Expect these
installments to show up periodically between now and the start of series
8. It may have made more sense to start
with One and move forward to the celebrated arrival of Twelve, but going
backwards gives me a bit more time to fill in the holes in One and Two’s repertoires.
“Vincent and the Doctor” (Series 5, Episode
10)
Is it
schmaltzy? Maybe. Is it emotionally manipulative? Well, yeah.
I don’t care – this episode is gorgeous. I always like the Doctor Who: Celebrity
Edition stories, and Vincent van Gogh is a great pick. It’s outside the norm, since he’s not famous
when Amy and the Doctor meet him and believes he never will be. His running gag of using paintings as
coasters and blithely painting over masterpieces is fun, and he makes a strong
emotional connection. The museum
sequence at the end makes me tear up, and the scene of Vincent describing the
night sky is utterly beautiful.
“The Doctor’s Wife” (Series 6, Episode 4)
I’m a
sucker for the Doctor/TARDIS relationship, and this episode is everything I
could have wanted it to be. I love that
the TARDIS is given a voice here, I love that she perceives everything
nonlinearly – tenses are difficult –
and I love that she stole the Doctor
all those years ago. Companions come and
go, but she’s his one constant through it all.
Throw in a creepy villain menacing Amy and Rory and a DIY
TARDIS-building session, and it’s just about perfect.
“The Girl Who Waited” (Series 6, Episode 10)
The
above criticisms about “Vincent and the Doctor” apply here as well, but once
again, it’s too effective to be a concern.
The conceit – that Amy is caught in a faster-moving time stream than the
Doctor and Rory – is a good one, and Karen Gillan does a bang-up job playing
both versions of Amy. It’s interesting
to see the Doctor stuck maddeningly outside the action while Rory is the one
sent into the fray. The first time I saw
this episode, the big climax left me a wreck.
“The Lodger” (Series 5, Episode 11)
I’m a
big fan of both “Craig” episodes, but I really have to applaud the
original. Eleven is just so alien, and while “The Lodger” was
first written as a Tenth Doctor comic story, it’s even funnier to see him
trying to pretend he’s human. Without
Amy as a buffer, his craziness is in full force, and he and regular-guy Craig
make a terrific Odd Couple. There’s a
lot of genuine sweetness, and the offbeat wish-fulfillment aspect of having the
Doctor as your flatmate is irresistible.
“The God Complex” (Series 6, Episode 11)
Sorry,
Clara! Though I considered “The Rings of
Akhaten,” I couldn’t leave out this fine story.
I love sci-fi/fantasy stories that play on the characters’ worst
nightmares, and in that sense, I’m disappointed that we only see into one of
the trio’s “rooms,” but it’s still top-notch.
There’s an excellent, eclectic supporting cast, including the fabulously
companion-esque Rita, the Minotaur is a scary, intriguing villain, and the
story has a real emotional impact for the Doctor. A winner!
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