I have finally finished watching the best Sci-fi TVSeries EVER! How I love Doctor Who.
Series 7 is a bit different to previous series because all the episodes are a standalone episode, no to-be-continue episode, but the finale was a painful cliffhanger…Damn you Moffat!! I have to wait till November to have the answer to so many questions you have left in the final episode. Arrghh November feels ages away.
Apart from what I have mentioned above, this series is also different because The Doctor has new companion in the middle of the series, it never happened before from series 1 to 6.
I will begin my review with the 2011 Christmas Special:
The doctor, The Widow and the wardrobe
The idea was a bit like Narnia but in The Doctor’s way. The Doctor was helped by Madge Arwell and when she turned widow, the Doctor returned to give her a favor. The Doctor gave them a big box for their Christmas gift. Cyrill, Madge’s son, couldn’t resist and peeked into the box. The box was a postal to a forest with so many tress covered in snow. But the beautiful forest was about to be liquefied and the soul of the tress needed help.
In the end of this special episode, Madge told the Doctor that he shouldn’t let his friends thought that he was dead (from previous series) in Christmas, he should tell them the truth. And it’s so lovely to see the Doctor cried of happiness.
Asylum of the Daleks
It began with Amy and Rory who were about to have a divorce (WHAT??) … I was like what the hell is going on? I meant these two loved each other so much and divorce seemed to cruel…but the reason was later revealed. The Doctor, Amy and Rory were being teleported by the Daleks. The Daleks wanted them to turn off the shield on the planet where they exiled the insane Daleks. Funny as it may sound, but I find the Daleks as the most entertaining Doctor Who enemy…I wish I have their action figure. Anyway, they had music coming from the planet and wanted the Doctor and his companions to check it and helped them blew the planet. The Doctor, Amy and Rory were helped by a female named Oswin Oswald, but they could only hear her voice.
The ending was really surprising…I really love the ending.
Dinosaurs on Spaceship
This was a fun episode. A spaceship was about to hit earth and ISA was going to shoot it with missiles. The Doctor was accompanied by Queen Nefertiti, a hunter, Amy, Rory and Rory’s father. I really like how Rory’s father, Brian was accidentally joined the gang. The spaceship was filled with dinosaurs and it belonged to the Silurians (homo reptilia). Unfortunately the spaceship was hijacked by a greedy black market trader.
A Town called Mercy
The Doctor, Amy and Rory landed on the cowboy era in the town named Mercy. Mercy was a peculiar town because it already had electricity which was too early. The town was surrounded by a line made of stones and woods and a sign said KEEP OUT. There was a gunslinger from other planet that would shoot anyone stepping outside the line. He was actually looking for the man (an alien) who had changed him into a cyborg.
You know, I couldn’t stop smiling how the alien speaks in British accent while the rest of the people in Mercy in American accent 😉
The Power of The Three
Rory : We have two life, the real life and the Doctor life.
Amy : What do we do?
Rory : Choose.
(The sound of the TARDIS)
Amy : Not today though
Rory : Not today.
I like how it began with Amy explaining how their life was divided into two. The Doctor came and went as he pleased in between Amy and Rory’s normal life. They had become part of Doctor’s life and the Doctor never been part of their life…until the invasion on the cube. It was a slooooow process invasion and the Doctor had to stay with them and experienced the normal human life. It was quite funny. Unfortunately…The ending was a bit lame, but I like it before it reached the end.
Ps. So good to see Professor Brian Cox in this episode 🙂
The Angel Take Manhattan
This is the last episode of Amy and Rory as the Doctor’s companion 😦
Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill wanted to leave the series and as always, the writers of Doctor Who created an episode that will mark their leaving in a good way…mostly a bit sad.
Rory was touched by the angel (a statue of angel that could send people back into the past). Amy and the Doctor followed him and they were assisted by River Song. (In this episode, we learned that the Doctor has been around in Amy’s life for 10 years…the make up for Karen and Arthur could tell us that they have aged gracefully). Something serious happened in Manhattan in 1930 and that led to how the Doctor was separated from Amy and Rory forever.
The Doctor: This is not any old future Amy, it’s ours. Once we’ve known what’s coming, it’s fixed.
