The first

Before I start I wanted to revisit what I mentioned last time about the Doctor traveling alone for too long. What I didn't realise last time about the 300 years that have past was what this evidently means. Putting this into content, in the Doctor's life it's been 300 years since Rose, Martha, Donna and fish custard with l'il Amelia. So this version of the Doctor is in a league of his own. Long gone are the days of early Eleven, Ten, Nine and even distant are the days of the Classics. And I find myself to be wrong in referencing the past lessons we have witnessed him learn because he will reasonably have a different take after hundreds of years later.

Jeez I write too much. Moving on...

Amy: Then why do you keep coming back for us? 

The Doctor: Because you were the first. The first face this face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts… Amelia Pond. You always will be. I’m running to you and Rory before you… fade from me.

This explains a lot and it's sad to hear knowing that there is only one more adventure the Doctor has with the Ponds. The Eleventh will always belong to Amy just like how Ten belonged to Rose. They were respectively the first. The first faces his new face saw, seared onto his hearts forever (until he regenerates of course). It's really beautifully written.

The Power of Three... gosh do I cringe at this title. Yeah I get it. "Cubed", to the power of three. But seriously?

Again I'm gonna sit on the fence about this episode. It was fun, we got to see the Doctor go all 'Saturday Night Fever'-ish. It was cringe worthy but it's so the Doctor. Oh and the Shakri, like Darth Sidious but more creepy. However, it all ended rather too quickly again and the problem solved so easily. I do hope we see the Shakri come back for revenge. Muahahaha!... 'cos they're like the Sith. Revenge of the Sith. Shakri. Sith. Shakri?... No? Bad joke?... O_O

One more to go.

MY MERCY!

Preacher: [referring to his horse] He’s called Joshua. It’s from the Bible. It means the deliverer. 
The Doctor: [the horse grunts] No he isn’t. 
Preacher: What?! 
The Doctor: I speak horse. He’s called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices.

I sort of wish he'd followed "He's called Susan" with the comment "lovely name" as a little nod to his granddaughter. But alas, he didn't.

So A Town Called Mercy... I'm not sure how I feel about the episode as a whole, but, I'll definitely remember it for the edge-of-the-seat-moment when the Doctor was frightfully merciless. Taking justice into his own hands again but this time with his companions witnessing. I was wide-eyed seeing the Doctor push and shove Jex across town to his pending doom and threatening to shoot the man; and him, genuinely not knowing if he would. So what happened to the Doctor's "I never would" motto? I don't condone his actions, but, boy this scene was brilliant stuff and rather than scary it was thrilling. And Amy butting heads with the Doctor. She put him in his place but I don't feel he's learnt his lesson yet. The story sort of wrapped up rather quickly and I'm a little confused where the characters all stand now. But hey, still two more Pond stories to see where it leads.

On a trivial note, I always thought the Doctor was joking in the Impossible Astronaut when he said he was 1103 years old. So I was astound to hear that he's now 1200 years old and "matured". I'm assuming it's true then. He really did take a 200 year long farewell tour before the events of Lake Silencio. Boy, did he run! And for so long. Now add another 100 years on top of that. Wow. he really is spending too much travelling time alone.

...

28/09: Oh I just watched the First Doctor's trip to the Wild West in The Gunfighters story and I so had to add to this post! The two adventures intriguingly mirror each other in little ways. In both stories the Doctor is mistaken by the locals for another "doctor" in town. He gets called 'Doc' a few times and also 'Pop' with irritation. Ha!

Yet, it is so ironic when the First Doctor says, "...you can’t walk into the middle of a Western town and say you’ve come from outer space. Good gracious me! You’d be arrest on a vagrancy charge!", seeing how openly Eleven admitted to being an alien when in Mercy (though he probably meant the other definition). 

And I can do one better than Ten's "I never would" now, with One's response, immediately after being forcibly deputised, "Well. this is utterly absurd! Nothing will ever induce me to raise a gun in anger." Oh if One saw Eleven, he'd probably give himself a good scolding! But it was just hilarious seeing the First Doctor nervously waving a gun about. 

Great to hear even back then the Doctor didn't drink alcohol, opting for a glass of milk instead. Guess he hadn't quite gotten on to the tea drinking business yet. 

I guess this could have been a post on its own but it relates well with A Town Called Mercy so I'll just stick it here. =)    

Rory's Queen

Shall we all hail Queen Amy then?

Queen Nefertiti: You and the Doctor, are you his queen?
Amy: No. No. I’m Rory’s queen. Wife! Wife. I’m his wife. Please don’t tell him I said I was his queen. I’ll never hear the end of it.

Oh Amy and ahh the Ponds. With three episodes left with them it's good to still be able to have a chuckle. And this is exactly what Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was. So apparently the new marital traditions are that not only does Amy's husband become a Pond but so does her father-in-law. Female dominance. Ha! I'm loving it!

Aside from all the laughs, there was the darker stuff. The description of the genocide was a jaw dropper. It also seems the Doctor has become less forgiving. He has killed before but only when he didn't have a choice (in recent incarnations). Not like this. He left them to die as punishment. Taking justice into his own hands. Quoting Captain Adelaide, "No one should have that much power". I guess we'll see where this leads next epsiode.

All in, great epsiode. Brian Pond/Williams was a great character. Of all the favours involving the TARDIS I would have never thought to ask to be able to have tea and sandwiches while floating above the Earth to enjoy all its beauty. Brilliant!

But you made them forget me

Oswin: [referring to herself] There a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?
The Doctor: Doctor. You call me the Doctor.

Asylum of the Daleks. ...Well that was an epic episode. Ambitious. Very ambitious. Of movie length proportion. I feel like it only returned back to its campy television self at the end when the Doctor hops out the TARDIS and calls the Daleks "Suckerrs!". 

Now his greatest and oldest enemies have Doctor-amnesia... Whoah! I just realised, isn't it ironic that the first bit of advice the Doctor told Amy aboard the parliament ship was "Make them remember you". Oops! now they don't.

Just to qualify, I thought the episode was good but not great. It felt too grand in some way. 

Keep it Light

Light. Why? Because life just seems so heavy at the moment. I have literally nothing I want to talk about. So why am I here? To keep it light!

Hhhhh.

Light. Light. Light. Oo! I got one! Pond Li-iife! (Sing it like they do The Simmmpsonnns!) So the five parter mini Pond adventures are over. And don't the writers know just how to wind us up. It was all fun and laughs until the gleefully anxious Doctor was left dejected outside the empty Pond residence. "Everything is all right isn't it? With you two?" I guess the answer is no. And if this is going to be a heart breaking end for the Ponds then let it be a harrowing one I say! Though, I hope the pair all the best, I really do, but there hasn't been a deeply sad episode since The End of Time. It's been all fun and mysteries for too long and I'm ready for something big. If it's coming this way then bring it.

The new series starts tomorrow, 5.10am apparently 'cos I live in Aussie land. I am so not waking for that one. I'm a fan but early mornings I don't do. Late nights, that's a different story.

Since I'm still on topic, I've been watching Classic Who from the beginning. Mind you, very slowly but the action does pick up and the First Doctor is becoming a favourite of mine. His mischievous chuckle, quick temper, wit and fluffy of lines is all together what makes William Hartnell's Doctor a charming one. Oh, "[he] could charm the nightingales out of the trees" if he tried. Ha!

I also watched Casanova recently. The BBC miniseries not the movie. It was... sad. It was funny, dramatic, vulgar and romantic too. But what I will remember most about it, is that it was sad. A beautifully sad story.

Righteo. Still light. Not heavy on emotion nor on detail. That's it!