Doctor Who - The Angels Take Manhattan - A Review

The finale of the first part of Doctor Who’s seventh series just finished and I think I’m in a bit of a state of shock. It was an episode written by a writer I don’t particularly like, bidding farewell to a companion I don’t particularly like. By all accounts, I was prepared not to like The Angels Take Manhattan. And yet for forty five minutes I sat in front of my TV, laughing one minute and almost close to tears the next. It was absolutely fantastic.

The Doctor and Amy in Times Square, in Doctor Who's breathtaking Series 7 finale.

The Angels Take Manhattan being Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill’s last episode, it’s both unsurprising and fitting that Amy and Rory were the highlight of it. What made Amy in particular so great in this episode was that she was portrayed in the way that she should have been portrayed all along: with emotion. It’s as though, in her final hour on the show, Steven Moffat finally got her right. For a long time I never really felt she deserved Rory (his assertion in Asylum of the Daleks that he loved her more than she loved him hit the nail bang on the head, I thought), but in this episode she proved that she did, and she also proved that she is no longer the cold, emotionless being she started out as. The scene on the roof of Winter Quay perfectly illustrates that point. I thought that all the emotion in that scene would stem from whether or not Amy would be able to bring herself to push Rory to his death; and, in fairness, that in itself would have been an incredibly moving scene. What I didn’t see coming, however, was Amy climbing up to jump with him. That moment was her admission that she wouldn’t be able to live without him, and it’s moments like that that showcase Doctor Who at its best.

Echoes of that scene atop Winter Quay were definitely present in Amy and Rory’s final scene in the graveyard, too. In it, Rory makes the mistake of going to look at his own grave, and then ends up being zapped back in time by a rogue survivor Angel. That final scene works wonderfully well because not only do you have that heartbreaking admission from Amy that a Life Without Rory is a Life Not Worth Living, but you also have a kind of wonderful, neat symmetry that brings Amy’s journey full circle. The motif of Amy’s Choice – choosing between Rory and the Doctor – is one that has been brewing for three series now; in last week’s blog I talked about how rewarding it was for Amy to have chosen Rory, but at the same time I really got the feeling that that choice would have repercussions for her, and that it would definitely play some sort of role in her departure. And I guess I was right. In those moments where Amy stares at the Angel that took husband, she is confronted by the choice she has been faced with all along for the final time – except this time it’s much, much more extreme. Whereas before she could bring Rory along during her life with the Doctor, and could have the Doctor drop in from time to time during her life with Rory, this time she has no choice but to choose one over the other. And the fact that she chooses Rory in an instant, without even blinking (haha), without even a guarantee that she’ll be able to find him if the Angel takes her, proves how much she loves him, and shows the side to Amy that was missing all along.

"Raggedy Man, goodbye." Amy bids farewell to the Doctor.

Making that scene even more heartbreaking than it already is, though, is the Doctor and River’s presence (brought to life by the always-fabulous Matt Smith and Alex Kingston). As Amy prepares to let the Angel take her, she calls out to River and says,

“Melody… You look after him. And you be a good girl and you look after him.”

I don’t even know how I held it together at that point! Because there we see Amy talking to River as a mother would talk to her daughter, and we’re reminded of how dangerous travelling with the Doctor can be; it is, after all, because of him that Amy never got the chance to be a proper mother to her child. And so, in that line, we see one of the only moments in her life where she really gets to be River’s mother – and then we realise that it’s the moment she says goodbye to her. Furthermore, it’s very interesting (and, of course, sad) to look at what the Doctor says, and in particular this line:

“You are creating a fixed time. I will never be able to see you again.”

Hmm. “I will never be able to see you again.” When you think about it, it’s a bit of a selfish thing to say. He doesn’t want her to stay for her own sake, he wants her to stay for his. But of course, we don’t think any less of him for that. On the contrary, we can’t help but feel for him there. It’s a very real thing to say, and it makes perfect sense after his admission in The Power of Three about how much she means to him. In fact, what makes the scene so incredibly sad is not just Amy’s goodbye, but seeing what the goodbye is doing to the Doctor. We see him cry and even break down, and we see him plead with her and beg her not to go.

“Amy, please, just come back into the TARDIS. Come on, Pond, please.”

