Doctor Who. Series 6
I admit I am not a proper Whovian. That's what they call Doctor Who fans. The only reason I watched this show was because I have this big crush on Karen Gillan. Like by watching it, she'd somehow step out of the telly (see, I call it the telly now) and flash her gorgeous legs right in my face. Okay, wait. Enough daydreaming.
Anyway, my first Doctor was Matt Smith. I have never seen David Tennant's Doctor, nor Christopher Eccleston's. Though I have heard some great reviews about Tom Baker's Doctor. But I do not regret starting with the Eleventh Doctor. Matt Smith is great. A straight-up weirdo.
The first series with Matt Smith (by the way, in America they call it a "season"; in England they call it a "series"), which is Series 5, was already reviewed by Claire. One noticeable thing with that series is that the opening credits show only two names, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. This series now has three names in the opening credits, the new name being Arthur Darvill (who plays Rory "the Roman"). So now the Doctor has two companions. Instead of one really hot one.
But first, before we go to the Series 6 review, here's a micro of the Christmas special, which really belongs to Series 5. But anyway...
A Christmas Carol
You can't really title your episode as "A Christmas Carol" without making any references to Charles Dickens. Obviously, this also involves ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. And it's set in another planet that strangely resembles industrial London. And this is the second Doctor Who episode that made me cry, after the Van Gogh episode in the last series. Damn you, Steven Moffat!
1. "The Impossible Astronaut"
Yes, that was Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" in the background at the diner. The TARDIS crosses the Atlantic this time, in America. Time and place: USA, 1969. It's the moon landing. The episode title should've already given you a clue.
2. "Day of the Moon"
This is a continuation of the previous episode. And there's a lot of complications as well. Like the Amy-Rory love story. And the "first/last kiss between the Doctor and River Song. And also, that kid. Regeneration? Another Galifreyan? How is that possible, if the Doctor is the last of his species? Don't tell me he fathered a child with Amy Pond. Wait, did he? Damn you, Steven Moffat.
3. "The Curse of the Black Spot"
Sounds suspiciously like Curse of the Black Pearl, innit? Of course, this is a pirate episode. And the villain? A Syren. Who turns out to be a doctor. Not like the Doctor doctor. Just a regular doctor. And the rum-drinking scurvy dogs get an upgrade in the end─to intergalactic pirates. On an intergalactic pirate ship. Also, is Amy really pregnant or what?
4: "The Doctor's Wife"
You're in for a special treat, because you'll be able to finally watch Neil Gaiman fan fiction. You won't be able to read it, though, just watch. This episode made me think that if you love someone, what do you really love? The body or the soul? Because if you say you love the soul, and that soul moved into another body, and that body was hideous, would you still love it? In my opinion, all those notions about internal beauty are bull crap. One loves both the body and the soul. At least in my opinion.
5. "The Rebel Flesh"
Leave it to the writers of this show to turn a scary word like "doppelganger" into something cool: "ganger". Sounds like "gangbanger", right? Wrong. They're creepy flesh creatures. But they may just be human after all. Anyway, this is a double episode, so let's see what happens next.
6. "The Almost People"
Two Doctors. Actually, two of everybody, except Rory and Amy. Wouldn't it be cool though to have two Amy Ponds? Were you thinking what I'm thinking? Probably not. Anyway, Steven Moffat took care of that in Time and Space. What was I saying again? Oh right. Cloning. That's what this episode is basically about. The ethics of cloning. And it is my firm opinion that even clones have souls.
7. "A Good Man Goes to War"
Okay, so the Doctor is not the father of Amy Pond's child. Boo hoo. This episode kind of reminds me of Star Wars. Aliens galore. In fact, it makes it look like a series ender, what with the entire alien cast from "The Pandorica Opens". They even had the father and son pirates from "The Curse of the Black Spot". And the grand finale for this episode: River Song is Melody Pond. What?
8. "Let's Kill Hitler"
Don't let the title fool you. This episode isn't really about Hitler. He's just like a minor character. This episode involves an alien race that dwells inside a vessel that can change form. And they're a tiny alien race. Microscopic. And again, the grand finale for this episode: Mels is River Song. What?
9. "Night Terrors"
An episode written by Mark Gatiss who, along with Steven Moffat, co-created Sherlock, the greatest modern-day adaptation on television ever. I must say, this is one of the scariest and creepiest episodes in this series. It's got to be the singing children. Singing children are the creepiest things in the universe.
10. "The Girl Who Waited"
Two Amy Ponds. Like I said earlier, the Time and Space episodes already showed us how wonderful two Amy Ponds can be. But here, one Pond is older than the other. That would be a difficult choice indeed, especially for those who like older women. And being stuck in a world full of Apple robots doesn't help make the choice easier. By the way, the voice of the Interface was done by Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, for those who didn't know.