Amy: Time could be rewritten
The Doctor: Not once you’ve read it. Once you’ve read it, it’s written in stone.
One thing that I like the most about this episode is how Amy and Rory were inseparable forever.
Christmas Specials: The Snowmen
This episode as indeed special…we were introduced to a new companion, Clara the impossible girl.
The Doctor was still grieving because of Amy and Rory, he refused to help the universe. He was sort of hiding in Victorian era. His friends, the Silurian Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny and the Sontaran Strax were helping him during his hide out. I really like this Victorian detective gang (they were called The Paternoster Gang), they appeared in 3 episodes and I wish they will show up again in series 8.
In that era, the snow turned alive and Dr Simeon was behind it. The Doctor met a woman named Clara Oswald, what Clara said made the Doctor alive again and helped Madame Vastra investigating the living snowmen. In the end, The Doctor found out something about Clara that made her as the impossible girl. Apart from Clara, we were also introduced to Doctor’s enemy of this series, The Great Intelligence.
The Bells of Saint John
This is one of my favorite episodes. The Doctor was searching for Clara…but just like before, she turned up unnoticed. Clara called the TARDIS by accident. This episode showed how people relied so much on internet and wi-fi. Miss Kizlet helped the Great Intelligence to upload people into a datacloud. Clara was half trough the uploading process and the Doctor helped her back. The two of them tried to stop Miss Kizlet.
What I like so much about this episode is how fast the Doctor and Clara become attached to each other. Their chemistry is so strong, to be honest I like seeing them together more than when I first saw the Doctor and Amy.
The Rings of Akhaten
Clara was officially the Doctor’s companion. He took her to The Rings of Akhaten to see a religious festival where the Queen of the year supposed to sing for the old God. However, things went wrong and the God was nothing more than a parasite.
I really like the song in this episode and Matt Smith showed more charisma than ever through his speech toward the parasite. I have mentioned that I saw no Charisma on Smith when I saw series 5 and then I saw his charisma in series 6 and now I saw him in equal charisma as the tenth Doctor in this episode. His speech was brilliant!! It truly touched my heart.
“I walked away from the last great time war and marked the passing of the Time lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out moment by moment until nothing remained. No time, no space, just me!
I walked in universes where the law of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. I watched universes freeze and creations burned. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. I’ve lost things you will never understand and I know things, secret that was never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken, knowledge that will make parasite God blaze. So come on take it!”
I like the speech and the song so much, I extracted that part into mp3 and put it into my mp3 player.
Cold War
The Doctor, again, landed on the wrong place. He landed on a Russian submarine during the cold war. The submarine found something trapped in ice. When they defrosted it, they thought it would be a mammoth but it turned out to be an Ice Soldier, General Skaldak.
Hide
In this episode, The Doctor and Clara came to a haunted house to investigate a ghost appearance. The ghost was also being investigated by Professor Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling. Hide was quite interesting and for the first time, The TARDIS trusted Clara.
Journey To The Center of The TARDIS
This episode was a bit weird. The timey wimey thing played another big part here. The TARDIS was salvaged by Van Baalen brothers. The salvaging process caused problems in the TARDIS. Clara almost realized who she really was. I find the ending a bit lame.
The Crimson Horror
This episode took us back to the Victorian era with the unique detective gang, The Paternoster Gang. They were investigating “The Crimson Horror” a mysterious dead where the victim turned red. Jenny infiltrated Sweetville, a place where people who had entered it never came out again. She found the Doctor had been turned red but still alive. Mrs Gillyflower, the owner of Sweetville, had an evil plan that could wipe out civilization.
Ps. I think the red creature is rather cute.
Nightmare in Silver
This episode showed what a great actor Smith is!! And he gained more love from me 😉
The Doctor took Clara’s responsibility children (Clara was a nanny) to the biggest amusement park in the universe…but they came to a wrong year, the park was no longer running. The Doctor was infected by Cyberman’s new technology. It made him looked like a person with double personality issue….and that showed Smith’s best act so far (I believed he’ll make a good villain).
The Name of the doctor
Madam Vastra was told by a prisoner that the Doctor’s secret was discovered. Madam Vastra held a conference call where he brought Jenny, Strax, River Song and Clara to a meeting about the Doctor’s secret.
