angelophile | Review: Doctor Who

And tonight we got the episode of the series. Written, surprisingly, not by The Grand Moff, but by Simon Nye - creator of Men Behaving Badly and numerous other not-as-good sitcoms. However, it seemed like Nye had learned a few tricks from Moffat and crafted an episode that stands out so far as this series' Girl in the Fireplace.

Aaaaand it's hard to know what to say about this episode without simply gushing. Usually I have some criticisms to level or some plot point to pick at, but it's damn hard to find fault with this one.

I mean /perhaps/ considering it was supposed to be an Amy-centric episode she didn't get quite enough focus early on. Perhaps it was a failing that they never seemed to treat he dream-pregnancy as anything more than a physical inconvenience and, even in the dream world, Amy never seemed to consider her unborn child. Perhaps the special effects were rather insubstantial. Perhaps the whole thing reminded me, in parts, of the Father Ted episode Night of the Nearly Dead.

But these are genuinely minor quibbles and I had to stretch to think of those. Otherwise it's an excellent character-centric episode with an impressive setup. (Not wholly unique, but still completely fresh.) The villain-du-jour, played by Toby Jones, is a joy, delightfully performed, wickedly malicious and handed some genuinely funny one-liners. There's enough to spare, though, and Matt Smith gets his share too, along with some strong character moments. There's a real sense of frustration in some scenes, then warm compassion at the climax, when Amy makes the choice of the title.

Likewise Karen Gillan has a chance to shine and does so, repairing the chips delivered to the character in the past couple of episodes. Clearly all part of the masterplan which leads into this episode and gives some face time to Rory, played by Arthur Darvill, fleshing him and his relationship with Amy out effectively and touchingly. And it's genuinely touching, with Rory's wistfulness and obvious yearning for something meaningful and lasting with flighty Amy ringing true, as opposed to the overblown emotional manipulation of the RTD era. I challenge anyone not to be touched by the climax, which certainly gave me a case of the woobies.

The performances are excellent - Gillan's given more to do than her custom wided eyed look we've seen in the past few episodes and each of the characters gets their moment in the spot. The mystery at the center of the episode isn't really a mystery at all - it's obvious from the start what Amy's choice will be, but it's how the character gets there that's the important thing. And the clamix is still rather shocking, harkening back to the climax of the wonderful Life on Mars.

And so, the highlight of the series so far. Intelligent, character-driven sci-fi with more than enough quirkiness to make sure you know you're in the Whoniverse (the minor villains were both chilling and kinda hilarious). You know there's going to be a lot of kids who don't want sloppy kisses from grandma any more.

Excellent stuff!