S07E06 - The Snowmen

Well hello and welcome again to my rather fabby-fun Doctor Who review blog! Now I must apologise for this long, 5-day gap of what I call absence but I have been rather bogged down with illnesses which had left myself rather weak and achy but since that is all going I thought it about time to review the extravaganza that was – and, well still is – the Snowmen…

Of course, the mystery of Asylum’s Oswald Oswin goes even deeper now, what with both Steven Moffat and Jenna-Louise Coleman’s plain right LIES about the character’s link to the new companion Clara and not to mention the shocking twist of Christmas-Clara’s death – yes, I’m calling her Christmas-Clara and if you didn’t know she had died then why the hell are you reading this blog and where have you been these past few days? Of course, there are many theories sprouting from many-a-fan I know, some of which include Clara clones in three different times and environments, Reincarnation of the same character and name, something Flesh-related (which might have slight faulty considering the Flesh go back to their natural state once dead) and my current favourite: splinters in time of the original Oswin Oswald due to the fact of her explosive death and the Daleks abilities to time travel.

All rather good theories if I do say so myself but most likely nowhere close to what the Moff has planned. That aside of course and concentrating on the Christmas-Clara at hand; wasn’t Jenna just absolutely amazing? She may have won my heart over, pre-Who in the mini-serial Titanic but really, as part of the Whoniverse and after the brilliance that was Oswald, her Clara Oswin was just… brilliant. Her whole double-persona as the cockney barmaid and the posh, child-friendly governess was perfectly portrayed although a little co-incidental due to the fact that she met the Doctor as the former and adventure concentrated on the premises of the latter but hey, it’s all about Clara and a good way to keep the story in one tight little ball and keep a stricter story.

Of course this does lead myself to the coincidental nature of the episode; that the Doctor just happened to be taking refuse in a year to which Clara existed, that Clara herself just happened to meet the Doctor and of course, the ‘Ice Governess’ did just happen to be the previous governess to Clara but like I’ve said before; Moffat does like his coincidences, not to mention the fact that it seems the Doctor was MEANT to meet Clara and this worked well for that situation (“Maybe the Universe does make bargains after all…”) and since when has Who ever been at least half-believable anyway?

Other things to mention are of course the characters; more specifically Vasta, Jenny and Strax. The latter of the three having returned from death at the end of A Good Man Goes to War, but to be honest that tiny little factor about the character we care less about; glad to just see his comedic war-esque character bring in some of the comedy relief of the episode and at just the right moment. Of course the ever-loved Vastra and Jenny – the fact they’re actually married (another LGBT reference for Who; more so than RTD would ever have done… kinda!) – and the reference that Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories were in fact based upon the shenanigans of The Veiled Woman and her Associate proved a fun little twist and also a nod towards Moff’s own Sherlock show he’s squeezed two small seasons out of.

Keeping in track of Sherlock – how bloody brilliant was it to see the Doctor dressed as Mr Holmes! Of course, it’s not the first time he’s dressed like the Great Detective, for in Fourth Doctor episode ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’ he dressed as the Detective for most of the episode(s)! Which of course leads me to the Ol’ Who reference of the Great Intelligence and the Doctor providing it with the London Underground Map – for those not in the know, the Great Intelligence was a foe in Ol’ Who episode ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ – yes – and ‘The Web of Fear’ both of which to feature vast usage of the London Underground as base of villain operation – although why the Doctor doesn’t remember and only vaguely find the similarities in the Great Intelligence right at the end of the episode I shall never truly understand.

Speaking of enemies, who else believes the main plot of the episode; with the Great Intelligence, living Snowmen and Doctor Walter Simeon was somewhat underused? Concentrating more solely on the Doctor’s budding relationship with Clara and the comedic nature of Vastra’s own team the whole ‘Snowmen taking over the world’ aspect seemed a little lost the moment Clara fell off the cloud. Of course, it did then lead to a quick showdown in which the Doctor didn’t really have any answers and Clara of course saved the day by dying – as you do – it led to a rather disappointing villainous anti-climax (although not a disappointing companion-climax, but more of that later) but did show off some of greatness that is the wondrous Richard E Grant, who is just a brilliant actor all round, it cannot be denied!