I can’t say much about this episode because it’ll give huge spoiler. In short, the Doctor went to Trenzalore, his future grave. One thing I can say about this episode is that this episode leaves so many unanswered questions and many whovians are creating their own theories about it…theories that will be answered in the 50th anniversary special.
…and I love the love between the Doctor and River Song. All this time we think that River loves the Doctor more than him but in truth he loves her as much as her.
The Doctor: You are always here to me. And I always listen. And I can always see you.
River: and why didn’t you speak to me?
Doctor: because I thought it would hurt too much
River: I believe I could have coped it
Doctor: No, I thought it would hurt me. And I was right.
and they kissed….aaawww so sweet.
********************
Overall…I like series 6 more than series 7 but I like series 7 more than series 5. After seeing three series with Moffat as the main writer, I realized that Russell T Davies made a better finale than Moffat. The most memorable finale by Moffat is ONLY from this series while RTD always made great finale, especially series 4…that finale is still my favorite of all. Moffat tends to end the series with the Doctor’s life being threatened but STD always created a situation where the earth or the universe is in jeopardy, and that is always a better ending for me.
Now…I have to wait impatiently for November. At time like this, I wish British makes more episodes in one series. 😉
The main Characters:
Doctor Who : Matt Smith
Amy Pond : Karen Gillan
Rory William : Arthur Davill
River Song : Alex Kingston
Oswin/Clara : Jenna-Louise Coleman
Madame Vastra: Neve McIntosh
Jenny Flint: Catrin Stewart
Commander Strax: Dan Starkey
Polychrome Interest 
Goodness, you watched a lot of episodes! I liked the stand-alone aspect of this series. My favourite episodes were Hide and The Angels Take Manhattan which were creepy supernatural adventures with great use of time travel! The Bells of Saint John was another good episode as well. I liked Clara, the new companion, a lot.
15 episodes in 3 days 🙂 I waited for it to be over before watching it…but might not do that again when series 8 cones out because the waiting is killikng me.
The Angels Take Manhattan is the second coolest episode regarding the angels, Blink is still the best angels episode.
Oooohh…Clara is officially my second favorite companion (Donna is still my number one). I like her since Asylum of the Daleks. So clever and so fun. I hope she’ll stay longer than 1 series.
This John Hurt as the Doctor really makes people wonder, how bout you?
Yeah, I really liked the reveal of John Hurt at the end.
I wonder which Doctor he is…I meant I heard that Matt is still going to be the Doctor next year.
Oooohh!!! You’ve finally caught up to me and seen them all. Good for you Novia! 😉
Now I can talk with you about all the episodes and not worry about spoiling them for you accidentally. Nifty!!
I am so glad to hear Matt Smith has finally begun to grow on you. Everybody has their own favorite actor in the role, but all of them have a charm of their own I think and something that they bring to the part unique to them.
I also like Clara a lot. She’s a smart, funny, and vivacious girl who can match Matt’s Doctor when it comes to being wild and free spirited. Ahhhh…. and I also like Madam Vastra and Jenny. They and Strax ought to have their own spin-off series. That would be so fun. 🙂
I can’t wait to see the November special and see what’s going to happen when all the Doctors, past and future finally meet!
Let’s spill all the spoilers, Miyuki 😉
There are only three bloggers that I know who watch DW…I love to discuss this episode with all of you.
I LOVE THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR NOW…I still vote ten as my fav but yes Matt has gained more love from me. What do you think of his speech for the parasite God? Live that speech a lot! I have lost count of how many times I have repeated that speech….I remember it word by word now.
Clara, love her almost as much as I love Donna. Hoping she’ll bump into her in the special 50th anniv 😉
By the way, someone told me that Ten shouted Clara’s name in The planet of the oods after Donna was caught….I will rewatch that episode when I get back from work.
Agree!! That trio is so cool…I want to see the romance between Vastra and Jenny, they didn’t show it much even though they are married.
Aaaarrrggghh..November hurry come!!! I want to know who John Hurt is.
I should imagine they’ll just pack that Special with all sorts of special guests…. they probably won’t tell us about all of them just to have some nice surprises for us fans.
