Rate & Discuss: A Good Man Goes to War
In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demons Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor.
Well, there we have it! The first half of Series 6 has reached its mind-blowing conclusion. There were twists and turns waiting around every corner, but did it live up to the hype?
Tonight’s epic episode has undoubtedly been one of the most highly anticipated of recent years, and, what with the return of several monsters, the culmination of various ongoing plot threads, plus the long awaited reveal of River Song and the fact that it was our last dose of the Doctor until the autumn, you can see why it had so much riding on its back!
Responsible for delivering the goods was Steven Moffat, the man universally acclaimed for his time and space defying brain. He had lots to get through in the mid-series finale, and from start to finish, the story went by at rocket speed, as the Doctor and Rory the Roman raced across galaxies and River acknowledged that her time had come at last…
For poor Amy, it was an emotional rollercoaster at the hands of Madame Kovarian, while all around them the Doctor’s enemies lay a carefully concealed trap as he called in long held debts and solemnly given promises. Both sides made sacrifices, but was it worth it?
We’ve had some exhilarating cliffhangers this series, and this one was no exception, but we’re now left to twiddle our thumbs until the autumn. Among all the shock revelations and surprises that hit us in tonight’s episode, we’ve been given plenty to think about until our heroes return, most notably River Song, whose true identity has at long last hit the airwaves. Was her secret the pay off we’d been promised? Were your theories right?
So, did you love it or loathe it? Were you blown away by the suspense and danger, or was Steven Moffat’s storytelling just too much to take in? The comments are waiting…
Please don’t read the comments if you haven’t yet seen the episode. Spoilers!
@Bad Wolf
I think the point about the Monks was that they couldn’t be swayed to side with the Doctor, unlike the humans, as shown with Lorna. I agree that they were underused, though – they were just a side-threat, and they could have been so much more. Unless they come back later in the series?
@Bad Wolf
i agree alex kingston is a godess shes my fave character in the revived show
All this talk of people only being disappointed because of reading spoilers – there WEREN’T any spoilers, just theories! The only real spoiler was that we all knew the baby was going to be called Melody Pond, and that’s entirely Moffat and the BBC’s fault!
Is it me or does the evil woman with the eye patch look like the older verison of melody/river?
I’m french so i’m gonna talk on the behalf of french fans.Peoples were completly exited about the big cliffanger.Well now we know who River is but i alredy know who she was since Mofatt called the baby “Melody (song) Pond (River).
It was a great moment in the show…
Has anyone noticed what a lot of Jenny’s there seem to be? There was a Jenny in this episode and a Jenny in the last 2-parter: does she have anything to do with the Doctor’s daughter, Jenny?
I watched this episode at 1.20 this morning as I came back in after doing a show and was desperate to watch it. Having said that I was a little bit tipsy (which I thought might help watching a moffat episode lol). I absolutely loved the episode as it was jampacked and had a basic story. The Doctor having every monster involved in a war on his side was good. The River song reveak was good but I can understand why people are disappointed. It was built up to be this huge reveal and a game changing end to the mid season and I don’t think it was that spectacular.
All it does is create more questions like why does this doctor care about this one companion’s child enough to trust her with a sonic etc. A really good episode though.
Oh and I do think now that the “good man” river kills will be her dad Rory.
@ras
We have no idea but the Doctor did say to the Silurian and Jenny, “Until the next time.” But I think that Jenny is not the Jenny from the Doctor’s Daughter because she said to the Silurian something has occurred in the kitchen and when she entered Jenny said. “What does it mean?” Surely if she was the jenny that we know she would’ve known what it meant.
BRING BACK JENNY THE DOCTOR’S DAUGHTER! she’s friggin hot!
After the weak Almost People, I was waiting for the “game changing ending” but it limped out with a rubbish reveal for River Song. There was no point to the Cybermen in this story, it could have been any race. Rory was completely out of character, he has been a complete wet wimp since the start. Amy, I am so bored of Amy, who in all honest is in my bottom 3 companions along with Adric and Rory! A Sontaran “Nurse”? Really? WHY???? A Silurian in England in the 1800’s? If so, why did she not raise the rest of her race and wipe the “vermin” from the face of the earth. All the “enemies” were out of character. As for the headless monks, like the Silence before them, they were average! No real scare factor. And what was with the use of the TARDIS corridors on Demon’s Run? Another thing I am really getting sick and tired of is this stupid obsession of calling “Jenny” the Doctor’s daughter! She isn’t, she is a clone used from the Doctor’s DNA! And while we are on the subject of family, why have Moff and RTD before him decided that the Doctor no longer has family? What about the Doctor’s Granddaughter? If people really want to see scary Doctor WHo then watch Pyramids of Mars or Terror of the Zygons! Come on Moff, you can do so much better then this less than average story
@Rassilon’s Rod
Yeah, I agree. As I said earlier, I was fine with who she turned out to be biologically, being Amy and Rory’s daughter, but there’s a lot more to happen that essentially, will really tell you who she is as a person.
