2025/02/21

 

With the 6th series done, only one more series to go! Yes, for me, Doctor Who (2005) is done after series 7. I tried to watch Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, I really liked him, but the stories went down hill further, which already started a bit with Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor. The 6th series only has a few mediocre episodes, on the whole it is an interesting series where we learn in the 1st episode that the Doctor is going to die soon. This is the red line through the 6th series.


It starts in “The Impossible Astronaut” where Rory, Amy, Old Canton Delaware (William Morgan Sheppard) and River Song are invited to witness the death of the Doctor. They all receive a blue envelop with the invitation. Apparently the doctor himself was also invited! This seems to be a version of the Doctor from 200 years in his future. Trying to understand the enigmatic hints about "Space 1969" the older Doctor mentioned and a man they meet in 2011 called Canton Everett Delaware III (Mark Sheppard in 1969 and William Morgan Sheppard in 2011), they travel to the United States in 1969 and discover a scared girl (Sydney Wade) who is trapped inside a spacesuit. The team deals with the Silence, a religious order of aliens which has members who can make people forget their encounter with them when they look away.



In “Day of the Moon” When the episode starts, team Doctor is spread all over the world and Canton is after them. It looks like he is against the doctor…. They are still in 1969, the Doctor has come to the conclusion that the alien creatures are only seen when they directly look at them. As soon as you look away, any memory of their presence is wiped clean. The aliens are also able to leave suggestions in people's minds, and aren't invaders per se, but have been on Earth for a very long time, before man, they are called The Silence. While the Doctor works to ensure the success of Apollo 11, the others try to solve the mystery of the little girl in the space suit. Amy thinks she isn’t pregnant, but when the Doctor checks her body with the Tardis, he gets message positive and negative crisscross. Note - Spectacular episode like the first one. So many things happen, it really looks likes a big budget movie with all these different scenes and such.


“The Curse of the Blac Spot” is set on board a 17th century pirate ship sailing the ocean waves, commanded by Captain Avery and the crew is being picked off one by one by some unexplained ghosty apparition. The crew believe it to be a legendary Siren, a beautiful and mesmerizing demon who lures men to their death with its haunting Siren song. Of course there are 3 stowaways on the ship, the Doctor and his companions Amy and Rory. Note - It is not my favorite episode but the humor of the doctor is still enough for me to enjoy the episode. The Doctor keeps seeing a positive / negative when he examines Amy’s belly without her noticing.


“The Doctor’s Wife” is a great story! The TARDIS is put in a human body, the unstable woman. The entity also known as House has sent the message, he lures time lords and devours them. But when he learns from the Doctor that there aren’t any to lure anymore, he decides to take the TARDIS and flee to normal space. The Doctor and the TARDIS woman get (re) acquainted and go after the entity who has Amy and Rory prisoner on the TARDIS. The Doctor tricks the House so that the TARDIS can overtake him. Note – This is definitely one of my favorite episodes this season, so moving when the Doctor realizes this woman is the actually the TARDIS.



The two-parter “The Rebel Flesh” and “The Almost People” is most likely one of my least favorite stories this season. Part two is a bit better but still only average. I don’t know what it is exactly but I never really liked this one. These people operate a plant extracting highly dangerous chemicals and to minimize the danger to themselves, they uses plastic like clones also called gangers, short for doppelgangers. These gangers no longer want to be treated like they do, as a doormat. The gangers are going to war with the humans. The Doctor also gets a double but to see how Amy reacts upon two Doctors of which one is the real one, he changes shoes with the ganger doctor. She feels ashamed. Amy keeps seeing the woman with the eyepatch. Amy is not Amy, the Doctor has known it for quite a while, in the TARDIS she also dies like a ganger. We see her lying in a white room being pregnant and we see that woman with the eyepatch again, telling her to push. Note – As said, one of my least favorite ones but Matt Smith does a great job with both Doctors.


In “A Good Man Goes to War” The Doctor and Rory begin their quest to find Amy who has been kidnapped. She's also given birth and they have her baby girl, Melody, as well. The Doctor and Rory begin by scouring the universe where the Doctor calls in debts and head for Demon's Run where Amy is being held. The only one who refuses to join him is River Song. The battle is short-lived and both Amy and Melodie are saved. Perhaps the battle to save them was too easy. It's clearly it was Melodie the kidnappers were interested in and her DNA reveals she's something more than just human. They've also been fooled however and the baby has been taken. When River Song appears, she reveals who she truly is. River reveals that she is Melody. Note – Entertaining episode, so much is happening in the episode, perhaps even too much. It took about 15-20 minutes before the Doctor made an entrance. Great to see so many characters return to help Rory and the Doctor. A real fan pleaser. Guest stars: Christina Chong (Lorna), La'an Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: SNW.