I didn’t remember hearing Clara’s name in that episode either… but it wouldn’t surprise me, the writers often slip little bits in like that as clever lil’ bits to link up with things in the future.
Madam Vastra and Jenny are such a sweet couple. They do have their little moments when you see their romantic feeling poke through, but given the Victorian setting they exist in, those times are very subdued and more restrained than you’d see if they were more modern characters.
Did you ever see the little “mini-episodes” featuring them? They were promo commercials that came out between seasons. Quite nice… and I hope they include them on the DVDs.
Here’s the one that takes place just before the Christmas Special:
And then the one that came right before “The Snowmen”.
It’s sooooo hilarious that hearing Madam Vastra was a prehistoric dinosaur woman didn’t freak out the Police Inspector… but finding out she was a Lesbian dinosaur woman did. Hehehee!! So “Victorian” a mindset…. 😉
Mmmmm!! I’m with you! November can’t get here soon enough!
Thank you for the videos 🙂
I haven’t seen those yet. The first one is very funny, especislly Strax and his plan to attack the moon…I like that potato man.
I guess the victorian set makes them a bit restrain…but yeah that inspector’s expression was funny.
I have rewatched Planet of the Ood, and yes Ten shouted “Clara, where are you?” Instead of Donna where are you.
Watching that episode makes me want to watch all of them again….I really really really love Donna, no other companions are like her.
I want to know who John Hurt is and how Ten-half and Rose get out of the pararel universe and the expression of Eleven when he sees Rose…because when he was Ten he loved her…WHY November????
Hahaha!! Yes… Strax is hilarious. But hey… he might just be right about the “moonites”. 😉
I’m hoping that Donna and many of the old companions might make it into the special. It’s sad that Sarah Jane Smith won’t be able to since Elizabeth Sladen died… she was the companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors and was playing her part waaaaay back when I first saw the series in the early 80’s here in the US. For her time she was very spunky and fun and I was so sad to hear about her death from Cancer. I really liked her in the new spin-off series she did to tie in with the newer Doctor Who series 😦
I’m thinking that John Hurt might be the 13th Doctor… the final regeneration he has before he dies at Trenzalor, The Great Intelligence said the Doctor turned “dark” in the later part of his existence, but who knows how far in the future that might be? The bad news is that means we only get one more actor to play the Doctor after Matt Smith!! :0
I don’t know if David Tennant is returning for the special as his alter ego from the alternate universe or not… I haven’t really heard anything more about the 50th anniversary special yet. Given the who Time Travel thingee, we could get Rose and the 10th Doctor from before any of that happened…. 🙂 I hope his clone daughter Jenny (played by Georgia Moffett) from the 4th season finally makes it back.
Oooooh!! I’m glad you liked seeing the videos too, Novia. I hope you liked catching those little bits of the story… I just Love Vastra and Jenny… and I’m thinking I know what Carolyn and I are going to dress up as for Halloween this year. 🙂
I wonder what had happened to Strax, he no longer acts like a proper Sontaran.
Unfortunately, Donna can only be cameo…she is not allowed to remember the Doctor anymore 😦 . I like Sarah Jane too even though I have only seen her in series 3 and 4.
But…if Hurt is the future Doctor, how can the Eleventh knows him? Some Whovian think that he is actually the Nine because Eight was the one who got caught up in Time War, so that makes Christopher actually the tenth Doctor. We will never find it out till November.
Considering the paradox, i do believe Tennant will show up as Ten-half.
Oh yes!!! I wish Captain jack and Jenny make an appearance in the life of Eleventh Doctor…I hope Moffat will consider that. It would be fun to know what Jack thinks of the new doctor and how Jenny feels to see that his “father” has changed. The last time I heard that Georgia was pregnant, don’t know whether she already delivers the baby or not. David is a busy father 😉
Who will be Vastra? the make up is going to difficult 😉
So many interesting characters… it will be hard for them to fit them all in and make a good story. I guess we’ll find out when November comes. 😉
Ahhh… Carolyn is taller than me and I’m dark haired like Jenny, but I’m thinking she wouldn’t be really happy with all that make-up just for a one night thing. Who knows? maybe I’ll just do something inspired by Vastra and Jenny instead.
