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New Who Series 5 Report Card – Tansy

We would like to thank everyone who nominated our “New Who in Conversation” series for the William Atheling Jr Award again this year – it’s a great honour to be on the ballot! Voting for the annual Ditmar Awards (which the Atheling is included in) is open to all members of Continuum X (2014 Natcon – Melbourne) and Conflux 9 (2013 Natcon – Canberra), and can be done online.

You can find David’s report card and Tehani’s report card for this season on their websites.

The Doctor: Matt Smith

Well, he’s wonderful, isn’t he? From “The Eleventh Hour” onwards, Matt Smith proved everyone wrong about whether an actor under thirty could play the iconic role. He quickly became a favourite of mine, not that I have favourite Doctors! And while the show continued the fresh, modern ever-changing style that had been launched with New Who back in 2005, it was with this Doctor and this version of the show that it started to feel that maybe there wasn’t such a thing as Classic and New Who after all – the Eleventh Doctor felt most coherently like the last in a long line. That scene in Eleventh Hour where he steps through the holographic images of his former selves, straightening his bow tie… it gets me every time!

The Companions:

Amy Pond: Karen Gillan

I’m a big fan of Amy Pond. I guess I just like stroppy redheads in the companion role (also a big fan of Turlough). Her bravery and gutsiness really appealed to me, as well as her snarky, undercutting sense of humour. She learned very quickly that the only way to survive the Doctor is to mock him at all opportunities. I also really liked the fact that there was a brittleness to her – the impending idea that there was something a bit wrong/damaged about Amy. She had already survived a hell of a lot, in her 20-something years – even when the Doctor first met her at 8, she was already a survivor thanks to the quiet trauma of the crack in her wall and the people she loved disappearing into it. This was not really the first time we had the ‘companion as mystery’ trope (Donna is the prototype of this, and to some extent River) but I think it’s the best – I was fascinated by the way that the whole season was shaped around the Amy revelations and resolutions. Really good, crunchy writing. She’s earned her imaginary friend, and her journey in the TARDIS.

Rory Williams: Arthur Darvill

He’s a sweetie! I like that Rory is set up as being a very mild-mannered, insignificant character – someone for Amy to leave – and yet every repeat appearance makes him more compelling and interesting. He really is the only grownup in the TARDIS, tidying up after Amy and the Doctor’s wild and irresponsible antics. Arthur Darvill is a fantastic actor, and he brings Rory to life in a marvellously understated way, often “winning” scenes against Matt Smith, which you would think was basically impossible. These three characters together are magic.

Recurring Characters:

River Song: Alex Kingston

Series 5 River Song is the best River Song! Contrary to a lot of fan opinion, I love River when she knows more than the Doctor, that archness to her, matched with the sadness that the man she loves has barely met her yet. We see so many different facets to her across her four episodes this season – practical adventurer, glamorous troubleshooter, and of course, expecting the Doctor to come when she calls him. I really like that the final episode of the season, instead of being a massive thing, is actually the four leads running around being awesome in a museum. It’s the point at which you realise that for now, Doctor Who has become an ensemble show…

What is your favourite episode of this season?

Incredibly hard to choose. My answer to this question has bounced around quite a bit – but even though it has a spectacular opening with The Eleventh Hour, a great angels epic, Amy’s Choice, Vincent… hell, I even have a soft spot for Vampires of Venice! (I almost hit publish before remembering The Lodger is in this series too – another of my favourite Doctor Who stories of all time!) But for me it has to be The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. Right from the beginning of Season 5, Moffat’s Who had a different feel to it – different tone, different colour palette, different music. But the season finale reminded us of the format that RTD established, and made it ten times better. I don’t think there’s a frame of this double episode that I don’t enjoy. I do think I love The Pandorica Opens slightly more because of the Romans and the banter and all the splendidness, but then I watch The Big Bang and fall in love with it every single time.

Least favourite episode?

Cold Blood. I liked a lot of elements about The Hungry Earth, including the redesign of and reintroduction of the Silurians, but the second part was boring and strange, and simply wasn’t the episode I was expecting – I wanted a 21st century take on the Silurians that would present their point of view and actually address the massive moral problem at the heart of their story. And, frankly, I wanted this to be the point that humans started dealing with aliens and Silurians – it’s the thing I’ve been wanting New Who to do since the Slitheen ship crashed into Big Ben back in Series 1. (Bizarrely, they did it brilliantly in Sarah Jane Adventures, portraying a world after aliens are known to exist, and addressed it substantially in Torchwood, but kept pretending it hadn’t happened in the main show) Postponing the solution for another day was weak, and blaming it all on one woman’s moral failings without giving the Silurians more nuance themselves was all very disappointing. A shallow finale which left a bad taste in my mouth.

Favourite guest performance?

It’s a toss up between Sophie Okenedo as Liz 10, and Helen McCrory as Signora Calvierri. Though I’ll admit that on rewatching now, it’s the stoic appearance of Iain “Jorah Mormont” Glen as Father Octavian that makes me smile the widest.

Describe this season in one word!

Splendid.

Grade: A

PREVIOUS “New Who In Conversations”

“Rose”, S01E01

“Dalek”, S01E06

“Father’s Day, S01E08

“The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”, S01E09/10

“Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways”, S01E12/13

Series One Report Card – David, Tansy, Tehani