Doctor Who Series 6 Episode 7 - A Good Man Goes To War - Review

Starring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston & Frances Barber

Written By: Steven Moffat

Directed By: Peter Hoar

 

So far, Series 6 has really been a complete mixed bag of stories. I'd probably go as far to say that it’s been the weakest run of stories since Doctor Who came back. So, it’s up to Steven Moffat to write a good mid-series finale to finish the first half of Series 6 off well. Has he achieved it? Well, the episode starts off with the destruction of an entire Cyber-Legion … just to make a point. If Steven Moffat hasn’t achieved it, you can’t say he hasn’t tried.

 

A Good Man Goes To War follows on from the twist ending of The Almost People. It’s been revealed that the Amy that has been traveling with the Doctor and Rory since The Impossible Astronaut has been a ganger, and all the time, the real Amy has been stuck on an asteroid called Demon’s Run. Amy has now given birth to her baby, Melody Pond. However, Madame Kovarian is planning to kidnap the baby, for reasons that are later made clear. The Doctor and Rory plan to get their version of Amy back by calling in the Doctor’s debts from across the universe to lead an army against Demon’s Run. This episode is slightly reminiscent of last year's The Pandorica Opens, given how many species put in an appearance - Cybermen, Silurians, Sontarans and more!

 

One of the best things to be found in this episode, is the idea of the Doctor being powerful enough to have an army raised against him, just at the mention of his name. One complaint that I’ve seen from some fans is: “Why would anybody want to stop the Doctor? He’s a good guy!” Yes, this is true. However, A Good Man Goes To War gives us a demonstration of how powerful the Doctor really is. Imagine how destructive that power could be if used on the wrong side! It makes sense why Madame Kovarian would want to stop this happening by killing the Doctor. I also found myself enjoying the first twenty minutes where the Doctor didn’t appear at all, and just got mentioned. As I said earlier, the destruction of an entire Cyber-Legion was a masterful way of starting an episode, and its made even better by the fact that it was done just to make a point. However, the Cybermen were another problem for some fans in this episode. Many complained : “The Cybermen were only in the first five minutes”. Yes, I’ll admit, I was hoping for the Cybermen to have a bigger presence in the story as well. It is one of the few issues I had, but hey. The scene where the Doctor collects Dorium is also brilliant, as it allowed us to see the Doctor in a new light. He appeared almost as a villain as Dorium looks so fearful when the Doctor’s shadow looms over him.

 

Matt Smith himself gave what is probably his best performance yet as the Doctor, especially when he tells Colonel Manton to “run away”. Steven Moffat has written another fantastic speech here, that is up on similar levels with his speech from The Pandorica Opens. The final reveal of River Song's identity was another scene written really well. It was brilliant to see how the Doctor reacted whilst the audience still didn’t know who she was, and it still plays great on repeat viewings. As for the Doctor’s plan to take over Demon’s Run in the first place, that was one of the best and most Doctor-y plans ever. It’s brilliantly handled as barely anybody died and it was really smart!

 

Like Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are great here as well, aside from one very out of place line from Amy: 

“’Can I borrow your gun?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Cause I’ve got a feeling you’re going to keep talking’”.

That was unnecessarily cruel! Apart from that Karen Gillan was great as Amy and Arthur Darvill as Rory. Speaking of Rory, his first scene with the Cybermen was pretty much perfect, and Rory is getting to be a better companion every story. The supporting cast are also one of the strongest this series. Simon Fisher-Becker was good as the cowardly yet-naïve Dorium, and whilst a Sontaran nurse may not exactly strike the right chord with me (yet), Dan Starkey gives Strax one of the best Sontaran personalities ever seen. As for Vastra the Silurian, well, the idea of a Silurian solving crimes in Victorian London deserves its own show. However, the character of Lorna Bucket felt undercooked to me. What did we know other than the fact that she’d met the Doctor as a child? Despite this, towards the end of the episode, her last scene is incredibly moving.

 

Peter Hoar makes his Doctor Who directing debut in this episode, and I really hope he'll be back soon because he does a spectacular job. Throughout the episode, the camera is rarely static and each and every set feels large and bustling. From a writing perspective, Steven Moffat's script is very solid, though there are some brief moments that annoy me. In particular, the moments where Steven Moffat tries to fool the audience into thinking that Melody is Doctor’s daughter. It isn’t smart and it’s not entertaining, it just slows things down. I also felt that the scenes with the Fat and Thin couple could have been edited out. While they were entertaining, I feel that screen time could’ve been devoted to maybe giving Lorna a scene where we learn a bit more about her.

 

(MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!) As for the ending, well, it’s been revealed that River Song is … Melody Pond (aka. Amy and Rory’s daughter). Congratulations if you guessed correctly, but if you didn’t, the reveal is still handled brilliantly, as I've said earlier. The reveal left the series on a note where it can easily be picked up. It answered questions and raised some new ones; hopefully to be answered by the Series 6 finale. But who knows with Steven Moffat? We’ll still waiting for the answer to who blew up the TARDIS at the end of Series 5 (something that desperately and quickly needs answering).

 

To summarise, A Good Man Goes To War is definitely a satisfying mid-series finale. With a brilliantly written script from Steven Moffat, great characters that work well together, great acting, and the ability to constantly manipulate audience emotions, A Good Man Goes To War makes one hell of an entertaining Doctor Who episode. Doctor Who will be back to hopefully answer new and old questions, after summer in Let's Kill Hitler.

 

 

A Good Man Goes To War



9/10