Now, reading this would note that I have so far left two important details out, but oh no, was I not going to forget the MASSIVE revamp of the credits (much better than the ‘revamp’ featured in the first five episodes of season seven) and the complete change of TARDIS interior! As a fan of both Ol’ Who and New Who alike, it was most brilliant to see, in both subjects, the use – and mix – of both old and new. With the bringing back of the more metallic, machine-esque TARDIS console room, while of course keeping the larger set and introducing – even though I’m still not very much a fan of it – the GC aspects to the thing such as the spinning lights around the walls and the rotating ceiling… things attached to the central console.

And of course for the credits I simply have to applaud for the use of old, new, slightly Americanised and yet still completely Who design of the entire thing – with the reintroduction of the Doctor's face into the credits (a feature both myself and my older sibling felt was greatly missed since the days of old Who), the slight Seventh Doctor-era vast feel, and the use of the seventies theme during the actor’s names segments, it really lead to a positive clash of Old vs New. Add to the rather fiery feel of the things and even the TARDIS doors opening to the adventure and you have yourself one brilliant opening title sequence!

Finally I cannot forget about the mopey-Doctor first seen at the beginning of the episode. My opinion: much better done than the moping Doctor at the end of Tennant’s era and more believable towards the fact that the Doctor has a cycle of picking up a new companion every other month and not caring who’s left and who’s just joined. Of course he got overly attached to the Ponds – to the point where you had to think ‘Oh no, not them AGAIN!’ – but to finally not have them to lean back on, it was interesting how quickly he gave in to a new companion and indeed the mystery of said new companion upon discovery of the familiar namesake.

The ‘Coming Soon’ trailer too looks fascinating; some of which I have noticed being a newly designed Cybermen – my hopes on the final return of the Mondas/Telos Cybers and not those terrible Para-Cybers – along with Clara seeming holding a big gun (or being faced bravely by one) and of course the reference of “the woman twice dead” to which I must point out that one Clara died in the past, the other Oswin in the long-distant future, but I digress…

Anyway! A fantastic episode all round, it seems! Bring on April for the rest of season seven – April? Really? Damnit…

S07E05 - The Angels Take Manhattan

Did you cry? Did you at least shed one tear for the rather terrifying farewell of the Ponds? Well it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster of an episode and, for Moffat’s very first ever companion-departure episode – not all set in an alternate or aborted timeline for once – applauds must go out to the Executive Producer! It goes to show, though, the importance of companions in this era of New Who as they literally have to be ripped away from the Doctor to get the Timelord to move on; like Rose and Donna of old.

But still, one must not dwell on the Ponds’ departure just yet, for indeed there is an entire episode to talk about and the Doctor’s most deadliest of foes to mention: The Weeping Angels! So yes, it was quickly proved the fan-favourite theory of the Statue of Liberty being an Angel (although to be fair, nearly everything WAS an Angel by then) but one has to wonder: what of the tourists? I would pity anyone inside her head for when she ‘woke’ or moved. Could it possibly be that in that Angel-dwelling time of New York, the time of Melody Malone, that the Statue was an Angel then but is no longer now; just a large metal – not stone – structure, pointing out the destination of the place it majests over?

Another thing to mention as the Angels came back in their most frightening of forms, was that they were no longer desperate murderers like presented in the fabulously written ‘The Time of Angels’ two-parter two years ago. Indeed one got a real fear of them from the off, the moment Rory walked passed that fountain and the feel of dread completely overcame. Of course, the momentary relief and hilarity of River’s appearance, as the aforementioned character of Melody Malone, really bought enlightenment to the heart; while the overwhelming, foreshadowed and constant threat of the Angels could easily bring the viewer back to the fear that Moffat once presented them with back in ‘Blink’. It goes to show, also, that if ‘Asylum’ five weeks ago failed to bring the fear back for the Daleks, Moffat definitely brought that fear back for the Angel here!

