Day of the Moon

Just about as strong as its first part. I glossed over it last review but I just love the aesthetics of these two episodes. Everything really has the feel of the Apollo program, and the Silence really mesh well with this as they evoke the Men in Black conspiracy. Mark Sheppard is an awesome one-off companion and is super memorable here. And that moment where the Silence broadcast their message, "You should kill us all on sight" is easily one of my all time favourite Doctor Who moments. The episode starts off a little off-kilter and over the top, but it really nails the ending and sets up a good mystery to drive the rest of Season 6.

There are too many threads to this one, but it just about manages to hold onto its form, giving a satisfactory enough conclusion to justify the seemingly endless twists and turns. Who knew Doctor Who could be so complicated? All this intrigue is going to require a hell of a payoff!

I’m now finally into the period of modern Doctor Who which I do not know inside out and it’s delightful to not anticipate the finer details of the stories I am watching, which I have not seen for many years.

The Silence are incredible creations, one of the new series best. A brilliant premise well realised. And terrifying. The lack of control people have in their slow, creeping presence is very affecting.

The character of The Doctor has shifted away from whimsy to something more brooding, flirtatious and mysterious. I’m not sure I like this Doctor knowing how to flirt, as it was a distinguishing character for him, but I’m going with it. Maybe if they gave us move of an off-ramp between the two characterisations.

There’s a dramatic epic scale to this story which is impressive, global and far reaching in a way that hasn’t been realised in this way before. There is a lot of spectacle and wow moments in this one. Whether it all works is all down to how well they carry this out throughout the rest of the series - but they’re getting the benefit of the doubt for now.

Canton Delaware III is a marvellous character, works well in a double act with Nixon. I hope that isn’t the last we see of that character, though I seem to remember it is. Shame! The way he and The Doctor dispense with the Silence is tremendously satisfying.

I’m glad they affirmed Amy’s love for Rory, but I think I’ve had enough of them playing with that now… let’s leave that in series 5 shall we?