That was brilliant. And not just "for Doctor Who fans" brilliant, but a properly good drama. Magnificent performances all round, beautiful direction, stunning production design... And so packed with stuff, I honestly think it could've been twice as long (or even longer) and still not felt padded or too mired in minutiae. If it doesn't win all the awards there's no justice.
Followed by William Hartnell: The Original, a teeny tiny documentary that definitely would withstand being (significantly) longer.
[Watch them both (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Doctor Who33x14 The Name of the Doctor [season finale; 2nd watch]
Well well well now, here's a day I half expected we'd never see: the penultimate part of #bbbDW50. And in some respects that makes it The End, because the final part -- the 50th episode of the season's 50 episodes -- is tomorrow's anniversary special, and even if the rest of my celebratory viewing had faltered I'd still be watching that, wouldn't I? So yes, from that point of view, it ends here -- hurrah, I did it, etc.
But enough of that -- which episode is in this illustrious position? Well, it's one from earlier this year -- it is, in fact, the most recent full-length episode of nuWho, the previous season finale. Which probably doesn't have a huge bearing on the 50th special (as Moffat said himself somewhere, who'd be fool enough to make such an event "Part 2"?!), but is nonetheless a handy primer, I feel. Plus there's the double-bonus that (like the last episode), everyone else fawned over it relentlessly after it aired, whereas I was considerably more cautious.
I have to say, I'm still not wholly convinced. While there's a bit more of a plot than I remembered, I still feel like it's a collection of "bits" -- an explanation for Clara, a goodbye to River, kisses to the past, a cliffhanger tease, etc. Nonetheless, it's mostly entertaining, and almost emotional in places; but it's still... not even a season finale, really, and certainly not a story in itself... just a Big Episode.
Friends
5x05 The One with the Kips [4th or so watch]
The One Show
20/11/13 edition
A Doctor Who themed edition of the BBC magazine show... but still chock full of their usual features on Stuff, so if you want to watch, be prepared to do plenty of fast-forwarding to the scattered good bits.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Was It Something I Said
1x05 Episode 5 (extended repeat)
[Watch only the shorter version on 4oD.]
