Doctor Who opinions... [with spoilers]

So, another series of Doctor Who has come and gone. We have now got to know our new Doctor, and his new companion(s), we've seen vampires, weeping angels, Vincent van Gogh, a future Queen of Britain, some long buried aliens and a wedding. But was it any good?

Well, here's my take on it: It was OK. But not great. Quite a long way from great.

So what about the 11th Doctor?

Well, he's OK as well. Not as good as David Tennant (who was a great Doctor from his very first episode), possibly not as good as Christopher Eccleston either. I quite like the 'eccentric old duffer' persona, although the occasional flashes of arrogance don't really fit well with the character.

What about Amy Pond?

Hmmm. In general I like the character of Amy, she has all the traits of a good companion. And yet her behaviour is quite often inappropriate for a kids tv show on at dinner time. I think they should turn her libido down a bit for the next series. Glad they've kept her for more than one series though.

Rory?

I was quite irritated by the character of Rory at first, and then I was annoyed when they wrote him out, and also a bit annoyed by the way they brought him back at the end. Still don't know why Amy is with him, they really don't seem to go together. He waits 2000 years for Amy, protecting her, they get married, and yet as soon as she gets the chance she's still after a snog off the Doctor, not a good sign for the relationship. I think Rory'll be fairly pointless and useless from here on in and they'll have to write him out again somehow.

River Song?

She still annoys me. All that "spoilers" stuff is just irritating. And it looks like we might have more of her in the next series. Sigh.

So, here's a quick episode by episode comment:

1. The Eleventh Hour: was an ok introduction to a new Doctor and new companion. 6/10
   
2. The Beast Below: so many references to so many preceding Doctor Who stories I hardly know where to start. This felt like a re-hash when it should have had something fresh. 4/10
   
3. Victory of the Daleks: I liked this one. Silly, but quite fun. 7/10
   
4. The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone: the first part had the single scariest moment in any Doctor Who story thus far (when Amy is alone in the ship with nothing but a video looping), which was excellent. After that they kind of lost it and the story went downhill. 6/10
   
5. The Vampires of Venice: silly and fun. Not really tea-time family entertainment though, and the worst FX in the series so far. 7/10
   
6. Amy's Choice: felt like a filler episode. Pointless. 5/10
   
7. The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood: this one should have been really good, but once again the end result was somehow less than the sum of its parts. 6/10
   
8. Vincent and the Doctor: an invisible giant budgie. Sigh. 4/10
   
9. The Lodger: interesting but didn't really seem like a complete story. 6/10
   
10. The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang: could see the 'twist' coming a mile off. As usual with season finales they tried to fit far too much into the story. Nice resolution, but would have benefited with some decent story writing. What happened to the guy who wrote 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and 'Blink'? They should get him back. 7/10

In the grand scheme of things I don't think this series was as good as Series 3 (with Martha; which is certainly my favourite series so far) or 4 (with Donna; next best) or even Series 1 (9th Doctor and Rose), but was much like Series 2 (10th Doctor and Rose) which had some good bits, but the overall effect was less than the sum of its parts.

Hopefully the 'new' Doctor will have got into his stride by the next series.