Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife Review (5/5)

Neil Gaiman's first Doctor Who outing starts out just like any other episode- oh, who am I kidding? Before the titles roll, we've had a call from a Time Lord, the return of the Ood and the TARDIS inhabiting deceased-to-be Idris, and that was just the start of what has rightfully been dubbed a fifty minute love letter to fans. Incredibly, although after the opening scenes things did slow down a bit, that running time flew by thanks to fabulous guest star Suranne Jones' immediate on-screen chemistry with the Doctor, constantly moving from bickery and wit to nostalgia and genuine heartbreak as the unlikely couple realised that their time together was limited. Everything was spot on in terms of the soundtrack, CGI and scenery (the junkyard was full of great shots, especially that of the spaceship graveyard), showcasing the darker tone of this year's season through the use of mainly white and green lighting on the message boxes and the Ood sphere respectively. My only criticism of The Doctor's Wife has to be that it went at such a rollocking pace from setpiece to setpiece (the Blue Peter TARDIS, the infinite corridors, the 2005-2010 TARDIS, all within five minutes!) that it was sometimes a touch too difficult to keep up with some of the dialogue and for less attentive viewers to keep track of what was going on. That being said, nothing could have ruined the tragic final scene between Jones and Matt Smith, the latter brilliantly portraying a Doctor deeply saddened to lose a friend he's only just met and yet who has been with him throughout his travels- even at 50 minutes, there wasn't enough time to make such a well-written scene go on longer, but I think in many ways the brevity of their last conversation was the point. I've covered so little of the story as a whole here, but I could go on and on about the strengths of Episode Four, and despite being slower and more thoughtful this more than matches up to its three predecessors, setting an impossibly high standard for the remaining three stories and hopefully serving as an incentive to exec producer Steven Moffat to get Neil Gaiman back on his writing team as soon as possible!