Now that the first half of the series is over, I have found myself in the position where I am three episodes out of date for my reviews. Instead of keeping you all waiting another 3 weeks (yes, a full review does take about a week to write), I've decided to condense said reviews into one, and give an overview of my opinion of the episodes.

A Town Called Mercy

The premise to this episode was great - a morality tale in the Wild West. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking. The episode wants us to be on Khaler-Jex's (joint creator of the Gunslinger) side, but why should we, when he shows a ruthless streak about midway through the episode? And just when we've all decided that Jex is the bad guy, his character softens again, and he becomes repentent, scared of death because of his religion. So what is he? A harmless scientist or a ruthless scientist? The episode never really makes its mind.

Much like Boomtown (2005), A Town Called Mercy tries to present a situation where the Doctor has to choose whether a character lives or dies. Ultimately, like in Boomtown, the decision is taken out of the Doctor's hands, but in a much less forced way - Jex commits suicide.

Overall, A Town Called Mercy attempts to tell a morality tale that falls flat on its face. The episode can't work out whether Jex is good or bad, and takes the biggest decision of the series out of the Doctor's hands. I rate the episode:

6.5 out of 10

The Power of Three

This episode is the second romp of the series, and is as enjoyable as the previous one: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. In my opinion, this episode does everything right - until the conclusion. I'm not going to discuss it here, that's already been done, but I'll just say that it made me think that John-Nathan Turner was right when he got rid of the sonic screwdriver back in 1981. Oh well.

The idea of a 'slow invsion' is new to Doctor Who, but director Douglas MacKinnon does a brilliant job of capturing the feel of a world in panic, wondering what on earth these cubes are. Rory's dad, Brian returns in this episode, and provides many comedic moments, such as the way he stays in the TARDIS for four days after the Doctor told him to watch the cubes. The introduction of Kate Stewart, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's daughter, was a welcome touch, but it was a shame that her character wasn't developed further. Hopefully we'll see more of her in the future.

Overall, The Power of Three really should have been a two parter. So many elements felt rushed and underdeveloped. But apart from the horrible ending, none of the said elements detract from how good the episode is. I rate The Power of Three:

8.5 out of 10

The Angels Take Manhattan

I'm going to ask one question: how many of you cried at least once during the episode? Guess what - I didn't. I'm not an overly emotional person, so the Pond's goodbye didn't affect me as much as other people. That being said, I though their send off was brilliant - Amy and Rory end up living to death, together. However, I do think that parts of it were very contrived - why can't the Doctor just pick them up somewhere outside of New York? Why couldn't he just skip ahead to 1939 and pick them up then? If they had to die in New York, he could do one of the aforementioned journeys, take them back to their present day, let them age there, pick them up when they're old and take them back to NY. There, simple, the Doctor can see them again, and they can live together in the 21st century, all without disrupting the timeline.

River's return to maturity was welcomed,as she was much less annoying, and the idea of her writing a book in which the events where running parallel to the Doctor and Amy was genius, especially the punchline where we find out that the 'skinny guy' is actually Rory. Speaking of which, he manages to die twice more in this episode, although the second is permanent. I did find it a bit tragic that he never got to say goodbye to the Doctor or River (or Brian for that matter) though.

I have to say this, but the weeping angels are not scary anymore. Yes, the 'weeping cherubium' were a nice addition to their lore, but they've already outstayed their welcome, and I hope that the producers decided to retire them soon before their appeal is leached out of them (like what happened to the daleks)

Overall, The Angels Take Manhatten was a thrililng, enjoyable, not-that-emotional conclusion to the Pond's tenure on the show. I rate the episode:

8 out of 10

(Mind you, WHY WASN'T BRIAN TOLD OF WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS SON AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW???? And the music while Amy and Rory were falling was absolutely heavenly.)

