The Night of the Doctor.

The Doctor (Paul McGann) toasts the end of his 8th life.

1 episode. Approx. 7 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: John Hayes. Produced by: Denise Paul. 


THE PLOT

The Time War is raging, with Daleks and Time Lords writing and rewriting the histories of entire civilizations in the course of their conflict. In his eighth incarnation, the Doctor (Paul McGann) strives to... keep out of it. "I'm not part of the war," he insists, adding, "I help where I can."

But he can't remain above the fray forever. Responding to a distress call from a crashing spaceship, he finds himself quickly bonding with the pilot, Cass (Emma Campbell-Jones), who stayed behind to teleport the rest of her crew out because "everybody else was screaming." He cannot prevent the crash, but he can whisk Cass away in the TARDIS.

When she sees the blue box and realizes what it means, she responds with horror. She flees the Doctor's attempted rescue, preferring to die than to be saved by a Time Lord. He refuses to leave without her, leaving both on the ship when it crashes onto the planet Karn, home to the Sisterhood of Karn.

The Sisterhood rescues the Doctor by sharing the Elixir of Life. But this will only bring him back long enough to regenerate, with the help of the Elixir. This time, however, he can choose his next persona: "Fast or strong? Wise or angry?" It is a choice that will shape the future of both the Time War and his future incarnations in ways he could never imagine...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Lazenby no more! 17 years after The TV Movie, Paul McGann's 8th Doctor finally returns to the screen. Not that he ever truly left the role, having regularly played it on audio. But there is something special in seeing the character on camera again. As much is said by the haunted look in his eyes, or by the way in which he extends the Sisterhood's cup as he toasts the end of his Eighth life, as by the words he speaks or the way he speaks them. I also quite like the way McGann deals with Steven Moffat's dialogue. Much of Moffat's writing is in the same style as in his Tenth and Eleventh Doctor stories. But McGann delivers the lines in a much more casual way than either David Tennant or Matt Smith would do, turning them into laconic asides. It's a style that I think is particularly well-suited to Moffat's writing, and I'd love to see McGann perform in a Moffat script again, whatever the format.


THOUGHTS

It's fair to say that The Night of the Doctor is the most significant of the New Series' many mini-episodes. It ties in with the 50th anniversary arc, filling in the placement of the John Hurt Doctor glimpsed in The Name of the Doctor. It deals with the Time War, touching on the point made by The End of Time that the war made the Time Lords just as bad for many as the Daleks. It fills in the Eighth Doctor's previously unseen regeneration. And, yes, it's a return to the screen for the Eighth Doctor - something that many fans have been clamoring to see since the series' return.

That's an awful lot for a single full-length episode to grapple with. Which makes it quite a testament to Steven Moffat and Paul McGann alike that it is so satisfyingly accomplished in a mere seven minutes.

The script is as lean as could be. The crisis is established and McGann's Doctor re-introduced in the first minute. The next minute or so shows the Eighth Doctor in action in a typically Doctorish way, rescuing Cass and dealing with a locked door. Viewers who haven't seen him in the role before get a sense of him in action; viewers who are familiar with this incarnation get a chance to enjoy seeing him in action again. Then comes the revelation, and the next minute brings home just how much damage the Time Lords have done during the war, as seen by Cass' revulsion at the Doctor. 

This moves to the other major scene of the episode, as the Doctor interacts with Ohila (Clare Higgins), of the Sisterhood of Karn. Here, we see him in the depths of despair. He was unable to save Cass, who rejected his help because of the damage done by his people. Ohila rubs salt in that wound as hard as she can, pushing him hard on the futility of his attempts to avoid the Time War, and at the same time pushing him to make a choice - to regenerate into a new persona that will be able to attack head on the conflict the Eighth Doctor has tried to avoid.

Whether intentionally or not, I find it fitting that the Eighth Doctor came into existence demanding: "Who am I?" In The Night of the Doctor, his existence ends with him rejecting the persona he's developed over eight lifetimes. He decides there's no "need for a Doctor anymore." And his replacement (John Hurt) comes into being by stating that choice with grim purpose:

"Doctor no more."


Overall Rating: 10/10.

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Rain Gods.

Not Yet Reviewed.

Pond Life.

Amy and Rory enjoy a breakfast prepared by
their accidental Ood servant.

