(797) Nightmare in Silver

If you want to make the Cybermen scary then there is only one person that could make this happen in Neil Gaiman. After his wonderful story The Doctor’s Wife, it was fingers crossed than inevitability that he would write for the show again. It doesn’t take long for Gaiman’s magic to work and for him to achieve his objective. The way that the Cybermen are introduced into the story is quite good because its literally unveiled and that forms the end of the pre-title scene. The Cybermen were awesome in this because they look and sound slightly different to what they did in their last story. The fact that they can walk faster than two miles an hour means that they have a new threat because it wasn’t too difficult to outrun a Cyberman. They way they look and move is very good because it seems more mechanical than before even though in previous stories their walk was ok. Gaiman has introduced Cybermites which is a nice introduction. They are small and very difficult to spot unless the camera focused in on them.

The Doctor gets attacked by the Cybermites and there is a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on with both versions of the Doctor seemingly having control over the body. This meant that we got to see another great performance from Matt Smith and he plays both versions rather well and there was a seamless transition between the two which isn’t an easy thing to do. Jenna Coleman has a good time in this episode and gets to act like a boss whilst the Doctor is dealing with the Cybermen. There is a lovely bit inside the Doctors head where the Cyber version of the Doctor talks to the normal Doctor and the whole visual effects used was another highlight.

I must admit that I didn’t find the kids as annoying as I thought I would. The girl was slightly annoying at first but as the episode played out things changed and by the end of the episode I almost (almost) wanted the kids to stay. I don’t know whether that’s because of Gaiman or the child actors but something happened and they were quite good. Now had this been an RTD story then they would have been hair pulling annoying and there would be sentimental slosh running through the story.

The barracks is the same set that was used in The Doctor’s Daughter. It’s not the most interesting thing that’s ever been written but I spotted it and thought it should be included. The whole setting for the story was quite good and it seemed like some of the names were Gaiman having fun which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This was a very enjoyable story and I was impressed with how the episode looked and this is definelty the best Cyberman story that there has been since 2005. After being slightly disappointed with several Cybermen stories in recent years, its nice that we have such a good story and hopefully Gaiman gets to write another Cyberman story in the future.

(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.