I have to give credit where it’s due and suspend the Clara Backdown 2015 for this week, mostly because A) she spends most of the episode either in a pod or in the background and 2) because what little screen time she does have is pretty good. Why is it that she’s a competent and strong character when out of sight of the Doctor but as soon as she’s near him she turns into Rose/Martha in their worst moments of doe-eyed stupidity?

On the flipside, Jenna Coleman’s performance as Bonnie was an absolute blast to watch, especially opposite herself/Clara. My problem has never been Jenna Coleman, but the character, especially post-Smith’s departure. Bonnie is a fun and sinister villain, probably because she’s wearing the face of someone we know.

Peter Capaldi’s performance in this episode was amazing, there’s no other words for it. His gags were as on point as they were last episode and then there was this scene…

Give that man a god damn BAFTA! Capaldi poured his heart and soul into this performance and we finally see shades of the Doctor he’s been teasing since he stepped into the role. A Doctor so utterly frustrated by the stupidity of those around him that his default tone is patronising but every jeer and sly jab is for the other person’s benefit. He goads and challenges and taunts because people, humanity especially, can be better and he’ll make damn sure they realise it. The 12th Doctor is an exercise in universal tough-love.

The Zygon Invasion/Inversion, while stumbling with it’s symbolism in the first part, sticks it’s landing and delivers the most compelling episode of the season. Frankly, I can’t wait to see how Mark Gatiss follows this episode up next week with Sleep No More.

Jamie Mathieson might just be my new favourite Who writer. Between Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline and now The Girl Who Died, he’s batting a thousand with entertaining episodes. Sure, the villains are a bit one note (See: Judoon-ish) but the character interaction is just delicious.

The Clara Backdown 2015 is halted for the week because Clara is not offensive this week. Hell, the Doctor’s line of “Oh, Clara… What have I made of you?” is exactly what I wanted for the beginning of her downfall and, though I am loathe to admit it, she looks cute as hell in the Satan’s Space Suit.

The Vikings are really anachronistic but that’s something for a history nerd to bitch about, I did like the “I think he was being sarcastic” line though.

Ashildr, played by Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, is yet another should-be companion and her ultimate fate is pretty interesting. She essentially gets Jack Harkness’d but unlike Ten, Twelve shows a degree of compassion by offering her a way to immortalise another person, someone she couldn’t live without. That’s got to be a thread we’ll pick up in the future but for now, we see the immediate burden that’s now been placed on her shoulders.

The nature of immortality is more tragic the more you really think about it. It’s not a gift, it’s a curse and as the Doctor all but says; dying is a privilege, one that immortals can never really earn.

That said, dying isn’t as good as living and in a wonderful epiphany, we finally see the resolution to the whole face plot. The Doctor flashes back to his time as Ten and Donna’s pleading to save someone in the Fires of Pompeii, one of the people being Caecilius (a part played by Peter Capaldi) and what that face means. Saving lives is what the Doctor does, even if it’s just one. Plus I love it for basically having Ten show up and give Twelve a mental kick in the ass and have a subtle dig because Donna is the superior companion.

While not considered a two-parter by the wiki (god knows why, they’re definitely connected) Ashildr’s story continues next week as we stand and deliver for The Woman Who Lived.

Toby Whithouse is a pretty decent writer. He’s written School Reunion, The Vampires of Venice, The God Complex, A Town Called Mercy and the Torchwood episode Greeks Bearing Gifts. They’ve all done stuff that I’ve liked and this episode is no exception but the real problem is that this is the first of two parts (all but 2 episodes this season will be serialised like this) so it’s hard to give an impression of the story when it’s incomplete but I’ll muddle along.

Clara Backdown 2015 gets a new wrinkle as we learn something new about her. When presented with a spooky underwater base that was clearly abandoned in a hurry, her first reaction is to say “Booyah, adventure!” and ask for a high-five. Really, Clara? Either you haven’t learned a damn thing about what this situation means or you are immensely callous. Shame on you.

Capaldi is a little more on form this episode, insulting people and getting excited by the idea of actual bone fide ghosts. More of this please!

The guest cast are pretty cool. Colin McFarlane is an astounding actor but he gets side-lined far too quickly and ends up silently stalking the base for the rest of the episode as a ghost. I’d like to give a special mention to Sophie Stone, the first deaf actor to work on Doctor Who. I was watching her performance closely, wondering if she actually was deaf or not, and she was pretty damn good as Commander Cass.

There’s a couple references to Whithouse’s other episodes in the form of the first ghost who is Tivolian and one of The Doctor’s empathy cards, which references Sarah Jane Smith and her conversation in School Reunion.

The cliffhanger sees the group split between past and present and a truly grim fate for The Doctor that is such bullshit that I can’t believe they even did it. What is it this season and saying the Doctor is dying? He’s just got a fresh set of regenerations, he literally CAN’T DIE.

