19. The Wedding of River Song (S6, E13 2011)
So here we are again...Lake Silencio, 5:02 PM, April 22nd, 2011; and the greatest man River Song has ever known is going to die. Only, when she's supposed to pull the trigger, she decides against it. Normally, this would be a game ending scenario where the heroes would win the day and walk off as if nothing had happened. However, this is Doctor Who, a show that revels in taking situations and turning them into more dire straits than we're used to. In this case, The Doctor's non-death causes the overwriting of a fixed point in time. Now, The Doctor has experienced this sort of phenomena twice before (see also, The Fires of Pompeii and The Waters of Mars) and both times he's warned that overwriting fixed points is about as hazardous as it sounds. Thanks to the writing in this episode, we finally see just what this sort of action accomplishes...which is the unravelling/bleeding together of the entirety of time. Ever wanted to ride a steam train to the Pyramids while reading about Emperor Churchill's latest misadventure with Charles Dickens and a Pteradactyl? Well, that's pretty much what you'd be able to do in this new timeline. More importantly, we see The Doctor do something we've speculated ever since her first appearance back in Series 4...he marries River Song. How legal, or how long, this marriage will be is to be determined; but her place in the series as pretty much the person The Doctor trusts the most besides himself has been solidified.
20. The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe (Christmas Special - 2011)
After his "death" in The Wedding of River Song, The Doctor decides to lie low for a while. Which in this case means he'll continue doing Doctorly things, and merely ask to be called "The Caretaker" instead. A Whovian riff on Narnia, this is the second time that Eleven has left The Ponds on Earth. He hopes to protect them, but ultimately he realizes just how much he loves/needs them after saving a family on Christmas. Ultimately, he realizes that The Ponds are more than companions to him. They're pretty much the only family he has, and not just by marriage. It's this familial love that drives him to protect them, and it's this very love that will tear him apart once they ultimately leave the scene. For now though, The Doctor ultimately returns to The Ponds to take the spot they always set for him at the holiday table. Until The Doctor comes to call, the Ponds are always waiting, always hoping that he'll be right back, despite the fact that all signs point to a day where they'll never meet again. A day that's not so far off in the distance. Thats it! Those are all the episodes you need to catch yourself up to the current series of Doctor Who (Series 7, Part 1 is available on DVD and Blu-Ray now, and will probably be re-run right before Series 7, Part 2.) Although, don't be surprised if there's a follow up list with a couple more episodes provided for further enrichment.