What did you think about the episodes? Let me know in the comments.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Review

[Spoiler alert – don’t read if you haven’t seen the episode]

After last week’s disappointing, but nonetheless entertaining episode, it was up to Chris Chibnall to continue and amplify the little momentum the daleks gave us last time. I hardly need to say that he succeeded with flying colours.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship has the Doctor collect a ‘gang’ from various points in space and time – Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, hunter John Riddell, the Ponds, as well as Rory’s dad, Brian (played by the amazing Mark Williams). The Doctor is investigating a gigantic spaceship that is heading towards Earth, and has only six hours to turn it around before the Indian Space Agency blows it out of the air. At first, this seems like an easy task, until the Doctor and his ‘gang’ find out what cargo the spaceship is carrying –dinosaurs.

Yep, that’s right. Those giant reptiles that once roamed the Earth are in a spaceship. In a nice bit of continuity, Amy discovers that the ship was constructed by the Silurians as a sort of Ark, carrying them and their dinosaur friends away from a cataclysm about to occur on Earth (this‘cataclysm’ was in fact the moon coming into orbit). Unfortunately, sometime between the launch and the Doctor’s arrival, the ship was boarded by the pirate, Solomon, who, upon learning of the cargo, proceeded to order his‘funny’ robots to eject the crew.

Ah, those robots. Derided by fans as being ridiculous annoying and unnecessary, I have to say that they weren’t that annoying – I merely tolerated them. Their inclusion seems only to keep in with the theme of the episode, which this week is the ‘one for the kids’. The entire episode is a romp, with fun chases, witty dialogue, but most surprisingly, lots of innuendo. No doubt that the innuendo will fly over the kids’ heads, but it did feel a bit out of place in a children’s episode.

On to the dinosaurs. Apart from being kid-pleasers, they feature very little in the episode, mainly used as the main marketing point for the episode (like the classic daleks from last week). Thisactually works very well though, as they are used to drive the plot along inclever ways – the pteranodons (not pterodactyls, Brian got it wrong) chase the Doctor, Rory and Brian to some caves, where they encounter Solomon’s robots, Tricey the triceratops is a mode of transport – and provide tension (the T-Rex andraptors) and comedy relief (Tricey).

Who doesn’t love Tricey? While his behaviour probably isn’t that accurate (chasing after golf balls like a dog), he is still pretty cute,and his death scene is nicely underplayed and touching – the Doctor strokes his head while he dies. The death of this innocent creature was caused by Solomon, who wants Queen Nefertiti before leaving in his ship. I have to say it, but David Bradley is brilliant, adding some depth to what would otherwise be a generic bad guy – killed people, wants cargo, willing to do anything to achieve goals,etc). His performance really sends home the message that Solomon is the dregs of humanity.

Rianne Steele as Nefertiti gives a solid performance for a rather bland character, but she bounces of Rupert Graves’ John Riddell exceptionally well. Riddell is charismatic and full of male chauvinism, but soon learns to respect the women in the group and treat them as equals. He and Nefertiti almost constantly flirt for the entire episode, much to the annoyance of Amy. Amy is given a much bigger part in this episode, and is forced to assume the Doctor’s normal role as she, Nefertiti and Riddell are separated from the Doctor and the Williams’ early in the episode.

Surprisingly, the episode pauses during its latter stages to focus a bit on the overall ‘arc’ of the series: the Ponds’ departure. Amy has a brief conversation with the Doctor about the increasing intervals between his visits, to which the Doctor says: “You’ll be there to the end of me.” Amy then replies “Or vice versa”, causing the Doctor to gaze sadly into her eyes, knowing that what she said is a very real possibility.

One person who has the Doctor with him until his end (well, just a bit before) is Solomon. His death scene is probably one of the most controversial of all of the uncountable death scenes in the history of Who. The Doctor carries a missile homing beacon onto Solomon’s spaceship, rescues Nefertiti (whom Solomon had captured), de-magnetises the ship and leaves Solomonto die. This action caused many fans to cry ‘Out of character!’, but I don’t believe it was.

