Andy's Friday Five: Best Doctor Who Series 6 Moments

Howdy!

It will be a week tomorrow that DOCTOR WHO ended its sixth series, leaving my heart shattered into a million pieces at the prospect of waiting nearly a whole year for the next thirteen episode series. But for now, let's take a fond look back at what just ended and celebrate some scenes that are particularly worth praise. So here we are, the final week before the Geek continues his 'year in film' Friday Five, giving DW fans my favorite moments from Series 6.

Also, apologies. I didn't realize until I finished this that four out of the five scenes listed below involve River Song. Blame Moffat. He knows how to write her. And when she's onscreen, the show is just so damn much. And before continuing to read, be aware, as the title of this posts suggests, there are spoilers. Stay away if you haven't seen the entire season! So, anyway, my favorite moments:

Favorite Doctor Who Series 6 Moments

5. The Amy Reveal. It doesn't happen often, but there are times when a show does something so unexpected, so shocking, that that moment when it happens will forever be engrained in your mind. This is one of those moments (and #4). Now, I'm obsessive with spoilers. I'm dumb and I seek them out. But nowhere did I read anything about this. I was as clueless as anyone who stayed away from spoilers. When it was revealed that Amy Pond was in fact not with Rory and The Doctor onboard the TARDIS, that she hasn't been since possibly pre-America (aka the season premiere), that was a shocker. That was a "holy crap!" moment. Amy Pond was a ganger the entire time! And all that business about POSITIVE/NEGATIVE pregnant? Well, she IS pregnant, but she's being held captive somewhere else, completely and totally fooling The Doctor for months! Wow, now that was a doozy. Absolutely brilliant execution. In one quick stroke, two subplos from the five previous episodes are explained visually in a jaw-dropping scene. Clever, Moffat, clever.

4. Here Comes River. And speaking of clever, I was absolutely oblivious to this change of events. This Mels person showed up out of nowhere, ruining a perfectly fine episode with "Let's Kill Hitler", supposedly being a best friend of Amy and Rory's. Now maybe my noggins just don't work super quick and I didn't put two to two together in seconds, but when Mels was shot and she started glowing her pre-regeneration glowiness: wow. Another one of those "holy shit!" moments. Because of the surprise, because of the retrospective 'duh' and brilliance of the whole thing, the death of Mels and emergence of River Song will forever be one of the most amazing and clever things to come from this series. I remember when I first watched it, I had the most giant grin in all of Mankato. This. Was. Brilliant. Unfortunately, after the bit that follows (choice #1), River becomes sorta obnoxious for the remainder of the episode until her emotional sacrifice at the end. Still, one helluva episode, and one helluva surprise.

3. The Mighty Warrior. Whenever we're given the opportunity to analyze who and/or what The Doctor has become, I love it, I cherish it. To examine the darkness and the danger of this Time Lord, to see how he started off as nothing more than a man who wanted to see the universe and now turns armies away at the mention of his name - it's bone chilling, and it's exactly the kind of analysis of the character that I want Moffat to explore. Like it or hate it, The Doctor is one of the more complex 'protagonists' on television, and by all means, he should be looked into. When Davros told The Doctor that he fashions people into weapons, that he announced The Doctor that 'Destroyer of Worlds', when Donna recognizes the darkness in The Doctor in "The Runaway Bride" and tells him he needs people to keep him in check - those are perfect moments. The Doctor has darkness, let's explore it. The Doctor's adventures have changed the way the universe looks at him, let's explore it. Hell, let's just say I love this scene and quote River who said it so eloquently:

"This was exactly you. All this, all of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name? Doctor? The word for healer and wise man, throughout the universe. We get that word from you, you know. But if you carry on the way you are, what might that word come to mean? To the people of the Gamma Forests, the word "Doctor" means mighty warrior. How far you've come. And now they've taken a child, the child of your best friends, and they're going to turn her into a weapon, just to bring you down. And all this, my love...in fear of you."

2. "Guys, I mean us. RUN!" The next two points are possibly the funniest bits of Doctor Who this series. Just when The Doctor saves the earth and his plan to eradicate The Silents are taken into effect, his master plan rebounds and he and everyone else are in terrible danger. Classic Who. As The Doctor reveals his brilliant plan to The Silents, there's such a kickass, "you go, Doctor!" vibe to the whole thing, no doubt thanks in part to Murray Gold's rousing score. And then there's this funny exchange as The Doctor realizes exactly how in trouble they are. This leads us into possibly the best action scene of any Doctor Who episode. A super sexy River Song blasting away at the Silents, The Doctor doing something with his sonic to defeat the bad guy (cue River/Doctor bantering, which is always fun!), and Rory realizing that "stupid face" was none other than him, and not The Doctor as he mistakenly believed. What a gorgeous, beautiful scene. Action, comedy, drama - that's why this show succeeds.

1. "Is killing you going to take all day?" Talk about laugh-out-loud funny. Another one of those grinning moments. River, programmed by The Silence since a young girl to kill The Doctor, seizes plenty of opportunities to kill him, but The Doctor's always one step ahead of her. This is a brilliant Laurel & Hardy type sketch, where River shoots to kill, only for The Doctor to reveal he took the magazine, or replaced a gun with a banana. This is definitely Moffat's funniest script to date, and it shows no brighter than this scene - which is odd for a dramatic, action-packed episode. Check out this link and watch the clip on YouTube. May be, for me, the funniest thing since Supernatural's "The French Connection", which you should watch (and rewatch) here. Just brilliant. All of these moments are brilliant. True testaments to the creative and clever people working behind the scenes and in front of the camera.

*All images from the spectacular Sonic Brio

So those are just some of my favorite moments from Doctor Who Series 6. What are yours? Voice your opinions below!