This post is part of a series of reviews. To see them all, click here.
There have been a lot of 11th Doctor minisodes. Some of them were written by children. Some of them are serious. A lot are silly. Even setting aside the 50th Anniversary minisodes – which I've already covered – there is just a pretty impressive number of these things. This era of the show in particularly seems to have had the production team going overboard to create webcasts and DVD specials. And I've reviewed all of them, aside from the episode prologues (probably, might be missing a couple).
Meanwhile in the TARDIS
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Richard Senior
Every time the TARDIS materializes in a new location, within the first nanosecond of landing it analyzes its surroundings, calculates a 12 dimensional datamap of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines which outer shell would blend in best with its environment…and then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963. – The Doctor
Okay, so the bad news is that I've made a lot of work for myself watching all of these. The good news is that they're mostly about four minutes long and a few can even be combined into one section, such as the two Meanwhile in the TARDIS DVD specials, mostly because there's no real point in splitting them apart. The first of the Meanwhile specials is just kind of a fun ride, as Amy asks every single question that pops into her head, mostly about either the TARDIS or the Doctor's bow tie ("is it a cry for help?"). It's just a fun little scene, though there are little bits of characterization you can pull from it, mostly for the Doctor. He's playing up this goofy persona throughout…and then he shoves Amy outside the TARDIS into space. Of course this is setting up Amy and the Doctor's first scene in "The Beast Below", but that shift is interesting to me. Still it's mostly a goofy little scene.
The second Meanwhile scene though…that one's a bit harder to evaluate. Mostly because it follows the worst scene in the 11th Doctor era, that being Amy trying to sexually assault the Doctor at the end of "Flesh and Stone". So on one hand I didn't need the continuation of that scene. It was bad enough already. And this minisode continues that basic trend as Amy continues to ignore the Doctor's very obvious protestations. And that's just not okay.
On the other hand…there's some value in this thing, believe it or not. Amy's perspective makes it clear that she's convinced herself that the Doctor is interested in her sexually. And there's something to the idea that Amy is convinced that the only reason a man might show her attention is for that reason. It's not something that would get explored meaningfully again, but I think a less PG show probably would have done. Amy is a damaged character after all, and in particular has serious attachment issues.
And here we get the 11th Doctor's explanation of why he needs companions: he needs to see the universe through their eyes. He can't really experience the wonder of the universe because of how long he's lived and how much he's seen. But someone else can see that, and he can live vicariously through that. And, you know, that's just an idea that works. Of course we immediately move on from that to Amy teasing him over how many of his former companions were young attractive women, and then the Doctor decides to go visit Rory at his stag party (as seen in the beginning of "The Vampires of Venice"). So the Doctor's little speech doesn't get time to land. But then again, it's a roughly 4 minute short, time is the one thing that we don't have. It still works for what it is. The second Meanwhile special is kind of a rough viewing experience overall, but once you get past that, it's actually got a lot of value.
Space/Time
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Richard Senior
No, I'm just repeating it. I'm just remembering what I heard myself saying when I was standing where you are now, and repeating it. I'm just repeating this too…and this…and this – Amy, to herself
Well this one was definitely written by Steven Moffat. Some clever space and time bending concepts, awkward sex jokes including a female character flirting with herself, undeniably clever dialogue and more than a hint of sexism, all within two roughly four minute episodes. Not all writers have clear markers of their work, but Steven Moffat, especially when he's trying to be funny, is one of them.
And yes, there's a lot of good here. A malfunction causes the TARDIS to land inside itself. That's just a fun conceit, and perfect a comedic two part minisode. At the end of the first episode, "Space", time gets desynced and so now our heroes can travel back into their own pasts, which is how things get resolved. If you really sit down and analyze what's going on, it doesn't really make sense, but I feel like taking the time travel mechanics of this special seriously kind of misses the point. It's a breezy little piece that never takes itself seriously but instead relies on its quippy dialogue and fun premise to keep you invested. And Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are having a ton of fun with the material here, which helps keep everything feeling light and engaging.
And then there's the sexism. I've always felt like Steven Moffat tended most often towards sexism most when he was spending less time on his scripts, for one reason or another (it's one of the things that happens when Sherlock starts up and on both shows as well). And indeed, this minisode would be something that would have had less time and attention than a full episode of Doctor Who. And…I mean the whole thing is started because Rory was distracted by Amy's skirt through the glass floor…which everyone agrees is Amy's fault. There's "women can't drive" jokes. You could argue these are specific to Amy, but the fact that her getting her driver's license is again tied to that same skirt makes it feel more gendered. And, while not quite in the same category, "Pond flirting with herself" feels icky and is worth pointing out as well.
