(774) The Doctor's Wife

After being disappointed with the previous story, it was nice to know that there was a really good story coming up. The title is a bit misleading because when the title was revealed it was implied that it would be someone that the Doctor meets and marries but in reality the wife is the TARDIS and this is a marriage that has been going on since 1963 and its only know that the relationship is thrusted into the centre of the story. In the past when the word Doctor has been included in the story then people have been slightly put on the defensive but on this occasion the worries were unfounded.

There are two familiar names in the supporting cast in this episode. The first being Suranne Jones who is perhaps best known for the ITV drama Scott and Bailey (2011-2014) and Coronation Street (1997-2004) and also played Mona Lisa in The Sarah Jane Adventures (2009). The other name is Michael Sheen who has been in Frost/Nixon (2008), The Twilight Movies and The Damned United (2009). Sadly we don’t get to see Sheen but just hear him as he is the voice of House.

Neil Gaiman is the writer of this episode and to be honest I haven’t read his work before but people seemed to be quite excited by this so it was always going to be interested to see what he would come with. Well by the time the titles played we knew because it was a pre-title scene full of action and ends with the sole of the TARDIS going inside Idris. Gaiman really has come up with a treat and is someone who clearly understands the show and what the show can deal with and whereas I wasn’t a fan of his before I am definelty one now even though I still haven’t actually read anything of his.

It is a great performance from Jones and proves that just because you have been in a soap, doesn’t mean that you aren’t a good actress. The good/bad ratio is still in favour of the bad but Jones is the exception to the rule. I am guessing that some work had to go on Sheen’s voice but the character of House is very good and even though its just a voice, he has the power to move a TARDIS. He wants to use the TARDIS to get some energy because he’s been using the TARDIS that have been lured to absorb the energy. It’s quite a good idea for a creature.

The Doctor is lured onto the asteroid thinking that there are other timelords when in fact there aren’t. The Doctor wants them to be there so he can bring them back and it’s a good moment when the Doctor realises that he has been tricked.

Amy and Rory are separated from the Doctor after a while and spend the rest of the episode running around the TARDIS. This is the first time since the show came back in 2005 that we have seen anything other than the console room. Even if the episode was rubbish, then the saving grace of it would be that we saw more of the TARDIS. This is a great part of the episode where doors shut and Amy and Rory are separated. Rory ends up getting a raw deal because at one point he appears dishevelled and this is where Arthur Darvill really shines.

There is a line where the Idris says (as the TARDIS) that she hasn’t always taken the Doctor where he wanted to go but where he needed to go. This totally changes things when watching other stories because when watching early Doctor stories then it would be cool to think that it wasn’t poor handling on the Doctor’s part but just the TARDIS taken him where he needed to go. I like how the Doctor builds a new TARDIS out of the remains of the junkyard.

For anyone who has watched Doctor Who since the Tom Baker era will know that there is more than one console room and this point is bought to our attention again as the Eccleston/Tennant console room is bought back and this is a wonderful moment although its too brief and soon the action moves back to the new console room. Then there is a lovely scene where the Doctor is crying about the TARDIS leaving Idris and this is one of the strongest moments of the Matt Smith era so far. It still baffles me why people would be so down on Smith even after this episode but that’s for another discussion.

This has been a brilliant story and I have loved it as much as I did in 2011. As a rating, this episode got 8.02 which currently places it in 5^th place and only the seventh story to get in the 8’s and that gives Matt Smith his second top 10 story. Sadly the NEXT TIME trailer shows what is coming and its another two parter but one that I haven’t thought too highly of. At the moment the series is coming off as a bit inconsistent which is troubling.