By Charhys Baldwin
With Christmas fast approaching, that means the Doctor Who
Special! This review of the last episode and the first half of the series will
catch you up to speed for this new episode due to air Christmas Day.
Doctor Who: The Half Way Point.
Although many people don’t like the new format of Doctor
Who, one massive benefit of having a split season is the series gets two
endings. This gives the show the opportunity to have some big storylines and in
the case of this series, say goodbye to companions. With only five episodes
before the mid season finale, were you drawn in? And did you shed a tear at Amy
and Rory’s departure?
Amelia’s Last Farewell
The Angels Take
Manhattan was the last episode for Amy and Rory, and considering the build
up from the last episode I was fairly disappointed at the beginning of this one.
Throughout a lot of the episode I felt like there were many questions left open
and a lot of plot holes.
Other than the Doctor stating that Manhattan is the city
that never sleeps, there isn’t much justification of why the Angels are there,
but it does provide a great location for the episode, and manages to be
different from the last Doctor Who episode set in New York, with the statue of
liberty being just perfect to be an Angel.
The best part of this episode for me wasn’t the actual
departure, although it was very emotional when Amy had to say goodbye to the Doctor,
it was actually the touching moment between Amy and Rory on the roof that gave
me a tear in my eye. The end of this episode was well wrapped up with Amy’s
afterword to the Doctor, but I felt that Rory wasn’t as prominent which is a
shame as Arthur was brilliant in this episode. Even the moment on the roof was
made funny by Rory stating, ‘he always comes back’.
I thought the introduction of the cherubs was a great idea
by Moffat, it gave the Angels another identity which made them even more
terrifying. As he has done before, using children’s voices can turn something
so innocent into something terrifying. I am sure this new addition gave plenty
of children nightmares.
I thought the appearance of River in this episode was
interesting, considering the focus on her in the last series; it was nice
having her as a supporting character. Her arguments with the doctor and
flirting brought some much needed light hearted fun to an emotional episode, although
her lack of emotion at the end seemed somewhat odd. If it weren’t for the fact
the actors have confirmed they are leaving, it would almost seem as if River
thinks she will see them again, but then surely she could? Surely only that
particular date is a fixed point, the Angels sent them back 30 years so how
come the Doctor and River, don’t have the ability to use the time vortex manipulator
to visit them?
Overall I enjoyed the episode, I thought Amy and Rory’s
ending was a lovely one, leaving us with the knowledge that, whatever happens,
Amy and Rory would always be together. This is very consistent with the
characters and a perfect way to end their time with the Doctor. Although,there
are many questions I feel haven’t been answered, such as who’s going to tell
Rory’s dad, but I believe Moffat has done a good job in giving these companions
an emotive ending that is fitting to their characters and previous stories. On
the note of Rory’s dad, there is an a lovely video highlighting a scene where
Rory’s dad is informed of what happened, narrated by Arthur. This is on the
Doctor Who website, and it’s a shame this wasn’t featured in the episode but
would have been difficult to mix it in with Amy’s farewell.
The Series
Of the five episodes that have been shown so far in series 7,
I most enjoyed the first one. Having already previously reviewed this I won’t
go into too much detail, but I definitely think it was the strongest episode.
Moffat has clearly moved away from the huge story arcs and gone back to the stand
alone episodes of the Russell T Davis era, which I think has worked well as a
contrast to last series. The series as a whole was a nice back drop to the
approach of Amy and Rory’s ending and it showed the Doctor in a different
light. It showed him as this more humble man who has gone back to adventures
rather than conflicts. I also think that Matt Smith is getting more and more
comfortable with his character, as he gets stronger every series. As a massive
fan of the Tennant Doctor, I find myself thinking that Matt Smith is actually
doing a pretty good job, which I think showed especially in the finale when he
had the ‘chapters scene’, when he found out about Amelia’s Last Farewell.
Going Forwards In Time
And so we look forward to the Christmas special, then 8 more
episodes of season 7 and then the 50th Anniversary. 2013 looks set
to be an exciting year for Doctor Who fans and with Jenna Louise Coleman
starting her companionship on Christmas Day. I am extremely excited to see how
Moffat explains that scenario, considering in the new trailer she introduces
herself as Clara and not Oswin who she played in the first episode. A prequel
and a trailer for the Christmas episode was aired on Children in Need, and with returning characters and a new companion
it looks like an interesting episode which I’m sure many families will be watching
together on December 25th.
