The Time Of The Doctor Review

 

 

"I will always remember when the Doctor was me."

This episode had all the things that have made me love Doctor Who.  It had humour, wit, drama, and emotion.  And even though it was Matt Smith's last, I still managed a big smile on my face at the end of it.The story followed the Doctor and Clara on Christmas day to Trenzalore where the Doctor's enemies were massing.  The Doctor pledged to protect Christmas Town, ended up dying there.

A fabulously written episode, it brought together lots of past stories.  The crack in the "fabric of reality" (wall crack) from season 5, River Song from season 6 and the "impossible girl- Clara herself from season 7.  It even included an appearance by Amy (Karen Gillian) at the very end.  It even brought threads in from the "Day of the Doctor (50th anniversary)- references to Gallifrey, the "war doctor" (John Hurt).

Some thought Clara's (Jenna Louise Coleman) Christmas cheerfulness a bit over the top.  I thought it was to cover up the fact she was worried about the Doctor. I felt sorry for her too as her family tried to keep setting her up. She ended up bringing the Christmas magic by convincing the Time Lords to give him another regeneration. As usual she believed in him.

It was an emotional ending.  Clara standing there in the Tardis helpless to do anything, watching it happen. "I will not forget one line of this, not one day I swear," he promised her.  It was simple, and sweet, making her feel like she mattered to him.  Amy's appearance: "Raggedy man, good night."  It was as memorable as Peter Capaldi's first line as the Doctor: "Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?"

Predictions
1. Peter Capaldi's Doctor will come in somewhere between Mad Hatter, and absent-minded professor.

2. We will see River Song again.  Tasha: "We sent a psychopath to kill you."  The Doctor: "I totally married her."

3. Maybe Tasha Lem is a Time Lord? (would explain her ability to fly the Tardis)

Saturdays with Space: April 6

 

In  Doctor Who we followed Clara on her first adventure with the Doctor to the rings of Akhaten.  She met what we took to be a six-year old girl named Mary who was known as "The Queen of Years complete with her people's myths and legends.  Mary's role was to sing a song that would put a God back to sleep- instead it ended up awakening the God.   She was transported to the temple, and kept there.  Cue the rescue: "We do not walk away," the Doctor told Clara.  They managed to get to the Temple, and rescue the girl from having her soul eaten.  The Doctor had Clara back home in time for dinner.

The mystery behind Clara's identity continues unfolding.  "You can't be real," The Doctor said in the opening moments of the episode.  At this point my theory is that she's The Doctor and River Song's daughter.  What other person could die twice in two different times and still live? The way she looked at the world so full of awe, and curiosity very similar to Matt Smith's version of the Doctor.  Or maybe she could in some alternate universe be The Doctor in some sense?; Maybe at some point she absorbs bits of the Doctor's essence? What's your theory? 

*****************************

Orphan Black slowed down a lot over last week's episode.  I guess the sense was 'we've established the characters, and premise now let's play it out a little bit.  It started just moments after the shooting that ended the previous week's episode.  Sarah/Beth desperately called someone wanting to know what to do with the body. Why she didn't burn it/ drown it; get rid of it in some way that would erase any sign she'd touched it? Anyway.  This episode centred around a suitcase at the dead woman's hotel; Sarah had to get the case and take it to suburban soccer mom clone.




I get the sense Sarah hates soccer moms.  She was desperate to know more about how this was even possible that three (including Katia) other women looked like her that existed. "I just want some answers," she said at least once during the episode  Sarah also was desperate for her daughter to know she was still alive, a fact that didn't seem to surprise the mysterious Mrs. S very much.  Could she be involved as someone who was in on the cloning operation? At this point I don't think she's a "bad guy," but I could be proven wrong.