Written By: Chris Chibnall
Directed By: Douglas MacKinnon
The Story: Amy and Rory find themselves torn between their everyday lives on Earth, and their travels through time and space with the Doctor. Meanwhile, mysterious black cubes fall to Earth, which doesn’t bode well for humanity…!
The Verdict: At last, three episodes in, we finally get a Pond-centric episode! It’s been a real surprise that this season hasn’t focused on Amy or Rory that much at all, considering that next week is their final story. Still, with writing this good, it’s been worth the wait!
Chris Chibnall constructs an extremely intimate and character-driven episode this week, in complete contrast to his previous story earlier this season. Here the alien threat is almost a B-Plot, with Amy and Rory’s struggle to choose which life they truly want taking centre stage. It’s a brave and risky move for a Saturday night family drama, but Chibnall is skilled enough to keep things moving at an even pace, throwing in plenty of laughs and action set pieces that complement the more thoughtful and emotional moments.
The villains this week – the Shakri – were excellently realised, if a tad underdeveloped. Still, the idea of alien pest controllers is a brilliant leftfield idea, and their plan to eradicate humanity was both chilling and nasty! It was also nice to have some proper evil alien baddies in DOCTOR WHO for a change (lately, most of the alien threats have been either misunderstood or somehow justified).
But as I said earlier, this is the Pond’s story, not the Shakri’s. It’s a great little story that has plenty of great character insights into the everyday life of the Doctor’s companions, and unlike with previous companions, there’s a real sense of development in Amy and Rory’s characters. This is helped greatly by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill (both of whom giving great performances in the space of this one episode), who manage to remind us all just how much we love Amy and Rory.
Next week’s ‘Pond dénouement’ episode just got that little bit harder to tune in for…
Best Bit: The Doctor’s wedding anniversary trip with the Ponds was both fun and hilarious, whilst at the same time really hammering home just how torn Amy and Rory really are between their two ways of life.
The Campaign Starts Here: I want Kate Stewart back! Not just because Jemma Redgrave was amazing in the role, but also because I loved the dynamic between the Doctor and Kate. The Doctor needs a Lethbridge-Stewart sometimes, and with Kate, that void has been filled. Go on Moff, give us a full blown UNIT story next year, with Kate and the Doctor fighting some alien menace side by side, just like the Brigadier and the Third Doctor did way back in the 1970s.
Trivia: This is DOCTOR WHO’s first modern day alien invasion story since THE STOLEN EARTH/JOURNEY’S END, which aired way back in June 2008.
It’s Wossiname: British thespian (and star of OCTOPUSSY, BEVERLY HILLS COP, and RAMBO FIRST BLOOD: PART II) Steven Berkoff turns up in prosthetics this week as the Shakri. He makes one hell of a creepy alien, I’ll say!
LMAO: Brian Cox and Lord Alan Sugar’s cameos had me in stitches, especially in the case of the latter. Is it just me, or does this episode remind anyone of DOCTOR WHO as done by Russell T. Davies? That’s not a bad thing, but the celebrity cameos, modern day setting, and the focus on the companion’s everyday lives and problems were more RTD’s thing then they are Moffat’s. Oh well, I’m not complaining…
Star Performance: The aforementioned Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart! Bring her back! (I’m really not going to let this one go.) Redgrave and Matt Smith display great on-screen chemistry together from the get-go, and Redgrave gives a loveable and dignified performance throughout, particularly when Kate and the Doctor remember her father.
Best Line(s):
Rory: ‘What do you think we do when we’re not with you?’
The Doctor: ‘I imagine mostly kissing’.
Join us next week for part five of THN’s Doctor Who Series Blog.
