I wonder when the Doctors birthday is?, Time Lords still have birthdays, don’t they? The Doctor is 907 or something close to that so he should have birthdays. That might be another Question that will be answered in series 7, Which Is not arriving fast enough, even though ‘The Wedding of River Song’ hasn’t been on air here yet. I’m impatient when it comes to waiting for new Doctor Who episodes to arrive.

:D

The best episode of Dr Who ever!!! Thanks to S Moffat and all involved; this really is sci fi at its best. I have watched since the very early years and grew up with Dr Who. I’m now 39 and my mother also agrees this is fantastic (she is 64 and a member of MENSA- so not stupid!)
Please let Moffat and crew continue for a LONG RUN of more outstanding writing and production.

Thanks and love

Ollie

Just worshipping Steven Moffat’s immense cleverness. In The Girl In The Fireplace, Reinette (the girl) asks
‘Doctor? Doctor Who? It’s more than just a question, isn’t it?????’
Bearing in mind this episode was written by Moffat, it’s either a huge coincidence or proof that Steven Moffat really does have superhuman intelligence and has been planning everything for YEARS.

Also, re the ‘Doctor Who?’ question from TWORS, what if the Doctor doesn’t know???

@Prisoner 0 / right hand side of the TARDIS
The age of the Doctor has always been an interesting question. My own theory is that he is a vain person and does not give his true age away.
Look at the evidence.
The first Doctor was about 650 years old when the series started.
The second Doctor dropped his age down to 450 years
The third Doctor made a hasty suggestion of being around for several thousand….. generations?
The fourth Doctor said he was 750 years, which Sarah Jane passed off as middle age.
The 7th Doctor sai he was already in his 930’s when he regnerated.

Going forward to the 9th Doctor, the 9th Doctor said that in 900 years, he had never been slapped (I think it was slapped). It was Rose who said he was 900 years old.
Off course the Doctor has only aged in terms of earth years since but appears to age approx 100 years during the recent season and currently stands at somewhere between 1000 and 1100 give or take.

My theory is that the Doctor is probably nearer to between 1500 & 1600 years old (adding the 900 to the 650 years)

Well, here is my incredibly late review:
I thought that it was quite lovely. I found the opening sequence to be very clever, and was pleased that so many questions about the Astronaut were answered. I absolutely loved the Teselecta plotline, most especially because, out of 669 comments on Series 6, none of us guessed it. Alex Kingston and Matt Smith were AMAZING on the pyramid, and it really felt like both an end and a beginning, like a finale ought to be. It’s slightly annoying that we’ll never get to see what happened in those 200 years (if, indeed, the Doctor was not following Rule 1), but now we have Trenzalore and a less boastful life to look forward to.
Regarding the arc vs. standalone debate…I really enjoy both. Standalone episodes are wonderful and fun because they are little glimpses into TARDIS life and are easier for new viewers, but they can become a little repetitive. Still, I think that it is high time to return to them, at least to some extent. An arc-heavy storyline is good for those of us who enjoy debate and intense speculation, but it is true that new or casual viewers can be completely lost. I’m very glad that Moffat was able to showcase his storytelling genius this series, and I am excited to see where Series 7’s promised standalones will take us.
I did have some issues with the finale. First of all, why were the Amy and Rory in the aborted timeline the Amy and Rory from after Closing Time? River and the Doctor were from Lake Silencio…I also felt that Madame Kovarian was a wee bit too pathetic. I would have loved to learn more of her backstory, but I suppose that it would have taken up time that the episode did not have. Well, as she is most certainly alive in the real timeline, we will most likely see a lot more of her!
Even so, I truly enjoyed the episode. The goodbye to the Brigadier was so sweet and impossibly sad…I can only hope that our Sarah Jane can have a similar send-off. This series has given me some of my very favorite episodes, and I cannot wait for Christmas!

@Rosalie
ES had her goodbye in the impossible astronaut when her name appeared saying in memory of elisabeth sladen 1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011

@Patrick
Yes, I realise that, but the Doctor himself never had a chance to say goodbye to Sarah Jane. I did love that they dedicated the episode to her, as well as the tribute afterwards.

@Patrick
Correct. Elisabeth Sladen had her tribute.

Sarah Jane Smith, however, has not and I will be very surprised indeed if Moffat lets that slide.