Let’s list the crimes that Solomon commits in this episode alone (that the Doctor is aware of):

·        Genocide (technically)

·        Piracy

·        Harm to others

·        Kidnap of Royalty

·        Hints of abuse (physical and sexual)

·        Blackmail

The above list shows that Solomon is a disgusting person bymany people’s standards. This immediately puts him in the Doctor’s bad books.On top of this, when the Doctor is considering saving Solomon rather than leaving him to his fate, Solomon attempts to bribe the Doctor to secure hisfreedom. This is the final straw, and you can see the Doctor give up all hopefor the pirate. He then walks out of the room and de-magnetises the ship, indirectly killing him.

In my opinion, the Doctor’s actions were justified and not out of character, just look back through the past 32 series and you’ll find plenty of instances where the Doctor has killed in ‘cold blood’.

Just one niggle for the episode: the ISA missiles don’t havean ‘abort’ function! ????? It’s 2012 and we can remotely detonate our missiles! Has technology gone backwards by the time 2367 rolls around? And for those wondering why Nefertiti stayed will Riddell at the end - fact: Nefertiti disappeared off the record books around 1330 BC. Now we know why!

In conclusion, Dinosaurs is a very enjoyable episode, packed with chases, humour and witty dialogue. However, the episode does have some out-of-place innuendo, tolerable robots, and a few characters who could have been developed better.

Overall, I rate Dinosaurson a Spaceship

8.5 out of 10.

What do you think? Let me know in your comments below.

Don't have time have the time or desire to watch Doctor Who, but want to keep up with the basic storyline, so you can sound knowledgable to your Whovian friends?

Inspector SpaceTime's 4 Frame Episode Summaries are for you.

Contributed by a Whovian known only as Inspector SpaceTime, each week he will help you make sense of the sometimes bit complicated Sci-Fi series we all know and love, Doctor Who, with his episode summaries in 4 frames.

Here is his summation of Series 7 episode 1- Asylum of the Daleks.

P.S. Inspector SpaceTime is not the same person as Site Manager, promise!

[Spoiler alert – don’t read if you haven’t seen the episode]

I’m going to ask the question right now, no not that one, the other one: who was expecting Jenna-Louise Coleman, the new companion, to turn up 5 episodes early? I, for one, was certainly not, and can remember trying to franticly work out what was going on. Luckily though, my mind soon settled enough for me to actually engage in the episode.

Series 7 of revived Who kicks off in a spectacular fashion, entertainment wise. The Doctor, Amy and Rory have been kidnapped by the daleks and are sentto the Asylum, a dumping ground for mentally unstable daleks. There, they encounter Soufflé Girl, otherwise known as Oswin Oswald, a genius who survived a spaceshipcrash a year ago, and has been surviving on soufflés. But where did she get the milk?

The premise itself is fantastic, and the episode never ceases to entertain. However, when one delves a bit, the episode does start to fall apart.

Take Amy and Rory’s situation, for example. Since we last saw them, their marriage has fallen apart to the point where divorce is imminent. The cause: Amy’s infertility. This is apparently a side-effect of her stay at Demon’s Run, and is an interesting twist to her character. However, the entire sub-plot is handled incredibly poorly. For one thing, it is extremely unlikely that this couple would split over such a reason. Over the past two series, the audience has been shown time and time again how much Amy and Rory love each other –  Amy’s Choice, Cold Blood, The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang, The Doctor’s Wife and The Girl Who Waited are all good examples. Yet we are meant to believe that their relationship is over because of that fact. I know that infertility can cause real couples to split, but here it just doesn’t make sense – they already havea daughter! On top of this, all it takes for them to get back together is an adventure with the Doctor, and the chance to talk things over – something they should’ve done long before filing for divorce in the first place. Mind you, I did love Rory’s victory dance at the end!

I now turn to continuity errors. These aren’t that important to the episode overall, as several reasonable assumptions can be madeto explain them.

