Another excellent Episode from the Doctor Who Team, and somehow they continue to manage all these different ideas and thoughts and still make it work not just as an entertaining Saturday night programme but also as a layered and complex 'fantasy' science fiction Series. Whereas the last Episode was your classic Sci-Fi tear-jerker affair, the infinitely flexible format of the show has allowed this one to be described as a Stanley Kubrick meets Greek mythology Episode with a strong theme on faith and religion. Or you could call it another nice little Doctor Who Episode I suppose. The Episode is set in this creepy 1980's hotel (but it's not really a hotel, and why it's default setting was '80s hotel' in the first place isn't at all explained), with creepy corridors that are almost a rip-off/homage to The Shining, to the point were any minute I was expecting Jack Nicholson (or some unamed guy) to show up welding an axe and scream 'Heeerees Johnny!'. When the main trio show up (still on great form by the way) things go from funny to surreal to bat-crap insane in under five minutes. I love how casually Amy and Rory react to all this stuff, like they've seen it all before: I mean this hotel has everything from creepy puppets to Weeping Angels (whose appearance felt completely phoned in and unscary) to walking Gorilla costumes not to mention a massive Minotaur alien stomping around the place killing anyone who's been properly 'cooked' (details I won't explain). The people who have already been trapped in the hotel for a while are intriguing and a bit surreal as well, giving us one of the best supporting casts this year with the exception of A Good Man Goes To War of course. Amanda Karen plays an unfazed medical student who right from the start has a bulls-eye aimed straight at her head, David Walliams plays Gibbis, a cowardly mole like alien with a penchant for being invaded who starts out very funny and likable but turns into something far more sinister, Dimitri Leonidas is a conspiracy geek/nerd Blogger with a fear of girls and Daniel Pirrie chews the scenery (but in a good way) with Joe, who has quite literally lost his god-damned mind. Yes the setting and cast are all really good, but it's a shame that the idea of all your darkest fears being held behind one of the hotels doors felt underused and tame. I mean an angry sports teacher? Oh please...
Still it retained a creepy atmosphere throughout, and even without that corker of an ending the Episode would have been MORE than just 'good'. The Minotaur looked great and although was a bit unoriginal 'seen it all before' in the ideas department I couldn't help but love it's execution (minus the Spaceship, which was an awful parody of Tron) and I wish we see more of his race in the future. But what about that ending eh?
Well add this to the increasing amount of 'I didn't see this coming...' twists that has plagued new Who recently. Events in the hotel has caused the Doctor to come to his senses and basically drop Amy and Rory off at their new house. For good. Yep, if this Episode is correct, we won't be seeing Amy and Rory again any time soon (yeah right!). The final chat that Amy had with the Doctor was an emotional climax that has been slowly churning away this Series. The last few Episodes of the David Tennant era saud that without any companions to restrain him, the Doctor could eventually lose himself to his many hidden demons while this Series has been a case study about the fact that even when the Doctor has a companion, all he really does is 'eff up their lives massively. I mean look at Amy, who because of the Doctor barging his way into her life has not only lost her boyfriend/husband several times, but has also has herself died quite a bit not to mention being brought up without any parents thanks to a really messed up timeline! And let's not forget the fact that she was pregnant on a distant planet for nine months breeding a baby that would become a murdering, brainwashed psychopath for most of her life... Point is, any longer with them and the Doctor will end up either having killed them (not directly of course) or make them quite loopy over how weird, complicated and crazy this disjointed family has become. I mean come on Amy's life is all over the place, from different time lines to evil daughters and several altercations with an over-arching enemy that has yet to be fully explained or revealed. Anyway, while this is an interesting point to make about the Doctor, does it really fit in with this Episode? I mean can we believe that the stuff with the Minotaur and the 80s hotel really did push him over the edge? I would have thought the events of A Good Man Goes To War or Let's Kill Hitler would have been pushed more buttons than anything this Episode could have had to offer. Nonetheless, it was a surprising end to another great Episode, albeit one that was a tad unjustified not to mention (and I'm being really picky here) a bit rushed. And the Weeping Angels? So not scary any more....
So next time is the return of Craig and the Cybermen eh? This could be alot of fun...
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