Doctor Who – The Hungry Earth

I liked this episode, it had a certain old school charm that matched the reintroduction of an old school enemy, the Silurians. There was a nice small cast, in a nice small, almost claustrophobic setting (things I think are always more scary when there’s less people around, sort of there’s less people to hide behind sort of thing). I think though that the second episode of this two parter will be a lot more expansive.

Plus once more I loved Matt Smith and we saw lots of his geography teacher on speed Doctor here, with some great lines from him that I can now only half remember properly. I particularly loved him in the scene above, it really felt like what it (fictionally) was, a meeting between the remainders of two great races.

Doctor Who – Amy's Choice (big spoilers)

I loved this episode, I thought it was brilliant. As Stephen Moffat said in the Doctor Who Confidential , writer Simon Nye is more known for his writing looking at relationships, so Nye’s style bought a great look at the relationships between the Doctor and Amy, Amy and Rory and the Doctor and himself.

I loved the differing reactions of Amy and Rory to life in Upper Leadworth (personally I’d be bored to tears to) and then later Amy’s realisation about who she really wanted to be with. The way how Amy looked at the Doctor after Rory had died, it was suddenly like she was older than him, whereas the Doctor never really grows up. And the revelation who the Dream Lord was and the Doctor’s early realisation “I know who you are. Only one person hates me as much as you do”, it was the Doctor himself, awww the guy has some issues!

And finally I can not not mention the ‘zombie’ ‘very’ old people, a classic.

Doctor Who: The Vampires of Venice

This week the Doctor takes Amy and her fiancée Rory on a ‘date’ to Venice, of course they quickly find trouble and Rory does the normal boyfriend of the side kick thing and moans about it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this episode , I thought the scene between Rory and one of the vampires ‘sword’ fighting funny and Rory’s moaning did have a fair point. I also thought Matt Smith acted his socks off again, that bloke will go far (as will Karen Gillian, if anything just for being so darn gorgeous) but I’m digressing, much as I loved Russell T Davies’ Doctor Who, I am loving Stephen Moffat’s Doctor Who for being different, its cleaner, crisper and the dynamic between the Doctor and his assistant is so much better but by reintroducing Rory, introducing the domestics so to speak, it was slipping back into RTD land and been there, done that. I’m kind of hoping they’ll leave Rory on a planet somewhere next episode, but of course they won’t do that.

Doctor Who: Flesh and Stone

Another great episode. This second parter featured the crack from Amy’s bedroom wall very heavily and I love how Stephen Moffat is featuring the overall story arc much more heavily throughout the whole series rather than just dropping a few token hints until right at the very end.

What was interesting about this week’s Doctor Who from a writing perspective was actually the Doctor Who Confidential after it because as well as the normal stuff about making the episode, they had a heavy segment of lots of people loving up Stephen Moffat penned episodes, which admittedly are gorgeous. They had lots of stuff from the man himself as well and I found it interesting how much his children inspire him, the crack for example, which looks strangely like a crooked smile was once on his son’s bedroom wall and how Moffat takes childhood fears about things under the bed or things that are nearly normal and then twisting them to the grotesque, to make us scared. It’s also clear how much he loves games, when I watched last night’s episode it was obvious that the sequence of Amy walking with her eyes shut through the crowd of angels, trying not to bump into them is so going to be played in so many playgrounds when school’s go back on Tuesday and if Doctor Who doesn’t give the nation’s 7 year olds something to take into the playground and make their own, there’s something wrong.

PS I also loved Matt Smith’s angry, vulnerable Doctor to, this has to be the most human and yet most alien Doctor we’ve ever seen.

Doctor Who – The Time of Angels

Oh er, just come out from behind the sofa, there is nothing scarier than a Weeping Angel, they’re back along with River Song, the Doctor’s wife. This episode starts with a hilariously hen pecked Doctor who once again does not want to get involved (I love this not wanting to get involved Doctor), they follow a space ship that has crashed onto some cliffs, which made me squeal with delight as the beach under the aforementioned cliffs (see the photo above) was the favourite beach for me as a kid and I remember my mum always saying “They should film Doctor Who here,” so she’ll be happy as her ashes are scattered in a garden on top of said cliffs (the beach has been used before on Doctor Who as Bad Wolf Bay, it is a truly beautiful beach). Anyway personal pleasure aside at seeing the TARDIS finally on those rock formations, the Doctor, Amy and River are joined by an army of clerics (in the future religion obviously goes hardcore) and they have to mount a mission up through the cliffs and into the ship, to grab the Weeping Angel stowed away in the ship. Thing is the cliffs are full of statues themselves . . .

Doctor Who – Victory of the Daleks (spoilers)

This may get boring, me saying what another great episode but it was (not as brilliant as the Moffat episodes mind you). Churchill calls up the Doctor and introduces him to his new ‘ironside’ soldiers, who of course are not what they seem, although whilst they were in ‘disguise’ and carrying round cups of tea and folders, that was hilarious! I’m loving Matt Smith’s Doctor more and more each episode, as I wrote last week, he reminded me a little of a geeky but trying to be cool young geography teacher and I got that to with the scene with the Doctor confronting the Daleks in their spaceship, almost half expected him to ask them what the capital of Peru was. However I had to laugh (which is probably not the desired response), when the new Daleks revealed themselves, all I could think of was oooh the merchandising opportunities, kids will need one of every colour now!

My favourite moment of the episode though had to be the spitfires in space; I’ve seen interviews with Stephen Moffat talking about how Doctor Who is fairytale and the spitfires in space was definitely a pure fairytale moment.

Doctor Who – The Beast Below

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Ah let me just gurgle in unconstructive delight for a moment, that was brilliant, again, I want to be Stephen Moffat when I grow up, blah, blah, blah. That was brilliant. Another Stephen Moffat episode, demonstrating what we already know, that as much as Russell T Davies was good, Moffat is far more ambitious with the depth and breadth of his episodes. The Doctor and Amy (who after only two episodes is now my all time favourite assistant) ‘go find a spaceship’, a great big one in fact, housing the entire United Kingdom (except Scotland, they wanted their own ship), as they fly from solar storms in the 29th century. Despite being eight centuries into the future, everything is deliciously retro, circa about the second world war, definitely more steam-punk influence. The Doctor lectures Amy that they’re there to observe, not get involved, definitely still seeing echoes of David Tennant’s Doctor, after his whole experience on Mars, but there’s a child crying and suspicions of a police state. The Doctor and Amy quickly split up, Amy showing considerable independence which later displeases the Doctor greatly. The Doctor continues to grow into his character, reminding me in part of a young but geeky, desperately trying to be cool geography teacher on a school trip and yet on the other hand, so, so alien. It’s not just the Doctor’s unwillingness to get involved that reminds me of the end of the previous regeneration, he is a different Doctor but I’ve never noticed so much before, comparing one Doctor with the next, that it is still the same man, in the way how he responds in a similar way to certain situations, kudos for both Matt Smith and Stephen Moffat’s writing for that one. There were some other great supporting characters to this episode to, whoever is responsible for casting the child actors so far this series is doing a great job and I just loved Liz 10! This was an episode on so many levels, like I said, ambitious but successful enough to include something for everyone (and after thefishfingers and custard in last week’s episode and the ‘coating’ the Doctor and Amy get this episode, is Moffat trying to include a gross out moment every story?). Can’t wait till next week!