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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Production Code

2.12

Written by

Gareth Roberts

Directed by

Steve Hughes

Runtime

45 minutes

Story Type

Companion-Lite

Time Travel

Present

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Spaceship

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Silence Will Fall

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Colchester, Earth, England

UK Viewers

6.93 million

Appreciation Index

86

Synopsis

Craig Owens is having enough trouble trying to care for his child; the last thing he needs is the return of his old friend, the Doctor. But, as ever, trouble seems to have followed the Doctor, this time with a silvery shine.

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Reviews

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2 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

I mean, it's okay. Not the best but it does confirm that River was the Astronaut and the Silence have a cameo but honestly, it's not very good.


This review contains spoilers!

This picks up where The Lodger left off and does a solid job of recapturing that energy and putting it in a new setting. The Doctor working in a department store is funny and charming, it's not something the show needed to revisit but it's a bit of fun. I am far more comfortable with this version of Matt Smith’s Doctor who is socially inept and doesn’t understand interpersonal dynamics, than the sexy, suave Doctor who’s put together and knows everything.

Amy being a famous model? Not a fan of that. Seems apropos of nothing. Would have been much better if she and Rory did not appear in the episode. Felt like a contractual thing.

It's a little more loose limbed than The Lodger. You miss some of the spark of seeing The Doctor the first time round coming into these mundane, real world situations: playing football, being an awkward third wheel. There is some delight to be had seeing The Doctor pushing a pram and talking to the baby. It's hard to begrudge a second outing for something that is silly and straightforward, unlike the tiresome series long arc.

It's the resolution though where things go wrong and credibility starts being stretched. The power of a father’s love for his son overcoming a Cyber-conversion feels contrived and oversimplified given everything we know about the Cybermen. It's also the third time in this series that a father’s love for his son saves the day. Which is not good scripting or series planning.

Fun overall episode, but they did not have a good ending up their sleeves.


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Statistics

AVG. Rating555 members
2.85 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating1,141 votes
3.96 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating173 votes
3.15 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

1228

Favourited

45

Reviewed

2

Saved

2

Skipped

0

Owned

10

Quotes

Add Quote

KOVARIAN: By Silencio Lake, on the Plain of Sighs, an Impossible Astronaut will rise from the deep and strike the Time Lord dead.

RIVER: It's a story.

KOVARIAN: And this is where it begins.

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Transcript Needs checking

[Ladies clothing]

(Evening. The Sanderson & Grainger department store sign and the street lights are flickering in the pedestrian area outside. The last customers are leaving.)

WOMAN: Thank you.
KELLY: Better cash up then. Suppose John Joe can just wait for me.
SHONA: No, I'll do it. You head off.

(The lights flicker again.)

KELLY: When's the council going to fix this? Last night my telly went off in the middle of Top Model.
SHONA: John Joe's waiting. I'll do the changing rooms, too.
KELLY: Oh, thanks, Shona.


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