From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: jphalt{at}aol.com
Subject: The Big Bang: my review

THE BIG BANG

2 episodes: The Pandorica Opens, the Big Bang. Approx. 102 minutes.
Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Toby Haynes. Produced by:
Peter Bennett.


THE PLOT

The Doctor receives a message across time and space, which leads him
to Stonehenge during the time of the Roman occupation. River Song
(Alex Kingston) is there waiting for him, to give him the last piece
of the message: a painting by Vincent van Gogh (TOny Curran), showing
the TARDIS exploding. The painting's title? The Pandorica Opens.

The Pandorica is a legend, a myth about a timeless prison constructed
to contain the deadliest warrior in the universe. The Doctor doesn't
believe it exists. But it's there, beneath Stonehenge, and it's
opening. The Doctor is not the only one drawn there. Daleks,
Sontarans, Draconians, Cybermen, and more - All there for the power
contained within the Pandorica. But if the Doctor can keep the box
from opening, then they will all go.

But there's one thing the Doctor hasn't planned for - Something he's
overlooking. Something all too obvious...


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Matt Smith's performance is just stunning. He has the
energy that Tennant had, but he also has a core sadness that he
maintains even in the Doctor's most manic moments. For someone so
young, it's startling how successfully he sells being ancient. He's
the youngest actor ever to have played the role... and yet I never
question him in the part, never question the Doctor's authority or his
age. His best scene (of several very good scenes) comes late in this
serial, when he's talking to the child Amelia about a story for her to
remember. It may be the most emotional scene in the entire new series,
and Smith sells it fantastically.

Amy: The holes in Amy's life form a big part of this story. Rory, the
fiance who never was and the sadness that she did not feel but which
Van Gogh could still see. The house, with all of its far too many
rooms for just Amy and her aunt. Amy herself would remain more plot
construct than character, but for Karen Gillan, whose performance
matches Smith's for sheer vitality. I'm very glad that Gillan is
staying for another season, because the 11th Doc/Amy pairing is well
on its way to being one of the great Doctor/Companion teams, in my
opinion.

Rory: Yes, this story does bring him back - in a way that makes sense,
within the confines of both story and season, and yet again reinforces
the theme of perception. Rory both is and is not Rory Williams,
depending on how he is perceived and how he perceives himself. His
devotion to Amy achieves genuinely heroic proportions here, and by the
end he has definitely outgrown the "Gooseberry" label the Dream Lord
tagged him with.

River Song: Alex Kingston's third performance in this role is the best
so far. She still knows more about the Doctor than he does himself,
but it's clear that not all of her knowledge is of things that will
turn out well. She remains very smart, and quite ruthless. Her
confrontation with the Dalek in Part 2 is chilling, as the Dalek turns
out not to be the scary one in the scene.


THOUGHTS

"Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated..."

The teaser to Episode 1 is dazzling, a sort of chain across time and
space, all to get a message to the Doctor. Rather than provide just a
recap, Episode 2 has another teaser - one even more startling than the
first. Steven Moffat, who has played games with structural conventions
from as early as Press Gang, seems to be announcing with the openings
of both episodes that he is at it again.

The new series' finales have been hitting the "Bigger!" switch for
five straight finales, to largely diminishing returns. But The Big
Bang pulls it off in a way that some of the previous finales -
particularly the last two - did not.

This is Doctor Who: The Movie, with loads of action and fantastic
effects. But it never loses control of itself. We may get cameos from
Vincent Van Gogh, Winston Churchill, and Liz 10, as well as Daleks,
Cybermen, and Sontarans. But these cameos are used to propel a tightly
controlled story, rather than the story being an excuse for their
appearances. The energy doesn't flag even once, but it isn't energetic
at the expense of coherence. It's complex, but easy to follow while
watching it. Not everything is resolved, but that's not because of
sloppy writing. Instead of leaving questions unanswered and hoping we
don't notice, Moffat's story actively calls attention to its own
unanswered questions.

Seeds are planted for next season's arc. What is "The Silence?" Whose
voice is that gritting out, "Silence will fall!" as the TARDIS
explodes? It sounds a bit like the First Doctor (via impersonation),
but the voice also sounds more than a little like the projection in
The Lodger. What is River's part in all of this? A lot of pieces left
to be picked up and put together next season, and I look forward to
seeing where these threads might take us.


Rating: 10/10.

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