@Rosalie

That’s what made me laugh aloud as well – I genuinely never gave a second thought to the Teselecta. Just ‘Yeah, cool … now on with the Doctor and River’s story’. And it was them all along! Moffat is fantastic :D

I also enjoyed the finale very much, but Moffat really is playing a long game here. There are still many unanswered questions. Who blew up the TARDIS and said “silence will fall”, what is the significance of the Lodger TARDIS that was also possessed by the silents in the 1960s. Also, little things like how did that photo of Amy and baby Melody get produced that we saw in the 1960s story. This photo makes no sense whatsoever. Oh well. Lots of fun anyway, and Matt is fantastic. I hope we get at least another 3 years before he hands over, though I suspect it will be only 2; Moffat is probably planning to kill him off for 50th Anniversary.

@vaguely
yeah but now its even right? ES has had her tribute and so has the Brigadier so its all square :P

@Patrick Liz Sladen had a pathetic mention before the first episode. At least the Brigadier had a mention on screen. On the other hand both had more than other companions that have sadly died. So let’s not forget
Jacqueline Hill
Adrienne Hill
Michael Craze
Ian Marter
David Brierly
Gerald Flood

@Steve
It was a nice gesture though. It may have been pathetic for you and thats absolutely fine as its your opinion but I thought it was a nice gesture. Just my opinion, thats all :)

Steve — I think the reason they didn’t give Sarah Jane a tribute on Doctor Who like they gave the Brig was for several reasons:

1) She’s got her own TV show. She’ll get her tribute, all right, and it’ll be way bigger.

2) Think about it: they actually killed off the Brigadier this way. Sarah Jane is not being killed off. In fact, they have explicitly stated that they do not want to film more SJA without her; they want it to end where she left it, so I think that means they want the character to be able to go on in our minds. The Brigadier now cannot, but Sarah Jane most certainly can.

3) Yes, Sarah Jane was special and important to all of us. But the Brigadier’s influence spanned a much larger period of Doctor Who. His character appeared directly (i.e. not in a flashback but actually there) with the First*, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Doctors. You can’t say that about any other companion. He appeared so often that when he witnessed the Third Doctor renegerating into the Fourth, his only comment was something along the lines of “he’s done it again.” He was already well acquainted with the concept.

* Nicholas Courtney appeared with William Hartnell as Bret Vyon during Hartnell’s tenure as the Doctor, but as the Brigadier he didn’t meet him until “The Three Doctors”. He also appeared with Richard Hurndall’s version of the First Doctor in “The Five Doctors”.

I have no idea what this topic has to do with The Wedding of River Song…..

but I don’t think Nicolas Courtney’s nod should be less because we’re huge Liz Sladen’s fans! In truth we miss them both a great deal as I’m sure everyone associated with Doctor Who does as well.

I suspect that our true disappointment comes from our not seeing The(current)Doctor’s reaction to Sarah Jane’s loss. But in all honesty, I don’t think he does the tough emotions especially well on this show. Perhaps its in his interpretation of the way the character should be portrayed. TO ME: He seems seriously uncomfortable when he has to show that he feels true emotional pain.

I keep seeing when DT played The Doctor and every time he interacted with Sarah Jane, you could believe that deep inside he was the same man. All the love, the regret, the pride, and the depth of his heart came through when he said, “My Sarah Jane!”

@Grace
I think Matt Smith shows his emotions just fine; he just doesn’t over-egg it all the time, that’s not his Doctor.

@Steve
Should the show mention, on screen, every time someone who was on the show died? No, of course not, that would be silly. A ‘dedicated to’ is generally enough.

Okay, I tried to let the “over-egg” it all the time it all the time comment go…but then I kept seeing Matt doing his impersonation of ADHD kid on Meth (now I’m going to get blasted by everyone)…..

My point is they all play up the roll a bit!

But being able to show emotional depth is a sign of an actor’s dedication to his craft, just like being able to get the audience to feel it with them is too.

I think swiping at the 10th Doctor is considered an artform these days, I’ll have to check on that one.

@TWWL Basically Yes.
Certainly in Jacqueline Hill case. If it had not been for this fantastic actress who brought the role of the Doctor’s companion to life, there would be no role for KG or a number of others to have.
And certainly a mention in passing for these others.
Adrienne Hill
Michael Craze
Ian Marter
But then again it depends on how you look at it. I refer to the conversation between Sarah and The 4th Doctor in Pyramid of Mars….