The Doctor Who Thread.....

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

Have you seen the Pertwee story "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"? The effects are TERRIBLE!

I agree, Pixie; it's not exactly "Doctor Who"'s finest hour, is it?

I have read/heard (can't remember which, or when) that "IOTD" will get the cgi treatment. I'm still waiting for "DOTD" special ed.

Has anybody checked out the trailer for the second half of series thirt... the new stuff?

I caught it last Thursday on BBC One, tagged onto the end of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". There is a pyramid with "AREA 52" written on the side, and a brilliant shot of the Tardis crashing through a window.

[Brónach 1,302]

What I understood is that the villains thought the Doctor was going to purposely blew up the TARDIS at some point because "only him can fly the TARDIS" they decided to contain him to save the Universe. THey saw him as a villain of sorts.

About the sccrewdrawer bussiness: Rory opens the Pandorica and the Doctor realizes that he's got to give Rory the screwdrawer in order for it to make sense. What's the problem?

Moffat nearly always follows the idea that time travel creates accidentally all kinds of circles like that, which can be dangerous, helpful, etc depending of the situation. It's a clever way to make stuff happen.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

It works in a way, but how was the time-circle formed in the first place? The Doctor didn't will it into being. Bloody lucky it did form at that particular time, or the Doc would still be trapped.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its just a tv show, guys...

It works in a way, but how was the time-circle formed in the first place?

The thing about a circle is that it has no beginning or end, so you answered your own question...

[Richard Penna 3,684]

About the sccrewdrawer bussiness: Rory opens the Pandorica and the Doctor realizes that he's got to give Rory the screwdrawer in order for it to make sense. What's the problem?

It's more than 'for it to make sense'... it's to make it physically possible. The problem is that the future doctor is giving Rory the screwdriver, but how does the future doctor get into a position where he can give the screwdriver?

It's a paradox that has no 'entrance'. I don't buy that sort.

[davros72 1]

About the sccrewdrawer bussiness: Rory opens the Pandorica and the Doctor realizes that he's got to give Rory the screwdrawer in order for it to make sense. What's the problem?

It's more than 'for it to make sense'... it's to make it physically possible. The problem is that the future doctor is giving Rory the screwdriver, but how does the future doctor get into a position where he can give the screwdriver?

It's a paradox that has no 'entrance'. I don't buy that sort.

It's actually rather straightforward (IMHO, but then I love this kind of timey-wimey goofiness). These types of situations are sometimes easier to follow if you just focus on a particular person's timeline. For this example, the Doctor... The Doctor is trapped in the Pandorica. The Doctor gets freed. Later, the Doctor jumps back in time to give Rory the sonic screwdriver in order to release the (earlier) Doctor from the Pandorica.

Or look at it from the sonic screwdriver's timeline. SS is trapped in the Pandorica with the Doctor. The Doctor (and the SS) are freed from the Pandorica. Doctor eventually jumps back in time and gives Rory the SS in order to open the Pandorica. Rory opens the Pandorica, Amy is placed in the Pandorica with the SS. Later, in the Museum, the Doctor retrieves the SS from Amy's pocket.

It's not nearly as crazily paradoxical as the glasses from Star Trek II/Star Trek IV. "Weren't they a gift from Doctor McCoy?" "And they will be again, that's the beauty of it." In this case, the glasses were apparently never "created". Doctor McCoy bought them (supposedly from the same antique store though that's not necessarily the case) and gave them to Kirk, who went back in time and sold the to the antique store, who eventually sold them to Doctor McCoy... etc etc etc. The glasses are just in a loop. (One could argue that yes, the glasses were created at some point, but the crew going back in time in ST4 creates the paradox by jumping in and putting the glasses in a loop... though one could also argue that they're not the same pair of glasses after all, i.e. Kirk sells the glasses and eventually someone else buys them instead.)

The Doctor's not in a loop, Rory's not in a loop, even the sonic screwdriver is not in a loop, so it's not quite the same thing. Perhaps it's "cheating" in terms of storytelling since it's moreso the *idea* that comes "out of nowhere", when the Doctor realizes how to get out of the Pandorica by actually getting out of the Pandorica... but mechanically and chronologically it works. It's just a bit twisty.

(On a related but unrelated note, I love that there are 4 DeLoreans in 1955 at one point. )

[Brónach 1,302]

About the sccrewdrawer bussiness: Rory opens the Pandorica and the Doctor realizes that he's got to give Rory the screwdrawer in order for it to make sense. What's the problem?

