“You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell. Let's kill Hitler!” These 15 words sum up the sixth season of Doctor Who, arguably the best season since the show's reboot in 2005. Doctor Who has always played fast and loose with time travel and has often been inconsistent in how much their meddling with time affects the rest of the universe. In season 6, though, cracks begin to show in the Doctor's character, and his arrogance and reckless nature hurt the people he loves. Season 6 is still the usual roller coaster ride through time and space that Doctor Who has always been, but as many of his adventures proved, the Doctor is one big mistake away from losing everything.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
Season 6 kicks off with the annual Christmas special guest starring Michael Gambon, better known as Dumbledore from Harry Potter. In the Christmas special, the Doctor is trying to send Amy and Rory on a romantic honeymoon, but their ship is disrupted by a turbulent atmosphere controlled by Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon), a Scrooge-like character who refuses to help. The Doctor goes back in time to change Kazran's painful childhood and soften his heart, but in the process, his meddling causes a whole new kind of heartbreak for Kazran.
The Christmas special was an episode outside of the normal Doctor Who timeline, but this episode in retrospect is like a sneak peek at the season. The Doctor messing with time and others being punished for it is a recurring theme. His actions aren't mean-spirited. Usually, he is trying to use time travel to better the life of someone else, but as evidenced in the case of Kazran, he doesn't see how his good intentions might not work out. His time manipulation, however, is best embodied in the season's main conflict of the Doctor trying to cheat death. Here, his intentions aren't exactly selfless. History has certain set points that must not be changed, and the Doctor's death is one of those set points. By trying to change it, the Doctor will potentially change all of history to save his own skin. Most of the time, he is so charming and funny that Doctor Who fans forget it, but Matt Smith's Doctor is also immature and very selfish. Ultimately, it is someone else who stops the Doctor's death and rewrites history, but that does not change the cracks that have appeared in the Doctor's goofy, fez-wearing persona.
Throughout season 6, Matt Smith and head writer Steven Moffat created something exceptional in the character of the Doctor. Yes, the Doctor has always been a fascinating character. Doctor Who first premiered nearly 50 years ago. You don't get that much mileage out of a character that is merely pleasant. What Smith and Moffat did, which I believe distinguishes them from previous actors playing the role and writers creating these stories, is strike a balance. Moffat writes the Doctor's brilliant mind, personal shortcomings, and amazing one-liners, and Smith makes the Doctor sweet, spontaneous, and goofy where he otherwise might be unbearable. The best example of this balance in season 6 is The Girl Who Waited which explores a very dark side of the Doctor. Ever since young Amy Pond met the Doctor, she had idolized him and forgiven many sins. In The Girl Who Waited, she paid the price for the Doctor's mistakes, and as soon as he had the chance to erase that mistake, he did it, even if it meant erasing someone from existence altogether. I'm not sure if fans would keep watching unless Matt Smith was there to balance the character out.
With all of this darkness in the Doctor, the show needed someone else to embody the love and excitement of time travel. Enter River Song, one part gun-slinging Han Solo and one part femme fatale. To steal from an old saying, she can do anything the Doctor can do, and she does it while time-traveling backwards and in heels. Besides being endearingly bad-ass, though, River does something vitally important, particularly in this season. She continues to love the Doctor as he rises “higher than ever before” and still loves him as he “falls so much further.” Acting as the voice of the audience, she points out his predictable arrogance in A Good Man Goes to War, but she also forgives him and lets the audience know it is okay to forgive him too.
While Karen Gillian's Amy and Arthur Darvill's Rory are integral to the overall storyline of season 6, the season's solid foundation is held together by three people. First, Steven Moffat's fearless writing took the Doctor to places the show had never gone before and dared to take risks with a beloved character. Second, Matt Smith played the Doctor with such obvious affection that even I wanted him to change the course of history and save himself. Finally, Alex Kingston's River Song swept the Doctor Who fan community off their feet and reminded us that time travel is an adventure. And danger? Well, sweetie, that's all part of the fun.
Last side notes:
Rory's speech at the beginning of A Good Man Goes to War is one of my favorite TV monologues all year, right next to Paul's speech in the finale of The Big C. Also, Neil Gaiman needs to write more episodes of Doctor Who. His episode The Doctor's Wife was simply lovely.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The Blu-ray release is packed full of hours of special features. The Comic Relief sketches, Doctor Who Confidential episodes, The Monster Files episodes, and five episode prequels are all included as well as commentaries on The Impossible Astronaut, The Doctor's Wife, The Rebel Flesh, A Good Man Goes to War, and The Wedding of River Song. There are also five additional scenes for Night and the Doctor, and the set comes packaged with a fantastic comic book-like cover on the inside lining. All in all, Doctor Who fans couldn't ask for anything more...except maybe a commemorative bow tie and fez. (Fezzes are cool.)
"Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series" is on sale November 22, 2011 and is not rated. Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Television. Directed by Toby Haynes. Written by Steven Moffat. Starring Alex Kingston, Arthur Darvill, Karen Gillian, Matt Smith.
