A joyous run through the darkness (review: 'Doctor Who' 32.4, "The Doctor's Wife)

So, bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman had a go at writing Doctor Who - and he did a very good job.

I'm not going to describe the plot - for a start,I couldn't explain it properly without spoilers and the Moff has expressed his unhappiness about spoilers. Secondly, no amount of description would do it just.

So, I'm going to resurrect something I used to when I was reviewing 24. I used to do "24 Points on 24". That's a bit long, so I'm going to do eleven points, one for each Doctor so far.

1. The TARDIS travelling effects look much better than they've ever done before - of course, Doctor Who has had some ropey effects over the years.
2. Matt Smith's Doctor, while very good here, tends to be at his best in Steven Moffat stories. Moffat of course created the character and so can channel him best - others do a rather hit-and-miss job. Gaiman's was a hit though.
3. Speaking of chanelling, Idris did remind me a lot of Helena Bonham Carter in a lot of her roles (it's rare for Bonham Carter not to play crazy these days). Full credit to Suranne Jones for a great performance - she's left Corrie well and truly behind her now.
4. Rory's is turning into this show's version of Daniel Jackson without the archaeological knowledge.
5. Amy does not have a very nice episode - she even lets out a couple of screams. It says something about the state of the show now that it's no longer a huge issue that a companion screams. Of course, Rory does as well.
6. That was Michael Sheen doing the voice? I thought it was Gabriel Woolf!
7. Oh, lovely to see [spoiler] again - I hope to be able to see it in person at some point soon.
8. We haven't had this many repeating corridors since "The Horns of Nimon".
9. I'm happy with the outcome in connection with my RP.
10. It's a good choice of title - that's all I'll say.
11. Uncle and Aunt were creepy. In fact, much of this episode was.

Overall

A very good episode and one that's arguably a lot differently from regular Doctor Who. There were great performances all around and a very moving ending. By no means perfect (the pace was a little off in the middle and the Doctor was a little unconvincing at times), but a lovely first go and I'd be glad if Gaiman came on board for another story.

8/10.