In “Let’s Kill Hitler” we meet a woman named Mels, a young woman who apparently is friends with the Ponds since childhood. Mels always gets in trouble, she is obsessed with the stories of the Doctor, told by Amy. Mels points a gun at the doctor and demands to be taken with because the police is underway, she says: Let’s kill Hitler. Once arrived there, she changes into River Song, Mels is Melody! River Song has only one objective, kill the Doctor, she succeeds by kissing him with her poisoned lips. She however brings him back alive again with her regenerative powers, she uses it all up to bring the Doctor back alive, he isn’t suppose to die yet. The Doctor sees the date when his death should occur. The Doctor leaves a recovering River Song behind, because, as he said: she needs to find her own way back.



In “Night Terrors” A young boy living in a tower block on a council estate sends out, unknowingly, a psychic distress call transmitted to the Doctor's 'psychic paper'. When the doctor and his companions eventually find the correct flat in the tower block, they are inadvertently sent by the boy into a doll house, where they are terrorized by life-size peg dolls, and are threatened with becoming peg dolls themselves. The boy is an alien, Alex and his wife couldn’t have kids, they ‘just’ forgot. Note – A bit of a strange episode with these life-seize peg dolls, but the Doctor himself is stealing the show this episode, just how I like it.


“The Girl Who Waited” is one of the best episodes in series six. Amy is trapped in a quarantine facility where time moves faster than in reality, while the Doctor is confined to the TARDIS. Can Rory save his wife in time? Amy got separated and where she was, time went by much faster. So when they finally do find her, 36 years has gone by. She hates the Doctor now, because he broke his promise to come for her. He and Rory have a plan to get her back young again, reluctantly she agrees but she wants to go with, she doesn’t want to die, the Doctor says it probably will work when he know it doesn’t. Because he was afraid she wouldn’t help otherwise. Note - Emotional scene in the end between Rory and the older Amy through a TARDIS door. Doctor feeling like shit for doing what he felt, needed to be done. I like these kinds of DW episodes so much better than those big ones with Daleks and such.
An okay episode is “The God Complex”, The Doctor, Amy and Rory become trapped in a hotel of horrors unable to escape and unable to find the TARDIS. The Doctor must save as many people as he can taking many twists and seeing his own worst fear. His own worst fear that Amy and / or Rory die, therefore he brings them back to earth, a emotional scene at the end between Amy and the Doctor.


In “Closing Time” the Doctor comes back to earth to visit Craig and Sophie. Sophie isn’t home for the weekend and Craig is taken care of his child. The Doctor just says hi, walks away but sees something strange happening, so he turns back round to Craig. The next day the Doctor is working at a shop where Craig coincidentally also is. The Doctor, Craig and the baby begin an adventure involving the Cybermen! Note - You know I am not fond of Cybermen stories anymore (same for Dalek stories), but this one was a fun one, the Doctor visiting Craig, hilarious moments, the Doc being silly, just funny.



The series six finale “The Wedding of River Song”, a strong finale, April 22nd, 2011; 5:02pm. Having finally accepted his fate the Doctor travels to Lake Silencio for his final day. But one woman refuses to let time take its course, time is broken, it is always April 22nd, 2011, 5:02 PM because something did not happen what should have happened. The Doctor didn’t die, while it was a fixed point in time! One women who is responsible: River Song, she didn’t want the Doctor to die, whatever the cost. The Doctor comes up with a cool copout to restore time, The Teselecta. The Doctor in a Doctor-suit. Note – A quote that says it all: “River Song: I can't let you die... The Doctor: But I have to die. River Song: Shut up! I can't let you die, without knowing you are loved. By so many, and so much. And by no one more than me.” And she is right of course!


Final Word:

I really love Matt Smith as the Doctor, his chaotic behavior, his humor, his love for the Ponds, his charm, his love for bowties and if necessary to get angry, firm and make unpopular decisions. After this rewatch I am certain that he is my favorite Doctor, although it is close call because the two that went before him are also very magnetic. But Matt Smith portrayal of the Doctor goes a bit further in quirkiness which I love. I am going to enjoy the last series with him, even though the quality of the episodes may dip here and there, and I also am really going to enjoy his last TV specials “The Day of the Doctor” and “The Time of the Doctor”. After that it is finished for me anyways.


With help from IMdB, screencaps taken from IMdB.



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