Doctor Who [5]

1. Asylum of the Daleks.



Some great visuals. A nice premise and some stand out scenes. The overall concept is good and the execution of the reveal of Clara is superb and lets Matt's Doctor shine.
Parts of the plot dont bear to much scrutiny howeverand the Rory/Amy divorce, although handled very well in the final scenes regarding it by Arthur and Karen, feels oddly out of place and like an afterthought.
Those niggles aside however its a great Dalek romp with some excellent scenes including the undead ship crew turning Dalek, Rory misunderstaning the Dalek thats says "Eggs" and the Doctor freaking out and being reduced to quivering jelly when the Daleks close in on him.

8 out of 10.

2. Dinosaurs on a Space Ship



This is what the word 'romp' was invented to describe. Pure entertainment. A ship crashing to earth, deadly missles, a countdown, a mad evil pirate, a ship full of dinosuars, Rory's dad, a big game hunter and Queen Nefratitti- as barmy and as fun as it sounds with a suprisingly dark turn at the end. Full of great humour, some prettty damn decent visuals (particuarly Traci the triceratops) let down only by the annoying largely improvised dialogue of the two comedians playing the robots.

9 out of 10.

3. A Town Called Mercy



A morality tale in a Western setting. This episode the Doctor confronts his own guilt and takes it out on someone else. Has several excellent scenes and a slower pace and more thoughtful narrative. Its biggest problems are that Amy and Rory are barely used and apart from one key moment could even not be there and although the morality stuff and the themes are sound, they are nothing new in the sci-fi genre and dont add anything new to it.
Has a lot of fun 'Who-does Western' moments to enjoy though. And Susan the transgender horse.

7 out of 10

4. The Power of Three



An odd epiosde of mood and content. Its at its best when it adressing the growing strains on the releationship between Amy/Rory and the Doctor and how it impacts and affects their lives, and the best scenes are between the Doctor and Amy on their lives together. A welcome return for UNIT too and a fine choice of Jenna Redgrave to head it up as the Brigadiers daughter.
But the plot is a more intriguing premise than its is conclusion and the resolution feels very rushed and underdeveloped. Great for the character moments.

7 out of 10.

5. The Angels Take Manhattan



The end of the Ponds in a paradoxical New York full of Weeping Angels. A little over convuluted in places this is elevated by some genuinely clever plotting, a very interesting side to the Doctor caught in events he for once knows he cant change, and powerful perfomances from Karen and Arthur, particualry on the rooftops and in the final scene in the graveyard.
A satisfactory ending for the Ponds- who get their lives together but in a way in which they can never come back and that sends the Doctor on an inward path of withdrawal.

8 out of 10

6. The Snowmen



A Christmas fairytale that reintroduces Clara and then kills her again by the end and which brought the Great Intelligence back from the days of the second Doctor. It also saw the return of the Paternost gang. Charming, witty, with a story thats a bit of xmas whimsy with a boo hiss villian in Richard E Grant.

7 out of 10

7. The Bells of St John.



Clara's 3rd introduction, this time as regular companion from the pesent day. A thrller styled epiosde with a lot of computer hacking and playing on fears of the modern world and becoming lost on the interweb. Fine performances, a tight plot, good premise and genuinely unnerving ending for the bad villaness of the piece.

8 out of 10

8. The Rings of Akhaten



This is Clara's episode in terms of character but its more striking features are it concepts. With planet sized gods, child sacrifice, the power of being unique in an ginormous universe and a lot of singing. A visual, conceptual treat if you are willing to go along with it for the ride and trust in it.

9 out of 10

9. Cold War



Delibretly harking back to classic Who 'base under siege' episodes this sees the first appearence in Nuwho of the Ice Warriors. Some good performances and a setting that works well to help the story. But its too condendsed, secondary characters are very underdevloped and it occasional feels like bits of the plot have gone missing in that set ups dont always seem to have an obvious pay off. Solid but very uremarkable. If you asked someone who had never really watched Who but had heard about it what they thought an episode would be like- it would be something like this.

7 out of 10


10. Hide



A ghost story wih a time travelling twist and two star crossedlalien lovers. Strong performances and time to tell its story help this episode although it never qute rises to the scares it promises unless you are still a child, in which case prepare for sleepness nights. Some lovely visuals and effective use of camera help keep this one ticking along in spooky mode rather nicely.

