Saturday, October 01, 2011
Welcome to “Short Review” by Team Rassilon, a group of dedicated Whovians who are prepared to share their thoughts on a particular subject with you, the reader. Please be aware of potential spoilers. Now let's see what inspiration brings...Ian McArdell, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @IanMcArdell)
Gareth Roberts provided a heart-warming, domestic tale set against the backdrop of a Doctor who knows his time is short. Corden and Smith reprised their odd couple act easily and I enjoyed seeing what Craig had made of himself after rising to the occasion so superbly at the end of The Lodger. Infant antics were just the right side of sweet, with some wonderfully melancholic dialogue in the scene where the Doctor’s left holding the baby. The rag-tag Cyber menace was well handled, though it was plainly second fiddle to the character story being played out. Of course, any feel-good vibes eroded with speed in the superbly doom-laden coda. Time is up. Silence will Fall.Jay Kelley, United States
(Twitter: @Doctor_Hue)
Night Terrors is scary. The Girl Who Waited is heartbreaking and The God Complex is heady. But of the last four episodes, this one is my personal favorite. It features the Doctor just being the Doctor. Funny, heroic, irrevocably sentimental and compulsively humanitarian. Knowing his death is eminent, the Doctor visits Craig for therapeutic reasons and ends up saving the day. Before he does, though, Craig gives the Doctor all the validation and closure he needs. Plenty of laughs and tears along the way too. This is the most manipulative episode so far. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll have a nervous breakdown. Now bring on the wedding!Andy Weston, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @ColeHawlins)
The Doctor’s on his farewell tour, last stop Colchester. It’s a joy to see James Corden return as Craig, and the interplay between him and Matt Smith is acted beautifully. There is a definite lightness of touch here, which is just the thing needed before the doom-laden finale. While the Cybermen may as well have been any alien race – and thus a little wasted here – their threat was just the right last challenge for the Doctor. With a closing scene that dangles tantalisingly into next week’s finale, this was just what the doctor ordered (pun very much intended).Dale Who, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @FishCustard2010)
Closing Time took this season's parent-offspring bonding theme to the next level, and on this occasion it worked very well. Gareth Roberts' humour in both story and dialogue, the Cyberthreat, and the sheer insanity of the Doctor working in a shopping centre transpired to make for a light, fun, mammothly enjoyable episode. James Corden was superb as Craig, coping - or not - with Alfie, but the show belonged to Matt Smith who took the comedy and the horror in his stride and showed us just how perfect a Doctor he is. And just when you thought it was over, Madame Kovarian turns up in a library.... Alwyn Ash, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @AlwynAsh)
Am I the only one to find Closing Time a little… empty? Yes, it was overloaded with sentiment as Craig faces the responsibility of being a father, and the character-driven story was full of humour throughout, but the Cyber plot quite clearly played nothing more than an excuse for Matt Smith and James Corden's reunion. To begin with, which Cybermen were in this story – Cybus or Mondas? Considering the importance of the latter not being present during the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who, I find it altogether lazy that they have been integrated without proper introduction. Do fans really have a short attention span? A Cybus-Mondas war would have been a good start, the Classic villains winning over Lumic’s creations!
Still, it can't get any worse - can it?
Alix Cavanagh, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @AlixCavanagh)
This isn’t really a Cybermen story, as the real joy of this episode is the interplay between James Corden (playing himself, but oh – he does it well) and Matt Smith. Smith gives a masterful performance; by turns moving, poignant and funny, his farewell tour knocks Tennant’s into a cocked hat.The horrible moment when Craig is enclosed within the Cyber Controller’s headpiece has real terror and again the redemptive power of children is emphasised - a message for the finale perhaps?
And why doesn’t Craig remember the Battle of Canary Wharf and therefore the Cybermen?
Posted in: ShortReview,TeamRassilon
