Doctor Who

OK, now a few days have passed since the season finale of Matt Smith's first run as the Doctor, I have had enough time to mull it over, and here are my thoughts.

Firstly, very clever. Moffat's natural grasp of the whole concept of a time-traveller merged the usual Doctor Who approach (don't meet yourself), some paradox-threatening moments, and a good chunk of Bill & Ted for good measure ("leave the sonic in her top pocket") and you get a well thought out, if sometimes slightly confusing adventure.

And that, gentle reader, is the crux of my complaint as well. It *WAS* confusing at times, and if I (a hardened 30-something sci-fi nerd with a computing degree) found it so, how would some of the younger audience find it? (I'm not looking forward to explaining it to some of the family, I can tell you!) That's not to say that ALL kids couldn't enjoy it, or even follow it, but I suspect there are quite a lot of kids and adults alike sitting thinking "I really enjoyed that. Now, what just happened?" Still, I'd much prefer the show to challenge people like this than to dumb it down, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too loudly :)

Other thoughts...

I think I quite like that Moffat has introduced cliffhanger elements to the series, but only because he has done so quite cleverly. I hate series that end on a cliffhanger, especially in US shows where the chances of a second series seem to be practically nil these days. Where Moffat was smart was to tie up the whole series, mostly, so that the viewer felt satisfied by the end, and then make passing reference to the loose ends, before having the Doctor and companions summoned off on a separate adventure (hoping this will mean Orient Express at Christmas!). As long as the BBC give him plenty of notice should the series eventually get axes under his reign, Moffat can continue to hang me from cliffs in this way! (provided they are different cliffs; let's not have the Silence run for more than another series!)

I was a little disappointed that my theory about Rory being modelled on Kenny from South Park didn't pan out - http://twitpic.com/1z7ypd

One other note - the show explained how Amy remembered the Doctor in quite a logical way. But what about River? Why was she at the wedding? Did she remember him, and if so, how? If not, why was she there at all? Hopefully this will be explained in the near future, but that was one loose end I wished they had resolved - not the whole mystery surrounding River, just that bit which applied to that story. My guess is they couldn't without revealing more about her, but I really hope it's going to be worth the wait.

What am I saying? It's Moffat, of course it will be!

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