Doctor Who: Series 6 Part 1
BBC, 2011
RRP: AU$39.99

Reviewed by George Ivanoff

The sixth series of the revived Doctor Who (the second for Matt Smith as the Doctor) has been cut in half. The first half screened in early 2011, and as viewers wait for the second half to start screening in late August, the first half has been released on DVD. This season, so far, is a definite improvement on the previous. It feels more cohesive and is taking the series into new and interesting territory.

It opens well with a two-part story, “The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon”. This story revolves around the first moon landing and is mostly set in America. It introduces a new alien threat, the Silence, and sets the scene for a season-long arc. The Silence are extremely creepy and the plot is intriguing, if a little overly convoluted.

The next story, “The Curse of the Black Spot”, is the weakest link. Set aboard a 17^th century pirate ship plagued by a mysterious Siren, it is full of plot holes and lapses in logic, and fails to engage on an emotional level.

And then we come to “The Doctor’s Wife”, the episode written by famed novelist Neil Gaiman. This is definitely the highlight! This story sees the soul of the TARDIS placed within the body of a woman. Witty, dramatic, exciting and emotional, it is everything a Doctor Who episode should be. A joy for the dedicated fan, it adds to the series mythology but is still an entertaining episode in it’s own right.

Next up is the two-parter, “The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People”. A story about ‘Flesh’ — a synthetic substance that can be molded into fake human beings to create Doppelgangers (or Gangers) that are controlled as avatars and used in dangerous situations. But what happens when these Gangers achieve consciousness? An interesting story of moral dilemmas, it also impacts significantly on the season arc.

Lastly, we have the mid-season finale, “A Good Man Goes to War”. I loved this story for the simple fact that we finally have consequences for the Doctor’s increasingly messianic behaviour. During Series 5 I was getting increasingly frustrated with the Doctor’s ‘hero complex’ — the fact that he now saw himself as this heroic entity that could strike fear into the hearts of all evil-doers. I was beginning to think that series show-runner, Stephen Moffat, was taking things too far. But all doubts have been laid to rest with this episode. It now all has purpose. Oh, and we finally get to find out who River Song is.

Take note that this DVD set is a vanilla release. The only extras are a couple of “monster files” — fairly average little docos. For the die-hard fans who want a little more (such as myself), I’d recommend waiting for the full season release which will feature the usual plethora of extras we have come to expect from the BBC.

Thanks to the BBC’s Australian distributor, Roadshow Entertainment, we have two copies of the Dr Who Season 6 part 1 DVDs to give away. To win, email reviews@ticon4.com with the name of your favourite Doctor by 12.01am WST (GMT +8), Sunday 18th September. The winners will be drawn on the day and will be announced on ticon4.com.