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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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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