What did you think of these episodes?
Sonic!
Good!
Bumpy-wumpy!
Exterminate!
Oh I forgot how marvellous this finale was!
This happened a few times during series 5, but it felt so different than the RTD era before it. This was jarring in the bigger episodes - the finales and Christmas specials especially. Everything seemed more toned down, more personal, small problems rather than worldwide - or even universe wide. This may seem silly to say when the whole point of the finale was the Universe ending, but it felt smaller to me. The story was more focused on Amy and her life rather than a particular monster. Does that make sense? Probably not!
The pre titles sequence was fun - seeing characters from throughout the series (apart from Bracewell, he still irritates me in this, I am sorry, I can't help it). The first time I watched it I was beginning to wonder if we would get to hear that iconic theme tune, it felt like it went on for an age. That isn't a bad thing by the way.
I am a big Stonehenge fan - it blows my mind - I love everything about it. How did it get there? Why is it there? What does it mean? So, to see it in Doctor Who thrilled the stone nerd in me!! It is a perfect setting for a Doctor Who episode as well, and some of the shots of it were spectacular.
"Well, you’re only human. Arise…Roman person."
Moffat loves to throw us to all sorts of places during an episode, and I loved what we were given a glimpse at. The oldest cliff face in the universe, the first ever recorded words, the royal gallery, the war cabinet, roman times, a museum, Stormcage, and we are only five minutes in.
I suspect some people guessed the Pandorica was for the Doctor, but not me!! I am useless at seeing twists coming, I knew John Simm was back in series 10, that didn't stop me being completely surprised!!! The slow build up in The Pandorica Opens was very much rewarded by the last five minutes - each mystery unravelling one by one. Murray Gold, as is always the case, provides a masterpiece of a soundtrack, and Smith and Gillan put in their best performances of the series.
Amy is brash I know, but I much prefer her when she isn't telling people to shut up all the time. I don't think I realised quite how much she does that.
If there is a small moment I love it is when the Doctor realises Rory is back. The scene between Matt and Arthur is so good, I love it. The little poke, the looks they give each other, the quietness of it all, oh I love it. I will tell you that even I knew Rory was the mysterious soldier though!!
"There was a goblin, or a trickster. Or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it or… reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."
Once the shit has hit the fan - the universe ending, the TARDIS exploding, Amy dead and the Doctor imprisoned, you would not have seen the direction the story goes in. The Big Bang is so different to The Pandorica Opens, and I loved it all the more for this. We had spaceships galore, monsters galore, but The Big Bang is a more intimate and time-twisting tale.
I think this episode is the Eleventh Doctor's era in a nutshell - a timey-wimey fairy tale that is full of magical moments and quotes. Sometimes things being solved by the power of love and memory get the eyes rolling- but here, it completely works. I could watch Amy's wedding speech over and over and over again. I could watch the Doctor talking to Amelia over and over and over again.
"All of Creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you now know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived. Your girlfriend isn’t more important than the whole Universe."
Finally we could see the bond between Rory and Amy as well, although this was slightly let down by Amy proclaiming the Doctor could most definitely kiss the bride. I think that side of Amy buggers off after this episode though thank goodness. Imagine waiting over 2000 years to marry the woman of your dreams and then she tries to snog some guy at your wedding?
The Big Bang is peak Moffat - the Doctor hopping back and forth in time, all the nods from things that happened minutes before, oh it was so fun. I am watching Loki at the moment and that uses the same tricks as this episode - but always remember Doctor Who did it first!!!
The whole series is tied up neatly with a bow with a few hints of what is to come sprinkled on the top. I am not sure you sprinkle things on bows, but you get what I mean I hope.
"It’s funny. I thought if you could hear me I could hang on somehow. Silly me. Silly old Doctor. When you wake up you’ll have a mum and dad. And you won’t even remember me. Well. You’ll remember me a little. I’ll be a story in your head. That’s okay. We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh? ‘Cause it was, you know. It was the best. The daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well I borrowed it. I was always going to take it back. Oh that box. Amy, you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had, eh? Woulda had. Never… had. In your dreams they’ll still be there. The Doctor and Amy Pond. And the days that never came. The cracks are closing. But they can’t close properly ’til I’m on the other side. I don’t belong here anymore. I think I’ll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats. Live well. Love Rory. Bye bye, Pond."
There are so many good things about this story, so, so many! I must rank every finale we have had at some point, and I think this will be top, or at least very near the top.
Exciting cliffhanger - check! Completely different episodes - check! A moment of pure joy - double check!
Moffat, Smith, Gillan, Darvill, Kingston - you knocked it out the park!! Silence will not bloody fall!
RATING: Sonic!
BEST LINE: "When I was a kid I had an imaginary friend. The Raggedy Doctor. My Raggedy Doctor. But he wasn’t imaginary. He was real. I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home too. Raggedy Man, I remember you and you are late for my wedding! I found you. I found you in words like you knew I would. That’s why you told me the story. The brand new ancient blue box. Oh clever, very clever. Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue."
#DoctorWho #ThePandoricaOpens #TheBigBang #MattSmith #Eleven #TheDoctor #KarenGillan #AmyPond #AmeliaPond #RoryWilliams #ArthurDarvill #RoryPond #RiverSong #AlexKingston #Spoilers #Cybermen #Daleks #Exterminate #TimeLord #TARDIS #BlueBox #Sonic #Geronimo #StevenMoffat
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