Sliding back a few pointers, the book Melody Malone, which at first seemed unimportant and slightly unneeded for the story, bar to present Amy with some rather stunningly geeky glasses, was a vision of complete perfection to complete the episode – proving a very clever and subtle explanation as to the extent of fixed and fluxed points in time; the Doctor urging Amy not to read ahead so as not to make it true while ripping the last page out so it doesn’t have to end. And then of course reading the chapter titles to find the last chapter and the emotional anger, the pure roar hatred towards what it may mean for the Doctor… well, Matt Smith’s acting was just absolutely superb for that.

Of course it was Rory’s fault from the very off, getting coffee’s for himself, Doctor and Amy, and must later lingering around his tombstone instead of simply walking towards the TARDIS, but we can’t blame the lovable bumbling hero, a man practically escaping his fate, for doing what he did. The Angels had marked Rory and it seems like you can never truly run away from them once you’ve been ‘Touched’. Then of course Rory never got to say goodbye to the Doctor or even his own daughter, jut zapped from time without even realising until it was too late; the Lone Centurion, a man who waited two thousand years and fought so many races gone in a second, without any chance…

But of course Who is, and always will be, about the female companion, which is why the goodbye focussed on Amy; not able to LOOK at her friend and daughter to say her farewell too, but at least able to say it. Karen was just absolutely superb in that moment, going with an epic explosion of Pond-ness as she always wanted, choosing Rory over life with the Doctor, as it should and would always be. It seems, of course, that back in the early 19th century, where the pair landed up, that Amy must have got a career as an author or similar, and one hopes Rory continued as a Super-Nurse, or even prospered as a doctor with his more advanced knowledge of medicine, but it seems we shall never truly find out as yet. But, more importantly: what about Brian? What about Amy’s mum and dad and aunt? Will they never know what happened of their children? One does hope that Melody went back and somehow explained it to them, considering she went to visit her parents a few more times to get the book published and whatnot but it seems a shame that, for the moment, we – the viewers – wont find out.

I cannot finish this without stating how superb New York was a location for, both this episode and for Who in general. The production team and actors themselves have been going on about how stunning the locational filming was and it just goes to show that real-location and green screen, even in this day and age, have nothing on each other, which is where the ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ two-parter a few years ago fell flat on its face. That and the use of Brit actors with Yank accent, but I’m not talking about that! No, the production team did a fantastic job of setting two different time zones in one location; the modern day New York glamour and an atmosphere full of life, and the old New York, full of strong Brooklyn accents, backstabbing gangsters and décor to match. Just pure brilliance.

And so there we have it. It struck me about twenty minutes after the episode concluding that from now until Christmas Saturday nights would be rather dull once more, with no more Who and nothing associated to or with it to air. So that is why we must look forward, hope for the announcement of the Christmas Special title soon, along with Jenna-Louise Coleman’s character’s name – whom Moffat has stated isn’t the Oswin Oswald to which we saw in the Asylum, although the Moff-ster has been known to bend the truth – and another adventure in the TARDIS. With the end of the 2012 series proper, that also means one certain thing: The 50th Anniversary year awaits!

S07E04 - The Power of Three

With the penultimate episode of Pond’s last leg now over, one has to admire the leaps and bounds Who has made since Russell T Davies left the show, and it has to be admitted that this episode, ‘The Power of Three’, felt a somewhat fitting tribute towards that era whilst informing viewers of the show’s need to continue and develop, to warp and change because change is good! Change is cool!

Now what can we say about this week’s episode? Well there are plenty of topics to address so let us start with the obvious: Kate Stewart. In true Russell T Davies-tribute fashion, the show has now introduced the offspring of one of the most beloved Old Who regular, but unlike in Davies fashion, this particular offspring is absolutely brilliant! Good casting helps bring this character to life and Jemma Redgrave makes the character so believable and so lovable. Of course, one could admit that just being a Lethbridge-Stewart helps bring the love to the character but add on to the fact that she has taken the Doctor’s old position at UNIT and, of course, taken over the somewhat role that her father had previously and you’ve got a character you want to make a proper regular.

