Tuesday, October 04, 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)
The joy, of course, was in trying to spot how the Doctor could cheat death before it was spelt out. Many would have guessed already, but that was hardly the point as this was always destined to be a glorious, if complex romp.A high concept approach gave us cars under hot-air balloons, Emperor Churchill and pterodactyls menacing the Royal Parks. Dickens’ cameo was masterstroke, teasing the inspiration for last year’s Christmas Special in a way that only Moffat would dare to. With a dying Dalek and a Cave of Skulls, the show wore its past on its sleeve throughout, but in a subtle enough manner not to distract. That said, the Brigadier reference took me utterly by surprise and brought a lump to the throat.
There were many great moments and with the show’s central question restated, one wonders if we are being prepared for the journey that leads to the 50th Anniversary. Reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. On this evidence, the Doctor would appear to be in rude health!
Jay Kelley, United States
(Twitter: @Doctor_Hue)
Only the Tardis can fit this entire episode in under a hundred words. So I’ll just hit a few basics here. Time as we know it has ceased to exist. Something has impacted the space-time continuum resulting in the amalgamation of history. All eras are frozen in time and happening at once -- 5:02 pm. That something was River Song’s refusal to kill the Doctor – thus violating a fixed point in time. The Doctor resolves everything via the Teselecta from the Lets Kill Hitler episode. The Doctor who dies is actually the Teselecta filling in for him. One more thing. The Doc is a married man now.Andy Weston, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @ColeHawlins)
A tour de force from Alex Kingston, the most touching tribute to Nicholas Courtney (that caused this thirty two year old man to well-up) and a breakneck pace that didn’t even pause for breath: The Wedding of River Song had a lot to wrap up, and it delivered in spades. A Dalek, carnivorous skulls, deadly chess and we found out what those eye-patches were really for in addition to resolving the Doctor’s death (c’mon, he couldn’t really die, could he?) and how River fit into that particular puzzle. Christmas can’t come soon enough – we’ve never had it so good!Dale Who, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @FishCustard2010)
So, the death of The Doctor. It was all so very simple in the end. Y'know, apart from all the bits that weren't. The season finale had a lot to tie up, which it managed admirably, and at breakneck speed. There were some cracking moments and lines in the show, a brilliant performance by Frances Barber who seemed to be relishing her role as the ill-fated Madame Kovarian, and The Silence short-lived mocking of Rory as "the man who dies and dies again" was brilliant, pointed, accurate... and then Amy massacred them with a machine gun. I guess she really is tired of waiting... Beautifully written, admirably acted and directed, and with enough cameos to keep most fans happy.Dear Santa,
I'd like a somewhat gentler plotted season next year; more standalone episodes and another Gaiman episode would be lovely, but above all else the thing I want more than anything, the one thing I absolutely need to have... is the wonderful, brilliant and all-conquering Matt Smith continuing as The Doctor for a long time yet. He's my hero. And heroes are cool.
Alix Cavanagh, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @AlixCavanagh)
The Wedding of River Song almost doesn’t feel like a season finale. True, there’s the traditional end of season cameos and alt-London, one part Steampunk and two parts Jasper Fforde-esque (a future guest writer?), which is beautifully batty. The terrifying skulls will be haunting lots of kiddies’ nightmares and the interplay between River and the regulars just gets better and better.While it successfully knits together a lot of this season’s questions, there are still some that haven’t been touched and it goes on to pose even more. While this is more than a touch frustrating, there is much to admire in the scope and ambition of Moffat’s storytelling.
Is it Christmas yet?
Alwyn Ash, United Kingdom
(Twitter: @AlwynAsh)
A beautiful tribute to Nicholas Courtney, a defenceless Dalek, a cave of skulls (just imagine if the First Doctor had encountered these fantastically evil versions in An Unearthly Child – 1963), an electrifying game of Chess, a return of the Teselecta (Justice Department Vehicle that can physically imitate anyone), and River Song refusing to abide by the laws of space and time.The Wedding of River Song might not feel like a traditional season finale, but its mysterious end promises that something is still to come – “It’s all still waiting for you…. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh. And the question! The first question! The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you’ve been running from all your life. Doctor who?”
Simple resolution but engaging.
Beth Evers, United States
(Twitter: @beth_evers)
The Wedding of River Song, a twisty-turny, timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly tale if there ever was one. But I have to say, it all worked for me. River Song refuses to kill the Doctor, and a time bubble is created, an alternate reality, in which every time exists simultaneously. Time can’t move forward unless the Doctor dies.I have come to like River throughout this series, and it was nice to have a bit of a payoff to her story. Alternate Amy was gorgeous and one tough cookie. And it was fab to see Rory in command. It definitely suited him. Finally! Loved the companions, loved the Doctor, loved the ending. Can’t wait for Christmas!
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