If you have a heart, that scene is tough to watch. And to top it all off, there’s a great big orchestral rendition of an evolved Amy’s Theme, too, representing how as a character she has grown and moved on. At risk of repeating myself, it’s simply heartbreaking – there’s no other word for it.

The Doctor and River make a sad scene even sadder.

But it’s not all doom and gloom – in fact, for most of the episode I was smiling like a goon. River Song has been my favourite minor character pretty much since Silence in the Library, so obviously I was delighted at having her back. Steven Moffat noted in an interview before the episode went out that this was not an episode about her, it was merely an episode that featured her. And frankly, as much as I love River, that’s the way it should stay. The price you pay for having a character with such a complex timeline is having storylines that are overly complicated; unfortunately last year, where the series arc basically revolved around her, the stories got bogged down in timey-wimey complications and it just wasn’t very good at all. River works best as a recurring guest; that’s what she was in The Angels Take Manhattan, and that’s why her appearance was so good. As always, her interactions with the Doctor were pure gold. As much as I loved the Doctor slicking his hair and checking his breath was okay before seeing her, the moment that really got me “aww”ing was the one where he gave up some of his regenerative energy just to heal her broken wrist. I’ve got to admit, the shallow Doctor/River fangirl part of me died a little bit at that. (And then she slapped him! How fantastic!) I’m just glad that her final scene hinted strongly at her return in future episodes, though. Of all the characters he writes, Moffat writes River best - she’s just a joy to watch.

The grief of a Time Lord.

Overall, the episode had a lot going for it. The use of the Melody Malone book to frame the whole thing was particularly effective, and tied in nicely to the theme of spoilers and not peeking ahead that is synonymous with River’s character. (The fact that Rory got zapped by the Angel at the end is perhaps the strongest proof that you shouldn’t peek ahead – after all, if he hadn’t looked at his own grave (even though he didn’t know it was his own grave) he wouldn’t have been zapped in the first place. So there you go!) And of course, having New York as a backdrop gave the episode a real epic feel. Filming in Central Park gave it an ambiance that a soggy park in Cardiff would never have been able to give, and, as ever, Times Square never fails to look visually stunning. My only complaint is that there weren’t quite enough shots of New York to whet my appetite; as stunning as Times Square is, it will never be done justice if its total screen time amounts to just a few seconds. But even that is just a minor complaint. The only other real gripe I have is that the Weeping Angels have still never quite been used as effectively as they were in Blink, although I suppose cheapening them slightly is worth having the Statue of Liberty as an angel. Yeah, I can live with that.

Central Park gives The Angels Take Manhattan that unmistakeable New York feel.

It’s almost hard to believe that there’ll be no more Doctor Who now until Christmas. Five episodes is not enough, and I really, really disagree with this whole idea of splitting the series into two – it just doesn’t work. That being said, though, because Series 7 was much stronger than Series 6, it just about got away with it. I still wouldn’t call myself a Moffat fan by any stretch of the word, but I’ve got to admit that he knocked the ball out of the park tonight. If every episode in this era of the show could be as strong as The Angels Take Manhattan, I’d be a very, very happy Doctor Who fan indeed.

But the real question is, what did you think of the episode? Let me know!

Doctor Who - Asylum of the Daleks - A Review (Spoilers)

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of Steven Moffat or his vision of Doctor Who in the slightest. That being said, I still approach each new episode with an open mind, and hope against hope that I'll love it. On Saturday evening Asylum of the Daleks hit our screens, and with it heralded the arrival of a brand new series of the world's longest running sci-fi show. And as usual, there was me, sat on my sofa, hoping I'd be amazed. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Before I talk about just a small handful of the many gripes I had with the episode, for the sake of being balanced I'd like to point out that there were parts of it that I actually liked. The unexpected appearance of future companion Jenna-Louise Coleman, for example, provided a nice "Oh wow!" moment, and was a welcome piece of proof that not all spoilers manage to leak their way onto the internet. Secondly, the scene which reveals just why Amy and Rory have drifted so far apart (she can't have children and didn't want him to have to live the rest of his life without them) was handled absolutely beautifully. I don't think Karen Gillan always gets it right with her acting, but she definitely did in this scene. Arthur Darvill, too, really nailed it with his understated approach to the scene, combining disappointment and sad acceptance with the right mix of heartache.The whole thing just pulled at the heartstrings.

