I have to admit, despite my initial disappointment towards a
lack of Cybermen, it seems a case of less-is-better, even if less means five or
minus, although I would actually like to know one thing: two series in for the
new Doctor, the new regime and Moffat himself, it would actually be nice to
know if these Cybermen are Cybusmen or the original Mondas/Telos Cybers in their
newest form due to the lack of Cybus Industries logo upon their chest plates –
perhaps next series might explain something, if not another rant may be in
order. Although, come to think of it, the use of Cybermats this time round might
in fact be a massive clue, as the Moffat does like to lay down smaller things
instead of tell people straight off. Nevertheless, the episode itself was
actually much better than most of the rest of the series, probably not AS good
as ‘The Doctor’s Wife’, ‘Good Man…’ or ‘The Girl Who Waited’, but definitely
higher in rank than most of the others.
Craig’s return! Wonderfully done, although the whole ‘checking
up on old friends’ thing for the Doctor is definitely so Tennant-era, but an
easy way to bring him back AND to see his little baby and the brief appearance
of Sophie – the actress whom plays her probably unavailable for more than the
tiniest appearance, all of which could have been filmed easily in one day. And adorable
as though the Doctor’s Baby Talk can be, as established earlier in the series,
it does get rather boring quite quickly, and almost a little repetitive, even
with the nickname Stormageddon/Stormy to little Alfie – which even I have to admit,
was cute. But it’s been done so don’t overdo it, please… Also, the final few
moments of the ‘climatic’ battle, with Craig answering the cry of Alfie,
although very emotional and gripping (I honestly thought Craig HAS been
converted for a moment) was rather… old. Is that the right wording? It’s one of
those things that’s been done over and over again in shows and movies that for
it to be done in Who, although inevitable, seemed annoying and almost a letdown.
And that brings us in an almost full circle to those final
few moments, with River and Madam Kovarian, the Silents and the Astronaut.
Although a shocking and gripping few moments, the whole River-is-the-Astronaut thing
was completely predictable, if even if a little questionable for, if the whole
reason River is arrested was because she shot the Doctor as the Astronaut one
needs to know who else was there to actually arrest her as there was only the
older River, Amy, Rory and a Silent as seen in the first episode. Secondly, the
Astronaut with River within went back into the water, most likely transported
away and thirdly, as River was set up by higher powers for the purpose of
killing the Doctor it would be seriously low, even for the Order of the
Silents, to arrest her for something they made her do. Also, surely the River
who witnessed the Doctor’s death knew she was within the Astronaut suit,
considering the one within was only JUST starting and the River with the rest
was much later in her timeline…? But it was lovely seeing Alex Kingston and
Frances Barber once again anyway.
- The Doctor = 9/10 – Matt was fantastic as ever, but he felt repetitive, with regurgitations from the rest of the series like Baby Talk and playing with toys unnecessarily. And the use of the Stetson and the blue envelopes – completely unneeded; one doesn’t need to tie in everything with everything else!
- Craig = 10/10 – Before the Lodger I admit I never liked James Cordon, but he’s just brilliant now, and Craig is the reason why. His return within this episode just boosted my love of Cordon… that is all.
Episodic Rating: 9 out of 10; not good enough for full marks
but better than quite a few of the rest of the series, in fact, compared to
Series Five, the Sixth has been terribly disappointing, which is a shame as,
not only was it Darvill’s first full series but also this was the series where
writers officially knew how to write for Matt Smith’s Doctor and despite that
it’s still been worse than last series.
Now I shall reserve thoughts towards the finale episode, but
having seen pictures from it, the prequel and of course that next time trailer,
I feel it’s going to be yet another over-the-top episode with too much action
and too less of good plot (including a Dalek even though Moffat promised NO
Daleks this series, the stinking liar!). A good view definitely of course,
Moffat can always assure viewers and fans of that, but in all it might just be
too much for forty-five/fifty minutes of episode. All I shall say now about ‘The
Wedding of River Song’ is that Silents are now models and like to strut their
stuff in water tanks. Yes, indeed…
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