UNIT of course has changed once more, and for the better it has to be admitted. Back in the days of Davies, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce was all militia, with the only hint of there being anything beyond firing a weapon or destroying a planet lost within the clever-yet-dodgy plotlines of some of the comeback’s old episodes, yet this story brings a reminiscent touch back to the UNIT of old, with scientific labs, experiments and science taking the lead once more, the Doctor back in a laboratory with a theory and a death wish. What could a fan ask more of?

Coming back the general talk of the episode, plot itself has to be addressed, or rather the definite lack of a plot. With a brilliant concept, a fantastic production and of course a marvellous cast, the one thing that seemed to be missing is a reason – the final few minutes proved that there was a pretty easy solution to the slow invasion, a conveniently close teleportation location and gave us an enemy similar in look and vocals to Star Wars’ Lord of the Sith. Now this isn’t to say that the quick-solution, again similar to Davies, is a drawback to the episode, no, indeed it felt very Doctor Who-ish in general – the Doctor finding his way out of a sticky situation by simply sonicking a few buttons – but one can see why Old Who producer John-Nathan Turner decided to remove the Sonic from the show as it can be, and has proved to be, the Easy-Way-Out Solution.

But never mind that eh? I want talk about Brian! As said before Mark Williams is simply fantastic and I can’t help but take my words back, cover it in love and enthusiasm and then shove it all back in your faces! Mark Williams is the most brilliantly comedic and adaptable actor out there. There I said it, but it’s true. With his performance back in Dinosaurs and now again in Three, you have to marvel at the brilliance of both the actor and the character, and I simply state here and now that he is definitely full-time-companion worthy! The fact that Brian gave a thousand and one more suggestions to the reason behind the invasion of the little boxes than the Doctor, Amy or Rory could, that he kept up his log about the boxes without doubt and that he even took the Doctor aside to ask what happens to the Timelord’s companions just proves what a well-rounded, perfectly adapted character her is. And of course it helps that he has Rory-isms to him, being the guy’s dad. Rory in his pants – oh yes!

Of course, the Little Box Invasion was a cool idea; to have them slowly integrate into human life like average and everyday objects was really clever and brilliant, not to mention the guest appearances of Profession Brian Cox and Sir Alan Sugar and the well-missed new articles of old, again of the Davies era, it just felt like such a cosy little episode yet with a dark side. We all know that the Pond’s Fall next week, and that has to be said cast a shadow over the entire episode. The sneak adventure on the size with Zygons and who knows what else feeling somewhat depressing knowing that the two Ponds will not go on for much longer and the twist ending with them being urged to go with the Doctor despite the danger of adventure – the true power of three – making the many hard-core Pondians (Pond fans, yes I just made the term up) want to scream at the duo not to go, although with no knowledge of how the Ponds would actually leave the show.

Really though, the episode was a Character Centrepiece, concentrating more on final character developments than the fact that of the world being in danger. The Doctor developed somewhat by being Speedy Gonzales and acting as the Ponds’ gardener, doing a million football moves and even getting addicted to the Wii all in one hour – well the latter was later on in the episode but it was funny and needed mentioning – not to mention Smith brilliant performance of a Timelord with one heart. The Ponds themselves developing by realising their real need to have a proper normal life, both growing an appreciation to the world they live on and belong to; another job of Amy’s being mentioned too while Rory saves lives as ‘Rory: Super Nurse’ and even taking up a full-time position.

The fact of the matter, and episode, is simply this: an on/off lifestyle with the Doctor doesn’t work. Some companions could argue this, the ones that couldn’t find their footholds back in their time but I think it has been proved with Sarah Jane, Martha and now the Ponds – and to an extent the Brigadier – that a life after the Doctor can exist and may even be more exciting than life with the Doctor himself. Maybe this episode was trying to prove that point, maybe not, but as a viewer and fan that is what I have taken away from the rather enjoyable ‘The Power of Three’.

