So here we are, the grand finale - and the first chance for Stephen Moffat to get his teeth into the shows end of series bonanza. And what a way to start!
From a slighlty self-indulgent if thoroughly fun and frantic opening right through to the dramatic and utterly fantastic cliffhanger, the Moff has served up a real treat.
Stonehenge seems the perfect setting for a blockbuster slice of Who, more iconic, eerie and dramatic than any alien landscape - and backed up superbly by the creepy Underhenge.
The setting gave a spooky cinematic backdrop for yet another brilliant performance from Matt Smith. He combined the enigmatic genius of the Doctor with a nagging sense of not quite being in possession of the full facts for a change wonderfully.
That all built up well to a thrilling climax. Throughout the fast-paced 45 minutes we'd been teased into thinking the mystery of the story was what was going to lie inside the Pandorica, so it was an excellent twist that the whole tale, and the presence of numerous "baddies", was acutally about putting something, the Doctor, in. He was revealed as the dangerous, deadly being of folklore that it was built for, playing on the dark reputation the Doctor has used to his advantage in his last three guises.
The complex plot also tempted us into thinking we had some answers about Amy's unfathomable past yet you still feel there are a host of twists to come.
Those multiple baddies didn't jar either. When I first heard a Dalek voice my heart sank slightly - "not another series finale that uses the Daleks for effect" - but the addition of Cybermen (who provided a memorably sinister moment with Amy and brought them back to their evil best as a foe), Sontarans and goodness knows what that was lying around the prosthetic department, the monsters instead added to the intrigue.
The best of all the returning foes was surprisingly the Autons. I never guessed that the Romans would turn out to be plastic fakes and it led to another strand of the big cliffhanger with the copied Rory killing his beloved Amy.
River Song too was on top form - played with a cheeky charisma but underlying mystery that has made her a fascinating addition to the Tardis team.
The only worry now is how to follow this. Amy's dead, the Doctor is locked away in the Pandorica and River Song has just exploded in the Tardis. Quite how they get out of this one I don't know. I only hope Stephen Moffat avoids falling into a twee and unsatisfactory ending that sometimes plagued the RTD era - most notably with the Davros/Dalek finale which started so brilliantly but ended in disappoinment for this reviewer.
On this evidence there's plenty to make you believe that won't happen.
9/10
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