It would be cool if you can do the make up 😉
Miyuki…..have you heard? NOOOOOOO I am just beginning to like Matt but he will leave the show after Chrismast 😦 sad sad news
Yes… I just saw the news and it makes me a bit sad too as I really came to like Matt and his eccentric way of playing the Doctor. 😦
I hope this doesn’t mean Clara will be leaving as well. Now that we know her “secret” I was looking forward to seeing her settle in as a companion for a while.
Clara won’t leave, at least that what’s BBC said.
I am sad but I look forward to the new Doctor. I will write my thought on the new Doctor soon.
I never really realized before reading this post how diverese this series is.
Each episode is another genre. That’s quite fascinating. Hmmmm Temptation….
That IS the reason why I instantly fell in love with the Doctor Who even thought the special effect was still lame when I first saw it (from series 5, the effect is already good).
The stories are never set in one place with one particular genre or atmospher and it’s like we are with The Doctor journeying across time and space. I watched Star Trek when I was younger but the series never made me feel like I was experiencing a journey with them.
I know it might sound silly but watching Doctor Who is like reading a book…it takes me somewhere else.
A cliffhanger at the end when none of the rest were is totally unfair.
I KNOW!!! Arrrghh those writers sure know how to keep fans wanting more.
The fact they do it on purpose just makes it worse.
Wait. I better not say that since I’ve done it a time or two too.
Huahaha I bet all writers (for TV/movie or book) done it a couple of time 😉
The ones who get hired/published again do.
Aaah I’m finally planning to watch this series, Miss. But is it okay if I start from the Series 6? I just got them from my friends, but he only has Series 6-7. Hopefully I have the time this weekend 🙂
No prob 🙂
Series 6 was awesome. You can practically watch DW from any series because the finale always concludes the whole series…except for this series 7.
Please let me know what you think after seeing it 🙂 I need more people to talk with about amazing series 🙂
Oh the dreaded cliffhanger! They know how to hook you don’t they. At least I know I can watch random episodes from this season and not feel too lost.
Without the cliffhanger, the Doctor has already hooked me 😉
Every series of Doctor Who (the new one not the classic) can be watched at random, except for a two part stories, sometimes they did that.
Great post, Novia! Did I ever tell you my daughter Trisha has a Dalek action figure? *LOL*
Thank you Steph 🙂
I think I ahve seen a picture of her holding the dalek…or is it a TARDIS?
I bet Dalek makes a good cup 😉
Awesome Nov! You’re much more dedicated to TV shows than I am these days. I still haven’t watched any more episodes. Glad to hear this show lives up to your expectations!
Thank you Ruth 🙂
Wait for my Broadchurch review on Monday 😉
I have found the joy of watching TV series again since I turned British…I still watch Movie but at the moment, my favorite series won the battle over any movie 😉
OMG Novia!!! There’s a new mini-episode out from the BBC on Youtube that explains some more about the John Hurt Doctor and the Time war…. and just what did happen to the 8th Doctor, Paul McGann!!! I’m in full on fangirl mode!!! 🙂
Ooooohhh!! Ooooohhh!! You are really going to want to see it before the 50th Anniversary special comes out. Here’s the link:
I’m sooooo darn excited!! I can’t wait till the 23rd.
Oh WOW!!!!! Thank you for the link ((hug))
I haven’t checked anything online and you have made my day 🙂
Can’t wait for the 50th to start airing.
Well… we fanatic “Doctor Who” fans have to stick together now don’t we? 🙂
I sooooo couldn’t sit still when I found the video over at Twitchfilm and you were the first person I knew who would be as excited to see it as me… Carolyn heard me squeal with joy from the kitchen and thought I was losing it. She’s still laughing across the room right now about how I simply just had to share the news with somebody… anybody… who would understand or just go crazy, Hahahaha!!
I’m so glad it made your day! My biggest ((hug)) in return!! 🙂
After seeing your video, I realized I might have missed so many Doctor Who things…I hunt BBC and found this
Huaaaaaa….Tennant!!!!! God how I miss his Doctor
Can’t believe it’s next week…I have to blog about these two videos now (I am going to ignore the fact that I have report card to check ;p)