Doctor Who [3]

I never thought I would see this sort of episode again. It could have come straight out of the RTD era and sadly it brought with it all the things I so disliked about that era- earth based stories, news reports telling the story rather than showng you the story, and a wave of the hand resolution to an otherwise intriguing premise.

News reports! TV personalities making cameos! Its the RTD era all over again.



In many ways the actual plot of this episode- mysterious black cubes turn up in their millions all over the globe overnight, then do nothing for months and months to the point people have stopped worrying about them and most folk have at least one lying about the house somehwere, then they attack- is pretty much an afterthought- the real meat of this episode is about Amy/Rory and the Doctor, and by far this is where the episode is at its strongest.

Cubes everywhere!


Set over the course of a year in the Ponds domestic life this is all about what happens after youve been travelling in the Tardis. How do you readjust, would you even want to?
Well for Amy and Rory the realisation they would rather like a 'normal' life comes as a bit of a self revelation- first Rory finds he has agreed to go full time at the hospital and Amy finds herself agreeing to be a bridesmaid at a friends wedding months in advance, as if assuning she was still going to be there. And both of them realise they rather like being able to make plans, so see their friends without (from the Ponds perspective) weeks or month gaps inbetween.

But of course with millions of mysterious cubes lying about the Doctor soon turns up anyway. This time to stay for a bit.
The Doctors reaction to domestic life reminded me of his outburst in Vincent in the Doctor "Is this how things normally happen, slowly and in the right order?"
Fortunetly for the Doctor things are livened up when UNIT make their first appearence in the Moffat era. We have not seen UNIT since the genreally not very good Tennant special with the double decker bus and the jewel thief. And I like them a lot more here.
UNIT has a new head and has undergone a bit of restructuring at the hands of their new Scientific Advisor, Kate Stewart. Scientific Advisor was of course the job title at UNIT of the 3rd Doctor and its a nice nod to the long term fans thats is made even nicer by the discovery her full name is Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, daughter of Brigidaier Leftbridge-Stewart who headed UNIT during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th era Doctors as well as many other appearences dotted throughout, the last being as the retired Brigadier in the Sarah Jane Adventures. The actor who played the Brigadier passed away two years ago and the characters death was an emotional crux moment for the Doctor last year in The Wedding of River Song- so keeping a Stewart in charge of UNIT was nicely done (and they didn't even just cook her up, that he had a daughter called Kate was mentioned in an obscure Doctor Who radio play!).

Kate Stewart UNITS Scientific Advisor


Anyway back to the Power of Three- so UNIT turn up and they all debunk to UNIT.
But the mysterious cubes are still doing nothing at all. So the Doctor decides they should just observe them.
Several days of nothing happening later and the Doctor is bored rigid- "I thought they would do something- not just sit there whilst everyone eats endless cereal!"
Eventually as nothing continues to happen the Doctor leaves the Ponds (including a dilligent Brian, Rory's Dad) to monitor things and heads off again and the Ponds return to normal life; hanging out with their friends, working and coming to the understanding they rather like it.

As to the cubes, with months having passed since their appearence people are using them as paper weights, door stops, ornaments or just leaving them lying about.
In the meantime its the Ponds wedding anniversary and the Doctor turns up in the middle of their party to whisk them away to the 1800's for a night in the newly built Savoy Hotel- one quick cut later to a frazzled Amy and Rory and the news that their was a Zygon (remember them classic Whovian fans!) ship under the hotel and half the staff were imposters leads on to an second attempt at an anniverasry- only to find them another cut later hiding from Henry 8th who Amy has accidently married.

Never let the Doctor pick your Anniversary present!


Returing the Ponds (17 days later for them) to the party he took them away from leads into the first of the strongest scenes of this episode as Brian confronts the Doctor;

"How long where they away? Becuase they are in totally different clothes to earlier."

This is the start of a short but excellent conversation in which Brian wants to know what happened to the other people who have travelled with him. To which the Doctor replies;

"Some left me. Some got left behind. And some....not many, but.....some died. Not them. Not them Brian. Never them."

Matt Smith is wonderful in this scene and gets every last bit of emotion and pain out of the scene making it one of my favourites in the episodes.
It also leads the Doctor into making a realisation of his own as he asks to stay with Amy and Rory for a while, at first he says its to watch the cubes but then admits its really because he misses them.

Brian and the Doctor.


More than a year has passed since the epiosedes opening and the cubes sudenly break into life bringing the episode back to the plot. Every cube does something different, some just spin around, some can fly about, some act like flamethorwers. The one which attacks the Doctor, interuppting his game of wi-tennis-

"Oh if Fred Perry could see me now..he'd probably ask for his shorts back"

fires lasers at him.