1)     Skaro was destroyed in Remembrance of the Daleks,back in 1988. The Doctor (then played by Sylvester McCoy), reprogrammed the Hand of Omega to fly into Skaro’s sun, causing it to supernova, destroying the planet in the process. However, Skaro was seen briefly in the TV Movie (1996), with no explanation as to how it appeared. To top it all off, it was stated in Daleks in Manhattan (2007) that the planet was destroyed in a Great War (presumably the Time War). So how was it featured in this episode? The answer: the Skaro scene took place before it was destroyed. Simple, really.

2)     Back in Victory of the Daleks (2010), a new, ‘pure breed’ of daleks was created by using a progenitor device. The new, multicoloured daleks (which, incidentally, I like) proceeded to destroy the old, gold, ‘impure’ ones. So how are the gold daleks back in this episode? The answer:  the new daleks created more ‘pure’ ones, but for reasons best known tothemselves, placed them in the old dalek casings.

3)     This episode was publicised as featuring every dalek from every era of the show. Long time fans were looking forward to seeing 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and the Special Weapons Daleks in action. Sadly, this was not the case, as the classic daleks were only allowed brief cameos in the background. I only spotted around 5 or 6 in three viewings. This raises a question: When the Doctor enters the ‘Intensive Care Area’, which  houses daleks from previous encounters with the Doctor (Spiridon – Planet of the Daleks, Kembel – The Daleks’ Masterplan, Aridius – The Chase, Vulcan – The Power of the Daleks, and Exxilon – Death to the Daleks), why do all the daleks appear to be of the new series design? The answer: the daleks have given newe rcasings before they were put in the asylum, or were upgraded while in the asylum itself.

Let’s move now to the main twist of the episode – Oswin Oswald was a dalek. I don’t think anyone saw this spectacular twist coming, and it was a great way to round the episode off. There were tiny visual clues, such as the design of Oswin’s view screen, and of course, the Doctor’s question – where’d she get the milk? Jenna-Louise Coleman portrayed the part perfectly, and as Jenna will be playing the new companion, I can’t help wonder if we’ve just been treated to a 50 minute preview of her... Just one question though. Why did theDoctor, Amy and Rory hear Oswin’s human voice over the speakers, yet she spoke like a dalek when the Doctor met ‘her’ in person?

The regular cast continue to impress, with Karen Gillan giving one of her strongest performances. Matt Smith was amazing as usual, and Arthur Darvill gave a great performance throughout, particularly when delivering the comedy lines.

As for the daleks themselves, I must say that while I didn’t think that they were that scary in this episode, they were a lot more sinister and cunning than they have been in recent years. I also liked the dalek ‘puppets’; organic matter (living or dead) converted, via nanogenes, into a sort of human/dalek robot. While they didn’t really serve any purpose in the plot (apart from kidnapping the regulars and chasing them down a ladder), they were great in showing another level of dalek technology. The addition of the ‘Path Web’ (the dalek’s main source of information) was also welcomed. While I liked the daleks in this episode, one of my main problems with it is that it felt more like a regular episode with daleks tacked on, rather than a dalek episode. The daleks don’t really feature prominently; they’re more of a background menace, similar to the stone dalek in The Big Bang. I also had a problem with the ending of the episode.

One scene had the Doctor cornered in a doorway, waiting franticly for Oswin the not-yet-revealed Dalek to open the door while several daleks approached, waving their sink plungers menacingly. To buy the Doctor time, Oswin wipes the Doctor from the Asylum's Daleks' Path Web, causing them to forget him and retreat. However, it turns out that she actually caused all daleks to forget him. I don’t agree with this; the daleks are his greatest enemy, they can’t just forget him! What the producers have done is erase 49 years worth of Doctor/Dalek conflict in a single episode, making the daleks lose a lot of their character development in the process. It was even stated in the episode that “We [the daleks] have grown stronger in fear of you [the Doctor].”  That’s all I’ll say on the subject for now, but I must admit that the daleks forgetting the Doctor does tie in nicely with the universe believing that the Doctor is dead.

In conclusion, Asylum is a very entertaining episode, packed with thrills, humour and creepiness. However, the episode does have several continuity errors, meaningless drama, a less-than-appeasing resolution and a disappointing lack of classic daleks.

