Far and away the best of Steven Moffat's season finales, the Pandorica Opens two-parter plays fast and loose with timey-wimey nonsense while satisfactorily drawing to a close the key plot strands laid throughout the preceding season. The aforementioned reveal that an apparent continuity error in Flesh And Stone was in fact the Doctor travelling back in time to talk to Amy is in itself a trick worthy of standing ovation, but only one of many Moffat pulls in a conclusion which hits every key moment out of the park. If the continuity reversal takes the top prize, Amy's 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' reveal is a very close second. Matt Smith's 'drunk giraffe' dance routine takes the bronze. Also impressive is how the two episodes feel distinct from one another despite clearly being part of the same story. Many Who two-parters drag due to a single story being over-extended to two episodes, but The Pandorica Opens uses the questions laid throughout the season to set the board for the final conflict, which The Big Bang then spends its hour resolving. It's a neat structure using one set of questions to ask a whole new one for the finale, which Moffat has unfortunately proven unable to replicate since. More than anything, these episodes are enormous fun and a great showcase for Matt Smith, who gets one of his many great speeches in Pandorica ('I am talking!') and a second chance to play off Caitlin Blackwood, the young Amelia Pond, in Big Bang. Smith's Doctor is at his best when playing the universe's favourite big brother, and his interactions with young Amelia are as sweet and funny as ever. It's a triumphant end to a fantastic first season for Smith.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