7 out of 10.

11. Journey to the Centre of the Tardis



An episode that doesnt quit mange to live up to its premise, not helped by three lacklustre gust stars. When its good however it is very good, and the highlights of the episode are the development of the understanding between Clara and the Doctor and some of the visuals, which are beautiful if limited in their use.

7 out of 10.

12. The Crimson Horror



The second episode in series 7 to heavily feature the Paternost gang and a nicely told tale in reverse. Diana Rigg has a ball as the main villan and Rachel Striling is outstanding, moving and sympahetic as her blind daughter. Gatiss best Who episode to date.

8 out of 10.

13. Nightmare in Silver



The cybermen return and they are upgraded, faster, smarter and you need to blow up whole galaxies to get rid of them. Some nice ideas, a great performance from Warwick Davies as Porridge and Matt Smith doing good Doctor/bad doctor. But the secondary characters are underdeveloped, the need for the children to be in the plot unclear and some of the directing seems lacking in a few scenes.
7 out of 10

14. The Name of the Doctor.



A fiting explanation for the Impossible Girl. The discovery of the Doctors place of burial. The return of the Paternost Gang and the Great Intelligence and the reveal of the Doctor greatest secret- John Hurt! Full of fan momnets it suitably wraps up the Clara loose ends and sets up the 50th anniversary and all with a great deal of inventive aplomb.
9 outof 10.

The Doctor to Rivers echo-"You're always here to me. And I always listen. And I can always see you."
River- "Then why didnt you speak to me?"
The Doctor- "Because I thought it would hurt to much."
River- "I believe I could have coped."
The Doctor- "No. I thought it would hurt me. And I was right. There is a time to live and a time to sleep, you are an echo River. Like Clara, like all of us in the end, my fault, I know, but you should have faded by now."

The Doctor on seeing his TARDIS tomb- "What else would they bury me in?"

After kissing River- "Since no one else in this room can see you, God knows how that looked."

Clara to the 1st Doctor as he is about to steal a TARDIS- "Don't steal that one, steal this one, the navigation system is knackered but you'll have much more fun!"

Trance Jenny to Vastra as she realises whats happening in the real world- "I'm sorry, Ma'am... I think I've just been murdered..."

Strax: Madame, boys; adopt combat positions. They are unarmed.
Jenny: So are we!
Strax: Do not divulge our military secrets!

Gallifrey Dock Observers reacting to an alarm- "What sort of idiot would try to steal a broken TARDIS?"

The GI on what happened on Trenzalore- " It was a minor skirmish compared to the Doctors bloodsoaked standards. Not exactly the TIME WAR but enough to finish it. In the end it was too much for the old man ."

Vastra relaizing what the GI is doing to the Doctors timeline- "He's dying all at once.. the Dalek Asylum.. Androzani..."

Strax to Vastra as he cradles the revived Jenna- 'The heart is a relatively simple thing.'
Vastra- 'I have not found it to be so.'

The Doctor describing his remains- "The tracks of my tears."

Vastra: "Where's Strax got to?"
Jenny: "The usual - it's his weekend off."
Jenny: "Oh, I wish he'd never discovered that place.."
-Glasgow-

11th- "I said he was me I never said he was the Doctor."
Clara- "But I dont understand."
11th-"My name, my real name. That is not the point. The name I choose is the Doctor. The name you choose, its like a promise you make. He is the one who broke the promise. He is my secret."
Other Doctor- "What I did, I did without choice."
11th- "I know."
Other Doctor- "In the name of peace and sanity."
11th- "But not in the name of the Doctor!

I would have given some of them like Hide, Crimson Horror, Snowmen an 8 and Cowboys. Power of 3 and Asylum a 7. I still dont believe the River/Doctor relationship, theres something off and false about it. Its definately one sided, she does all the giving and he does all the taking, its a crap relationship and for an intelligent woman its weird River would put up with it for a nanosecond. She is also a bit like his mum rather than a wife, but thats just me being an old fart, older women and young men give me the creeps a bit. call it cultural conditioning if you like, it doesnt bother me as much a younger female with the Doctor as long as its not creepily too Young of course. Maybe the Writers wanted to be fashionable and have an older woman character romantically involved with the Doctor, but it makes my flesh crawl. sorryI think I am getting a bit reactionary in my dotage. I know its all double standards and must be crushed, but I say it like I feel it