It's more than 'for it to make sense'... it's to make it physically possible. The problem is that the future doctor is giving Rory the screwdriver, but how does the future doctor get into a position where he can give the screwdriver?

The future Doctor went to the future with his own screwdrawer, the one that was locked with him. When Rory sees him with the fez and the mop he tells him that's what he looked like when he went to the past to give him the screwdrawer, so the Doctor jumps back in time to give it to him.

It's a paradox that has no 'entrance'. I don't buy that sort.

Closed timelike curve

[Wycket 36]

Well, I'm happy to give this thread its first bump since the relaunch. Best thing for me to do I guess is to give a few thoughts on the episodes that have aired in the second half. Spoilers will be mentioned so if you haven't watched the episodes yet, what are you waiting for?

Let's Kill Hitler

I liked this episode a lot as it had quite a few good laughs and was definitely a completely different episode than I was expecting. Definitely the most RTD episode that Moffat has ever written, but IMO he never went over the line like Davies did so often. Alex Kingston was great and seeing Rory punch Hitler and tell him to shut up confirmed his status as a badass.

Night Terrors

Overall I liked the episode quite a bit when I first saw it, though my enthusiasm has waned since. A lot of interesting ideas that definitely could have used more time to develop. Just like Gatiss' Dalek episode, this one needed another 5-10 minutes to flesh stuff out some more.

The Girl Who Waited

The Vincent and the Doctor of this season, this episode showed what a great actress Karen Gillan can be. I've never been fond of the Amy hate so hopefully it will die down after this episode. All in all, I thought the episode was nearly perfect and I hardly noticed that it was a "Doctor lite" episode.

I'm quite excited to see what the last three episodes will bring as this season has definitely picked up for me, even though I still wasn't a big fan of the opening 2 parter.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

Its just a tv show, guys...

It's not "just a T.V. show", but, then again, I would not expect someone who has come to the series 40-odd years in to have the same relationship with it, as someone who has never not known it in his life...

It works in a way, but how was the time-circle formed in the first place?

The thing about a circle is that it has no beginning or end, so you answered your own question...

If that is true, not only would the question not have needed to be answered, it would not have needed to be asked.

The stand-out episode of this half, so far is "Night Terrors", which deals with a subject that doesn't get enough attention, namely, a father's love for his son. I get the impression that Gattis is working through his own feelings on this subject. The episode also showed that, when he's not clowning around, Matt Smith can be a very subtle, and talented actor. His scenes with the young boy were very touching.

I loved the "Snow White, And The Seven keys To Doomsday" reference! Brilliant.

re: "The Girl Who Waited": older Amy is H-O-T!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Let's Kill Hitler!

Very entertaining, but also bewildering start to season 6.2. Moffat just loves to drop not only us, but the characters into the middle of an already evolving story and work his way both back and forward at the same time.

Good stuff. The flashback stuff of Mells, Rory and Amy, seeing the young Amelia Pond again, Alex Kingston chewing the scenery.

Could do better. The Doctor dying, since we know he won't. The whole last act in a german restaurant and no police come to check out what's going on.

Finally we get a small...small glimpse of The Silence. But in exchange we get yet more enigma, about a questions, and those tiny people living inside a robot body.

Doctor Who is definitely on again, but it's all over the place.

Night terrors

Finally, a good Gattis/Doctor Who story, it's been a while.

This series has usually been very good with childhood scares. (apart from the criminally terrible Fear Her)

Nice creepy atmosphere and good acting from the guy playing George's father.

Nice to see the show back in London again....

The Girl Who Waited.

Really good.

Karen Gillan gives maybe her best performance so far as both the "normal" and an 36 year older, fiercer, version of herself. The old-age make-up is also done really well.

The Doctor takes a back seat in this one, which is not such a bad thing. Arthur Darvill once again shows he can combine comedy and tragedy.

The final few minutes brought tears to my eyes.

The God Complex.

Nice haunted house story, combined with a dash of Agatha Christies 10 little Indians.

The Doctor leaving Amy (and Rory) before something bad happens is actually a very good idea. Though it does seem that they don't really seem to care very much for Melody/River....

