Taking us into the Top 40 is our second story from the much maligned – and if this list is anything to go by, underrated – Series 6. It’s an episode that takes us outside our universe, puts one of the show’s most recognisable elements front & centre of the plot, delivers emotion by the bucket load, and has it’s writer running through it like a stick of Blackpool rock: Neil Gaiman.
Getting Gaiman to write for the show was a great coup. If, as was originally planned, he had written for Series 5, then he would have joined Simon Nye & Richard Curtis on the list of “Guest Writers”1 that Moffat brought in that – on the face of it – shouldn’t be writing for Doctor Who, but have; and have done something special.2 After all, Nye is a writer of sitcoms, Curtis a writer of romcoms, and Gaiman a writer of fantasy. But then you stop and think about that, say it back out loud and you realise how ridiculous you sound. “Neil Gaiman shouldn’t write for Doctor Who cos he does fantasy”…? What nonsense!! Neil Gaiman is the PERFECT fit for Doctor Who…!!! After all, how far away from fantasy is Doctor Who? There are plenty of stories steeped in folklore, or which have more than a magical element to them & their resolution. And are Gaiman’s gothic stories, full of magical heroes, fairytales and dark monsters really a million miles away from Moffat’s vision of the show? This is even before you consider that he’s also a massive fan of the show…
You can tell this one is written by a fan. It’s not just in the little details such as the telepathic message cube last seen in The War Games, but the central plot of the episode just SCREAMS someone who has been thinking about the TARDIS probably more than they should have been. We all love a story set in the TARDIS and seeing more of the interior – the opening two parts of Castrovalva stand out, but even the Invasion of Time and Inside the Spaceship3 excite by giving us a peek under the bonnet as it were. And while the TARDIS has been central to a lot of stories, it’s never been the story itself. To then make it so is a brilliant twist; to make the TARDIS human, so the Doctor can talk to it – to fall in love and then lose it – is nothing short of genius. The TARDIS has been the one constant over the last 60 years: as the faces both in front of and behind the camera come and go, the titles & theme change with the times, that blue box with its wheezing, groaning sound has always been there. To find something new in something so old; to find the fresh angle on something that has *always* been there; and to leave us going “Of course! Why has no one thought of that before?!?” is really something special.
Step forward then Suranne Jones, who has the unenviable task of bringing the TARDIS to life, but does so amazingly well. Her “Idris4” is at once ethereal, ageless but childlike (in the sense that she has just been born), a sprite for the fairytale time of the 11th Doctor – who she matches & mirrors perfectly. Speaking of which: another tremendous performance by Matt Smith. Dos any other Doctor do anger quite as good as he does? He does quiet anger, simmering rage, explosions, the lot; I’m also not sure any other of our Doctors would be able to convey as much of the emotion in those final scenes as he does. You are never left without any doubt just how much the TARDIS means to him; forget The Master, the companions, hell – even River Bloody Song – this is the most important person in The Doctor’s life, and the pain he feels on losing the connection he had with her is utterly, utterly real. The title of this episode may look like clickbait, but it’s totally accurate.
We shouldn’t lose sight of the other stuff going on in this story though. As I said earlier, I’m a sucker for stories that show us more of the interior of the TARDIS, and while the Doctor is off with the TARDIS made flesh, Amy & Rory are left to explore the shell – which is now possessed by Michael Sheen’s House. Sheen’s performance is another reminder that some people are worth casting in your show no matter how small the role is5, while Arthur Darvill & Karen Gillan continue to impress – especially Darvill’s tortured Rory. Having the TARDIS turn against Amy & Rory, and torment them psychologically, is a twist on the haunted house that keeps the plot ticking along nicely. We also need to shout out to costume & set departments, who have given us something that is slightly gothic, slightly steampunk, and oh so Neil Gaiman.
The real success with this story lies in the script – it’s words. Gaiman has claimed that Moffat wrote all the best lines in this (and “Did you wish really hard…?” does scream of Moffat) but it goes deeper that that. It’s in the difference between push & pull on the TARDIS door, the difference between “hundreds” and “all of them”, Idris’ final words being “Hello”; it’s in the way she struggles to find the right words but always does – this is a tale crafted by someone who knows the importance of words. The script if beautiful, the dialogue flows and enchants, and just becomes magical.
Sadly, Nightmare in Silver – while not without its charm – failed to match The Doctor’s Wife’s success; but really, that was an impossible task. This story is epic, beautiful, scary, emotional and engaging. It’s pretty hard to beat IMHO.
COMING TOMORROW: “There’s something on your back…”
Skies Full of Diamonds 