TV Review: Doctor Who 6.13 - "The Wedding Of River Song" SEASON FINALE

By Jamie Slough / October 2, 2011

(Season Finale) Written by: Steven Moffat

rating: 3.5

WARNING - SPOILERS Head writer Steven Moffat has been in charge of the show now for two seasons and a lot is resting on the success of this episode. Some fans were disappointed after last seasons finale, where a lot of questions were left unanswered to make way for a two season long story arc rather than one. Well the time has come, now there are two seasons worth of questions that need answering and a hell of a lot of anticipation. Does this episode pull it off? Yes and no. There are a lot of similarities to be found within this episode and last seasons finale The Big Bang. In our first scene we are introduced to a world that is obviously not our own (a world with no stars and a world where all of time is happening at once). One very interesting question that is pressed throughout this episode which is what happens when a fixed point in time is undone? We are always told the unchangeable power of a fixed point in time but we have never seen the effects of what would happen if the events did not come to pass. The answer of what happens when you un-fix a moment in time is quite enjoyable and something we haven't seen in the show before once. One small problem this form of finale encounters is there is very little physical enemy threat. Of course The Silence are present throughout this episode but their climax is merely cannon fodder compared to the universe yet again coming close to annihilation (much like the lone and weak Dalek seen easily disposed off in The Big Bang). It's a shame this season only had two scenes where The Doctor had a conversation with The Silence, it seems we are destined to wait yet another season for a full taste of this interesting alien sect. A story arc where The Doctor "dies" was inevitable and also required in the new world of Doctor Who. One great arc throughout this season was that The Doctors image was getting too big for his boots. After the Time War, the bumbling man with a time machine was now this almighty god like power to be feared. This was summed up quite well in A Good Man Goes To War where the meaning of Doctor was turning from great healer to great warrior and later referenced in through Rory and other companions in the latter half of the season ("You're turning me into you!"). Something had to give and having The Great Warrior Doctor burn away on a beach somewhere in Utah would give this mad man with a box a whole new lease on life. Matt Smith did a fantastic job portraying a man willingly accepting death in a believable matter and his performance makes the final reveal of a man allowed to keep on living even more exciting. The place the Doctor must be in right now has to be quite liberating for him and for Smith as an actor. He can finally leave his "guilt" of The Time War and The Children of Time behind him and move forward a new man. A lot of ideas and characters set up throughout this season are revisited and help built to a satisfying conclusion: The Teselecta, marking your skin whenever you have had an encounter with The Silence, Blue Man - Dorium Maldovar (Simon Fisher Becker) and Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) all make a return and all play a vital part to the story. There is an extremely small moment in this episode that stayed with me and that was The Doctor learning of The Brigadier's death (a classic Who companion played by Nicholas Courtney who died earlier this year). Learning the death of a dear friend and companion helps ground The Doctor at one of his lowest moments when all he wants is to run away yet again. It is a fantastic acknowledgement of the passing of an amazing actor and character, who played one of the biggest supporting roles in the shows history and helping The Doctor realise it's indeed time to "stop running". It was a fitting end for the character and was a fantastic send off to Nick. With all of is positives, one of the biggest problems I had with The Wedding Of River Song was that it yet again didn't answer a majority of the questions pressed to the audiences through season 6 and even season 5, deciding rather to postpone it for what we can only hope is the true climax in season 7. It now make sense for a story this big to stretch into a three season trilogy (which would also co-insides with the shows 50th Anniversary), however from the fact we were mislead into thinking this was a two season arc by the producers themselves, I can completely understand why a handful of fans were upset when the answers they were expecting to come, didn't. Instead we have been turned away yet again and told to wait an additional 10 months for a story that has already expanded over a year and a half. Doctor Who never has been a show that has used multi season arcs before and I could spend all day discussing the various approaches to this show however I feel that would be better suited to a review of the season as a whole rather than this specific episode (on that note watch this space for that future article). Moffat's structure of writing (especially as show-runner) is truly a double edged sword. For a majority of the episode viewers feel confusion and frustration as plot points fly across our screens left right and centre in a very stylised non-linear structure, only to be resolved in an overly convenient manner in the last 5-10 minutes of the story. When looking back you still feel your initial frustration at how the story was presented but your case is all but a drop in the ocean when you remember how the plot threads were eventually resolved in a moderately clear and satisfying manner. It's not the most enjoyable form of storytelling upon first viewing but is none the less effective in the long run. I am sure I will enjoy this story far more when the "trilogy" is completed with season 7 (hopefully) and I can look back at this episode as a piece from a completed story in a better light. Even with my mixed feelings I have for this episode, I know Moffat's stories usually work better upon multiple viewings as they are such a complex, non-linear weave of ideas and concepts in regards to time travel and storytelling. Even as I write this now my opinion of TWORS is turning more and more to a favourable light. This has the potential to be a classic but it feels like a diamond in the rough until The Silence story sees a true conclusion.