Doctor Who Series 6 Fall run

[BrooklynKnight]

So here's another thing to consider....which explains how River keeps getting out of Prison...

Spoiler

Since the Tesselator or Tesselactor or whatever you call it, was the one that got shot it kinda stands to reason that the entire crew of that ship was witness to the "still point in time" and saw the entire exchange between The Doctor and River. In fact they would have been present at the aborted universe as well. Thusly, they'd know River was innocent and most likely facilitate her ability to leave jail whenever she needs to. She stays in jail during the day to sell the story.

Also, I'm going to predict that

Spoiler

We "might" see more of River Song for the next full season, and that with 11's death her story will end too. I would not be surprised in the slightest if her last episode either mentions or sets up her trip to the Library.

 

[Mallus]

So here's another thing to consider....which explains how River keeps getting out of Prison...

I think the best way to explain River's escape artistry is this:

River Song's story is a fairy tale, a storybook sort of story, or if your feeling Classical, it's myth and she's a sci-fi jailbird take on Persephone consigned to spending half her time in the underworld and half on wonderful dates across the universe with a dashing man in a blue box.

This is the proper context for understanding the how's and why's of her life.

Trying to make another kind of sense of out it is... well, challenging, for starters. I'm sure some people would find it fun, but for me it's nothing but an invitation to a big headache.

 

[Remus Lupin]

I certainly do think that it would be great to have a "final" River episode in which the Doctor gives her his sonic screwdriver as she is en route to the Library. But as I recall she said something in "Silence in the Library" that led me to believe that this would happen with a different incarnation of the Doctor than either of the others we've seen.

Whether that would work in terms of the timeline as it currently stands though, is another question, given that *this* Doctor apparently spent a good chunk of two centuries of his own timeline filling up River's Journal with her.

I suppose there's no reason to believe that there aren't still pages to be filled.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

I don't care what Doctor Who Confidential says. I think the 200 year thing is a lie. Even River says. The Doctor always lies, and so does she.

Until we get some on screen confirmation that he actually spent 200 years wandering around....I'm not gonna believe it. Taking into account everything else going on, and everything we know about him, it just makes no sense what so ever unless he just lied.

 

[Morrus]

I don't care what Doctor Who Confidential says. I think the 200 year thing is a lie. Even River says. The Doctor always lies, and so does she.

The Doctor doesn't always lie about everything. He sometimes lies about some things.

But - meh. It's OK if you choose not to believe it. It might involve you screaming at your TV screen next year if he gives his age, but that's your business!

 

[BrooklynKnight]

The Doctor doesn't always lie about everything. He sometimes lies about some things.

But - meh. It's OK if you choose not to believe it. It might involve you screaming at your TV screen next year if he gives his age, but that's your business!

So far how many times has the doctor claimed that 200 years on screen? Was it only that one time or were there other examples?

 

[Morrus]

So far how many times has the doctor claimed that 200 years on screen? Was it only that one time or were there other examples?

Arthur, I'm not trying to convince you of anything. If you want to believe 200 years didn't pass, that's OK by me.

 

[horacethegrey]

Agh. A little late to the party here. But I thought I'd just pop in and give my take on these last few eps of Series 6. WARNING! SPOILERS BE AHEAD!

Let's Kill Hitler - Hmm... Not Moffat's best to be sure, but it does neatly tie up some of the plot threads he's weaved for the past two seasons, and gives a definite origin to the conundrum that is River Song. But the setting of WW2 Germany feels wasted, and am really not impressed with the human robot ship thingy.

But kudos to Moffat for finding a way to give the Doctor regenerations beyond the standard 12 limit, via River's improptu sacrifice for him.

Night Terrors - And this ain't Mark Gatiss' best either, but it's an improvement over Victory of the Daleks. I feel though the idea of a alien child wanting to belong with a human family was a missed opportunity. So much potential storywise. Though I do like the doll house bits. Wonderfully creepy.

The Girl Who Waited - Now that's more like it. A heartwrenching tale of love and loss with some of the best moments between Amy and Rory. Stellar acting from both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill really make this one of the best stories focusing on the Doctor's companions.

The God Complex - Whoa. A terrific reworking of Thesseus and the Minotaur as only Doctor Who can. Some great writing and character work here. Particularly with Amy, in the scene where the Doctor finally breaks her illusions of him and finally lets her grow up. Fantastic. One of DW's best IMO.

Closing Time - Nice to see the Cybermen return to being scary. Too bad though I found this episode a bit underwhelming. I liked that they brought back James Corden's Craig from The Lodger, one of my fave eps from last season. Too bad he acts like such a stupid prat here, getting himself and his infant son in mortal peril by insisting on hanging around the Doctor. Still, nice to see the Cybermats pop up once more.

The Wedding of River Song - As season finales go, this was a bit of a letdown. I do like the idea of time collapsing because of the ensuing paradox of the Doctor not 'dying' at the appointed time. But last season's The Big Bang had a better sense of the universal armageddon than here. As for the Doctor's handy way of cheating 'death', that felt like a bit of a copout. I would have liked for a more creative solution from him, but what's done is done. I really feel this story could have been a two parter. Everything felt a bit rushed. All in all this episode felt more like a setup for Moffat's plans for Season 7 and the show's 50th anniversary, and I do hope he delivers there.

All in all, I'd say season 6 doesn't quite match the quality of season 5. While the Moff's ongoing storyline fell flat in some places, there were some great bits. And the great thing about the Moff's tenure are the brilliant standalone eps from other writers. The aforementioned The Girl Who Waited (Tom Macrae), The God Complex (Toby Whithouse), and of course, The Doctor's Wife (by some guy named Gaiman ).

On the acting front, Matt, Karen and Arthur were all consistently good, and the arcs of their respective characters were resolved in a satisfying way.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to season 7 and the 50th year of Doctor Who. Let's hope it delivers.

 

[Plane Sailing]

One of the things that I'll be looking forward to is a divergence from the way that Russel T Davis build the Doctor up into a colossus bestriding time, known and feared by everyone. It gives them permission to make smaller, clever adventures without having the increasingly insane season-enders of Davis' run

 

[MarkB]

One of the things that I'll be looking forward to is a divergence from the way that Russel T Davis build the Doctor up into a colossus bestriding time, known and feared by everyone. It gives them permission to make smaller, clever adventures without having the increasingly insane season-enders of Davis' run

If they can achieve that, I'll certainly welcome it.