5 episodes. Approx. 6 minutes. Written by: Chris Chibnall. Directed by: Saul Metzstein. Produced by: Denise Paul.


THE PLOT

Over the course of five months, Amy and Rory live their married life - with intermittent interruptions from the Doctor, whose breathless voice mail messages sketch some of the misadventures he's falling in and out of during his time away. With a late night visit warning of future crises and the accidental delivery of an Ood servant, the Doctor continues to impact their lives even in his absence - until his absence becomes more keenly felt by the young couple than either expected would be the case.


CHARACTERS

Continues the characterization of the final scene of The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe, of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory as a family unit. This is the most clear in Episode Two, when the Doctor bursts into Amy and Rory's bedroom, only for them to chastise him for breaking the "rule about the bedroom!" I also love the lost look that comes over the Doctor's face in the final part, when he rings their doorbell only to have it go unanswered. All three regulars are in fantastic form, with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill splendid in the many quick comedy bits in the first five parts, and equally strong in the rapid shift to drama in the final part.


THOUGHTS

Pond Life was a series of webisodes released on the Doctor Who website just prior to the start of Series Seven. Thankfully, they're gathered as special features on the Series Seven dvd and blu-ray box sets, as they make a perfect lead-in to Asylum of the Daleks and a strong companion piece to the Amy/Rory half-season as a whole.

The episodes follow Amy and Rory in their daily lives after leaving the Doctor, and show how his presence continues to affect their lives - which was a recurring theme in Series 7a. The chemistry between Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill really carries this, as they feel absolutely like a young married couple. Their comedy abilities are particularly well-used, exchanging bemused expressions over the Doctor's antics even as they tease each other over such mundane matters as a stolen breakfast sausage.

For a web series whose total running time only barely scrapes six minutes (including five sets of credits), it's surprising how much good character material, amusement, and even emotion gets packed in here. Writer Chris Chibnall's script allows the three regulars plenty of opportunity to show their characters and character relationships, and the overall tone is just light enough for the final emotional beats to hit strongly and sharply.

Given its short running time, it's difficult to imagine that this could have been any better.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Story: The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe
Next Story: Asylum of the Daleks

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Good as Gold.

Not Yet Reviewed.

Death Is the Only Answer.

Not Yet Reviewed.

Night and the Doctor.

The Doctor has a very bad night...

4 episodes: Bad Night, Good Night, First Night, Last Night. Approx. 14 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Richard Senior. Produced by: Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis.


THE PLOT

As Amy and Rory sleep, the Doctor continues to have adventures. Whether getting up to madcap antics at a party involving ambassadors and princes changed into fish and flies, or simply going out with River Song on dates that are like as not to end in danger, his life continues even as his companions slumber. "We're such small parts of your life," Amy realizes when she walks into the midst of one of his nocturnal outings. But even the Doctor himself sees only patches of the full tapestry, particularly on a night involving multiple versions of River Song, two versions of himself, and a night that is both a first and a last...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: In The Doctor's Wife, his companions asked if he had a room. The answer was implicit - He didn't need a room, he had a TARDIS. This short piece raises another question: Does the Doctor actually sleep?  The 11th Doctor doesn't seem to. He just keeps on with his life and his adventures. He counters Amy's fears about being just a tiny part of his existence by telling her that his companions are all that he truly remembers. But he keeps pushing forward with activity, perhaps afraid to stand still and let real emotion touch him.

Amy: Good Night gives her some charming material. She remembers two versions of her life - one from the universe with the Crack in Time, in which she had no parents or family, and one from the rebooted universe, in which she always has had parents. "My life doesn't make any sense," she complains.

River Song: On her first night in Stormcage, the Doctor rescues her with a date and lays down the rules which will be entrenched in her mind by the time they first meet. We see three different versions of River in this story. The youngest River is tentative, clearly concerned about a life in prison. The middle River is jealous at the thought that the Doctor has another woman on the TARDIS (not realizing that the other woman is her). The latest River is the most carefree and comfortable with the Doctor. All three are highly firtatious, and both the youngest and oldest River make the same remark about the possibilities posed by two Doctors at the same time. The interplay between Matt Smith and Alex Kingston is charming, and they have an evident screen chemistry that keeps the last two episodes humming smoothly.


