As I start to type this, I am, like everyone else, twelve hours from the end of this series of Doctor Who. It might be fun to try and second guess Steven Moffat, but it's also futile. I'm not clever enough to have predicted how the Pandorica two-parter was going to play out. If I was, I'd not have felt the onset of a headache every time I've thought about it since. I don't expect that anything I'm about to write will be in the same universe, never mind the same ball park, but here goes.
Based on the Sky TV Guide's description of tonight's (last-ever?) Doctor Who Confidential, there appears to be a (major?) plot development concerning River Song. Why do I think this? Well, why would the bulk of it be about River and/or Alex Kingston? Does this mean the end of the character? It shouldn't, as she died the first time we saw her, giving her life for The Doctor, who then 'saved' her in the Library (though, worringly, he did leave her diary for all to see). There is a bit of a pattern here; her saving him, him saving her. Presumably she saves his soul this time, turning him away from arrogance and violence (I'm still thinking that he saves his own body by substituting a, possibly more stable and sophisticated, Flesh avatar). So, if not her leaving then what? Another theory I've had for a while is that she is sent to prison (for killing the best man she's ever known, more of which later), but for her own protection, aranged by The Doctor, which might explain her ability to 'escape often enough, thank you'. She said that she had a promise to live up to. To The Doctor? To the Governor of the prison? To Amy and Rory? It appears to to me that she can look after herself (once she breaks free of Kovarian's control), and it's obvious that she's a risk taker, so escaping from prison would be a challenge she'd relish. Being able to do it at will, though, would have to have been agreed with someone in authority. Stormcage always makes me wonder just who Prisoner Zero was/is, and why it wanted to live in Amy's house.
To cut to the chase, something significant has to happen, or be hinted at, this evening. Who does it concern, particularly if it isn't River? Well, there has to be more to Rory than meets the eye. He says some unexpected, intelligent things, at times, and neither The Doctor nor Amy always pick up on them. He has two sides to his character; Rory the dithering suitor/boyfriend/husband and Rory the Roman, the boy who waited, the Last Centurion. No official confirmation of Arthur Darvill's continued participation in the series has been reported, so will he die (again), instead? Many girls and women will alway think of their dad as the best man they've ever known, and I picked up on that in 'Flesh and Stone', thinking it could mean The Doctor or her father, and no viewer knew it was Rory back then. Arthur has been wonderful as the straight man to Matt's ever-improving comedian, so I'd still love to see Rory reacting to River snogging The Doctor with what one would expect to be his fatherly concern for his errant daughter. I hope he's not out for too long, as both the character and the actor have only served to enhance this wonderful series and cast.
There appears to have been some sort of confirmation that Karen Gillan will be back, which means that she won't be staying in that house (for protection) or any other house, and will be back in the Tardis before too long. I do think, however, that it's not nice in a show written for 8-year olds, even in Science Fiction, to take a child from a young couple and not give them anything in return. So, for Amy, perhaps another baby is on the way? Either due to this, or the possible death of Rory (or loss by other means, cos you're not telling me we've had the real Rory all this time?), she tells The Doctor, he scans her, just to re-assure himself, and there's a happy ending all round (perhaps with some bittersweet connotations to which I have just alluded). She says farewell and then The Doctor takes River to prison in the Tardis, but the scanner is still on and he inadvertantly discovers something that River isn't telling him. It would explain these lines from 'A Good Man Goes To War'; 'Oh look, your cot, not seen that in a long time' (or something like that). Amy lived in the Tardis, and she hadn't seen a cot, so how did River see it (unless future Amy is travelling in the Tardis with another baby)? I'd also like to see 'Picnic at Asgard', perhaps ending with 'I've something to tell you'. Why not?
If Moffat wants any help with pushing River's story along, I'm here. All joking aside, though, the break up of what he himself described as a family will be hard for many of us to take. Moffat has made Russell T's show infinitely better, and has even managed to improve upon last year. This series has to end with something tantalising to bring the punters back next year and what better way, after a series or more riddled with themes like redemption and fatherhood, than to redeem The Doctor with impending fatherhood (with the baby to be raised by Amy and Rory)? Clearly, he won't have a clue how it happened! Cue end titles.
Seriously, Steven, I'm only a phone call away.
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