[Wycket 36]

I think they've seen so much that they know that rescuing Melody is beyond their control. Plus, its not as if they can simply decide to go where she is, as they have no way of knowing her location. They've probably accepted the fact they both have known their daughter for nearly their entire lives and knows that they have potential to see her in the future so aren't too upset. Ifs basically out of their hands, and while I'm sure that parent-child bond is strong, they are more than too aware of the consequences to not understand the potential problems.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I liked the inclusion of Rose, Martha and Donna in Let's Kill Hitler. This is wear the first seeds are sown that finally lead to The Doctor leaving Rory and Amy. Not sure why he should still have guilt over Martha though...

[davros72 1]

Not sure why he should still have guilt over Martha though...

Because she was crap?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No, I really liked Martha in season 3 and Torchwood. Not so much in season 4.

[Wycket 36]

Not sure why he should still have guilt over Martha though...

Did you not see The End of Time? When she met the Doctor she wanted to be a doctor but now is fighting aliens and married to Mickey. Why wouldn't he feel some guilt?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Closing Time.

James Corden returns as The Doctor's Companion for one more time. He and Smith have a good chemistry going.

Some really funny stuff, The Doctor being able to speak baby. Craig's son calling himself Storminator. Matt Smith really has impeccable comedic timing.

And more...he can also be very moving. His time is running out. The 11th Doctors questions the choices he's made. All the Cyberman stuff was really secondary to what the episode was about.

The coincidental wondering in of Amy and Rory, the poster "The Girl Who's Tired Of Waiting" really well done. The final scenes with The Doctor essentially saying goodbye brought a tear to my eye.

And then the final few minutes with River Song, the plot thickens....very very good!

Die Hard fans of The Cybermen might be disappointed, but I really loved this episode.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

Agreed - excellent episode. I enjoyed this one far more than God Complex or The Girl Who Waited because of how much it was oriented around Smith and his more comedic side.

The cyberman never appealed to me that much, so I was very happy with the balance.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes The Lodger from season 5 was great for that reason. It gave Smith a lot of room to stretch his funny bones.

BTW, the gay references are really back with a vengeance this season. You'd think RTD was still in charge.

BTW, Moffat era Cyberman are different from the RTD ones, I take it Moffat has subtly gone back to the Cybermen from the old series?

My ratings so far: 0 being shit and 5 being outstanding

The Impossible Astronaut 4.5 (almost perfect, weak cliffhanger)

Day Of The Moon 4 (spectacular, if bewildering)

The Curse Of The Black Spot 3 (fun and clever)

The Doctor's Wife 4.5 (really well done)

The Rebel Flesh 4 (creepy and thoughtful)

The Almost People 2.5 (up until the final few minutes surprisingly dull and obvious)

A Good Man Goes To War 4 (action packed, exciting, but ends with a bit of a whimper)

Let's Kill Hitler 4 (Again, lots of spectacle, but lacking a bit in emotions)

Night Terror's 4.5 (liked how this ep concentrated on the father more then the kid)

The Girl Who Waited 5 (convoluted, but this time the emotional effect is not diluted)

The God Complex 4 (mysterious and nicely done, but up until the final few minutes not THAT memorable)

Closing Time 5 (It made me cry)

[pixie_twinkle 48]

SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY) SO DON'T READ UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN CLOSING TIME

Ok, so I have a little confusion. Loved Closing Time, absolute highlight of the season. However, it was revealed in the first episode of the season (The Impossible Astronaut) that the Doctor who was "killed" on the beach was 200 years older than the "current" Doctor; the Doctor who shows up in the diner and stays with Amy and Rory for the remainder of the season. In other words, the Doctor who got killed was from the future of his own timeline. In closing Time the Doctor says "I'm old. I die tomorrow" or words to that effect. Therefore we can assume that the Doctor in Closing Time is apparently 200 years older than the Doctor who has just said goodbye to Amy and Rory at the end of The God Complex. So the big question: Are we really to assume that 200 years has passed in between The God Complex and Closing Time??? If so, what was the Doctor doing all that time and why didn't we get to see any of it??? That is MORE than frustrating. Since An Unearthly Child back in 1963 we have followed the Doctor through his life in pretty much the same timeline, across a period of roughly 50 years. It's a little jarring for us to accept that he has just spent 200 years alone between episodes, and he hasn't visibly aged a day! What do you all think?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The doctor knows the date of his death, but probably not his actual age.

Also he still needs to have a relationship with River.

[Brónach 1,302]

I'm not sure if I understand this correctly but did all the aventures with River supposedly happen in those 200 years?

