The Husbands of River Song Grade and Discussion thread

[tomalak301]

This was the most fun I've had watching Doctor Who in at least 3 years. It was funny, and Capaldi and Kingston might be better as a couple than Smith and Kingston. Their banter was excellent. The plot was a little rubbish, but it was a Christmas special and I had a great time. Not sure what my favorite Christmas special is, but I think this is up there.

The scene where the Doctor was marveling at the tardis for being bigger on the inside was hysterical. So was his not funny Stock Market joke.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

Cute fluffy episode. Liked the big robot.

I refuse to believe the Doctor never loved River. She's his WIFE. He clearly loved Clara and she was just a Companion.

I found that strange that River would say that. I mean, I know that it comes from her own uncertainty and insecurity, but if she really does "know him better than anyone" (or was it closer to him than anyone?) as she frequently claims, she would know that he was capable of love. She would know that he loved her parents, surely. And while at this point she hadn't "met" Clara yet, if she had it would've taken her two seconds to see he loved her, too.

...And I just had a vision of both River and Clara yelling at him (at the same time) for spending 4 billion years in the Confession Dial

Frustration over the nature of their relationship led to that outburst, I guess.

 

[Ithekro]

Well the last thing in her diary was Manhattan. So maybe that effected her a bit. No telling how long that had been, but she'd not seen the Doctor since then.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It was definitely enjoyable. However, it did raise a few issues for me:

• Is this why she said the Doctor looked so young back in "Silence in the Library"? Because the last Doctor she had spent time with prior to seeing 10 was 12?

I think the line is more about him actually being younger at the library (some 1200+ years), as opposed to looking younger.

Same as Clara's line to the War Doctor, about his eyes looking "so much younger".

 

[Timewalker]

Well, at least the question of what the worst episode ever is has finally been settled.

See you this time next year for the next new episode.

It's rather bemusing to see so many negative comments about this story. I actually liked it, for the most part (Clara-free, yay!).

5. They sure got their money's worth out of the Trap Street set.

That's one of the things I didn't like. I get that they wanted their money's worth out of the set, but really... did they think that audience that forgetful that we wouldn't spot it immediately?

I loved the scene where River realizes he is the Doctor. River is giving her big speech about how the Doctor is not sentimental and does not love her and then we see the look on the Doctor's face. Capaldi is a great actor. He managed to convey so much in just the way he looked at her. And it was so tender the way he softly said "hello sweetie".

This Christmas special was indeed mostly silly fun but like Doctor Who can do so well, it plays with your emotions. It makes you laugh and entertains you with ridiculous stories and then suddenly pulls your heart strings. The final scene with the singing towers was very touching and bitter sweet.

River's speech was one of the better things in the episode. Yes, it seems a bit melodramatic to us, but since River didn't know who the Doctor really was when she said all that, it would have been a reasonable thing for the Doctor to think she was telling the truth and not putting him on.

You know, I actually liked this. Capaldi and Kingston were great together, there were a lot of fun moments. The cruise ship in space filled with horrible villains was a really cool and imaginative idea which could have actually worked as its own episode. So the stuff with the heads and robotic body were a bit too on the silly side, but Ill overlook that because the ending with the Singing Towers was a great scene and even kind of touching.

Nitpick side, when the Doctor first opens the TARDIS after crashing on Derillium it's night, then he skips ahead to daylight where that guy has arrived to render assistance. If night on Derillium lasts 24 years, than that means they waited 24 years before rendering assistance.

Assuming the crash didn't happen pre-dawn and the rescuer didn't show up in the early morning.

Not really a nitpick as such, but I see River knew about the War Doctor all along.

Apparently she must have met, or been told of, the War Doctor at some point although it would have been long before the events of the 50th anniversary shows. She had 12 photos, didn't know about the Doctor being given a new set of regenerations, so of course she had no reason to think the Doctor (Capaldi) could be the same person as the Doctor she'd married.

It was definitely enjoyable. However, it did raise a few issues for me:

• Okay, so she's in love with the Doctor, but she's also quick to point out his faults. If she was willing to complain about him to a stranger, does she really care about the Doctor? Is she capable of that?

• 
  Why wouldn't she care about him? River may have lived a bizarre life from our perspective, but she was born to two 21st-century humans. It's human nature to complain about things to total strangers, especially when there's the perception of safety - because the stranger presumably has no reason to actually care and there will be no lasting consequences for venting in this way.
  
