Tag: series 5

Doctor Who – The Big Bang

Lots of stuff happened in part 1 of our 2-part series finale, with lots more left to digest in part 2. Let’s just skip through a quick SPOILER ALERT and get down to it, cause there’s lots to discuss.

We left The Doctor being locked in the Pandorica, which turns out was basically a prison that every other species in the Universe made for him, while lots of other bad things happened simultaneously (TARDIS blowing up, etc). With the fate of the Universe hanging in the balance, the stakes have never been higher than right now. And it’s all up to little Amy Pond to set everything right.

Things I loved about this episode: I loved the opening and slowly seeing what the after effects of last week’s episode were for the rest of the Universe. And I loved all the signs that were left for mini Amy (and having the two Amys meet). I also loved using the complexities of time travel to help solve the problem. And I loved Rory the Robot playing his part in protecting Amy – hell, I loved just having him back in general. And I loved the analogy of “rebooting the Universe” as if it were a computer. Basically I loved everything about this episode. There were moments of fun mixed in with all the tension and pressures of the Big Problem. (example – The fez The Doctor wears for bits of the episode). It was an ending Steven Moffat should be proud of. When River says our solution will make it so The Doctor will never have been born, a part of me was sad and scared (even though I knew there had to be a way to fix it). To be nervous about something even knowing it can’t really be the end, that takes real talent. That is the kind of genius that Steven Moffat has brought to Doctor Who.

Five-star moment of the week – without a doubt it had to be watching The Doctor rewind through his timeline. The moment when we see him talk to Amy from back during The Time of Angels and realize she is the key to keeping him from blinking out of existence for good was possibly one of my top moments in Doctor Who history (and there have been a lot of good moments, you have to admit). Flash to her wedding (which I was really happy to see finally happen) and her remembering The Doctor back into existence and you get one of the best nights with The Doctor ever.

What did you think of the series finale (or the series in general)? Sound off in the comments section below.

Doctor Who – The Lodger

Sorry about the uber late post, folks. It’s been a crazy week. Here is your overdue recap of the last episode, “The Lodger”. It goes without saying that there are plenty of SPOILERS for those who haven’t watched yet. You have been warned.

The street may look like any other street, but on it resides the creepiest house ever. The perfect place for The Doctor to take up residence. After all, The Doctor seems to have a thing for dark and creepy places. That is where all the action tends to be. (One wonders where he learned to cook amidst all of those adventures). Speaking of which, this line basically summed up my criteria for future relationships – You’re weird and you can cook – it’s good enough for me. But back to the show…

It was odd having The Doctor and Amy being separated for a majority of the episode. Also odd was having The Doctor making an attempt at being “normal” – although that was the good kind of odd. His attempts were actually quite hilarious at times, especially the shower scene and him playing football. Overall the episode was abnormal in the amount of normality involved. There wasn’t a lot of science fiction/fantasy involved (outside of the weird time loops and the spaceship that ended up being responsible for it all).

Favorite scene: It would have been The Doctor saving his new flatmate (b/c it reminded me of how he cured himself from when he was poisoned) but the scene where he shares details of his life via headbutt was pretty fantastic. Oh, and the final ten minutes were pretty fantastic as well. They were fun and kinda cheesy and everything Doctor Who should be. But that is just one blogger’s opinion.

What did you think of this episode? I saw a few complaints online that it wasn’t as good as the rest of the season (which is valid) but on its own I thought it was enjoyable enough. Feel free to agree/disagree in the comments section below.

Doctor Who – Victory of the Daleks

*INSERT USUAL SPOILER MESSAGE HERE*

When last we saw The Doctor and his lovely companion, they were getting a phone call from Winston Churchill saying he might need their help. Apparently the TARDIS still has some kinks to work out yet, because The Doctor doesn’t actually show up until a month after that call takes place. By that time, Churchill has already put into place a new secret weapon: the Daleks?

Wait, did I just see Winston Churchill working with the Daleks? That can’t be right… can it?

That is how it in fact seemed to be. Except they weren’t calling themselves “Daleks”. Instead they were called “Ironsides” and were created by a Professor Bracewell. It is all very confusing for The Doctor, especially the part where AMY DOESN’T REMEMBER THEM?! You mean AT ALL?!

So that was another thing that seemed off about this whole situation.

Also, their new purpose was to win the war for Great Britain. The Doctor isn’t buying any of this and even says to “Exterminate them” – Hey, Doc, that’s their line.

Another great line from The Doctor – “What does hate look like? It looks like a Dalek, and I’m going to prove it.” We all know The Doctor hates the Daleks, but for good reason. They destroyed his home and tried to destroy Earth (which is like his second home). You would hate them too, if you were him. Even still, it is amazing to see the level of emotion that they bring out in him (a combination fear, hate, and anger).

