Today is the end of the first half of the 33rd series
of Doctor Who. Matt Smith has now been Doctor for 1,002 days and this is also
his 33rd episode as the Doctor which means that he is tied with
Colin Baker. This is the fifth story of 2012 and this will be the second lowest
number of episodes that have aired in Doctor Who ever. Only 2009 broadcast less
episodes where four episodes aired, there is one more to come but this is
arguably the most important because it writes out Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
The pre-title scene is very good cause it shows the Private
Detective encountering his older self and being surrounded by Angels and the
last show is of the Statue of Liberty looking really cross. The Doctor, Amy and
Rory start off in Central Park and are reading a book that turns out to be
written by River Song. One of the successes that happens in this story is that
there is a new use for the Angels. It now seems that any Angels can touch you
and you go back in time. Even baby statues are able to have the same effect and
the idea that the Angels run/own a hotel that they use to keep transporting
people to the past is something that Moffat doesn’t get enough credit for.
The last time the show went to Manhattan, it was Cardiff but
with a few CGI shot of old Manhattan. This time they go to the trouble of going
over there and filming all the familiar landmarks. True, a lot of it is still
filmed in this country but you cant fake Times Square and due to the quite
creative cinematography that is used, for most of the story I can believe that
they are in New York.
Karen Gillan has become the longest serving companion of the
new era, having overtaken Billie Piper a few episodes ago. Arthur Darvill is
tied with Mary Tamm and Caroline John on 26 episodes. It would be quite easy to
argue that Gillan has been the best companion of the new series and certainly
has had better stories than Rose.
I thought that both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were on
fine form in this story and the scene where they are standing on top of the
building about to jump was a lovely moment between the two. It’s great how
Moffat tries to throw a curve in the story because when we think that Rory and
Amy have survived it’s a great moment that doesn’t last long because the Angel
takes Rory right in the graveyard. Amy’s final scene as she is about to leave
the Doctor is really quite sad and a much better goodbye than Rose’s first
goodbye in Doomsday. It was sad but not slushy and when the episode ends I kind
of wished that there was more of those two. They have been a huge part of the
Matt Smith era but I suppose the old adage is true and that is leave people
wanting more.
As a story it was very good and said goodbye to two very
well liked and well performed characters. The story itself didn’t really do a
lot for the character or River Song as everything that happened in The Wedding
of River Song pretty much meant that the character had run its course. Beside
that this story served its purpose as a mid season finale. It’s weird to think
that it would be another six months before the series would return (apart from
the Christmas Special). This half of the season has been very impressive and I
hope that the second half will be just as impressive.
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