  It was perfectly obvious to me how much River really does love the Doctor.
  
  

  This was the most fun I've had watching Doctor Who in at least 3 years.

  For me, the last time I genuinely enjoyed any Doctor Who produced since 2005 was the "Night of the Doctor" webisode, plus the Tom Baker cameo and a few assorted scenes in the anniversary story.
  
  I loved the sign on the TARDIS door that said carolers would be criticized! And that line about needing a flowchart... that's something I've said on several occasions over the years - I need a flowchart to make any sense at all out of the Matt Smith seasons.
  
  

  The scene where the Doctor was marveling at the tardis for being bigger on the inside was hysterical.

  

 

[Mage]

Silly stupid fluffy rump, with quite a good last scene. I liked it.

 

[Cutter John]

Gave it highest marks, just like I did over at GB (Just to spite that grumpy bunch). It gave River some badly needed character development,and filed in some plot holes(like her screwdriver).

Yes it was silly in places, something I find perfectly fine in limited doses (It got to be too much in series 17). In fact it kind of brought back memories of that season when Douglas Adans was story editor.

But yes, after visiting Gallifrey Base, it seems a lot of fans have forgotten how to have fun.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

7/10

Better then I thought it would have been.

 

[JoeZhang]

I quite enjoyed it but I noticed that my seven year old nephew found the bits with river a bit dull at the end because the appearance this all rests on aired before he was born...

 

[Lonemagpie]

Okay, so she's in love with the Doctor, but she's also quick to point out his faults. If she was willing to complain about him to a stranger, does she really care about the Doctor? Is she capable of that?

Oh, yes. Beleive me, I know someone *exactly* like that, to the extent that we both refer to her to as my River.... The Doctor and River's relationship is what people call "complicated".

Does the Doctor really love River? Is she right that he's "too big" for that? Or is his version of "love" so different from River's, she has to justify it in her head?

He does, but neither of them seem able to accept or quite believe it, for many different reasons.

 

[Lior .B.]

I just now watched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. It holds well actually.

 

[Mr Light]

Personally, I totally did not notice they reused the Trap Street set...

 

[JoeZhang]

Haven't we seen that dining room before as well?

 

[Pauln6]

Silly romp but River is such good value for money. I wish there was more scope in her story but she's still uploaded into the library. Given how people can be uploaded into cybermen there is still plenty of scope for her to return in one form or another...

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

But yes, after visiting Gallifrey Base, it seems a lot of fans have forgotten how to have fun.

I feel that way sometimes about Trekkies after reading the reactions to the new STAR TREK movies.

In any case, I loved this episode. It was fun, silly and had great character beats. And I loved that the Signing Towers were a metaphor for the Doctor and River's relationship.

 

[SeerSGB]

Silly romp but River is such good value for money. I wish there was more scope in her story but she's still uploaded into the library. Given how people can be uploaded into cybermen there is still plenty of scope for her to return in one form or another...

Hell Bent gave us the out for River: Just say her pattern is stored in the Library's version of a pattern-buffer. Same as the Doctor in the ever resetting castle in Hell Bent.

 

[The Wormhole]

• Is this why she said the Doctor looked so young back in "Silence in the Library"? Because the last Doctor she had spent time with prior to seeing 10 was 12?

She said he had "younger eyes" in the Library, which would mean she's aware this Doctor is much younger than the one she traditionally spends time with. Of course, the original intent of the line was that she had spent time with Tennant when he was older.

Something tells me that as long as Moffatt is writing the Doctor (and Alex Kingston is amenable to it), we're not through with River, just yet.

I've been saying that ever since Name of the Doctor aired and everyone started with their "this is obviously River's last appearance" rhetoric.

 

[Ithekro]

The last time River saw the Doctor from her point of view, was before he met Clara. Maybe his capacity for love has changed verses what she saw in Manhattan. Though he did offer to take her around as a companion back then. Though he has also aged about a thousand years since then as well.

 

[DWF]

It was OK, I realize they didn't want to do a Christmasy storyline, but this story had no real hope in it. Adn I thought they played the idea of the Dcotor not knowing River for too long. For an extra long ep. I didn't think there was enough material for the length of the ep.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

River is such a hussy I love her.

That dinner table scene kind of grossed me out at the time because I was eating and then the Doctor's line cracked me up I spat my food out...

Overall yeah 7/10

But in places it felt like a rehash of VOTD