Ok, so how can we finish this series' blog? Turns out there is a handy way sat in front of us courtesy of the good folk at DWM! So following their format here's some thoughts on the series that has just gone:
Story marks:
We've already covered this in the blog but to recap:
The Eleventh Hour - 8
Beast Below - 6
Victory of the Daleks - 7
Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone - 9
Vampires of Venice - 8
Amy's Choice - 7
Hungry Earth/Cold Blood - 7
Vincent and the Doctor - 9
The Lodger - 7
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - 9
Best Writer: It really was great to get Richard Curtis and Simon Nye on board, their input was refreshingly and good to watch. Tony Whithouse's Vampire romp was a really fun mid-series tale but for the finale, the Angels' superb return and a very solid curtain raiser (leaving aside the disappointment of ep 2) this has to be Steven Moffat's award doesn't it??!
Best Director: Toby Haynes' finale looked the partand the Silurian two-parter should earn Ashley Way some credit but I think, for the clever use of location and fantastic look of both of his stories (Vampires, Vincent), I have to go with Jonny Campbell.
Best Actor: Matt Smith. Cannot be any doubt who is number one here, in fact it really is a stupid question isn't it?! Matt returned the character to the type of other-wordly unnerving alien not seen since McCoy at least and added splashes of Hartnell and Troughton to a "modern" Doctor. Second would have to be Arthur Darvill, Rory could have been annoying but wasn't and Arthur delivered a full array of funny, scary, action and emotional scenes. Third has to be Tony Curran for a sensitively handled showing as the mentally troubled Vincent Van Gogh.
Best Actress: Again silly question. Karen Gillan settled perfectly into the companion role. I wasn't always sure about Amy, sometimes her character's super confidence grated slightly, but for the main part she was a stellar addition to the Tardis team, with Karen handling the role very well indeed for such a young actress. Alex Kingston's performance as River Song shouldn't be under-estimated though. River remains a mystery tantalisingly waiting to be unravelled. Alex Kingston's cheeky-but-guarded portrayal has been spot on and won me over after a few doubts surrounding the first outing. Third for me would be Caitlin Blackwood, who was excellent as the young Amelia in the first and last episodes.
Best Monster: If anything the monsters haven't been overly strong this series. The "iDaleks" were ok but seemed more about new toy-selling opportunities than anything else while the SMilers has masses of potential but didn't deliver. The Autons were a shock addition to the finale and outshone the "bigger names" with their part but I reckon this one has to go to the chillingly superb Weeping Angels who were marvellously menacing on their return.
Best Villain: To some extent we don't even know the villain behind the finale yet do we? Aren't there some tantalising unanswered questions about who tried to blow up the Tardies etc? Or was that the "monster team's" doing? Anyway, with no real stand out choice I think i'll back Helen McCrory's Rosanna who had a depth that took the character beyond just sinister.
Best Male Supporting Character: Rory Williams. Others had flashes but Rory's character meant more to the story of the series as a whole.
Best Female Supporting Character: River Song. For all the reasons above really. River adds adventure, action, mystery and intrigue to a story and that's never a bad thing. It will be interesting to see what's next in her and the Doctor's "wibbley-wobbly, timey-wimey" relationship.
Best Special Effect: Hmm, not really too fussed about effects in general but the splash of wizardry involved to make the Silurian city a reality deserves a mention.
Best Music: Not sure I paid enough attention to pick out an episode on this score but as a whole the standard of music seemed high and strayed away from the over-the-top stuff of the Donna series finale.
Greatest Contribution: Steven Moffat, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan.
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