Of the six seasons (plus specials) of new Doctor Who that we’ve had thus far, Series Six, which was released today on DVD and Blu-ray, might be my least favorite.
“WHAT!” you say, closing this page, thinking I’m a complete idiot. No, hear me out…
It’s just after the final moments of Series Five, I think the show got a little too “wibbly wobbly timey wimpy” for its own good. Every episode seemed to involve multiple versions of the same character (which may have been intentional), some weird bouncing around in time, Rory dying, or things not necessarily being what it seems. And if you’re not 100% invested, you’re kind of … lost.
It’s also strange, because I loved Steven Moffat’s weirdly non-linear storytelling on Coupling. Try watching the episode “The Girl With Two Breasts” and honestly tell me that’s not one of the funniest episodes of television you’ve ever seen. Or the episode with “Dick Darlington” and “Giselle.” Steven Moffat (the Doctor Who show runner for those of you who may be unaware) is a master at that sort of thing. But too many returns to that well and it’s hard to connect.
I’m going to try not to spoil much in this review, as far as what happens to the characters and who it was that shot and seemingly killed the Doctor early on. So if you’re a loyal Whovian and think “this guy’s an idiot – he forgot this story element!” No. I didn’t.
But with that all said.. there is quite a bit to like on this Doctor Who series set, which comprises of all of Series Six as well as last year’s holiday special, “A Christmas Carol.”
Here are some thoughts on the stories:
The introductory two-parter, again, because I didn’t care much about the Silence and thought the story was a contrived way to set up a season arc, wasn’t so much of a winner as last year’s “The Eleventh Hour” or previous season openers had been. It’s great to see Mark Sheppard (Supernatural’s Crowley), and it’s cool and all that they filmed part of the story here in the U.S., but it didn’t work for me.
The third episode, involving pirates and a siren, might have fared even worse. I thought I was watching a bad pirate pantomime during that one.
Then things start getting good. Neil Gaiman, the brilliant author of Sandman, wrote a Doctor Who tale about the Doctor’s true love in “The Doctor’s Wife.” And no, I’m not talking about River Song there. I’m so glad Gaiman got to write for the show.
Following that is a “Rebel Flesh” 2-parter which had some fake-outs but still reminded me the most of classic Doctor Who stories. Having more time to tell a story often brings out better pacing and more character development. I approve.
Next up was the mid-season finale, “A Good Man Goes To War.” Others seemed to like it better than I did, but there are some important revelations in that one.
Doctor Who returned with “Let’s Kill Hitler,” which actually didn’t have much to do with Hitler at all, though Arthur Darvill’s Rory got some pretty hilarious lines in. The highlight of that story might be Amy and Rory’s friend “Mels,” and what ends up happening to her.
“Night Terrors” and “The God Complex” kind of divert from the norm and fall into that “Doctor Who is trying too hard to be scary” category, which didn’t really scare me, and neither particularly did much for me.
“The Girl Who Waited” is another one of those “horrible things happen to a companion in an alternate timeline” type stories that the show seems to return to way too often. On the bright side, it’s a good story.
“Closing Time” brings back the Doctor’s former roommate/friend Craig from last season’s “The Lodger.” Although I didn’t care for “The Lodger,” I thought this one was pretty great, despite a kind of rubbish ending. It made me smile, and I think that’s an important thing to get from TV.
Finally, there’s the series finale “The Wedding of River Song” which wraps things up. Is it good? Watch for yourself and see.
Series regulars for this season of Doctor Who include Matt Smith as The Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, and Arthur Darvill as Rory. Alex Kingston appears in many of the episodes as River Song, and she plays quite a role in Series Six.
Now that my episode commentary is out of the way, what was the DVD set like?
The packaging for the set looks good, and it’s not as crazy to get into as some of the later series sets were. It’s classy looking, and disc art features characters from the episodes of the show. It’s a 6-disc set, with the sixth disc exclusively carrying extras such as Doctor Who Confidentials.
There doesn’t appear to be a booklet this time, but it’s fine – all of the relevant disc info is within.
The best extras on the set include a series of mini-episodes with the banner title “Night And The Doctor.” These are nice character moments, but I’m a little disappointed at the same time, as they contain dialogue and revelations that should have been addressed on the show itself. For example: How much do Amy and Rory remember? The two mini-sodes from last year called “Space” and “Time” are also included. They’re worth the price alone to see the hilarious reaction Amy has to meeting herself.
There are commentaries, including one from Neil Gaiman (!!), but there don’t seem to be as many as there were in previous years, where we’d get one for every story. The series leads are noticeably absent from commentaries also, sadly. I did hear Arthur Darvill on one of them, but I don’t think Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, or Alex Kingston are featured in any, unless there were some I couldn’t find to hear. That’s a little disappointing.
Also included are some “Monster Files” telling the histories of characters, sometimes even with clips from the classic series. I particularly liked the one about the Cybermats.
So, despite my complaining about some of the stories, is this set worth it? Absolutely. Doctor Who on DVD looks fantastic, and I’m sure if I had a Blu-ray player, I’d be saying the Blu-ray looks amazing too. The set is out today, so check it out!
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