YouTube - A Dedication to River Song

Thanks to the new M&S adverts, I’ve had Edwyn Collins’ song ‘A Girl Like You’ stuck in my head for days and, because of this, I started to fit the lyrics and feel of the song onto our very own Melody ‘River Song’ Pond, so I couldn’t help but make this wonderous video. Watch, enjoy and comment!

YouTube - Eleven Doctors.

Even though I prefer my creativity to be in typing, I have dabbled in creating videos and images, all Who-related of course. In particularly, I’ve been making videos on-and-off for a while, as you may tell with my channel, in fact you may notice videos with actors/characters not even related to the Doctor Who you know, so please, simply ignore those videos and, as cliché as it sounds, stick to what you know.

Now a while ago I made the below video dedicated for all Eleven Doctors to the perfectly-fitted song ‘Monkey Man’ (covered by the late Amy Winehouse) from just gathered clips on the rather basic Windows Movie Maker 2.6, but it worked so I thought I’d finally share it with you. Now you may notice two people who quite obviously aren’t the Doctor in these clips… the short explanation? I cast a ‘Child’ and ‘Adult’ First Doctor to fit with my vision, and it worked to what I saw - a prize for the first person to guess who the Other Doctors are. Anyway, I hope you like and don’t forget to comment! (But nothing bad please)

S07E03 - A Town Called Mercy

What do you get when you add two teaspoons of ‘Back to the Future III’, 100ml of ‘Terminator’ and a whole heap of ‘Doctor Who’?

A Town Called Mercy…

With two episodes left until Christmas, I feel saddened that Who is nearly over once again, yet this doesn’t stop me enjoying the three fabulous episodes we’ve had thus far – and coming in for a third week we have ‘A Town Called Mercy’. WHAT an episode! Proper Western, filmed on the set of many previous Western films in none other than sunny Spain! And recognise some of the familiar mountain-y landscape? Yeah, same place they filmed the exterior scenes of ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ – thought that fact may interest you. Well, if not than it doesn’t matter, does it? On with the review I say!

Now, when I heard about the concept of the Doctor and co. in a Western, I had to think simply ‘why has it taken so long?’ Doctor Who is perfect for a Western – and anything else in time and space to be honest – and this episode just proved it! Even with the twist of there being a somewhat ‘Terminator’ within the plot itself, this episode proved to be just fantastic. The casting was so perfect, with Adrian Scarborough (an actor I’ve grown to like over recent years) playing the wonderfully polite-yet-troubled alien doctor Jex, not to mention that awesome dude from ‘Farscape’ and ‘Stargate’ (Ben Browder) and that wonderfully comedic performance from the actor whom played the Undertaker (in a scene similar to that to ‘Back to the Future III’), it all added to be something joyous to watch.

Of course, let’s not forget the most important part of the episode before we go any further: the Doctor got to wear a Stetson again! Never claiming it was cool though, but he got to wear one and there was no sign of River Song to shoot it off either, so he must have been proud! That said, it has to be remarked to Matt Smith’s acting within this episode, starting with some comedic and very convincing American-accented Doctor (“Tea, the strong stuff. Leave the bag in.”) in some classic Eleventh moments, including the Transsexual horse, Susan, all the way to the dark, troubled, quite frightening Doctor to which we’ve seen echoed, although not in full, from the previous episode and quickly in previous seasons. One has to wonder, if this is the route the Doctor will be taking this half-season, what will that make for the so-called ‘Fall of the Ponds’? It’s hard to find them tedious now after this episode, yet even so, as a fan and viewer, I hope that the Doctor’s alien anger doesn’t inadvertently lead the death of the Ponds…

But yes, in the some-what present again, Amy proved a tremendous point within ‘Mercy’ by stating quite clearly the reason why the Doctor doesn’t, and shouldn’t, travel alone: he gets too alien. In fact, one could go deeper and reason that the Doctor chooses (mainly) Humans as his companions because, as a race, they are more compassionate, caring, understanding and, most of all for some, rebellious. Companions have proved throughout the history of Who to put the Doctor in his place, to lead him to make the right choices and let nature, for the better part, take it’s course. Come to think of it, the act of leaving Jex to his possible fate, was a similar act to which the Tenth Doctor failed when trying to save Adelaide from death way back in the ‘Waters of Mars’ – the Doctor was pretty damn scary then too.