After enough words are shared between the two species, we finally get some explanation as to what is going on. It turns out the Daleks found this “Progenitor” that contained pure Dalek DNA, but did not recognize them as Daleks (because of mutations that happened in a previous episode). They needed The Doctor’s testimony to get the progenitor working. This created a whole new race of Daleks. First task: exterminate the old “inferior” models. Next they turn their sights on their old enemy: The Doctor. How will he escape this time? With the help of Winston Churchill of course!

Churchill sends Spitfires to blast the Dalek ship. The Doctor lowers their shields long enough for the planes to get a clear shot. But there is a slight complication. Seems old Bracewell is really an android created by the Daleks as part of their plans, and he is set to self-destruct. The Doctor now has a choice: stop the Daleks from escaping or keep the bomb from going off and taking all of planet Earth with it. He chooses to save the Earth, which the Daleks criticize him for. “His compassion is his greatest weakness,” they say. I disagree. I believe that is is actually one of his greatest strengths and what sets him apart from the rest of the world (besides, you know, the whole “Time Lord” thing).

The Doctor proves this in saving Bracewell. He tries to get Bracewell to remember how it felt to be human in an attempt to stop the bomb from going off. This is a great idea, but needs help from an actual human. Yet again we see the companion helping The Doctor in a crucial way. This time she asks Professor Bracewell if he has ever been in love with someone he shouldn’t have been. As he starts telling the story of a girl he knew once, the bomb is deactivated, thus proving that love is our greatest strength. Unfortunately, the Daleks use this to complete their time jump and escape. When Amy proclaims that they won (because the Daleks are gone and nobody died), The Doctor questions this. Was it really the right thing to let them escape, considering how much harm they could do to the Universe? The phrase, “Live to fight another day” came to mind here, for me.

Things that still needed answering at the end of this episode: why couldn’t Amy remember the Daleks? My second “open-ended” item might be connected to this – what is the deal with the cracks appearing everywhere? First we saw one in Amy’s room, then in the side of the ship in “The Beast Below”. Now we saw one in the wall as the TARDIS was disappearing. These are supposed to be cracks in time, so I am thinking this will be connected to Amy’s memory being apparently altered. Maybe something happened to “break” time somehow and caused history to be altered. We will have to continue watching to find out more.

As always, after the episode finished we were treated to another edition of Doctor Who: Confidential. This week gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the Churchill cabinet war room. The writer (Mark Gatiss) went there for research purposes. We also see how the “Spitfire in space” scene worked. Some very cool stuff worth having a look at, if you haven’t already done so.

Next week we get part 1 of the two-part episode with the Weeping Angels. This is the one I’ve been most excited to see, so you can be sure I will have lots to say once it’s over.

Doctor Who – The Beast Below

The Doctor constantly has some tough choices to make in his travels, but “The Beast Below” may have given him one of his toughest yet.

*Spoiler time, kids*

At first all we know is something big and bad is happening on the Starship UK, but that is all. Oh, and it is something big and bad enough that Amy sends a message to herself telling her to stop The Doctor from investigating the goings on of the space-age British Empire.

Then we find what is at the center of it all, and it is rather quite sad.

It turns out there is a creature guiding the ship, and it is being tortured to keep it going.

Once The Doctor finds the Beast, he has to decide what to do with it. Does he let it keep being tortured to protect the people onboard, set the creature free and kill an entire civilization in the process, or lobotomize the creature so it no longer feels the pain it has to endure? The Doctor is ready to set into motion option number three, but in the final moments Amy gets a realization that changes everything.

“Open your eyes,” The Doctor had told her when they first arrived in the ship. Thank God for everyone that she listened to him. For she was the one who noticed how the creature behaved around the children. And, looking at The Doctor, she remembered what Liz Ten said about when they first found the creature. And she was the one who realized that they didn’t need to torture the Beast for it to continue moving the ship.

“If you were that old and that kind and the last of your kind, you couldn’t just stand there and watch children cry,” she told them. (Quote of the night)

This episode showed the hard choices The Doctor has to make in his life. It also reminded us that sometimes he doesn’t have all the answers and needs someone to show him the right path. Funny that another red-head teaches him this lesson, as Donna was best at doing this for him (as demonstrated by the Series 4 episode “Turn Left”). This season looks to be just as much Amy’s story as it is The Doctor’s.

As always, BBC America gives us a behind the scenes look at the latest episode with Doctor Who Confidential. This gave us a behind the scenes look at everything from cast reactions to set design.

Next week we’re going to get the return of the Daleks and… Winston Churchill? That should be interesting. So tune in next week at 9pm on BBC America for another great adventure with The Doctor and his companion, Amy.