A fun little mystery set-up for the most part but can this two-parter stick the landing? Come back next week as we find out what happened Before The Flood.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I’m going to just write things as they come to me as I really don’t even know where to begin. I think it’s a side-effect of having my mind blown by that ending. River is Amy and Rory’s daughter! AND the Doctor’s wife and she’s just been gallivanting with them this whole time! The whole sequence from The Doctor getting mad at River for not showing up earlier to the truth finally being revealed was just so well done. I feel sorry for anyone who made the connection when the name “Melody Pond” was first mentioned and therefore couldn’t fully enjoy the reveal. This opens up so many questions too. Does that mean River killed The Doctor in “The Impossible Astronaut?” If so, why? Is that why she is in prison? I realize some of you have probably already figured these things out but the whole River/Doctor backwards timeline thing has always confused me. If anyone can explain it to me I would be happy to listen.

Aside from that, the scene when Amy, Rory and The Doctor are all gathered around the baby was great. I love that The Doctor can speak baby. And bringing out his own ancient baby bed for Melody was a sweet moment. It was really cool seeing so many people and creatures from past episodes all in the same place. Cybermen, a Sontaran, Silurians, a couple Judoon, the pirates from “The Curse of the Black Spot” and even the pilots in their awesome space planes from “Victory of the Daleks” all make appearances. I was quite proud of myself for recognizing them all as during last year’s finale I had no idea who any of the monsters gathered where.

My only problem with this episode was how rushed the parts with the soldiers felt. I’m not sure why they took the time to give The Fat One and The Skinny One identities if they’re never seen or heard from again past one becoming a Headless Monk. And it seemed like Lorna Bucket was nothing but a vehicle for the name reveal. But these are minor gripes with an otherwise perfect episode.

I’m definitely looking forward to where this story goes come September. And hopefully life doesn’t get in the way too much and I can continue writing these. Thank you everyone for reading these articles. Be sure to leave your thoughts and theories in the comments, and check out our Who Is Your Doctor Who? poll!

SPOILERS AHEAD

That episode was fantastic. Everything from the twists to the monster at the end was incredibly well done. And even though it has been done before, two Doctors on screen was a real treat.  Although keeping track of which Doctor was which was a bit confusing. But I think it was meant to be that way given the two of them pulling the old switcheroo on Amy (I’m pretty sure I’ve never been able to use that phrase before).

And Amy… wasn’t really Amy after all! My jaw completely dropped (Like this —->) when ganger Amy was destroyed and it remained on the floor until the the credits stopped rolling. I did not see that coming at all.  When was she kidnapped and where did they take her? My theory is the baby is the same little girl from the first two episodes of this series. But then does that mean The Doctor impregnated her somehow given that we saw that little girl regenerate? And was her birth arranged by the Eye Patch Lady and then was she given to The Silence to be cared for so that she would kill The Doctor like we saw in “The Impossible Astronaut”?

Needless to say, this is all very confusing. Hopefully next week gives us more answers. Though I have a feeling since it’s the mid-season finale it might raise a few more than it answers.

Be sure to leave your own thoughts and theories in the comments. Thanks for reading!

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off, the cold open was pretty neat this week. Before we even learn about the clone “gangers” doing the work it just looks like these people are completely nonchalant about their co-worker taking an acid bath. But in regards to them having to use gangers to do the work in the first place, maybe the work wouldn’t be so dangerous if they took measures like bringing a stepladder or some other means of reaching that pin instead of having to stand precariously on the edge of a HUGE VAT OF ACID! That’s how Batman villains are made. Also, without looking at the Wikipedia article, I wasn’t sure if this story was set in the future or not. Did I miss them mentioning it in the episode?

But those are about the only complaints I had with this episode. Everything else was great. It was interesting seeing antagonists in this type of story that aren’t just monsters. They’re basically human and the point is really stressed by the Doctor. Though at times they do look damn creepy. The ladies head on the long neck sticking out of the bathroom stall was pure nightmare fuel. And there’s something about the Doctor’s ganger that just doesn’t sit right with me. The others basically look like Voldemort but that one is just freaky.

As to ties to the overall arc of the series, this episode didn’t really give anything away, which I wish they would do already. We’re just reminded of Amy’s strange pregnancy and of the Eye Patch lady still looking in on her for some unknown reason. Hopefully we get more clues and/or answers in the near future. Overall though, this week’s episode was pretty great and the second part of the story looks to be interesting. It would be particularly cool if somehow the ganger of the Doctor survived and we got two of him but I have a feeling he’ll be conveniently killed off at the last second, which is a shame.