The frustrating thing is, these minisodes are a lot of fun for most of their time. The bit where Amy, and later Rory, have to just repeat what the previous versions of them saying are fun. Rory at one point worries he's going to have to remember what his other self just said, only for that Rory to say "it just sort of happens". For the most part it's this weird, funny little adventure, perfect for its length. But when it's not…hoo boy
Death is the Only Answer
Written by the Children of Oakley Junior School/Directed by Jeremy Webb
Not great. I've singed by eyebrows, almost died twice and fallen off a cliff. In fact, I'm quite close to perfecting it. – Albert Einstein, on his Time Machine
Children have strange minds.
This minisode was written by a group of four Year Six children as part of a competition. And in it, Albert Einstein turns into an Ood who can only say "Death is the only answer". It's never explained what this means.
Look, I'm not going to review this the same way I would approach something else. Its eldest writers would have been eleven years old. And given that, the story where Albert Einstein drinks a liquid he thought would help get his time machine working and, and I have to repeat this, turns into an Ood, is honestly pretty impressive stuff. The kids have a good handle of the 11th Doctor's voice, and there's some funny lines. It's a fun little story, though not something I think I'll ever be returning to. It ends, weirdly enough, on a cliffhanger, with the liquid still present and moving on its own.
Night and the Doctor: Bad Night
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Richard Senior or Douglas Mackinnon
You've got the serious face on, I always shout for Rory when you've got the serious face. – The Doctor, to Amy
Okay so really quick this and the four specials after it are all collected under the title Night and the Doctor and were originally released for the Series 6 DVD. Aside from a brief scene of River in prison, the first four take place entirely within the TARDIS. The reason that I've got two names down for the Director up above…is that there are conflicting sources as to who directed them. My impression is that it was probably Mackinnon rather than Senior.
Anyway, this is the lightest of these specials, with a similar madcap style to "Space"/"Time". It's got the Doctor mid some weird adventure involving the English royal family and some alien warlord types and various members of the rulers in question being turned into animals. Amy naturally blunders into this and swats a fly that is, in actuality, the alien warrior chief. Though given she may have averted something called "The Slaughter of 10 Billion Souls" maybe it's for the best. Then again, timeline nonsense is probably at play. But yeah, it's a goofy little vignette, with Rory popping by because it's his turn to deal with Amy's emotional baggage. Which might seem a bit crude, but honestly feels about right.
There are hints of more serious stuff going on. Amy has something to tell the Doctor, which will be explored in the next short. Amy just generally seems to be in an odd place in this one. But yeah, a fun little vignette without much more to it.
Night and the Doctor: Good Night
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Richard Senior or Douglas Mackinnon
Okay. Okay, so I ask you a big, important question about life and you're basically telling me to go buy myself an ice cream. – Amy, to the Doctor
And by contrast "Good Night" has a lot going on with it. It's Amy finally getting to talk to the Doctor about that thing he brushed off in "Bad Night". She wants to know why her life doesn't make sense. Now, back in "The Pandorica Opens" the Doctor asked Amy "does it ever bother you that your life doesn't make any sense?" But here he seems a lot more blasé about the whole thing. That's not a contradiction, just an interesting parallel. At the time, Amy losing so much of her life to the Crack was this big important thing that needed to be resolved. But now that it largely has been resolved, Amy's life not making sense…is fine. The fact that she has two sets of memories is not only not a problem, the Doctor claims it's more common than you'd think.
And then he demonstrates this in a very heartwarming way: he fixes her worst day. When she was a little girl Amelia Pond's ice cream fell to the ground at a fairground. And sure, that might seem like a pretty small thing. But consider it from the perspective of the 5 year old girl, when every bad moment is magnified into a world ending tragedy. So the Doctor takes Amy to fix this thing. Inconsequential in the grand perspective, but world-saving for a 5 year old. And Amy remembers both versions. She remembers both versions before she goes to get her younger self an ice cream. A flagrant abuse of time travel? Probably. But the Doctor gave Amy a practical demonstration of what he was explaining and did something nice for her. And he did it in a way that is so very Eleven, a bit manipulative and yet full of childish wonder.
I think "Good Night" is one of the better uses of the minisode format I've seen. It's not the most remembered chapter, but it effectively expands upon a small character note in a way that captures the imagination. And it's the only one to have the Doctor try to hid a euphonium, which I think we can all agree, is the most important thing to come from this one.
