Doctor Who Series 6 Episode 11 Review.

The beginning of this review was originally gonna be directed at Toby Whitehouse, as I was going to kindly ask him not to tease me with such wonderful lines as “Amy, regrettably, you’re fired” and the there attached thoughts that I may never have to put up with her shouting and elongating the last word of every SEN-TENCE! But then, Mr. Whitehouse went a spoilt that potential joke, by actually having Amy fired at the end of the episode! I’m not sure whether I’m happy or sad about that…wait no, I’m happy.

Is it just me or does this thing look stoned?

So this episode opens with a surreal Ashes to Ashes feel (even got a lost female copper narrating) which is somewhat ruined by a really fake gorilla suit  - I guess Moffat wasn’t lying when he estimated that he’d spent the whole budget on the first page of the Christmas episode.

David Walliams finally gets his chance to be in Doctor Who and he doesn’t disappoint, bringing forward a character that is simultaneously funny and sad. It’s also nice to see a celebrity guest in full make-up  - not since Gridlock has the main guest star been effectively disguised  - it’s a nice aspect and gives off the impression that Walliams was selected for his acting ability and not his popularity, unlike a certain Australian Pop Singer who appeared in one of T Davies’ Christmas specials. Walliams plays a creature that’s survived through surrendering and voluntarily being enslaved by whoever happens want enslave someone. A bit with him that I really liked was when the Doctor essentially told him to man-up, insinuating that, while constant surrender can lead to a higher rate of survival, bowing down and letting whichever force fancies an empire have it, is never the right thing to do. I like this bit mainly for the way that Walliams and Smith play it, with the former acting as though he’s saying something completely normal and latter acting as though he’s observing a unjustly dejected child – the 11^th Doctor, not doing as the 10th would and trying to empathise with him and not what the 9^th would and ignoring him, but straight up telling him he’s rather be here with someone wasn’t afraid of getting into a fight.

I’m starting to notice a trend of episodes moving a lot slower than they did in the Davies days  - which is fine so long as the ever-increasing pauses in the story progression have something good to fill them. When the Moff himself is at the helm, this issue isn’t especially important, as he’s quite good with filler comedy and his unnecessary, yet very entertaining dialogue pieces generally score around 6.5 Tarantinos. But, writer Toby Whitehouse doesn’t seem to have same level of comedic bravery and so parts of this episode fall flat as they slow down, causing the audience (or at lease me) to lose interest.

There is also a bit in this episode, where the process of events is running completely counter to the music. Look I don’t miss the uber-serious, REALLY LOUD, music of the Davies/Tennant era, but I’m not thrilled with whimsical chords being played as one of the characters dies. All other things aside, the music completely kills the creepiness and fright of the sequence.

And turns out the Doctor’s fear is pretty much like his name  - something we’ll never see  - either that or it was Russell T Davies with a cloister bell and type-writer – “Of course, who else?”

And so the ending  - the hotel turned out to be a TRON with a minotaur in it Amy and Rory got thrown out of the TARDIS – I’m pretty happy with it.

You know what I’m even more happy about, the key to killing the baddie was the companion fully accepting that the Doctor is a selfish and fallible man. There is a quote from the classic series, from way back in the days of William Hartnell that goes something like “you must call me Doctor, I am not a god, you must always call me Doctor”. The Tennant/Davies era lost sight of this quote, painting the Doctor as a god and proud of it.

Throughout the 11^th Doctor’s reign so far we have seen reversals of this viewpoint – he’s made massive mistakes, acted out of sheer blinding anger and mistreated his friends  - but to have the conclusion of an episode pivot on this aspect is a huge step in the right direction.