Keeping on the subject of Jex though, the reasons that lead to the Doctor practically disowning him halfway through the episode, and also leading the Doctor to, not only point a gun but be ready to shoot it at someone, may have lead down to precisely what Jex was trying to prove: that he and the Doctor were more similar than the Doc wanted to think. Okay, it may be true that the Doctor didn’t test out, kill and convert his species into Cyborgs so as to win a war, yet he did go so far as to wipe his whole lot out just to stop a war. The Doctor ‘disowning’ Jex was only the Timelord’s way of disconnecting himself from the scientist and his own personal past, to fail in re-accepting the acts he once did in the Timewar. Although I could be entirely wrong and you lot are shaking your heads as you read, I like to think I’m getting somewhere with something…

Moving on then! True Western feeling though this episode had, still in keeping with the feel of Who it did, yet there was something missing, for me. Maybe it’s simply a Whithouse-ism, his two previous inputs to Who (‘Vampires in Venice’ and ‘The God Complex’) not being the series’ highest of points, yet this episode did feel GOOD. For me it didn’t quite add up to the previous two episodes, and the dark points to the Doctor really did make me, as a viewer, feel more disconnected to the character than would like, finding reliance moving upon Amy for reassurance that the Doctor isn’t going to turn into some horrible baddie of season’s past. One must remember though: Timelords have a temper!

So, apart from a Dark Doctor, the Amazing Amy and not to mention the Raucous Rory, what else has this episode informed me, as a viewer, as to what to enjoy about Who? Well the Gunslinger for one! A cleverly conceived Cyborg Terminator with the only aim in which to kill it’s makers while attempting to leave innocent lives as innocently as possible – the phrase “He’ll live” comes to mind thanks to ‘Terminator II’ – is a familiar yet wonderful idea and one not used too frequently in Who before, and the man behind the mask, Mr Andrew Brooke; such a brilliant performer, the prosthetics and gun-arm alone must have been hard to handle so Stetsons off to the man!

What else is there to say? I’m sure there’s a tonne you want me to address, or not as some cases may be, but apart from the atypical scenes of a town in turmoil, a rather wooden logo, ooh and a clever ‘Final Showdown’ scene in which the Sonic Screwdriver was involved, there’s not much on my mind TO say. Matt Smith was excellent, Karen was amazing, Arthur was quirky-yet-underused (I thought), and Adrian was just brilliant! The episode itself, although in lieu with the previous two episodes of season seven, seemed somewhat lacking but still just as awesome as the season’s quickly becoming and with a slow invasion of little cubes and the re-reintroduction of UnIT next week, all that can be said now is: bring on the boxes!

S07E02 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

What happens when you have a technologically advanced race living in the pre-historic era, an oncoming destructive meteorite and some dinosaurs? A Noah’s Arch, of sorts, in Space! And that’s precisely what this episode was about. Well… kind of.

An unusual concept for an episode, and something that proved somewhat iffy when the title was first released to the public, but doubts were definitely quashed as the episode played out. With the likes of Queen Nefertiti (nicknamed ‘Neffy’), Rory’s own dad and a fantastically portrayed huntsman, the episode proved that an ensemble cast from all walks of time really work! The beginning of course felt a wee bit rushed, adding to the likes the beginning of Season Fives’ ‘The Pandorica Opens’ with River Song going around all of space and time rounding up clues as to the destruction of the TARDIS, as this proved similar to the Doctor rounding up this oddball gang and, of course, getting the information needed off of the Indian Space Agency.