Karen Gillan delivers the episode's most emotional moment.

But then, what ruins - or at least significantly dilutes - good things like that for me are mistakes and misguided assumptions on the part of Steven Moffat. Whilst the inclusion of Jenna-Louise Coleman was undoubtedly a big deal for the ming-mongs, the impact of her appearance will have been almost non-existent for the casual viewers who simply have no idea who she is - and let's not forget that it's those viewers who make up the vast, vast majority of the show's audience. I am aware that Doctor Who always features small elements that only the fans will get, and I don't think that there's anything wrong with that; my problem this time around, however, is that the deliberate inclusion of a future companion is not a small thing. Yes, her appearance in this episode will almost undoubtedly be referenced in a future episode, but that's missing the point. The point is, the bulk of the show's audience was denied one of the biggest "OHMYGOSH" moments of the new series. And to make things worse, I feel that this is indicative of a worrying trend in Moffat's writing. More and more, Doctor Who appears to be descending into a forty five minute spectacle of Moffat trying to shoehorn in as many GIF/Tumblr-worthy lines as possible, often recycling one-liners that weren't all that funny to begin with. Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel entirely comfortable with the idea of Doctor Who being written with its fanbase as its core audience. And this leads on to my problem with the other thing I liked about the episode: the main Amy/Rory scene. I've already established how great I thought that scene was. How awful, therefore, for that to be cheapened by one throwaway line at the end of the episode. The "Yessss!" Rory does right before Amy lets him back into their house? Awful. Why? Firstly, he already knew that they were getting back together - that had been established MOMENTS before. The reaction was redundant. Secondly, that scene had established just how delicate a topic their break-up is; it had clearly caused a lot of pain and damage to both Amy and Rory. And for all that to be resolved and swept under the carpet with a simple "Yessss!" Sorry, I don't buy it. And the worst thing is, I'm willing to bet that Moffat wrote that line thinking about how great a GIF it would make.

The first appearance of Jenna-Louise Coleman

To prove I'm not a Moffat basher, though, I'd like to give credit to the man for canning most of the God-awful rainbow Daleks that were introduced to the show in Series 5. And credit to him also for trying to go somewhere new with the Daleks. I'm not sure how successful that Dalek exploration was, but credit to him for doing it in the first place.

I'm not going to list all the things about the episode I didn't like because this post would go on for ever and I don't want this blog to turn into the Julia Moans About Things website. However, I do think it needs mentioning that even Matt Smith, who's usually nothing less than spectacular as the Doctor, was conspicuously underwhelming in this episode. (Well, his hair looked better than usual - I'll give him that.) It got to the stage where, when he was shouting to the Daleks, "What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas. Here I am." I was focusing much more on how appalling his enunciation was than on what the scene meant in the context of the episode. As an actor, saying your lines clearly is Rule Number One, and I'm shocked that an actor as brilliant he is can get such basic things wrong.

Surprisingly, Matt Smith disappoints in Asylum of the Daleks.

Incidentally, as common a criticism as this may be, it does indeed look like Moffat has, again, made the mistake of writing all of his female characters in the same way. At this stage, Oswin's dialogue, if read in isolation, could easily be passed off as that of Amy's, River's, Sally Sparrow's, etc. However, this is only episode one. This isn't the new companion's introductory episode. We have no idea if Jenna-Louise's companion will ultimately be anything like she was in Asylum of the Daleks. So, until we've seen more of her, I'll not write her off just yet.

So why do I still watch the show if I dislike it this much? Well, anyone who knows anything about me knows just how much the Russell T Davies era of the show means to me - it shaped a lot of who I am and it's what got me so interested in television in the first place - and it's out of loyalty to that era that I still watch. Russell's era made me love Doctor Who and made me realise that, at its best, television doesn't get much better. However, I can't help but feel that this era squanders that potential. Doctor Who could be so much more than it is right now, but it's not. I could never honestly say that I hate this era, because at the end of the day it's still Doctor Who, but I would definitely say that I'm disappointed with it, and episodes like Asylum of the Daleks show why.


(Thanks to www.doctorwho.sonicbiro.co.uk for the screencaps.)