THOUGHTS

First off: Yes, I'm aware there's a fifth episode - Up All Night - included on the Series Six dvd set. But it's fairly clear that this is just an unaired episode prequel to Closing Time, no more worthy of a separate review than any of the other episode prequels. It has no connection whatever with the other four Night and the Doctor scenes, so I feel quite justified in simply ignoring it for purposes of this review.

The Series Five dvd and blu ray sets were enhanced with a couple of comical scenes that acted as bridges between The Eleventh Hour and The Beast Below and between the weeping angel two-parter and Vampires of Venice. These were fun bonuses, bits of very fan-friendly comedy that enhanced the experience of the season. They were also inconsequential - the equivalent of deleted scenes - which is why I didn't bother to review them.

For the Series Six set, writer/executive producer Steven Moffat has taken this idea further, creating what is in effect a tiny bonus story.  Bad Night offers a madcap glimpse of an extra adventure, with an amusing payoff to Amy's swatting of a fly. Good Night features a charming emotional moment between the Doctor and Amy. Even at this point, it's obvious that moments in this second "episode" are paying off moments from the first.  Notably, Amy finally has the conversation with the Doctor in Good Night that he evaded in Bad Night.

The last two episodes are the most clearly linked, as the Doctor interrupts River Song's first night in Stormcage with a TARDIS trip. As with the first episode, the tone is almost entirely comical, with First Night ending with a lead-in to Last Night. Then the final episode delivers a surprise emotional kicker, allowing the serial to end on a poignant note.

All four episodes are thematically linked by the Doctor's own words to Amy in Good Night. When she talks about a strange woman (who ends up being herself) buying the child Amy an ice cream and telling her, "Cheer up. Have an ice cream," the Doctor replies with some rare, perfect advice:

"Amy, time and space is never ever going to make any kind of sense. A long time ago, you got the best possible advice on how to deal with that. So I suggest you go and give it."


A lovely little home video bonus, one whose ambition and accomplishment goes above and beyond what could reasonably be expected of a simple dvd extra.


Rating: 9/10.


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Space/Time.

"Pond flirting with herself - True love at last!"

2 episodes. Approx. 7 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Richard Senior. Produced by: Annabella Hurst-Brown.


THE PLOT

The Doctor and Rory are working on the TARDIS when there is a small accident. Rory, distracted by Amy's short skirt, drops a thermo coupling. No big deal, the Doctor tells them. "The TARDIS will lock onto the safest space available." But the safest space available is... inside the TARDIS!

The ship has materialized inside itself. Going out the external door causes the person to emerge from the TARDIS... into the TARDIS. Going through the TARDIS inside causes you to come through the external doors - back into the TARDIS. Unless the Doctor can unravel this spatial paradox, the three of them will be trapped for all eternity!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Matt Smith gives a typically energetic performance. This is a Comic Relief special, and as such is all in fun. Even so, Smith brings a hint of gravity to the Part One cliffhanger. To the Doctor, at least, this is a serious situation, which has the effect of making the entire situation much funnier.

Amy/Rory: Amy passed her driving test the first time - by cheating, according to Rory. "She wore a skirt," he observes. "Have you ever seen Amy drive? Neither did her examiner." When a second Amy appears, from slightly in the future, Amy finds herself rather fetching - something Rory doesn't object to at all. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are in good, spirited form, and their chemistry is if anything even more natural than it was in Series Five.


THOUGHTS

One can only do so much to review a 7 minute Comic Relief sketch, but I have to applaud the slickness of this little production. This is every bit as polished as a proper episode. No one is winking at the camera, and tech credits are on par with the regular series.

As was the case in Time Crash, Steven Moffat shows that he can craft a clever and engaging script that actually works within a tiny running time. The situation is a simple one, almost certainly cribbed from the TARDIS-within-a-TARDIS sequence in Logopolis, only given a comedic spin. As such, the plot fits just fine into the brief running time. It's fast paced, but it isn't rushed.

As expected from Moffat, the two episodes feature a flood of clever lines and a fair amount of sexual innuendo. There's also the expected playing with time, with the characters interacting with, then becoming, their future selves. There's no real meat to it, just the writer having fun playing with his toys. But Moffat and his actors clearly are having fun, which makes the whole thing quite a lot of fun to watch.

And really, given the brevity of the whole thing, what more could you ask than that?


Rating: 8/10.

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Next Story: The Impossible Astronaut

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