11. "The God Complex"
This episode is really not that bad. But it isn't one of the better ones, either. They do have a minotaur, although he's got more than two horns on his head. And then they also have an eighties hotel that I'm pretty sure pays homage to The Shining. I'm talking about the eighties version, of course. The one with Jack Nicholson.
12. "The Closing Time"
Craig from Series 5 is back, with Sophie, who is now his wife. And a baby named Alfie, who prefers to be called "Stormaggedon". I just love that name. Anyway, this episode shows us that even without any companions, the Doctor's adventures still kick ass.
13. "The Wedding of River Song"
Bravo. This episode is just... wow. I mean, it’s not great as a season ender, not like Series 5 where you had the entire galaxy converging on Stonehenge. But this... this is just brilliant writing. Around halfway through the episode, I was thinking, “Okay, Moffat, let’s see you get yourself out of this one.” That’s because he created a seemingly impossible scenario, and I wanted to find out how he would save the Doctor this time. And he did. Steven Moffat pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Or he pulled a Dalek out of the TARDIS. Brilliant. Now let’s wait for Tintin and see how brilliant he really is.
There we go. Series 6. And I seriously cannot wait for Series 7. I thank the gods that I started with the Eleventh Doctor, as the Doctor can only regenerate twelve times, for a total of thirteen Doctors. So that leaves me with two more Doctors to go. I have no complaints with Matt Smith, except that he seems to have stopped using the “Allons-y!” catchphrase, which seems to belong exclusively to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor.
Doctor Who. UK. 2011.
Original rating: Eight point one out of ten.
Steven Moffat’s brilliant writing: Plus point three.
Having Neil Gaiman as guest writer: Plus point two.
Karen Gillan’s presence: Plus point two.
Karen Gillan’s legs: Plus point two.
Final rating: Nine out of ten.
*some info from Wikipedia and IMDb
pics from Daily Mail and VLC
You may also want to read reviews for Doctor Who Series 1, Series 2, Series 4, and Series 5.
 |
| "Dream on." |
Anyway, my first Doctor was Matt Smith. I have never seen David Tennant's Doctor, nor Christopher Eccleston's. Though I have heard some great reviews about Tom Baker's Doctor. But I do not regret starting with the Eleventh Doctor. Matt Smith is great. A straight-up weirdo.
The first series with Matt Smith (by the way, in America they call it a "season"; in England they call it a "series"), which is Series 5, was already reviewed by Claire. One noticeable thing with that series is that the opening credits show only two names, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. This series now has three names in the opening credits, the new name being Arthur Darvill (who plays Rory "the Roman"). So now the Doctor has two companions. Instead of one really hot one.
But first, before we go to the Series 6 review, here's a micro of the Christmas special, which really belongs to Series 5. But anyway...
A Christmas Carol
 |
| The TARDIS and flying fish. Very Christmas-y indeed. |
You can't really title your episode as "A Christmas Carol" without making any references to Charles Dickens. Obviously, this also involves ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. And it's set in another planet that strangely resembles industrial London. And this is the second Doctor Who episode that made me cry, after the Van Gogh episode in the last series. Damn you, Steven Moffat!
1. "The Impossible Astronaut"
 |
| Left to right: The Legs, the Nose, and Mrs. Robinson |
Yes, that was Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" in the background at the diner. The TARDIS crosses the Atlantic this time, in America. Time and place: USA, 1969. It's the moon landing. The episode title should've already given you a clue.
2. "Day of the Moon"
 |
| "Rory, what are you looking at? It's over there." |
This is a continuation of the previous episode. And there's a lot of complications as well. Like the Amy-Rory love story. And the "first/last kiss between the Doctor and River Song. And also, that kid. Regeneration? Another Galifreyan? How is that possible, if the Doctor is the last of his species? Don't tell me he fathered a child with Amy Pond. Wait, did he? Damn you, Steven Moffat.
3. "The Curse of the Black Spot"
 |
| This don't look like a pirate ship to me. |
Sounds suspiciously like Curse of the Black Pearl, innit? Of course, this is a pirate episode. And the villain? A Syren. Who turns out to be a doctor. Not like the Doctor doctor. Just a regular doctor. And the rum-drinking scurvy dogs get an upgrade in the end─to intergalactic pirates. On an intergalactic pirate ship. Also, is Amy really pregnant or what?
4: "The Doctor's Wife"
 |
| Would you fuck the TARDIS? I would. |
You're in for a special treat, because you'll be able to finally watch Neil Gaiman fan fiction. You won't be able to read it, though, just watch. This episode made me think that if you love someone, what do you really love? The body or the soul? Because if you say you love the soul, and that soul moved into another body, and that body was hideous, would you still love it? In my opinion, all those notions about internal beauty are bull crap. One loves both the body and the soul. At least in my opinion.