I really need a River timeline now, I'm confused.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The thing is. To a time traveller, knowing you are going to die "tomorrow" would be meaningless.

[Brónach 1,302]

Yes, if it's tomorrow on Earth's timeline. Not if it's your tomorrow.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No mention of the Doctor's age.

The plot thickens.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

This is very true. SO, the Doctor only knows he will die "tomorrow". He doesn't know that when it happens he will physically be 200 years older. Only River, Amy and Rory know that. Therefore When the "current" Doctor goes to his place of death "tomorrow", he won't die, but will see his future self get shot. Those 200 years have yet to occur. This is very complicated and I really don't know how the Moff is going to get out of it. Unless it has something to do with the Flesh Doctor, which certainly seems possible. Hmm.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That's a very interesting possibility Pix.

The overall success of series 6 pretty much depends on how good next saturday's episode is going to be.

Overall's it's been a good one, with a few strong eps. But the series finale can either make or break it.

Any idea how long it's going to be?

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I'm sure that if the final episode is going to have an extended running time, it will be announced on http://www.doctorwhonews.net/ sometime early next week. You're right about the importance of this last episode. I'm a little nervous that it has so many questions to answer that it won't flow dramatically. Or worse, it'll flow beautifully but leave too many annoyingly persistent questions hanging for yet another season... Still, my reservations about season 6 have generally been softened by the last three superb episodes. Closing Time in particular is up there with the most entertaining episodes since the show's return in 2005.

[Wycket 36]

As for the episode length, I believe I saw that the episode is only going to be a little over 45 minutes (as per a pre-dvd release announcement). If true, that would be a serious bummer as it seems like the finale is quite messed up as Churchill is there so there's obviously some time hopping or something strange going on.

As for the Doctor's age, I severely doubt the Doctor has only aged 50 years since the show started in '63. The whole point of the Doctor's age is that its always changing and long periods can pass with relatively little wear. Don't forget, wasn't Hartnell supposed to be 450 or something when he regenerated? If that's the case, he looked pretty good for his age.

As for 200 years passing, I'm sure that's just an approximation he makes to Amy. All that traveling around being purposefully ridiculous happened during this time period for the Doctor and the Amy and Rory that the Doctor saw are just seeing all that stuff and have yet to get that letter. Hopefully Moffat will deliver in the finale, as his episodes have been disappointing me this year as they seemed jammed pack with ideas and little else. The Day of the Moon is a particular one as they seem to just be meandering about from piece to piece. All I hope is that the finale ends with a

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I don't think the Doctor is supposed to have aged much more than 50 years since the Hartnell years. Most of the time the continuity of overlapping companions prohibits the possibility of him going off on his own for great amounts of time. He's alone briefly between Sarah leaving and Leela arriving (after the events of The Deadly Assassin). Other than that, the only time he could have gone swanning off by himself for any great amount of time is the huge gap between Survival and Rose (the only adventure of which we see being The TV Movie). During this huge gap he parts company with Ace. Then, after his regeneration in the TV movie he presumably enjoys a full life as the 8th Doctor, culminating perhaps in the great Time War with the Daleks. Fans seem to think it could have been during the closing moments of the Time War that the 8th Doctor receives his fatal injuries that cause him to regenerate into the 9th Doctor.

The start of Rose is a little contradictory. On the one hand the Doctor checks out his "new" ears in the mirror or Rose's mum's house, implying that he only recently regenerated. However, we then see multiple pictures of the 9th Doctor throughout various points in the history of mankind, JFK assassination, Titanic, Indian reservation etc. Once Rose starts traveling with him he doesn't have time for these historical visits so they must have taken place before he comes to contemporary Earth to sort out the Nestene invasion.

Or maybe I'm over-thinking all this and should just have a nice cup of tea. Yes. That's probably best.

[Wycket 36]

No reason to think the 50 years at all.

The Doctor is a time traveler. We don't see all of his adventures (especially considering the wealth of novels and Big Finish material). Plus, even the Doctor takes vacations so there's no need to squeeze the Doctor's time into such a small window from his point of view.

Plus about 9, why couldn't him and Rose have traveled around and taken those pictures on adventures. Time isn't linear,especially for the Doctor, and his adventures off screen are probably far more numerous than on screen. Him and Rose even mentioned I believe a diamond planet to Jack showing that they had a great amount of adventures. Either way there's no reason for either of us to toil on the subject so its probably best to all have a cup of tea and enjoy the show.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Agreed!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'll take Earl Grey, 2 sugars a dash of cream...

