What did you think of this episode?
Sonic!
Good!
Bumpy-wumpy!
Exterminate!
I'm getting any negativity out in this review of The Doctor's Wife rather than my Joy to the World review. So we have another episode with a now problematic component. I will mention this first because I truly do love this episode, it is up there with some of my favourite episodes. Could this be another one that will slip off iPlayer in the months and years to come? Obviously it is allegations against Neil Gaiman, and having worked a few years in the court it isn't my place to decide whether he is guilty or not, either way he has been a prat though.
I doubt it is the case, actually it isn't the case, who am I kidding…but I hope that one day the human race equals itself out. I hope that one day men (and women, but obviously more men) who abuse their power, lose all their power very quickly indeed. I hope that one day nobody will abuse their power, but that's very wishful thinking. I hope that young women and girls can feel safe in their homes, their work, anywhere they go.
It doesn't fill me with confidence when a cunt like Trump is voted in, or posh cunt Johnson with his 37 children, but one day people will rise up. Give us Angela Rayner to lead us, give us more Jodie Whittakers and Karen Gillan’s, give us Simone Biles’ and Lucy Bronze’s. Give us Spice Girls and Taylor Swifts…
So I'll park all that, but for now, I will say that you can tell Neil Gaiman is a massive fan of the show. This truly is a lovely letter to the greatest show in the universe.
“Time Lord emergency messaging system. In an emergency we wrap up our thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. Anyway. There’s a living Time Lord still out there! And it’s one of the good ones.”
This has a bit of everything. It is funny, emotional, scary and at times just downright magical. It is pretty much everything I want in a Doctor Who episode, and it is the perfect episode to show off having Matt Smith, he doesn't disappoint.
To be fair, nobody lets this episode down. Suranne Jones is extraordinary as Idris/the TARDIS, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill play a blinder running around corridors, and Elizabeth Berrington and Adrian Schiller do an amazing and very underrated job of Auntie and Uncle. That's before I even mention having the legend of Michael Sheen voicing House. I would love to see him in person in the show one day.
Auntie and Uncle were great characters, they were creepy and funny at the same time. When House speaks through them it is freaky, when they just die it is comical. Uncle thanking the Doctor for complimenting his young eyes was one of the best moments of the episode.
“Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection. Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here. But this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from the long dead.”
The sets looked amazing, and the scene where the Doctor and Idris look over the TARDIS junk or graveyard depending on your preference is stunning. Matt Smith is in electric form, and he and Suranne Jones are great together. I was fully invested in the Doctor TARDIS love story.
Amy and Rory’s plot on the side of the main event is actually pretty fucked up, and more scary than it is given credit for. Rory waiting, Rory hating Amy, Rory being a skeleton. The moment they hug and Amy grabs Rory tight is the moment Amy and Rory became the official Ponds for me.
The Doctor and Idris bickering like a married couple is brilliant, the thief and sexy eventually working together in a thrilling moment aided of course by the brilliant music of Murray Gold.
I could just list most scenes in this episode and tell you why I bloody love it.
"I exist across all space and time and you talk and run around and bring home strays!"
Oh boy, when they are back in the TARDIS it is iconic moment over iconic moment. House saying goodbye to them all before the current console room turns up, the fear me, I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords moment, and one of the most beautiful endings I have ever watched, and I count all TV shows here, not just Doctor Who.
When the Doctor and the TARDIS talk for the final time it is so, so good. There are two moments that I find hard to do something in.
It is hard not shed a little tear when the TARDIS says hello to the Doctor;
It is impossible not to get giddy with excitement when the lever pulls down and the Doctor dances around the console unit.
This is an episode that not only explores the Doctor’s bond with his oldest companion, the one we take for granted sometimes, the TARDIS, but it also celebrates the very soul of Doctor Who itself, and Doctor Who has the best soul going.
“Look at my girl. Look at her go. Bigger on the inside! See, House. That’s your problem. Size of a planet but inside you are just so small.”
This is one of those episodes that sticks with you, I will forever remember this and especially those magical moments in the TARDIS near the end.
RATING: Sonic!
BEST LINE: "No. I just wanted to say, hello. Hello Doctor. It’s so very, very nice to meet you.”
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