C+Q - Day of the Moon (2011)
Day of the Moon isn't as neat as The Impossible Astronaut
given that it needs to create a bunch of loose threads to get
Series 6 going, but it's still a fun episode and a suitably epic
end to the two-parter. Starting with a story that feels like a
finale works well here considering this isn't really the start.
It's the start of a series and the start of an arc, but the
story that started in The Eleventh Hour is still going. The
villains of this episode, the Silence, are given such mythic
importance because we've heard about them before in Series 5.
There's a real sense of momentum here as we go straight in to
answering questions left over from last year, while raising
several hundred more for the next run of episodes. That said,
the conscious decision to blow off all the unanswered questions
at the end to go on some random unconnected adventures is
amazing. "I mean we could answer the call to adventure, but I'm
kinda bored of this arc. We'll pick it up again later."
The huge scale of this story is helped by the skip forward in
time. Unlike the Doctor's 200-year time skip which I mentioned
in my review of The Impossible Astronaut as never quite feeling
real or adding anything to Series 6, the skip between The
Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon is a nice way of moving
the plot along to a new place and creating some mystery about
what happened in the intervening months. The distance also gives
this episode some of its own energy rather than it just being
The Impossible Astronaut Part 2. This definitely is Part 2, but
it also has its own unique flavour. The creepy orphanage that's
infested by the Silence is great for example, especially the
tally marks on the skin. It's an instantly iconic image for
Series 6 and a brilliant bit of visual storytelling.
It's
unusual for a Doctor Who episode to have this much of an action
climax, not just a big CGI explosion but an actual fight scene.
The "you should kill us all on sight!" thing is the big twist
that solves the plot, but ultimately it ends with River and the
Doctor blasting away at the Silence. Slightly wild that the
sonic screwdriver can do that, but okay. Of all the inexplicable
fight scene powers the sonic has, I prefer the push shield thing
it can do in stories like The Rings of Akhaten and The Day of
the Doctor, a power it's apparently had since the War Doctor
days. At least that's defensive, blocking things and pushing
them away, while here in Day of the Moon it's an actual weapon
firing green laser blasts at villains. Kinda weird but whatever.
The girl regenerating is a strong cliffhanger, and keeps her
in our minds throughout the series, despite the Doctor
explicitly saying he's got better things to do than look into
who she is. The cliffhanger turns that dismissal into a fun
frustration and a promise that she will definitely be back
rather than a hand waving 'look just forget about that loose
end' moment. All the forward-looking arc stuff here is solid,
although Eyepatch Lady might have been one thing too many. If
the goal was to create an image that could pop up in every
episode to tie Series 6 together, the 'Is Amy Pregnant Or Isn't
She?!' graphic on the TARDIS monitor does the job fine. When
Eyepatch Lady first appeared in this episode, it did feel a bit
like a memory test - one more thing I'll have to wait for an
explanation for. The mystery and its solution does make complete
sense though and it doesn't go on for too long, just until
Episode 6. Still, it's such a weird little moment in this
episode and it's never referred to again during the wrap-up
cliffhanger. Back in 2011, I did genuinely wonder if it was a
loose end the episode forgot about.
It's basically
impossible to think about Day of the Moon on its own, not just
because it's part two of a two-parter but because it has strong
ties to the arc of Series 6. That said, it's a perfectly
enjoyable episode that mixes up the rhythm of New Who nicely.
Series 6 really was a breath of fresh air, and while some bits
work better than others, I'm ultimately very glad it happened. I
love the story this arc tells, and it opened the door for more
complex storytelling in Doctor Who as far as the long-running
mysteries are concerned. Series 6 is off to an amazing start.
Next: The Curse of the Black Spot