The Wedding of River Song

"My friends have always been the best of me."

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 1st October 2011

Series: 6.13

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, River

Synopsis 

As the Doctor prepares for his death at the hands of an impossible astronaut, something goes wrong. All of history is happening at once and the Doctor is still alive. Will the universe survive?

Verdict 

The Wedding of River Song is an excellent series finale! It ties up all the numerous loose ends the series has given us, going way back to The Impossible Astronaut. I liked the way the series was laid out with much of the first half always referencing a series arc of some sort with Amy's pregnancy dilemma and the looming death of the Doctor. But after Let's Kill Hitler where the Doctor found out about his future death, the series arc was very quiet which I'm a fan of. Only from the climax of Closing Time and what we knew from part one of the series was the finale set up. After the previous episode's finish, it seemed like the Doctor was headed straight for Lake Silencio. However, the farewell tour would go on just a tad longer yet. If the Doctot was going to die then he wanted to know why. So he set about on a little mission to find out all he could about the Silence. Watching back, it's lovely seeing how everything about them, the question and Trenzalore would come full circle in The Time of the Doctor. The genius of Steven Moffat at hand. The idea of River preventing herself from killing the Doctor, overpowering the spacesuit was a mightily brave one after we'd been fed for weeks that the Doctor's death was a fixed point. That fixed point just didn't happen which caused history all to happen at once. The Doctor was once again reunited with Winston Churchill who was now the Holy Roman Emperor! History was in a right kerfuffle I must say. The War of the Roses was reported as entering its second year by the press, a Roman on horseback was waiting at a red light and Charles Dickens was being interviewed live on television! A great little reference to The Unquiet Dead. Churchill talking about downloads was rather comical and I liked how he referred to the Doctor as the soothsayer. Time had gone wrong and it was because of a women. Hell in a high heels to be precise! A stunning description of River Song. I'm not entirely sure how she was able to stop a fixed point in time from happening but if she did manage to overpower the spacesuit, then why should fixed points not be rewritten? It set up something incredible though. I liked how the eye patches weren't really eye patches and instead were nice little tools allowing the wearer to retain information on the Silence. Amy's arrival into the episode in James Bond style was incredible and wow oh wow Karen Gillan looked absolutely spectacular. Her hair was ridiculously gorgeous. I've always thought that Jenna Coleman was the most beautiful companion but after this series six rewatch Karen Gillan has certainly made me think about things! The train trip to Cairo was good and I liked how Amy still remembered adventures with the Doctor thanks to the crack in her bedroom wall. Rory was in a different situation though and was serving his wife from another reality. The flirting between the Doctor and River was as good as ever and I really do think they're incredible together. But after seeing Peter Capaldi interact with Michelle Gomez's Master/Mistress, I'd love for him and Alex Kingston to get a chance to show what they can do. The surge of the Silence from the containers was terrific and I loved their devastating arrival. Kovarian was left to die and after the heartache she'd put Amy through on Demon's Run, Amy reattached the eye patch causing her death. She deserved it, simple as that. Amy realising who her Rory was in true style was wonderful as she shot down the Silence saving 'Captain Williams'. The Doctor initiating his wedding with River was stunning and I loved how he didn't really whisper his name. After Dorium's prophecy and a game of live chess, and the events of Let's Kill Hitler, the Teselecta owed the Doctor a great deal. And it would in turn save his life. The Doctor tricked the universe to escape his death. River, shortly after the events of The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone revealed the truth about the Doctor being alive and well. A superb end to the season and a clever way of cheating death. But I must mention the tribute to Nicholas Courtney in the form of the Brigadier here. A touching moment and the moment the Doctor learned of his old friend's death was rather an emotional one. He'd mentioned Rose and Jack in the story but I'm not sure any of them were as close as the Brigadier. Overall, a superb finale! 

Rating: 9/10