Night and the Doctor: First Night/Last Night
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Richard Senior or Douglas Mackinnon
Ah Doctor. You and your secrets. You'll be the death of me. – River
Okay, why did this thing have to be split in two? "First Night" is about two and a half minutes, "Last Night" is about three and a half. It feels like a pointless split just so as to maintain the naming convention.
Regardless, this pair of minisodes is…fine. A series of silly little adventures with various versions of River (3 in total) that ends on something that felt very poignant at the time, but has somewhat lessened due to later episodes. We see the Doctor liberating River from Stormcage soon after the events of "Let's Kill Hitler". This does raise some questions about the timeline. Was River imprisoned straight after that story, even though she hadn't "killed" the Doctor at that point in her timeline? That seems odd. Regardless that's the series of events that these minisodes want us to accept.
I do like seeing this very early version of River. After the events of "Let's Kill Hitler" she seems eager to get to know the Doctor better, but hasn't quite fallen in love with him yet. Sure she's flirting with him, but it's mostly just a game to her at this stage, while the Doctor is taking their relationship a lot more seriously. It's an inversion of what we've gotten used to. The Doctor knows more than River, he's the one who has the history with this character and she's just starting out. Oh, and Alex Kingston plays this younger River superbly.
The issue with this story is that there's not much beyond that. A somewhat older River shows up, and we get some sitcom shenanigans with the pair of Rivers and the Doctor trying to hide them from each other. It's not even clear why he's so worried that she'll find out talking to another version of her, it's not like she's unaware of time travel. But that's the thing, it's just there for a gag nothing more. And, sure, this is still a roughly six minute story (broken up into two for no good reason) and isn't trying to be taken that seriously, but it's not not trying to be taken seriously. It feels like there was a good faith attempt to show off these characters' relationship in its formative stages, but the depth of writing isn't quite there.
And then a third, even older, version of River shows up, one who's clearly all the way into her relationship with the Doctor…and then an even older Doctor shows up as well. And he explains that he's taking River to Darillium…the place that River had last visited with the Doctor before the events of the Library two parter. We have no idea why the older Doctor is doing this, and given a later episode, he must have cancelled at the last minute. I think at the time though, Steven Moffat must have meant for this to have been their final day together. It's why the second part of this is called "Last Night" after all. And in that context it could have had some poignancy. Even then though, I don't know. I think it was probably for the best that Moffat ultimately decided to resolve the Darillium plot thread in a full episode. What was a bit poignant here would have a lot more weight the way it would ultimately be resolved.
These minisodes aren't bad, and there's some fun banter. The real highlight, I think, is seeing the younger version of River, a version that is still learning the rules. The rest of the material is fun, and the time travel stuff has some entertainment value, but it's ultimately not that interesting, especially with the context of later episodes.
Night and the Doctor: Up All Night
Written by Tom McRae/Director Unknown
It's just whenever I look into [Alfie's] eyes I see everything I'm going to do wrong for the next sixteen years reflected back at me. – Craig
So look, this is basically just a prequel to "Closing Time" that appears to have been, almost by accident, lumped in with the Night and the Doctor specials. I mean, the Doctor doesn't even appear in it, which feels like a clue. No idea how this happened. This thing has some confusion as the onscreen writing credit was given to Steven Moffat for this, but it was later clarified that Tom McRae actually wrote it. I couldn't find any information on who might have directed it. And frankly, I should probably skip it. There's a bunch of prequel shorts for each of the episodes going back to Series 3, and I've not covered them. But it's technically counted in the Night and the Doctor Specials, even if it's for no reason, so hey might as well.
Craig is preparing for a week alone with his son Alfie and his having all kinds of anxiety. This, of course, sort of got covered in "Closing Time" – that's why I don't cover the prequels, they rarely, if ever, include material that does much to expand on the episode they're attached to (well that, and the fact that there's too many of them). Still, I think this actually did the joke of Craig's lack of parenting instincts far better than "Closing Time" did. I think it just works better when Craig is opposite Sophie for this gag, who seems pretty confident that Craig will figure it out, all while Craig is panicking. Also it's just nice to have Sophie on board for this, as she was effectively absent in "Closing Time". Mind you it doesn't exactly lead in well to "Closing Time" as in that story Craig was putting on a brave face that he could take care of Alfie, despite secretly being terrified.
But yeah, that's basically it. I kind of liked this little window into Craig's home life, but there's really not much value in it.