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Twinings English Breakfast for me. That stuff is the instant cure for all life's woes. No matter how bad your day is, a piping hot cup of Twinings English Breakfast puts things to right. If you have any Bourbon biscuits then your recovery will be complete.

[ashinyobject 0]

I really hope the Stetson and jacket stay next year. I think it's really iconic.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

It's a great image, but I think it defines this season specifically, not the 11th Doctor in general. Strangely, I think the Fez defines the 11th Doctor more than the stetson, even though he only wore it once before it got blasted into atoms.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And the bow tie!

Bow ties are cool.

[Wycket 36]

It's a great image, but I think it defines this season specifically, not the 11th Doctor in general. Strangely, I think the Fez defines the 11th Doctor more than the stetson, even though he only wore it once before it got blasted into atoms.

Actually twice if you count that special that those kids wrote that's supposed to air.

[davros72 1]

BBC axes Doctor Who Confidential...

link

Can't say I'm surprised, and I don't think I'm too upset about it. Though I will miss all the extra footage of Karen Gillan (who has claimed to be back next series in some capacity...).

[Brónach 1,302]

It's a great image, but I think it defines this season specifically, not the 11th Doctor in general. Strangely, I think the Fez defines the 11th Doctor more than the stetson, even though he only wore it once before it got blasted into atoms.

Actually twice if you count that special that those kids wrote that's supposed to air.

And The Impossible Astronaut.

I love when he puts on the astronaut helmet in that episode.

[davros72 1]

It's a great image, but I think it defines this season specifically, not the 11th Doctor in general. Strangely, I think the Fez defines the 11th Doctor more than the stetson, even though he only wore it once before it got blasted into atoms.

Actually twice if you count that special that those kids wrote that's supposed to air.

And The Impossible Astronaut.

I love when he puts on the astronaut helmet in that episode.

(And Silver Nemesis. But that doesn't count, does it? Even though he's holding a mop at the same time... )

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Silver Nemesis NEVER counts

Anyone who ever complained about the OTT bombast of RTD season-finale episodes and the equally bombastic music scores for said episodes needs to check out Silver Nemesis to find out the true, terrible meaning of OTT, misplaced bombast!

[pixie_twinkle 48]

SPOILERS!!!!!!! (Obviously)

The Wedding of River Song... Whaaat? I'm VERY confused.

1) It's never explained why the Doctor on the beach is 200 years older.

2) It's never explained why he suddenly decided to marry River. Are they now married? What the hell's that all about?

3) We STILL don't know what caused the TARDIS to explode at the end of season 5. In fact it wasn't ever even mentioned this season. Has that particular plotline just been left to die. I mean it was a pretty big part of season 5! Without explaining that season 5 kind of makes no sense.

This season finale was a HUGE amount of fun. I loved every minute, except for the pointless wedding scene which kind of pissed me off. BUT, it just left waaay to many questions not even remotely answered. In fact it left so many unanswered questions that it made season 6 extremely unsatisfying overall, despite a few terrific episodes. Don't get me wrong, I still think this show is the most entertaining thing on TV by a long shot. BUT, did it have to be such a muddled mess this year?

[ashinyobject 0]

SPOILERS!!!!!!! (Obviously)

The Wedding of River Song... Whaaat? I'm VERY confused.

1) It's never explained why the Doctor on the beach is 200 years older.

2) It's never explained why he suddenly decided to marry River. Are they now married? What the hell's that all about?

3) We STILL don't know what caused the TARDIS to explode at the end of season 5. In fact it wasn't ever even mentioned this season. Has that particular plotline just been left to die. I mean it was a pretty big part of season 5! Without explaining that season 5 kind of makes no sense.

This season finale was a HUGE amount of fun. I loved every minute, except for the pointless wedding scene which kind of pissed me off. BUT, it just left waaay to many questions not even remotely answered. In fact it left so many unanswered questions that it made season 6 extremely unsatisfying overall, despite a few terrific episodes. Don't get me wrong, I still think this show is the most entertaining thing on TV by a long shot. BUT, did it have to be such a muddled mess this year?

*SPOILERS*

1) Maybe the 200 years happens while on his "Farewell Tour". The Jim the Fish story and etc. must have happened during that.

2) I think he married her because he knows that he will eventually tell her his name. In Forest of the Dead, The Doctor says that there's only one reason he would tell someone his name.

