Doctor Who: EVERY Steven Moffat Episode Ranked Worst To Best

11. A Good Man Goes To War

Doctor Who A Good Man Goes To War Matt Smith Eleventh Doctor
BBC Studios

River Song is Amy and Rory's daughter... WHAT?!

Despite bizarrely being labelled as too messy and difficult to follow by some fans, Series 6 is where Moffat excels in weaving together multiple threads in a grand tapestry, and A Good Man Goes to War is the best part of that journey.

Though the birth of Melody Pond followed by River proclaiming the day to be her birthday sort of gave the game away early, the end reveal of River's identity is still a big soap opera shocker of a cliffhanger that smartly left several questions open for the second half of the series.

Who says RTD does family drama better than Moffat?

Matt Smith gives an exceptionally good performance in this episode, especially in his "Colonel Runaway" speech, and as always, Murray Gold's music gets an UP from me, with all his best Eleven-era themes on full display – and full volume.

Throw in a couple of whizz-bang action sequences, and A Good Man Goes To War is a five-star blockbuster banger.

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.