5. "The Rebel Flesh"
 |
| Matt Smith during his audition for the part of Lord Voldemort. |
Leave it to the writers of this show to turn a scary word like "doppelganger" into something cool: "ganger". Sounds like "gangbanger", right? Wrong. They're creepy flesh creatures. But they may just be human after all. Anyway, this is a double episode, so let's see what happens next.
6. "The Almost People"
 |
| Matt Smith during his audition for the part of the Weasley twins. |
Two Doctors. Actually, two of everybody, except Rory and Amy. Wouldn't it be cool though to have two Amy Ponds? Were you thinking what I'm thinking? Probably not. Anyway, Steven Moffat took care of that in Time and Space. What was I saying again? Oh right. Cloning. That's what this episode is basically about. The ethics of cloning. And it is my firm opinion that even clones have souls.
7. "A Good Man Goes to War"
 |
| British Jedi. |
Okay, so the Doctor is not the father of Amy Pond's child. Boo hoo. This episode kind of reminds me of Star Wars. Aliens galore. In fact, it makes it look like a series ender, what with the entire alien cast from "The Pandorica Opens". They even had the father and son pirates from "The Curse of the Black Spot". And the grand finale for this episode: River Song is Melody Pond. What?
8. "Let's Kill Hitler"
 |
| Crappy crop circles. |
Don't let the title fool you. This episode isn't really about Hitler. He's just like a minor character. This episode involves an alien race that dwells inside a vessel that can change form. And they're a tiny alien race. Microscopic. And again, the grand finale for this episode: Mels is River Song. What?
9. "Night Terrors"
 |
| That ginger creepy doll is supposed to be Amy Pond. |
An episode written by Mark Gatiss who, along with Steven Moffat, co-created Sherlock, the greatest modern-day adaptation on television ever. I must say, this is one of the scariest and creepiest episodes in this series. It's got to be the singing children. Singing children are the creepiest things in the universe.
10. "The Girl Who Waited"
 |
| Karen Gillan doesn't look so hot when old. Or maybe it's just the makeup. |
Two Amy Ponds. Like I said earlier, the Time and Space episodes already showed us how wonderful two Amy Ponds can be. But here, one Pond is older than the other. That would be a difficult choice indeed, especially for those who like older women. And being stuck in a world full of Apple robots doesn't help make the choice easier. By the way, the voice of the Interface was done by Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, for those who didn't know.
11. "The God Complex"
 |
| Not a creature from the Jim Henson workshop. |
This episode is really not that bad. But it isn't one of the better ones, either. They do have a minotaur, although he's got more than two horns on his head. And then they also have an eighties hotel that I'm pretty sure pays homage to The Shining. I'm talking about the eighties version, of course. The one with Jack Nicholson.
12. "The Closing Time"
 |
| "Kiss me, fat man." |
Craig from Series 5 is back, with Sophie, who is now his wife. And a baby named Alfie, who prefers to be called "Stormaggedon". I just love that name. Anyway, this episode shows us that even without any companions, the Doctor's adventures still kick ass.
13. "The Wedding of River Song"
Bravo. This episode is just... wow. I mean, it’s not great as a season ender, not like Series 5 where you had the entire galaxy converging on Stonehenge. But this... this is just brilliant writing. Around halfway through the episode, I was thinking, “Okay, Moffat, let’s see you get yourself out of this one.” That’s because he created a seemingly impossible scenario, and I wanted to find out how he would save the Doctor this time. And he did. Steven Moffat pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Or he pulled a Dalek out of the TARDIS. Brilliant. Now let’s wait for Tintin and see how brilliant he really is.
There we go. Series 6. And I seriously cannot wait for Series 7. I thank the gods that I started with the Eleventh Doctor, as the Doctor can only regenerate twelve times, for a total of thirteen Doctors. So that leaves me with two more Doctors to go. I have no complaints with Matt Smith, except that he seems to have stopped using the “Allons-y!” catchphrase, which seems to belong exclusively to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor.
Doctor Who. UK. 2011.
Original rating: Eight point one out of ten.
Steven Moffat’s brilliant writing: Plus point three.
Having Neil Gaiman as guest writer: Plus point two.
Karen Gillan’s presence: Plus point two.
Karen Gillan’s legs: Plus point two.
Final rating: Nine out of ten.
*some info from Wikipedia and IMDb
pics from Daily Mail and VLC
You may also want to read reviews for Doctor Who Series 1, Series 2, Series 4, and Series 5.
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