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This story’s flaws are well documented, and as
far as I’m concerned, a little overstated. I’m really very fond of it.
·
The first two acts are pretty much perfect, as
far as I’m concerned, with the “slow invasion” concept being perfectly suited
to the more prominent emotional plot about the Doctor and the Ponds. However,
in the final act, the episode drops in its quality, as the editing becomes
confused (see some tremendously awkward cuts when Rory enters the elevator
after Brian’s capture) and the alien invasion plot stops being well integrated
into the themes of the episode. Put simply, the Shakri, a race judging the
worth of humanity, aren’t clearly tied to the domestic plot in the way the
“slow invasion” plot is. These flaws culminate in a conclusion that is one of
the few occasions I find myself agreeing with the overstated fan claim that
series seven’s conclusions were “rushed”. This pacing shouldn’t matter, as the
episode is about the Doctor and it doesn’t insofar as I still enjoy the
episode, but it is a problem, as the sped up alien invasion plot had been well
integrated into the story until the final act. The episode hasn’t ignored the
invasion completely, like Buffy episode “The Zeppo” comically ignores an apocalypse
plot to focus on a Xander-centric story, so the invasion needed to work better
than it does for the story to be as good as it could have been. Still, what we
got is rather charming.
·
Still, let’s focus on the good in the story. Definitely
enjoyable is the return of UNIT, now a scientific organisation, instead of a
military one, and led by Jemma Redgrave’s Kate Stewart. There will be more
interesting things to say about the use of this incarnation of UNIT come the
twelfth Doctor’s era, but it’s a solid debut for this take on the organisation,
and probably the best UNIT story in New Who up until this point.
·
Now let’s dig into the core of this story: it’s
not actually about the Doctor coming to stay with the Ponds, it’s slightly more
complicated than that. “Doctor Who does ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’” is just
the way of fitting this relatively low-key episode into a season of Movie
poster episodes. As has been observed, the Doctor doesn’t stay for a year. Most
of the year of the slow invasion is passed over in the first act, as the Doctor
gets impatient with waiting for the cubes, leaves for nine months, then drags
the Ponds on an adventure with him (leading to the clever integration of “A
Town Called Mercy” into the middle of this episode) before, returning and
speaking to Brian, admitting the extent of the danger he places his companions
in, and recognizing his need to stay (there are more shades of foreshadowing
for his wait on Trenzalore here). The episode is actually about a push and pull
of different worlds, about the protagonists negotiating between the Doctor’s
world and Amy and Rory’s home life.
·
This is beautifully expressed in the scene
outside the Tower of London, probably the best thing Chris Chibnall has written
for Doctor Who so far. Amy and the Doctor are both aware that their lives, and
worlds are drifting apart, with the key distinction being the way they
interpret the Doctor’s act of “running”: Amy is beginning to feel the Doctor’s
life is running away from things, from the responsibilities of real life, but
the Doctor sees his life as running towards things, catching them in spite of
their transient nature. And both these interpretations are true, but come from
different perspectives: Amy’s human perspective, and the Doctor’s alien
perspective. And this tension between running away from things and running
towards them will continue to be a key part of the Moffat era come “The Day of
the Doctor”, as a similar distinction is used to redefine the Doctor’s
relationship with his home.
·
The push and pull between the Doctor’s travels
and Amy and Rory’s home life is resolved at the story’s conclusion, and not by
the any of the TARDIS crew, but by Brian. The key moments in this scene are
Brian’s claim that “It’s you [the Doctor] they [Amy and Rory] can’t give up.
And I don’t think they should”, and his response to the Doctor’s offer of
joining them in their travels of “somebody’s got to water the plants”. The
episode ends with an act of absolution and affirmation: Brian, knowing the
implications due to his previous conversation with the Doctor, accepts the
risks of his son and Daughter in law travelling with the Doctor, and encourages
their chance to explore the universe. But he does so while asserting the value
of the domestic sphere he represents, and making it clear that he knows the
worth of the world he lives in. And because we see this, we know what Amy and
Rory risk losing.
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