So far series seven of Doctor Who has been a series of ups
and downs, with some of the shakiest episodes since the show returned. However, the final episode ‘The Name of the
Doctor’ comes along and delivers what was one of the most amazing episodes to watch
in a very, very long time. An episode
that makes it feel like a celebration of the 50th Anniversary
already and stunningly sets the stage for the 50th Anniversary Special
in November.
‘The Name of the Doctor’, whilst an amazing episode in its
own right, is nothing more than set up for the special, but when the quality
was that good who cares? So full of
nostalgic look backs on the history of the show giving us clips and sound bites
of previous Doctors and references galore it services long term fans in such
without alienating the new.
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| Right back to the beginning. |
Okay, the episode wasn’t perfect, their were things that
didn’t quite make sense and a couple of Strax lines that ended up feeling
forced and detrimental to what was happening but these faults couldn’t take
away from those other moments that made this the best episode since the show
returned with Christopher Eccleston way back in 2005.
The episode begins with an amazing pre-credits scene that
goes a little towards explaining who and what Clara is without revealing all
too early and is sure to make the hairs on the back of the neck stand on
end. After that it takes us a while
before we see the Doctor, but the slow build to his arrival, the set up of the
central mystery and threat and ramping of tension makes this first section jump
out of the screen with energy. It also
provides us with what is only the first of many moments of heartbreak as poor
Jenny Flint comes to the realisation that she’s been killed during the groups ‘psychic
call’.
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| The Great Intelligence and the creepy Whispermen. |
From here on out the heartache doesn’t stop and we get to
see some of the absolute best acting that Matt Smith has ever been given during
his tenure on the show. The moment he
realises what Trenzalore is and that he has to go there is one of the most frightening,
not because of any kind of monster or threat but because we see the Doctor
afraid, truly terrified to the point of tears.
River Song is also used wonderfully well throughout the
episode, unable to interact with anyone but Clara she’s reduced to a ghost,
which is appropriate as this is the River from after her death in ‘Silence in
the Library’. The moment when the Doctor
and her say goodbye is so tender and so sad that it will guarantee to make even
the hardest of fans cry. We get to see
that despite their strange start the Doctor and River really do love each
other, and that her loss has deeply affected the Doctor. With her final line in the episode ‘Goodbye sweetie’
and this being the latest version of River leads me to think that this is
probably the last time that we will be seeing her. It is a shame if that is true as I love her
character, but this feels like the perfect ending to her and the Doctors story.
| A goodbye to River? |
After all of the spectacle and wonder of the rest of the
episode Moffat had a hell of a task giving us the spectacular ending he
promised, boy did he deliver. The slow
reveal of Doctor we had not yet seen, the man whose actions mean he does not
deserve to use the name Doctor was so stunning and sets up so perfectly for the
upcoming special.
| Roll on November! |
Despite not revealing the Doctors name (something which I am
grateful for) Moffat has set up such an intriguing mystery that the wait to
November is going to be one of the toughest six months. An amazing episode that made up for the
fairly lack lustre series so far and left me shocked, stunned and in
tears. 10/10.
Amy.
xx
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Whoa! You were pretty good at writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I do try my best lol :D
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