In trouble in a place he has never been with Amy and Rory in mortal peril the Doctor will have to rely on his oldest and most trusted traveling companion in a way he never has before.
What They Say:
A distress signal from an old friend leads the TARDIS to a junkyard planet occupied by a beautiful woman and her bizarre family. Are the Doctor, Amy and Rory in grave danger?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
On a strange planet an odd event is about to take place. An old man (Uncle) wearing a Civil War uniform informs a woman that she has been chosen for something that will not be pleasant. An older woman (Auntie) who looks patched together explains as an Ood (Nephew) with glowing green eyes reaches for the woman. As the Ood starts to blank the woman’s mind and soul it is explained that it is all part of a trap to bring in a Time Lord-of which unbeknownst to the beings there is only one left.
Meanwhile the Doctor and his companions are traveling through space and they are acting at cross purposes-him sharing some of his mad tales while his companions dwell on the death they know is coming for him. They are interrupted by a knock on the TARDIS’ door-something that should be impossible as they are in deep space-and when the Doctor opens it he finds a glowing white cube hovering before him. As he explains to his companions this cube is a means by which a Time Lord can send for help when in dire peril and the Doctor is buoyed by the hope that the cube will lead him to some still surviving Time Lords. In order to find the person who sent the cube (who is an old friend of the Doctor’s) they will have to travel outside the universe-an act which should be impossible but is merely very difficult for the Doctor.
As they land the trouble starts immediately as the TARDIS’ power is drained and the Doctor proclaims that the TARDIS’ Matrix-its very soul-has vanished. At the same time the woman who had her soul stripped by the Ood earlier sits up and has some of the time vortex energy swirl around her hands. The group leaves the box to look about the asteroid they landed on. The surface is like the universe’s junk yard with bits and pieces of things that have fallen through holes in the universe and onto it. While Amy and Rory trying to cope with the Doctor’s explanation of where they are and why they are surrounded by junk the woman from before rushes up to them-kissing the Doctor while talking incoherently and struggling with her tenses. Uncle and Auntie are right on her heels though and try to explain how the Doctor and company should be careful of this mad woman-advice they willing to listen to given her odd behavior though her cryptic words stick with them as she starts talking of things that she says are going to happen.
When the Doctor sees Nephew as the woman is hustled off he attempts to fix its means of communication (a sphere that the humans have surgically applied to Ood so humans can talk with them) but he hears the pleas for help of a number of Time Lords relayed through it instead and the couple explain that the Nephew was broken when the House saved it. As the Doctor explores the asteroid he discovers that it is sentient being called the House that has met many a Time Lord and that it also has the ability to speak through the three beings that live upon it. While the Doctor sees some troubling signs he ignores his senses and decides to try to find the Time Lords that he heard. As a sign that he isn’t completely sold on current events being benign he sends Amy and Rory back to the TARDIS in the misguided idea he can keep them safe there.
With the knowledge that the Time Lords are now all gone the House puts its consciousness into the now empty TARDIS and leaves the Doctor stranded on its old body while attempting to travel to the universe. Amy and Rory find themselves in a new level of danger as House has the ability to torture the young couple still inside by using its new body against them in nightmarish ways. Now the Doctor will have to show either his brilliance or madness as he cooperates with the woman who claims to be his TARDIS in an attempt to return to the universe and get back his little blue box in time to save his friends. An almost impossible task but luckily the being that knows him best in the entire universe is at his side and she has more surprises in her than the Doctor realizes.
The Doctor’s Wife spins a tale that explores some of the Doctor’s deepest wants while also showing that for all his brilliance he can find himself losing sight of what is really important when he has a chance to grasp them. The episode also explores the relationship of Amy and Rory while putting them in mortal danger while at the same time showing more of the TARDIS than has ever been revealed before. Mix in a love story with the Doctor and his TARDIS as they can now communicate-and quarrel-and the result is an episode that was so brilliantly written it will almost certainly place as one of the franchise’s best-which means a lot considering the scope of the franchise in all its various forms. Neil Gaiman had never written a story for Doctor Who before but one can only hope after this debut he will be back many, many times.
In Summary:
The Doctor’s Wife is a fantastically written script that brings in a new element while expanding on perhaps the second oldest and most familiar part of the series lore. It is a tale that is equal parts madness and love story blended together in a triumphant tale that speaks volumes to the feelings mankind has long had for the ships they sail on-whatever the environment they sail as well as the individuals that people fall in love with. The episode highlights this through moments of whimsy that may boarder madness to moments of grave and immanent peril and that it succeeds in both creating laughter and a sense of dread in the same story is testament to all who worked on the episode. Highly Recommended.