Overall, I rate Asylum of the Daleks:

 7 out of 10.

What do you think? Let me know in your comments below.

Duck, Pond! and other Theories Part 3.

First we discussed duck ponds with no ducks in it (Read Part One). Then we looked at staircases that lead nowhere, impossible dates on nurses badges and strange black cloaked figures (Read Part Two). In this final part of my “Duck, Pond! And Other Theories” Blog I will share what I call the Mrs Angelo Conundrum.

But , before reading on, as a word of warning - when I first discovered this theory I felt it was so likely to be right that it felt like a massive spoiler. Of course you might think it is completely wrong, but in any case, read ahead at your own risk.

In the Eleventh Hour there was an intriguing conversation between the Doctor and a character by the name of Mrs Angelo. Mrs Angelo (pictured) is the grandmother of Amy’s friend Jeff Angelo. After the Doctor storms into their house under the guise of being a television repair man Mrs Angelo exclaims “I know you, don't I?” and adds "I've met you somewhere before, haven't I?". We’re later led to believe that Mrs Angelo knew the Doctor from Amy’s prolific drawings of the “Raggedy Doctor” that both Mrs Angelo and her grandson Jeff had evidently seen. But in the light of further evidence it makes sense that Mrs Angelo had actually met the Doctor in her past, a very long time in her past.

Somebody with way too much time on their hands has studied both The Eleventh Hour and Big Bang and pointed out that the unusual brooch Mrs Angelo is wearing is the same (or at least very similar) to the one worn by River Song at Amy and Rory’s wedding. (See picture)

This led many on the internet to speculate, initially, that Mrs Angelo was in fact an aged River Song, explaining why she had the same brooch. This theory doesn’t sit well with me because, as we know, River died in the Library. After discovering that River could regenerate, some then suggested that Mrs Angelo was a previous incarnation of the River we know, but I think that unlikely as well.

The best theory involves Mrs Angelo actually being the aged Amy Pond, zapped back in time by the Weeping Angels in the forthcoming episode “The Angels take Manhattan”. Perhaps after being transported in time she remarries a Mr Angelo and eventually moves back to Leadworth to watch herself grow up. If this is the case I’m assuming that at some point in the future River traces where her mother, Amy, is and visits her. Mrs Angelo then gives River her treasured brooch as a family heirloom. River, who is travelling through time in the opposite direction to Amy (Mrs Angelo) then sees the brooch as a fitting memento to wear to her parents’ wedding (In the Big bang episode).

And while the Mrs Angelo theory has many supporters I haven’t found any yet to reveal the most conclusive evidence that Amy is in fact Mrs Angelo. Her name: Mrs Angel-O. Because she was zapped by the Weeping Angels.

But all will be revealed soon, Series 7 is just around the corner. I for one hope that Moffat surprises us all with a completely different outcome, one that is utterly ridiculous,and brilliant all at the same time.

Bring it on!

Duck, Pond! and other Theories Part 2.

 READ PART ONE FIRST HERE

“There’s something coming up in the final days of the Ponds that was in The Eleventh Hour. There’s a shot in that. [Moffat's] been thinking about it that long. He always knew how she was going to… I’m saying too much already.”

Those words of Matt Smith has sent Doctor Who fans everywhere back to their box sets to rewatch Matt Smith’s debut episode “The Eleventh Hour” in an effort to discover what scene in it is linked with the final days of Amy and Rory Pond. We’ve already discussed the duck pond theories, so, in this blog, I am going to look at some of the other strange things that happened in “The Eleventh Hour”.

FIRST: The stairway that goes to nowhere. On the second floor of Amy’s house there is clearly a stair case that leads up. From the outside of the house there does not appear to be a third floor or attic. In the picture below it seems that the stair case leads up to the ceiling.

Possible explanation: The Silence are using the staircase to access Amy’s house, as it appears they had done in Craig’s house in The Lodger. But if that is the case, what were the burn marks that River sees outside Amy’s house in The Pandorica Opens?

