Doctor Who: Episode 5 – Flesh and Stone

Just realised I didn’t post a review of last weeks Doctor Who episode and there is a new one due later today!

Flesh and Stone was the conclusion of the Weeping Angels storyline (my 3 year old daughter calls them the Peeping Angels which seems so much nicer). It gave us information on what the Crack is or could be, what River Song is up to and moved on the Amy Pond is getting married in the morning story. However, it also raised more questions. I’ll get to them in a bit.

The wrap up of the Weeping Angels was handled pretty well, but the suspense from the previous episode was missing. The Crack in Time was interesting and sad when the soldiers went to investigate and were forgotten by their team mates as they were erased from time. This also explained why Amy could not remember the Daleks. The fact that the Doctor kept mentioning that time coule be rewritten means he may well have a go himself somewhere down the line. Why is the Crack following Amy?

The most intriguing bit was when Amy had to keep her eyes closed and the Doctor headed off with River to sort out the ship. The Doctor when he left was without a jacket (the Angels got it earlier). The camera stayed on Amy and the Doctor was back within seconds and told her to remember when she was seven – If you recall in the first episode you see young Amy sitting outside and then the sound of the TARDIS, but it hasn’t been mentioned since – The Doctor was filmed close up, but you could tell he was wearing his jacket. The next scene saw the Doctor with River and he again had no jacket. You can see what I mean in the clip below – starts round about the 1:45 mark.

I put it to you that the Doctor with the Jacket was from the future and he came back to speak to Amy at that point (the previous episode showed that the TARDIS can materialize without the distinctive sound – see clip below) and means we are having a great big weaving through time storyline. It could also explain how Amy has been so helpful in previous episodes. Maybe she keeps getting told spoilers.

All just a theory of mine, but you never know.

River Song’s character was fleshed out and we learnt she was in prison as she had killed a man, the greatest man she ever knew. Does that mean she at some point kills the Doctor? When it is Matt Smith’s time to regenerate will it be because of River Song? Is she going to be his Wife or is that misdirection?

The death of Father Octavian was very well done and rather emotional. Great acting by Iain Glenn.

All things to ponder on. Matt Smith gets better with each episode and I love the fact he doesn’t know what his plans are going to be until he finishes speaking. I get the impression his brain is full of so much stuff that he talks to focus it all on the matter at hand. Karen Gillan as Amy was great, but the bit at the end when she came onto the Doctor seemed a little forced and didn’t seem to fit with the characters we have seen so far.

However, the Doctor realises that she is at the centre of all the cracks and that the time explosion which created them occurs on the day of her wedding.

To sum up. Not as good as the previous episode, but great that it moved the whole story arc forward. What did you think of it all?

Tonight we have female Vampires in Venice.