Now there’s something no one would have thought of – the Indian Space Agency – but what a fantastic thought! The future of space travel in the hands of the Indians, now I’m not racist at all but I love the idea and the casting, not to mention the set of those scenes set at the ISA, the human-ness of it all. Brilliantly planned out and scripted by Mr Chibnall. And of course, that’s not all with the casting of David Bradley as Soloman – such a dark character, knowledgeable and with just a tint of evil thrown into the mix; the character having caused mass murder to the Silurian crew JUST to get to his ‘prize’ of the Dinosaurs on board along with help from his Mitchell and Webb robot minions. How fantastic and funny were those robots, though? They were the perfect casting for the perfect characters; a great duo for a brilliant back and forth.

Of course I cannot leave out the masterly casting of Mark Williams as Rory’s dad, Brian. Such an expressive actor too, especially when the TARDIS materialised around the trio and he was just left standing on the stepladder with no explanation. The reluctant-yet-spirited companion proved his worth throughout the episode, though, what with his fold-away trowel, hidden golf balls – a moment of panicked confusion on Rory’s behalf – and the comedic performances of both Mark and Arthur that pulled of this fantastic father/son duo, especially for their revelation of flying the spaceship together nearer the end of the instalment, their joy at such freedom and of course, their fantastic back-and-forth moments like when every comedic father/son moment should be! And let us not forget his somewhat bond with Tricey. Did anyone else fall madly and deeply in love with Tricey the Triceratops? What a brilliant work of mixed-models and CGI (for all the dinosaurs in fact) and so masterly put onto the screen – a giant pet for the average Timelord… and Brian.

Oh a side note, is anyone else just slightly disappointed that Rory’s still a nurse? He’s a kickass nurse definitely with an awesome nurses kit (that will be on my Christmas list!) but still with no progression in his life. Although maybe it could be noted that Amy, even though a model, is now between jobs herself, having apparently quitted due to the Doctor himself! Amy, the Girl Who Waited… the girl who’ll always wait. It’s sad, yet somehow true.

Does anyone else want to spend the day with Queen Nefertiti of Egypt now? After Riann Steele’s fantastic performance of the Desert Queen you just – well, that is to say ‘I just’ – want to send the day fighting monsters with her at my side, possibly with Amy Doctoring over us too as she proved in this episode, the laugh-out-loud moment where she complains about ‘her companions flirting’ as Nefertiti and Riddell indeed did start chatting one another up. That wasn’t the only ‘romance’ found within this episode too as many Doctor/Rory Shippers (that being fans whom write and fantasise about those two being ‘together’) were proved to whoop for joy as the Doctor planted a big one upon his companion’s lips – if only momentarily and for entirely unromantic reasons… Indeed it makes the whole thing a wee bit disturbing when one remembers that the Doctor is married to Rory’s daughter. Nevertheless, the last time this sort of kiss happened was way back when Jack kissed the Doctor in farewell in ‘The Parting of the Ways’.

Something to think about also, although this episode was meant to be about the laughs, it really did have it’s dark moments: first off, there was Soloman murdering the Silurian crew; then there was the Doctor and Amy’s saddening moment, with Amy joking that one would end up outliving the other; and of course there was the darkest moment of all with the Doctor basically murdering Soloman by leaving the missile tracker in the Pirate’s craft and setting him loose – the Doctor really can be fearsome at times! But it’s not just the dark moments this episode pointed out, it also proved a long-thought-of belief that the Doctor has untelevised adventures outside of the episodes screened, leaving many of us in hope of the canonicity of some of the ‘outside’ material to be more true than first believed.

You know, I barely feel like I’ve gotten started with this review and yet I don’t know what else to say! Although, the titles are actually proving not to be sparkly, but to take the ‘theme’ of the episode with Dalek Sphere’s last week and Dinosaur scales this week. Apart from that wee note, it seems the episode was just so fantastic that it simply speaks for itself – it was just brilliant really, wasn’t it? The companions, all five of them, were amazing, perfectly cast and thoroughly written, the ‘baddie’ was just amazing and the Doctor himself… wow! There’s a deep sorrow on it’s way for the Ponds now, you can feel it with the wee hints representing themselves within this episode, and I suspect next week’s episode too. Nevertheless, I happily call excitedly for them to bring forth the Cyborg Cowboys!