SECOND: The strange dark figures. Throughout Series 5 you can see strange black cloaked figures lurking in the background.

Explanation: I think this is most likely supposed to represent The Silence, before the Moffat could actually remember what they looked like.

THIRD: Picture of Amy’s House on fire. This is a bit freaky, but young Amelia has drawn a picture of her house on fire. The human residence will be incinerated?

FOURTH: In the Eleventh Hour, after Amy and Rory get out of the elevator and start down the hospital hall Rory sees something that concerns him, but then he turns his head and appears to forget. Again, I think most likely the Silence.

FIFTH: The pin wheel and swing.

At the start of The Eleventh Hour we see a pin wheel spinning and a swing swinging in Amelia’s front yard. If you look closely you will notice that none of the plants are moving, so it can’t be wind. It appears that somebody else has just visited Amelia’s house, moments before the Doctor crash landed in his TARDIS. Who? I have no idea.

SIXTH: Rory’s ID badge. It says it was issued in November 1990. This part of the episode was set in 2008 (we think!) so Rory would only have been very young in 1990.

FINALLY: The fact that Amy remembers things that have disappeared through the time crack. She knew that the pond was a duck pond, and she remembered that her mum used to make faces on apples, although she had said earlier that she didn’t have a mum and a dad, and we later find out they had ceased to exist, because of being consumed by the crack.

Possible explanations for the last two: Rory and Amy were time travellers prior to meeting the Doctor. Perhaps the Silence have taken them from different points in their life and put them back in Leadworth, making it appear as though the Doctor was, first ten years, then two years late, when actually, he was arriving on the same day.

Then there is the Rory is the Master theory. I have never liked that one, because, to be honest I like Rory, and it would break my heart. But the fact that we are only now, in Series 7, about to meet Rory’s father, makes me wonder, just a little, if Rory’s father is the Master.

I guess we will have to wait and few weeks and see.

In my final blog (Read HERE) I will share with you the Eleventh Hour theory that I think is so plausible it feels like a spoiler.

The BBC has released the synopses for the first three episodes of Series 7. Beware! They contain mild spoilers!

Episode 1: Asylum Of The Daleks:

Kidnapped by his oldest foe, the Doctor is forced on an impossible mission – to a place even the Daleks are too terrified to enter… the Asylum. A planetary prison confining the most terrifying and insane of their kind, the Doctor and the Ponds must find an escape route. But with Amy and Rory’s relationship in meltdown, and an army of mad Daleks closing in, it is up to the Doctor to save their lives, as well as the Pond’s marriage.

Episode 2: Dinosaurs On A Spaceship:

An unmanned spaceship hurtles towards certain destruction – unless the Doctor can save it, and its impossible cargo… of dinosaurs! By his side a ragtag gang of adventurers; a big game hunter, an Egyptian Queen and a surprised member of the Pond family. But little does the Doctor know there is someone else onboard who will stop at nothing to keep hold of his precious, prehistoric cargo.

Episode 3: A Town Called Mercy

The Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun!), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg, who goes by the name of the Gunslinger. But who is he and what does he want? The answer seems to lie with the mysterious, Kahler-Jex, an alien doctor (yes another one!) whose initial appearance is hiding a dark secret.

Going by the amount of promotional material for the new series that's been released in the last few days, I'd say that the broadcast date isn't far off. Not long to go now!

The ABC has updated their TV guide to Monday the 27th August, but programming for ABC1 on Sunday the 26th is blank (all the other ABC stations have their programs published for that day).

It's possible the ABC is not permitted to publish that they will be airing the Doctor Who series 7 premiere on the 26th before the BBC announces it's premiere date (assuming it will be 25th August). Their TV guide has not yet published what will be airing on the 25th, although it has been rumored for a while that Series 7 would begin then.

