The Weekly Doctor Who Review: ‘The Wedding Of River Song’

jason stives looks at the final episode of series 6 …

Doctor who?

The age-old question that fans have been asking since the show began its heralded run in 1963. It’s a question that seems nonsensical to some, merely acting as a way to wink at the tongue in cheek nature of saying the show’s name within its own context. For Steven Moffat, it’s obviously something he has always wanted to address for some time. Last night’s finale, “The Wedding Of River Song,” could have easily been a game changing time to do so, but it’s never that easy, and neither was this episode. The finale was by no means a dud. In fact, it was very much a barn-burner, answering a multitude of questions while asking a bunch more. “The Wedding Of River Song” was in many ways a simplistic tale told in a clever way with some complicated strands along the way.

Played out over the span of this phenomenal season, the final days of the Doctor came and went, and his imminent death at the hands of River Song by the shores of Lake Silencio was always going to be the pivot of this episode, and boy was it ever. To keep it simple, the Doctor goes to meet his maker only to have River refuse to kill the Time Lord, causing a splinter in time where two fixed points have broken off. The result? A lot of amazing glory shots of London that obviously took up the bulk of the show’s budget. Kidding aside, what we got is time disintegrating onto itself by having every period in history taking place at the same time. We have minis floating in the air attached to balloons, pterodactyls terrorizing kids in the park, and Winston Churchill as holy Roman Emperor. Oh, and time is stuck forever at 5:02 p.m., the time the Doctor was suppose to die.

Not only did this all look amazing with Victorian trains riding in and out of Pyramids, but it could’ve easily been a whole other episode to itself. However, considering what was all crammed into the first ten minutes, it worked just as well with another storyline showing the Doctor going around collecting various debts leading up to his death, including a game of Live Chess, which I would pay good money to see happen in Vegas. From there, it’s simply a race against time to fix everything which could mean the Doctor’s death or time’s complete destruction.

These high-stake motives are what make Doctor Who so riveting, and if you take away searching for answers to the season’s questions, there was much to like about this episode. The eye patches that everyone seems to be wearing here was not a fashion statement, but as a way to identify the points in time where everything has gone wrong. For those skeptics of this sudden lonely island with a lot of guilt that the show had been building of the Doctor, in the end, the child of Gallifrey is always loved and appreciated for what he has done to make the universe that much better.

Although I partially called the revelation of the Doctor’s demise weeks ago, I didn’t get it completely right. The Doctor seen on the beach of Lake Silencio was ultimately the teselecta from “Let’s Kill Hitler” disguised as the Doctor which made it easy for the Doctor’s death to be believed as well as antiquate a logical explanation to the audience. I did wonder, though, since the Teselecta was seen to regenerate before being killed, can they really do that? If so that has to be one of the coolest robots on the planet. But even more interesting is the notion that River has known about these events all along, hiding it from view while they played out and apparently knowing since she married the Doctor on top of Area 52. And what of what the Doctor whispered in River’s ear? For a long time, it was assumed it was his name, but instead it was that the Doctor would survive and was in the Teselecta was genius, but I still don’t believe it was that simple. Remember, the Doctor lies, and so does River.

Considering her air of mystery throughout this season, Madame Kovarian was very much a waste in this episode, and probably overall for the season, so her imminent demise at the hands of Amy was lackluster and a bit uninteresting. The Silence creatures on the other hand once again proved to be just as creepy and far more interesting than most monsters tend to be and I pray they return again. The scene in which the Doctor and Churchill realize they are unknowingly fighting off the Silence was genius and could easily be used as a great way to introduce them in further stories if they are to indeed return.

Rory, Amy, and River fit nicely into the whole equation and to see them by shows end feeling more like a family than I would’ve anticipated was great. The moment at the show’s end when River comes and visits her mom after climbing out of the Byzantium was not only continuity gold but also the first time that the believability of the Pond family fell into place. It also served as a nice way to leave these characters alone for a while, knowing that the Doctor is alive in the universe and allowing them to live their lives accordingly. Personally, there seemed to be more single moments to like than just one great big idea (outside of how the Doctor stayed alive), so here are some stray things I found most appealing …

— Let’s be honest, Amy was pretty hot this week even with that eye patch. Watching her mow down the Silence creatures with a machine gun just showed how much of a bad ass she has become, even if it was a little too Rambo for its own good.

— While it wasn’t completely necessary (and I feel it should’ve been more reserved for the late Elisabeth Sladen), the Doctor learning of the Brigadier’s death really put a dose of reality into the show and was heartbreaking at best.

— LIVE CHESS! I know I’ve said it already, but come on!

— Churchill’s quip about downloading being all the rage was rather amusing

— I didn’t expect the Teselecta to play such a prominent role but now it makes a lot more sense than the Flesh idea I had, once again showing the obvious isn’t always the answer.

— The Doctor and River’s wedding was very subtle and could easily be something in passing more than it is prominent, but this probably isn’t the case.

— And bow ties ARE cool, as well as very useful in Wedding ceremonies.

So that’s it. We are out until December, when the Christmas special airs. Well no that’s not completely it, because I will be back next week with a season wrap-up as well as with some retrospectives of the classic series to hold over you loyal Whovian readers until the show’s return next autumn.

But what of Series 7? Good old Dorium Maldovar gave a lot of hints to what’s to come, possibly. We have the Fall of the Eleven (possible reference to the 50th anniversary?), the Fields of Trenzador, and we still don’t know who blew up the TARDIS last season, so I would assume the seeds are already in place for the next full season. Questions aside, “The Wedding Of River Song” felt like a 50-year reboot that had been waiting to happen. After establishing the demigod like presence of the 1100 year old Time Lord, the Doctor now returns to the shadows, a figure of mystery and heroism with much more importance and danger in his life and more interesting tales to tell, hopefully for a long time to come.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 (Excellent)

All Photos Credit: BBC America