So, we’ve had a few weeks between the, in my opinion, weak conclusion to Season 9 and now, Christmas Day. We’ve opened our presents, ate some food and endured our racist relatives so now it’s time to kick back and watch the last episode of Doctor Who for a while. Does it hold up? Let’s see.
1. “A Whole Storm of Camp”
The Doctor finally gets to have his own “Bigger on the Inside” moment and the Doctor and River get yelled at by a head contained in a bag. Yeah, it’s Christmas, roll with it.
2. Kind of Paper Thin Plot
Really, this is the big problem with this episode: Sure it’s a bunch of campy fun (or however one can derive “campy fun” from a robot that is constantly replacing its head with the heads of living people, I guess), but kind of like presents, the majority of this extended episode is tissue paper around the final fifteen minutes. The villain, head-swapping aside, feels forgettable and a lot of the supporting characters as well. Also, another instance of the far, multi-millennium distant future looking a lot like modern times! C’mon! Future it up already!
3. That Said, Capaldi and Kingston Are Great Together
I’ve always had problems with River Song, mostly in the writing of her as a character. She’s had fine moments but overall it felt very “Strong Female Character” for me with a majority of her story being “the Doctor’s wife”. But it was never the problem of actress Alex Kingston, who does elevate the character above some of the flawed writing and bounces incredibly well with Capaldi, perhaps more so than Matt Smith.
4. Vulnerability
All my problems with the character, the last half of this episode may have been my favorite scenes with River because for the first time I felt there was some legit vulnerability to the character. I don’t think a lot of people consider that when they are watching a character: sure the badass moments are cool and the witty one-liners are a laugh, but it is our vulnerabilities that make us truly human. And here, River gets to show a great deal of insecurity and I actually liked that. This also benefitted from the fact that this is the first episode with River that is strictly the Doctor and River. Not the Doctor, Donna Noble and River. Not the Doctor and the Pond Family. Just the Doctor and River. Not having to spare focus on other companions really helped (also Alex Kingston finally got title credit at last).
5. Closed Circle
Let’s get down to it: this is the end to River Song’s story. The Doctor takes her to the Singing Towers of Darillium in a new haircut and suit for one last night before River’s fateful mission to the Library (although, Moffat does put a twist here that makes it a bit more sweet than bitter). The rumors going about that Season 10 is going to be Capaldi’s last and potentially Steven Moffat as showrunner. This could be the beginning of tying up plots and characters for Season 10. Or I could just be looking too much into it. Regardless, this feels like the proper moment for River’s story to end (At least on television: Big Finish has been continuing her stories in audio drama format). It was sad, it was a bit funny, it had some problems, it had some awesomeness. Just like Dr. River Song.