3) Maybe Moffat is saving that for the next series, along with the new prophecies, or for the 50th anniversary.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I just think that the TARDIS exploding at the end of season 5 is made to seem unimportant by this season's ignoring of it. It's either important or it isn't. If it is supposed to be important (and the climactic episodes of season 5 make it out to be VERY important) then it should have been on the Doctor's mind a lot more in season 6. In fact it should have been his raison d'etre. Instead I think it's mentioned once in a throwaway line in season 6. The trouble is, that by practically ignoring that point throughout season 6 the viewers have pretty much forgotten about it by now. Or they just don't care. And why should they? If the show itself isn't making it out to be important, why should viewers make the effort to remember it at all? Fans of the show are therefore probably getting a little worried that it will never be addressed, and if it is addressed the general public will have moved so far beyond that storyline they won't even remember it. If the Moff plans on completing the whole TARDIS exploding storyline next year then he really should have kept it alive in the minds of the viewers throughout this season. Include it in the plot of at least one story, and mention it in a few more. Otherwise it's a bit much to expect everyone to suddenly think it's no longer important (or worse, to let everyone forget all about it!) when it was such a huge deal influencing the events of season 5.

Besides, how can anyone really be expected to forget Amy's crack?

[Brónach 1,302]

Cool episode.

I don't think the silents have been used to maximun effect though. In the first two episodes we shouldn't have seen them until their defeat. Maybe same here.

My other problem is that I think the strusture of this series hasn't been very satisfying. Look at series 5. Lots of independent episodes, but every one added something to the one before that, stablishing a huge build up to two very satisfying episodes that only left two mysteries for next season. In this the not so good independent episodes feel like filler and the arc episodes seem to be very compressed and don't breath very well.

I like the paralells between The Wedding of River Song and The Big Bang.

We've got a wedding, either space or time being disintegrated because something happened to the Doctor or the TARDIS, and the Doctor managing to survive when he was supposed to die. And the weird worlds: the world without stars, and the world with all of history at once.

. I like all of the multiple patterns that go in Moffat's writing. Of course the alternate worlds are very cool.

As I understand it, if the Doctor went to the Library and looked up himself,

he would appear to have died on 22 april 2011 in Utah. But who would know that besides the Silence? Or did the Silence spread the word?

[pixie_twinkle 48]

No one else have any comments on this episode? I'm dying to see what everyone thought of it.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

i found it to be entertaining, but underwhelming as a series finale. the finale really should have been a meaty two parter.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I agree. Although that might have seemed a little disproportionate given the short 6-episode span of this half-season, in the long run it might have been a lot more fitting. I for one could have used a little more breathing room, and a little more dialogue explaining the rationale behind certain characters' bizarre actions. The wedding in particular.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

I dont know what I think of Series 6 in relation to 5 yet. I think 6 has greater individual episodes, or individual moments...but 5's sum of its parts is greater than 6's sum of its parts.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I really enjoyed it, but it didn't really feel like a season finale. In fact, the entire season didn't feel very coherent. It had some outstanding episodes - more than any other season of the revival in fact - but ironically I thought the arc episodes were some of the weakest. I just didn't find the Doctor's death that interesting, particularly as it was never going to be permanent, nor was it leading to a regeneration. "Let's Kill Hitler" was a massive let-down after the great "Good Man Goes To War", the finale was similar but at least it was engaging. I love the portrayal of the outside-Earth Universe that Moffat has created, with interstellar bars and "live chess" matches and ancient tombs with cannibalistic skulls. I can't help but feel there were some missed opportunities and plot threads. Madame Kovarian and her entire cause fizzled out with a vague mention of their motives, which are, once again, set for a future storyline.

For such a bizarrely convoluted season, it still has some of the best of the revival. "The Doctor's Wife" and "The Girl Who Waited" were both perfect episodes for me, and "A Good Man Goes To War" was packed with a lot of fun and emotion (despite the less-than-shocking revelation about River). As a whole though, season 5 remains the best.

EDIT: My understanding of the wedding was that it was a way for the Doctor to calm River down and get her to look in his eyes so she could see the real Doctor and TARDIS inside the spaceship. She would otherwise be unlikely to touch the Doctor and let him die, even if it meant saving the rest of the universe. (How awful does that sentence sound? A woman would rather reality collapse than let her man die. That's not romantic, it's psychotic).