Ten Thoughts About Doctor Who: The Big Bang

SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT SEEN DOCTOR WHO: THE BIG BANG

First, why not watch Steven Moffat’s son watching the finale of Doctor Who with Steven Moffat and the rest of the family? And then an interview with him….

1. Steven Moffat isn’t Russell T Davies. He’s Joe Michael Straczynski.

This isn’t one arc. This is a multi-arc story. And one that appears to have been thoroughly thought through like Babylon rather than made up on the fly like Lost and Battlestar. We’re still awaiting answers to questions. But the fact that there are questions has been acknowledged by the show. Who is the Big Bad? What is up with River and the Doctor? What caused the TARDIS to explode? And why the day of Amy’s marriage? But this is no Hurley bird or pre-existing All Along The Watchtower here…

Oh and he uses all his old tricks again and again, But we don’t care. Moffat’s here for the long term.

2. Lots Of Predicted Things Happened, But Rarely In The Way They Were Predicted.

The Doctor travelled along his time stream, but not by TARDIS or Time Vortex Manipulator but simply being thrown back as an audio-only apparition. So, yes, Amy having her eyes closed in Flesh And Stone was important than we thought at the time. The Doctor came back to Amelia waiting for him as a young child, but only when she was asleep. Yes there were too many rooms in Amy’s but only cos the crack kept eating up people. Yes the Time Vortex was needed to get out of the Pandorica but not simply just jumping out from inside it.

Which means that even for people that were spoiled, there were plenty of surprises and delights!

3. The Sofa Of Reasonable Comfort

How the Doctor gets out of the Master’s trap in Steven Moffat’s Comic Relief Doctor Who parody Curse Of Fatal Death is pretty much the same way he gets out of the Pandorica. By way of Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey. But we actually get to see it as well, with and without mop. Really fun timey wimey all over the place, from sonic screwdrivers to fizzy drinks. Can we hope for an adaptation of Continuity Errors next year?

This episode also happens to show two simultaneous and contradictory rules for time travel. That time is fixed, and travelling in it is what always happens. The Heinlein approach. And then there’s the timeline has changed but it takes an age to kick in and affect everything in which time you have the chance to change it again, which is the Miller/Simonson rule from Robocop Vs Terminator. Still a great example of time travel mechanics.

4. A World Without Stars

Richard Dawkin’s star cult? I want to know more about this world. And yes, I was thinking “what about the sun?” Nicely answered. Also a world with two Amys which Eve found delightful and insisted I tell her a story about two Eves. And with the universe collapsing, I guess there’s no Blinovitch Effect or Reapers around to cause issues with two Doctors either.

5. Blub Blub Blub

Moffat’s Who has been criticised for being too much head and not enough heart. Trying to be clever clever and making sense, but without the gut-wrenching stuff that Russell brought to the show. Well, this had all that. And a lot of hand-waving Russell-style scientific gobbledy-nonsense as well. Could this be the best of both worlds? I’m just loving it, me. Blinkers on stun.

6. Who’d Be Aunt Sharon?

Losing a nine year old girl in a museum? Oh yes, that will go down well. Selfish little red headed Scottish child. No seriously, the Earth is well rid of her. Should have stayed in that box longer.

7. The Doctor Dances

His moves haven’t got that better since Steven Moffat wrote him doing the same thing in the episode, um, The Doctor Dances.

He always dances at weddings…

Nice reprise the the “my boys” line as well.

8. Not Remembering The Daleks

While not explicitly addressed, one can imagine a Dalek invasion of Earth reaching Leadworth where the crack eats up all the pepperpots along with the ducks.

9. Aw And They All Got Married And Everything

We could see “old, new, borrowed, blue” coming up, but wasn’t it just lovely? The BBC have a online wedding album for the happy couple – er… triple. Check it out here.

And actually – what is River Song doing on Earth at the wedding? How does she remember eh? What with an empty book and all that.

And now… the Doctor is travelling with his first married couple. How exactly is that going to work out? And depsite rumours that even I didn’t go with, no sign of Omega. Of course.

10. Marvel Comics Get Onto The BBC

Tom Breevort, Jim McCann and the back of Dan Slott’s head make it onto the Doctor Who Confidential show that follows on BBC3, looking at the show’s PR trip to the USA.

And from the reverse perspective,