So they are summoned to UNIT's new underground base beneath the Tower of London-

"Who has an underground base. Terrible vetilation"

-the cubes are active world wide, for 47 minutes, then they all shut down again. Needing sme fresh air the Docotr goes outside and sits on the banks of the Thames with Amy. This is easily my favourite moment and gets to the heart of the good stuff in this episode which is all about the characters.

"Your thinking of stopping aren't you? You and Rory?"

And so we get a lovely heart to heart as Amy tries to explain their feelings-

"since you dropped us off here, gave us a house, we have built a life. But I am not sure I can have both...becuase they pull at each other. Becuase they pull at me and because the travelling is starting to feel like running away."

The Doctor response to this, about the wonders of the universe is lovely and his final lines in this scene

"I am not running away from things I am running to them, before they flare and fade forever....one day, soon maybe, you'll stop. I've known it for a while."

"Then why do you keep coming back for us?"

"Because you were the first. The first face this face saw. And you are sealed onto my hearts Amelia Pond. You always will be. I'm running to you and Rory before you fade from me."

Only a stone heart wont have a tear in their eye here.


Unfortuntely this scene leads us back onto the plot. The cubes have become active again- this time the number 7 has appeared on them all, then 6- a countdown.

Countdown to?


After a nice bit of countdown tension they hit 0 and 1/3 of the world population drop down having heart attacks.
Rory is called into the hospital and Brian goes with him to see if he can help. And soon finds himself meeting two unpleasant nurses with cube shaped mouths- they are good traditonal Who nasties.

The Mysterious Cube nurses


Rory goes looking for his Dad just in time to see the nurses take his Dad into an elevator which in turn is a portal leading onto a space ship in orbit round the planet.



Meanwhile the Doctor and Amy are having a hard time as the Doctor has been effected by the cubes and is down to one heart.
They find an android girl who is acting as a link but not before the Doctor has a heart attack and Amy has to use a defiberator on him.
They work out about the portal and follow Rory through to the alien ship.
It turns out to contain a being who is a Gallifrean myth, or nightmare- a childrens story about a race called the Shakri- the 'pest controllers of the universe", they have decided that humans are a contagion who will spread throughthe universe and have decided to wipe them out before that happens.

The Shakri


The Doctor challenges the Shakri- defending humanity. But the Shakri refuse insisting the second phase must now begin before disappearing, leaving the Doctor to solve the problem- he reprograms the cubes to reverse their effect- rather than turning off hearts they will turn them back on. A wave of the sonic later and people who had dropped from heart attacks are getting back up again.

With the plot out the way again we get back to the real meat of the episode- as Amy and Rory have to say goodbye to the Doctor. Except Brian intervenes, convincing them to go on travelling with the Doctor.

"Just bring them back safe."


So a weird review for a weid epsode. A tale of two halves.
The plot is a great concept- the cubes are suitably mysterious and intiguing- but the resolution which takes about 5 minutes is not only tacked on and under expained, but doesnt make sense- wouldnt most of the people revivied be brain dead? And who were the mysterious cube mouthed nurses- why were they taking people up to the ship from the hospital? (I assume its how they got the info to program the cubes to give heart attacks-but I am assuming that as the script doesn't tell you).
And you cant go and introduce an entire alien race, their concept, their threat and get rid of the threat all in the space of five minutes.
I have been complaining these stories this season need more time not 45 minutes and this episode really adds to that argument- the ending feels completely rushed.
If I was marking this out of ten the plot would get a 4, and those would all be for the idea and the set up.

However this episode is not really about the plot which serves mainly as a frame to hang the real meat on- which is the releationship between the Dcotor and his companions and on that level its an 8 or a 9.
Again this is reminiscent of RTD era stuff- wheere some of Teenants best moments as the Doctor occur in otherwise mediocre stories. This isnt a mediocore stroy but its ending is horribly rushed and so ruins it as plot.
As a character study it is superb. As a plot its disappointing. You take your pick with this one.

I swear they’d better explain this timelines in the Ponds’ last episode because I am so confused. I’m pretty sure the Doctor’s going backwards in Amy & Rory’s timeline, but I can’t figure out where Amy & Rory are in any given episode.

source: http://aragog.tumblr.com/post/32118912258
text source:http://karlimeaghan.tumblr.com/post/32149376608/armydoctorpeterpotter-holy-fuck-i-swear