It would be nice if we could see Doctor Who episodes in Australia less than 24 hours after it's UK premiere (in line with the recent tradition of the ABC airing the Christmas special on Boxing Day)

UPDATE: The ABC has now filled in the blanks on their TV guide, with Grand Designs in the 7.30 Sunday evening timeslot. But as the Doctor would say "TV schedules can be rewritten"

What is that?

It's a duck pond.

Why aren't there any ducks?

I dunno, there's never any ducks.

Then how do you know it's a duck pond?

It just is, is it important, the duck pond?

Amy asks the Doctor a good question “Is it important, the duck pond?” In this blog I hope to convince you that, yes, the duck pond is very important.

Ever since that scene in Matt Smith’s debut as the Doctor there has been endless discussion about the significance of the duck pond with no ducks in it. Perhaps even more so than the age old question “Doctor who?”. In an interview recently, Matt Smith added fuel to duck pond speculation when he said “There’s something coming up in the final days of the Ponds that was in The Eleventh Hour…there’s a shot in that. He’s [Moffat's] been thinking about it that long. He always knew how she was going to… I’m saying too much already.” This has led many, including myself, to feel that maybe all our duck pond questions are about to be answered.

So, why does Amy call the pond a duck pond when there supposedly has never been any ducks in it? The obvious answer is that, like Amy’s parents, the cracks in the universe consumed the ducks, and therefore never actually existed. This theory seems to be supported by recent comments by Doctor Who show runner Steve Moffat. “From the start, I had this single idea: that the ducks, like Amy’s parents, had been sucked through the crack in time,” he said. “And to round everything off, in the very last shot of the series, we’d see the TARDIS fade away, leaving us with a shot of the duck pond, and some happy little ducks. Then, at the last minute, we had to relocate the scene to Amy’s back garden, and it never happened. So! There you go! Nice thought, never happened. Oops!”

But there is one thing I have learnt about Steve Moffat. He lies. Not that I don’t believe that the ducks were “sucked through the crack in time”. I just don’t believe that is the only significance of the duckless duck pond.

So here is my theory. There seems to be a couple of words that keep popping up in Moffat’s writings. Duck and Pond.

When the Doctor is driving the fire engine in “The Eleventh Hour” he sends a text message to Amy and Rory saying “DUCK!” just before the ladder on his engine crashed through the window above their heads. And then, perhaps more significantly, in the 3rd series episode “Blink” Sally Sparrow discovers a message from the Doctor (1969) under wallpaper in an old house, including the same word “DUCK!”. She ducks just in time to miss a projectile, presumably thrown by a weeping angel.

Given that we know that Amy and Rory are about to go missing in an episode featuring the weeping angels, I believe that the duck pond is not just a pond that’s ducks have mysteriously disappeared from. It is a warning to Amy of things to come…… “DUCK, Pond!”

In the next part of this Blog I will discuss some of the other interesting theories regarding “The Eleventh Hour” and in the third and final part I will present the Eleventh Hour theory that blows my mind.

Duck, Pond! and other theories part 2 HERE

Several details for episodes 1, 2 & 3 of Series 7 have been revealed in the lates issue of the Doctor Who Magazine:

Episode 1 - Asylum of the Daleks

• Episode 1 is “full on sci-fi” with spaceships and alien planets

• The Paradigm Daleks have “had some work done” on them

Episode 2 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

• Described as “sci-fi with a hint of historical”

• It’s set on a ship heading towards Earth, and Earth is on alert

• The main villain Solomon (David Bradley) is a “half businessman, half Somali pirate.” He’s motivated by greed and profit

• Rory to the Doctor: “Why can’t you just phone ahead?”

Episode 4: Cubed (TBC)

• A story focused around Amy and Rory’s years with the Doctor before their final adventure

• It centres on a very unusual invasion of Earth

• Story was inspired by the notion that if things just appear and they’re free, people will take them

• UNIT return because if there was an alien invasion, you need them to deal with it

• The Doctor: “There is so much to see, Amy – and I don’t want to miss it. Any of it. Because it goes so fast. I’m not running away from things. I’m running to them. Before they flare and fade forever.”