Here we are, then- the final instalment of the seventh
season of Doctor Who since its
revival in 2005. Season Seven has been quite a run, boasting Daleks, dinosaurs,
the Wild West, cube invasions, Weeping Angels, venomous Snowmen, Wi-Fi
incursions, planetary sing-songs, Ice Warriors, TARDIS explorations, haunted
houses, Victorian horrors and the Cybermen, yet there’s something about its
finale, The Name Of The Doctor, that
brings a genuine sense of nostalgia and most importantly, closure.
In terms of the former element, the rapid appearances of all
of the Eleven Doctors so far in Steven Moffat’s daring opening sequence is
something of a fan-fest. Clearly, the 50th Anniversary Special is in
very safe hands going by the level of
nostalgia and satisfaction provided by Clara’s romp through the timeline of
everyone’s favourite time traveller. It has naturally been noted that one or
two of the recut classic series scenes melded together old and new footage more
effectively than others, but on the whole it was difficult to discredit Steven
for opening his 50th Anniversary adventures with a bang.
Of course, if the positive aspects of the episode ended
there, we could have called Name a
colossal disappointment. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, with this finale
being one that was full of memorable moments. From Matt Smith’s beautiful
descent into tears at the mention of the Fields of Trenzalore, a place which
through Dorium’s prophecies he now recognises as his future (?) tomb, to the
brilliant humour of the Paternoster Gang (Strax’s “I think I've got him in a
grapple!” had this reviewer in fits of laughter), there were few limits to the
extent of the quality of this concluding epic instalment.
It’s impossible to deal with Name in any review without tackling its rather game-changing final
scenes. One of the episode’s few notable flaws was that Richard E Grant was no
more impressive as the Great Intelligence than he was in The Snowmen, instead remaining a slightly pantomime-esque and
wooden foe for the Doctor to face off against. Also, the Whispermen weren't
exactly the next ‘iconic’ Who monsters
from the Moff. However, John Hurt’s shock appearance at the episode’s end was a
truly impactful surprise, especially if implications of his Doctor being taken
from a time between the Eighth and Ninth incarnations are to be believed.
Could it be that Trenzalore is in fact the ‘tomb’ of this
semi-alternate Doctor, so that the death-place of the Thirteenth Doctor has yet
to be revealed? We’ll see, but the implications of the Doctor’s ‘greatest
secret’ have all the same been delivered upon in full force here, resolving
almost three years of a prolonged and intelligent narrative arc. This is where
that latter element of closure comes in- we see why ‘silence must fall’ when
the Question is asked both in the Doctor’s refusal to reveal a universal threat
by unlocking his tomb, and indeed by the stars going out once the Question has
been answered. Similarly, it seemed as if the Doctor’s name itself was a rather
rudimentary secret to reveal, so that it’s what the knowledge of the name literally unlocks that is so dangerous is a
masterful turn of events on Moffat’s part to be sure.
So it’s been a rather incredible season of Doctor Who- for some, the fall of the
Ponds arc was more concise and effective than the disparate Clara arc, yet
overall The Name Of The Doctor managed
to tie together the various strands of the fourteen-episode run into a
gripping, game-changing Who science-fiction
thriller that successfully weaved nods to the past together with allusions to
what’s to come. Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman remain vital assets of
success to the show, while Alex Kingston and the majority of the supporting
cast (Grant and the rather irksome kids aside) bring spectacular standalone
performances of their own on a consistent basis. No episode of Who is perfect, yet The Name Of The Doctor is one of those almighty adventures which
eclipses its minor shortcomings to become something truly special.
5/5
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