6 days ago5 min read

Doctor Who Series 6, Episode 7 Review: A Good Man Goes to War

Updated: 4 days ago

What did you think of this episode?

Sonic!
Good!
Bumpy-wumpy!
Exterminate!

Matt Smith’s reign as the Doctor is an odd one. Some episodes are truly loved such as this, but there are a lot of others that the fandom majorly dislike. I remember being thrown by this when watching series 5 to 7 when they were broadcast, but I think a rewatch in the order they were meant to be viewed is slightly changing my views. So here is my review of A Good Man Goes to War.

I will admit, that despite me adoring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan and also loving the Eleventh Doctor, I very rarely visit many of their episodes. Was this because I was ultimately left disappointed by the way mysteries unraveled? Very possibly.

I obviously have a lot of hindsight when watching these episodes, but with all that said I have been loving series 6 so far. I am looking forward to taking on the second part of this series, even if I wasn’t wildly thrilled with the way it panned out last time. Change my mind my dear, and it seems not a moment too soon.

I think the main issue with the series is the whole concept and set up of the main story is amazing. The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon are absolute bangers and they set up so many different threads set up and running through the series. The lady in the hatch, the little girl, the regeneration, the Silence, the exploding TARDIS mystery from series 5, the Doctor’s death, is Amy preggers or not. There are probably a few more as well. We were then hit with a cliffhanger of monumental proportions in the previous episode, and then we got this episode which is stunning. Expectations really were sky high, too high to deliver.

I think the latest series with Ncuti had a similar problem. The mystery around Ruby and her Mum was glorious, right up to the point of it being revealed. The episodes for series 1/14 were all good, some were very, very, very good - The Devil’s Chord, Boom and 73 Yards is as good a run of episodes as I can think of, up there with some of the series 3 and 4 runs of episodes.

"Would you like me to repeat the question?"

So what about A Good Man Goes to War then? I will start with my downers on the episode (there aren’t many) and then I will basically have a love in for the rest of the review

Downer one - Rory as some sort of action hero doesn’t work for me. It doesn’t suit the character we have grown to know. He was a bit of a bumbler up until he had a sudden moment of madness in the last two parter. When he rocks up on the Cyber ship I don’t buy it. When he fights the Headless Monks at the end I don’t buy it either. Madame Vashtra, Jenny and Strax can pull it off, Rory certainly can’t.

This probably is more of a downer for the rest of the series - however, the story of Amy and Rory’s baby is pretty horrific for the pair of them, I don’t think they showed enough trauma for that. They seemed happy to go on jolly adventures with the Doctor again after a couple of mentions.

The final point is the fat comments. The fat and thin gay couple, Dorian telling the Doctor not to use him because he is fat (and blue). These parts did not age well at all.

Right, negative points out the way. What did I like then? I think I can lay most of that at the feet of one man - Matt Smith! He shines here, we get the full lot, funny moments, a legendary angry moment, vulnerable moments. Each emotion played to perfection.

The Doctor has to confront the fact that people are scared of him, that people think he is a great warrior. The title of warrior is not seen in a glorious way, it haunts the Doctor.

"Hello everyone! Guess who? Please, point a gun at me if it helps you relax. You’re only human."

This is Matt Smith at his best. The Colnel Runaway speech is fucking superb, and the difficulty he has working out how Amy got pregnant is bloody hilarious.

Every moment Matt Smith is on the screen you are transfixed, waiting for what he will do next. His anger at River for not showing up and then his joy when he finds out who she is. His moment with Lorna when he pretends he knew who she was was well played by all.

I loved the Headless Monks, I would of loved to have seen more of them. Everything was heading to a epic mid series cliffhanger, but...

"Well how would I know? That’s all human and private stuff. It just sort of goes on, they don’t put up a balloon or anything!"

I loved this episode and yet I was left a bit dissapointed by it as well. Matt Smith is insanely good, but the thrills and spills promised from the epic opening two parter were starting to unravel here.

Finding out River was Amy and Rory's daughter didn't feel all that thrilling to me. It wasn't a reveal that left me on the edge of my seat, it was coming, and it didn't mean fuck all in reality. I didn't care who her parents were, I wanted to know how she knew the Doctor, how he had obviously fallen in love with her, the stories behind all of that.

The best twists are the ones nobody predicts. When you fear it is going to be the glaringly obvious answer, and then out of nowehre you get the twist of epic proportions.

I am thinking Dexter's series 4 ending, the reveal in Seven, Professor Mother Hubbard Yana. A lot of Moffat's twists really are the most obvious explanation - we all knew who Missy was didnt we? We knew who the astronaut was. He pulled the rug from under our feet a couple of times so credit where it is due, I am looking at you John Hurt.

Anyway, I did not let that dissapointment get in the way of a bloody good episode of Doccy Who!!

This was still a banger though, Matt Smith raising his bar higher than ever before, and don’t worry, he doesn’t fall so much further after this.

I am excited to see what I think about the rest of this series, bring on Hitler!

RATING: Sonic!

BEST LINE: "Those words. “Run away.” I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Runaway. I want children laughing outside your door, ’cause they’ve found the house of Colonel Runaway. And when people come to you and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love…is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name. Look, I’m angry, that’s new. I’m really not sure what’s going to happen now."