I think since fans of Doctor Who theorise so much, some of us are bound to have come up with who she was eventually, even if by accident.
River is still going to kill “a good man” and end up in Stormcage and the Doctor has to travel with Rory and Amy knowing how their daughter is going to die in the future SEASON 4 SPOILER!!!! (albeit, saving her conciousness into CAL, so she lives on, sort of)
I think, although we know who River is biologically, the real revelations are still to come, about who she is as a person.
Who does she kill? Why does she kill him? If it’s Rory she kills, surely Amy as her mother will end up hating her? Why did a Dalek look her up and beg for mercy before River killed it? and why if she’s going to do something so bad, the last time the Doctor saw River/Melody, did he take her somewhere special and cry because he knew she was going to library?
So yeah, I think the revelation River Song is Melody Pond is only the start really.
Oh, and forgot to mention, River knows the Doctor’s name and there’s only one way he could tell her that.
She also has to learn to fly the Tardis, as well as at a future date, get a Sonic Screwdriver of a design that doesn’t exist yet.
So there’s quite a bit more story to tell and revelations about River/Melody to happen.
@Steve
I have to disagree with you on some points like the Cybermen. There was no point of them being there at all and could have used another monster instead. I perhaps would have liked them to be involved more in the episode. I thought the Monks could have been explained more like where they’re from etc. Not much was said about Omega’s symbol that appeared which I was disappointed about. And as Dorium had his head cut off by a Monk how on earth is he going to appear in episode 13? Rory has definitely come out of his shell a lot more and though I disliked him at first I’m beginning to enjoy his character so I have to disagree with you there. Another point I have to disagree with you is Amy Pond. There is definitely much more to her. The first time we saw a crack was in her bedroom wall and she remembered Rory, The Doctor and her parents. With the Sontaran and the Silurian I think they were put there by the Doctor himself. And Jenny is the Doctor’s daughter. The 10th Doctor even said it himself! He said “Well she’s my daughter.” Jenny replied, “Hello dad.” and when she went past the part with the red security lines things she also said, “I hope I make you proud, Father.” That confirmed that she was indeed the Doctor’s daughter
Sorry for double comment: also why are Doctor Who fans so negative of Amy. I think since the revived series she has been the best and most interesting character and that is including Rose. I know everyone has their favourite companion but I cannot understand how someone can be so negative about a companion. Yeah i have my negatives about Martha but only because she was jealous of Rose and she kept coming on to the Doctor. Yes I know Amy did but she was in a forest full of Weeping Angels, unable to see and nearly died. Also scared and alone. Anyone would be with them creatures. But going back to Martha other than them negatives I posted I’ve no problem with her at all. I loved Rose and Donna but prefer Amy Pond the reason being that she is the most interesting companion cause of certain events that have happened.
@Patrick
i agree I like Amy by far the best than all the other companions
I have to admit to liking Amy too. I don’t like some aspects of her personality, but otherwise….
@blakey
DOUBLE COMENT!!!!!!!!
if you dont like it why do you watch THE SHOW!!! and choose to join in a website for FANS. Why not say somthing positive about the show if you cant think of anything you like about it, then you are not a fan!
@JC
Maybe the Doctor hasn’t told her his name. Maybe that was what’s written on his crib? We already know she reads and writes (if I recall correctly) Old High Gallifreyan…
Oh, and re: Patrick. I agree; Amy’s great. I love this TARDIS team, so I hope they’re not leaving, despite all those rumours. Unfortunately, some fans always have issues with companions. Don’t know why. Maybe they prefer the Doctor ala ‘The Deadly Assassin’?
(Plus, bit of a crush on Karen Gillan.)
I have to disagree with some of the comments on here, the whole of this series has been so convoluted and pointless. I had by last Saturday lost interest and found it boring to watch at all. It wasn’t interesting, exciting or frightening and the ‘cliff-hanger’ was so obvious it was laughable. What is most worrying is how the BBC seems to feel the need to talk it up all the time, which suggests that they aren’t too happy with the general indifference to this series but won’t admit it. If you saw the Stephen Moffat interview in the Radio Times, it was a complete denial that quite a lot of the fans, not to mention the less forgiving general public, are not enjoying his ‘arc’ as much as he is. He seems to think he is too clever to bother with the Daleks or the Cybermen!
@Steve
If you just want to say you don’t like the show then do so that you won’t have to watch it anymore. Its getting obvious that you don’t like Doctor Who anymore but you forget that Doctor Who is a kids programme despite the fact that this series has been darker.