Doctorin' The Tardis [Review: The Name Of The Doctor]

My money was on the Doctor being Kandy Man all along... damn.

Madame Vastra hears a cryptic message about the Doctor from a murderer and with Jenny's assistance she brings together Strax, Clara and the deceased River Song via a trance. When the Doctor eventually hears the message himself, he and Clara set out on a voyage to the one place a time traveller should never go - the location of his own grave.

The Name Of The Doctor leads to an extremely clever reveal and central concept, and it does at least look as if the whole Clara story arc has been building to this point. It's also got a lot of heart - some nice scenes with the Doctor and River Song, as well as the relationships between other characters, and for the long-suffering Doctor Who fan there are glimpses of the Doctor's earlier reincarnations, digitally remastered and worked into the plot.

However before you get to the really good stuff, you do have to swallow two bitter pills: the fact that "time travel has always been possible in dreams" (no it hasn't, sorry) and the appearance of the laziest Doctor Who creatures ever, the White-Stocking-Over-A-Plastic-Skull-Maskodonians.

Government cutbacks have gone too far. Even the Romanian entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest made more of an effort to look sci-fi.

[It's My Life - Cezar]

Some plot elements remain vague and mysterious - it's hinted but not fully explained that the cheap monsters are just information, as is River Song, and this is connected in some way to the Library where her personality was stored after her death. Also, the Doctor and Clara have to Tardis it to the supposed graveyard with great difficulty - but the Cheapikons can get there, bringing Vastra and the others, using only background music and a couple of focus pulls. The last few seconds make no sense, but not to worry - Moffat and friends have until November to come up with a plausible explanation. Once again an episode promoted as something incredible turns out just to be a regular one but still enjoyable.

One Silent Leap For Mankind [Reviews: The Impossible Astronaut and Day Of The Moon]

"So we're in a box that's bigger on the inside than the outside and travels in time and space."
"Basically, yes."
"So how long have Scotland Yard had this?"

Doctor Who returns: and a central character did indeed die as promised. I don't quite believe they have the guts to completely follow through with this decision - but if they do... before tonight's pirate-based entertainment begins, a look back on the series 6 opening episodes.

The Impossible Astronaut and Day Of The Moon reunite the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song in Utah, and from there it's one small step back to 1969, Nixon's America and the lead up to the historic Apollo 11 flight. The Silence make their appearance - a new, Munch-inspired alien horde who have "owned" the Earth since the dawn of mankind, controlling us through hypnotic suggestion and disappearing from our memory as soon as we turn away. The Silence were a silent presence throughout series 5, and their influence may explain some of the series 5 mysteries including the gaps in Amy's memory.

Why the long face?

River Song and the Doctor also make their relationship clearer - travelling in opposite directions relative to each other, they are lovers in the Doctor's future and River's past. A timeline can be seen here - expect updates to this chart as series 6 progresses. This is exactly the kind of pretzel-twisted timeline Moffat seems to like, and does best.

Steven Moffat's writing always generates more questions than it answers. Why are the Doctor and River fated to always travel in opposite directions? The Silence have gained complete control over the human race through millenia of hypnotic programming - but why is the Doctor, an alien from a much older civilization, just as heavily affected? What about the countless other hostile takeovers of Earth (in Doctor Who continuity) - did the Daleks, Yeti or Autons not see them either, and were the Silence worried by the incursions into their territory?