Well, that concludes this week’s review. As always, be sure to comment with your own thoughts and theories. Thanks for reading!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Truth be told, I wasn’t too impressed with this pirate adventure. It felt like just another story about The Doctor arriving on a ship (usually a space ship but this time of the pirate variety) and the crew being picked off one by one and it’s up to The Doctor to save them. They did it a lot with the Tenth Doctor and it was a bit disappointing seeing the Eleventh doing the same old routine. Though there were a couple of good parts. Swashbuckling Amy saving the Doctor from having to walk the plank was a ton of fun. And for a minute there I actually thought Rory was dead which would have been a pretty ballsy move.

Two things in particular bugged me about this episode, both fairly minor. First, why did the Siren take The Doctor, Amy and Henry Avery to another part of the space ship while everyone else was taken to the sickbay? Did I miss something there? And second, there is no way a 17th century pirate captain could pilot a spaceship. I know a lot of suspension of disbelief is required from the start with a show like Doctor Who, but come on! But like I said, these are both pretty minor gripes.

This week there wasn’t really much to do with the overall story of the series. We saw at the end that Amy is still struggling with keeping the secret of The Doctor’s death and that The Doctor is still trying to figure out what is going on with Amy somehow being pregnant and not pregnant at the same time. There was one particularly interesting thing though. The Eye Patch Lady appears for a second time on the ship’s wall in the same way she did on the door at the orphanage last episode. She seems to be monitoring Amy for some reason. My guess is it has something to do with the progress of the pregnancy.

Well, this brings us to the end of this week’s review. Be sure to comment and share your theories as they’re always interesting. Thanks for reading!

Welcome back to DOOM’s weekly Doctor Who reviews. This week we saw the conclusion to the first story of series 6. And what a conclusion it was! Though I must say, these last two episodes have been extremely confusing. They go at breakneck speed and jump around a lot. This episode answered a few questions, but left a lot unanswered and introduced even more. I’m still not sure if I fully understand everything, but I certainly enjoyed it.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First, the Silence. They’re so creepy! Especially whenever Amy finds the huge group sleeping like bats on the ceiling. I desperately wanted someone to run in with a shotgun aimed at the ceiling. Also, keeping track of encounters with marks on their skin was a great choice aesthetically as the resemblance to scars really messes with you psychologically and adds to the creepiness. And the Doctor’s plan for defeated them was simple, elegant, and brilliant. Like any good Doctor Who conclusion should be.

River Song gets a really bad-ass moment this week with killing what seemed like dozens of Silence (Silences?) in a shoot out back to back with The Doctor. She also has a deeply tragic moment at the end when she realizes that since her and the Doctor are encountering each other in opposite directions through time, his first kiss with her was her last kiss with him. I’m going to hate to see her character go but am really looking forward to seeing what happens.

The little girl is a bit of an enigma to me. She seems to be Amy’s daughter, but Amy’s pregnancy is really weird. From the monitor in the TARDIS it looked like she was somehow constantly switching from being pregnant to not. And the biggest shocker was the little girl regenerating at the end. Is she somehow also the Doctor’s daughter? Can a half-Time Lord even regenerate? Why did she kill the Doctor last episode? And if the suit can walk by itself was she even in it at the time? I have no idea but this has the potential to turn out interesting.

So there you have it, my thought on episode 2 of this series. Be sure to comment with your own thoughts and theories. Thanks for reading!

I started watching Doctor Who with Matt Smith’s first series and it definitely hooked me. Between that series and now, I went back and watched all of the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant episodes. They were great but the eleventh Doctor remains my favorite. His stories have so much more energy than the previous ones and the pace is quick but not hard to follow. The interactions between him and Amy are always a treat and Karen Gillan is definitely not hard on the eyes… Needless to say, I was really looking forward to this return. And I was not disappointed in the slightest.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Having just finished “The Impossible Astronaut” I must say, that was crazy. It’s nice to see that Steven Moffat is starting this series with the kind of insanity that usually only comes with a finale. There are so many pieces waiting to fall into place and I can’t wait to see how they do.

I’m especially looking forward to finding out why the Doctor dies and if the companions are supposed to help his past self prevent his death, get revenge, ensure that it happens, or maybe something else entirely?

The new monsters, the Silence, are just awesome. They look terrifying and their powers make things interesting. I would rank them up there with the Weeping Angels (my favorite villains) in coolness. Not much has really been given away as to what they want or plan to do. But they exploded the TARDIS last season, so you know it is going to be something big.

River Song. I think this series is going to finally bring an end to her arc. She’s always a fun character to have onscreen and I really hope her story is given a fitting ending.

Overall, this episode was fantastic. It’s a brilliant start to the series and definitely leaves you wanting more. I think I might end up watching it again to see what I missed the first time around, something I never do.

Be sure to leave some feedback, comments and theories as I would greatly appreciate it. If nothing else, here’s an easy chance at entering Mars Needs Pocasts’ contest. ;) Thanks for reading!