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“Everything was in place. I only had to do one more thing. I only had to die.”
Except, he didn't, of course. Of all the crazy things going on in this final episode – alternate worlds, all of history happening at once, the return of the Doctor's beard – perhaps the craziest thing of all was just how simple many of the explanations were.
Even if the final episode had a lot to cram in – probably a little too much for 45 minutes – the big mysteries were resolved in almost astonishingly simple ways. Sure, it wasn't the Flesh Doctor who was killed, but it wasn't the real Doctor either. The role of the Silents was rather straight forward, too – they are the silence that will fall when the question is asked, so the Doctor must die. Fair enough, that's just self preservation.
But most of all, following several years of hints and speculation, it turns out River Song is everything it's ever been hinted she is – she's the woman that killed the Doctor and she's his wife. I wasn't exactly behind the whole 'feel the love of the universe, Doctor' moment, but the wedding itself was nicely off-kilter and both Alex Kingston and Matt Smith nailed it. If there's a better expression of love than the Doctor telling River “And you are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven”, then I'd love to hear it. Especially if the words were coming out of Matt Smith's glorious face.
Steven Moffat pulled off a magnificent feat here pulling it all together, although another 10 minutes on the running time would have allowed it all to breathe a bit, especially the Emperor Churchill material (love Ian MacNeice and Matt Smith). But one of the most touching scenes in the episode was the tribute to Brigadier Letherbridge-Stewart. When Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brig in classic Who, died earlier this year., the warmth the the world of Who felt for him was overwhelmingly obvious . Instead of cramming in an awkward passing reference to him, this was a proper tribute that spurred the Doctor on, making him stop running and face up to his destiny Well played, Moffat, well played.
I was also exceptionally glad to see the return of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. Oh, the last centurion and the girl who waited, how I love you so. They provided most of the lighter moments of the episode, from their ridiculously fast relationship in eye-patch world to their final scene (“And I'm his... mother-in-law.”) The best thing Moffat did here with the Ponds, though, was address the issue of them losing baby Melody – Karen Gillan was absolutely perfect as Amy killed Madame Kovarian. I like it when the Doctor's companions aren't perfect paragons of humankind, and I totally bought her reasoning – even if River is fine now, and they'll be able to have some sort of relationship, she and Rory will never be parents to baby Melody. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.
On the whole, despite feeling a bit too full, this was a fitting end to what has been a golden run of Doctor Who episodes. The final scenes, as the Doctor reveals just how he got away without dying, were saved from feeling too much like exposition by excellent acting and editing. I'm extremely excited to see how the Doctor's decision to step back into the shadows will change the tone of the next series, and the seeds were sown marvellously for the final demise of the Eleventh Doctor. Even if the ultimate question is a bit self-referencial, on reflection, it couldn't really be anything else. Doctor who, indeed?
Oh, and if the Doctor's idea of romance is scones and texting, I'm totally there.
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