enough to follow. So, all in all, it's certainly worth reading that somewhat long-ish interview.

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.