Doctor Who: Season 7 (2012-2013)

SPOILER WARNING!!! This post spoils Doctor Who: Season 7 (2012-2013).

Let's start with season number. After this season was 50th anniversary episode. So how this could be 7th season. Well, it isn't. It is officially 7th series. 7th season was aired 1970. After relaunch seasons were called series. I don't like that name and I don't remember seeing that used very much. And classic Doctor Who is not sold as seasons. Classic Doctor Who dvds contain only stories. There is one season collection because that story lasted whole season. Everything else doesn't have whole seasons. So that is why I called this 7th season.

This season has 13 episodes and from one to four special episodes depending how you want to count them. Wikipedia counts 2011 Christmas special to this season. Netflix has 2012 Christmas special, 50th Anniversary episode and 2013 Christmas special. For this post I only count 2012 Christmas special to this season. I already wrote about 50th Anniversary episode and 2013 Christmas special.

Season had one great episode, A Town Called Mercy. Two good episodes, Cold War and Hide. Rest of it is just a mess. A Town Called Mercy happens in wild west town. Cold War happens in Soviet submarine and Hide in haunted mansion. Se pattern? These are small episodes with limited space and cast. When sets and casts grow, episodes become messy. Story doesn't stay consistent within episode and sometimes even less with Doctor Who lore. Journey to the Center of the TARDIS (Yes, this is reason Into the Dalek was named Into the Dalek) is groundhog day episode, except we never see Doctor living same events again and again. He just knows what has happened before. Tardis is filled with events from recent past or near future. It is like Clara lives in this moment and Doctor lives in time loop. Episode could be analysed in long post, but I don't think it would make much sense even after that.

The Angels Take Manhattan was end of first part of the season. It was also last episode with Ponds as companions. Amy and Rory had discussed during previous episodes, how they will and should start to live their normal lives. After this episode they had no choice. Too bad, this episode is complete mess on episode's level and Doctor Who lore level. Episode has Weeping Angels and River Song. Both were introduced during 10th Doctor's run. They became more regular during 11th's run. Main characteristic of Weeping Angels is they can't move is someone is watching them. Even if it is another Weeping Angel. When they are watched they turn into statues. They are good for horror episodes. In regular 11th's run fashion they got new characteristics and lost characteristics depending what episode required. To fully analyze this I should watch all Weeping Angel episodes, but I don't think it would be worth it. Let's just say they are different than before in this episode too.

River Song was introduced as character, whose timeline goes different direction than Doctor's timeline. When Doctor meets River first time, it is last time River meets Doctor and so on. River wasn't time traveller.  During 11th run River became time traveller, semi time lordish and daughter of Amy and Rory. I don't know when timeline thing was changed. Since season finale of sixth season she has moved to same direction in time as Doctor. Or at least in this episode. In season finale she was dead and knew how she died. Did I tell 11th's run was just a big mess?

In episode Rory sees his own death, which meant that in his future Weeping Angels send him back in time and he will spend rest of his life in the room he died. To prevent this he decides to kill himself in slight hope it will create paradox killing Weeping Angels and he could survive. He and Amy jump of the building. Paradox happened and both survive. But all Weeping Angels didn't die right away. One touches Rory sending him back in time. Amy follows him and both are time locked from Doctor. Earlier in episode this fed Weeping Angels. So did Weeping Angels die after all? If they did, why one Weeping Angel could touch Rory after Weeping Angels died?

This is getting quite long. Season finale still to come. Second part of season had new companion Clara. We had seen one version of her in season premiere and different in 2012 Christmas special. Small mystery of second part was, who Clara really is. We don't get real answer until season finale. Main villain of season finale is The Great Intelligence. It is has no physical form. It was introduced to Doctor Who 1967 and appeared again 1968. After that next appearance was 2012 Christmas special, then first episode of second part of the season and the season finale. Character wasn't very consistent during this season. It could have been named differently each time and it would have made more sense. Season finale didn't have much of a build up. Previous episode had nothing to do with season finale. Everything was packed in one regular episode.

In season finale The Great Intelligence goes to Doctor's time line killing Doctor many times. This start to change the whole reality. Clara follows The Great Intelligence and become different versions of herself saving different versions of Doctor time and time again. So if Great Intelligence have tried to kill Doctor and Clara has saved Doctor countless times during Doctor's life time, why we haven't seen them more before this season? During this season we only saw Clara saving Doctor, not The Great Intelligence from Doctor's time line trying to kill him. Unless first episode of second half was one, but that didn't have different version of Clara helping Doctor. You shouldn't write stories like this if you don't care about implications. Whole thing just becomes a big mess without real continuity. It is just what 11th run mostly was. A big mess. 50th Anniversary and 2013 Christmas special kept things more consistent. As has beginning of eight season. There is a change Doctor Who will come good again. 11th run only had few good episode in a big mess.

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