Good as Gold
Written by the Children of Ashdene School/Directed by Saul Metzstein
Are you sure you didn't set it to "kill Amy and the Doctor" setting? – Amy
This is another one like "Death is the Only Answer" where it was written by children for a contest, so like with that one, we're going to be looking at this while keeping in mind the age or the writers. I do think "Death" was the better of the two, just for how entertainingly bonkers it was. This is a bit more straightforwards…though only a bit, the Doctor does explode a Weeping Angel with his sonic screwdriver. I think you can definitely feel a sense of childlike wonder in the writing of this. To kids, a hero like the Doctor can feel almost magical, and this definitely feels like it was written from that perspective. And sure, you can point to weird continuity stuff, but I feel like critiquing a group of very young Doctor Who fans for not being super attentive to the continuity of the show would sort of be missing the point.
Although this one too ends in a cliffhanger, in this case the Weeping Angel that the Doctor exploded seemingly reformed. Why is it that both of these specials did that? Is it coincidence? It's got to be coincidence. Still weird. I don't know, this one, like "Death is the Only Answer" is probably best thought of in terms of the imagination that was sparked within the children that wrote it by Doctor Who. And that's very cool.
Pond Life
Written by Chris Chibnall/Directed by Saul Metzstein
Hello Ponds! Just checking in. How are you? – The Doctor
The Pond Life shorts were a series of roughly one minute shorts released in the lead up to Series 7, with each one taking place one month after the last, from April to August. The idea there being that since Series 7 started in September it would act as a build up to the series. What it actually is is roughly four parts of Chris Chibnall showing that, like he did with "The Power of Three*" he may actually understand Amy and Rory better than Steven Moffat, and one final part where he awkwardly has to shove the divorce subplot from "Asylum of the Daleks" into his goofy minisode series.
Okay, in fairness it's not like Chibnall does anything revolutionary with these two. But I do really like how he writes the Ponds. Maybe it's that he's the writer who is most willing to let the two of them be on the same page from time to time (which admittedly makes the divorce set up all the more jarring), and when you're writing a married couple sometimes you should see that. But I also think the humor is really on point here. There are some weirdnesses. The Doctor's stuff, which takes up about half of the total runtime of these, isn't great. It's just a lot of "look how wacky the Doctor is". It mostly works as a contrast to Amy and Rory's more mundane lives, though, and I really enjoyed Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill's performances throughout. Oh and parts three and four are built around the Doctor accidentally leaving off an Ood at the Ponds' house. And sure, the joke is that Amy and Rory feel uncomfortable with the Ood doing all of their chores for him because, you know, slavery (I guess the Doctor explained the basic background of the Ood at some point), it still feels a bit odd to use that as joke fodder. But on the whole, Pond Life is a fun little look into how the Ponds ordinary lives intersect with the weirdness of having the Doctor as their best friend.
The Inforarium
Written by Steven Moffat/Director Unknown
Thing is, I'm on a bit of a mission at the moment: I've been deleting every piece information about myself from every database in the universe. – The Doctor
You know, I keep describing these minisodes with words like "lighthearted" or "goofy". This…is not that. "The Inforarium" picks up on an idea that was referred to throughout Series 7 but never actually shown: the Doctor deleting records of his own existence. Typically you imagine him doing this by deleting data from hard drives, maybe destroying a precious manuscript or two. In "The Inforarium" though, he can't do this. So in his quest for ultimate privacy…he messes with someone's mind. Specifically he messes with the mind of one of the guards of the titular Inforarium, the ultimate database of knowledge, trapping him in what surely would have been a pretty lengthy loop (one hopes not eternal) of a conversation with a recording of the Doctor. Apparently the Doctor has been able to access the technology that allow the Silents to do their thing. And he's used it to trap this guard in this loop. Though the technology works differently here, since the guard clearly has his mind completely wiped of the Doctor when he looks away, even when the loop starts over, rather than the way you'd remember the Silents once you saw them again.
The short tries to justify this somewhat by having the Doctor mention that the Inforarium sells its data to a standard list of Doctor Who villains, but this still feels incredibly dark. But the 11th Doctor has always had these moments in him. Moments where he just decides he's going to do something, and figures out the easiest way to do it. I find myself thinking about what he did to the older Amy in "The Girl Who Waited" after watching this. And that was to a friend. By contrast, an employee of an apparently evil organization isn't pushing things nearly as far. Because the 11th Doctor is willing to go to extremes.
But the thing is, this time it's not necessary. Most of the time when the 11th Doctor goes "dark" you can excuse it somewhat as being required in the moment, or at least in reaction to some sort of threat. Here however, he's just on this mission to delete information about himself. Maybe he justifies it as necessary in some way, but that isn't the way we end up seeing this. And you know, it's pretty impressive that this 2 minute short gets this much out of me.
P.S.
Written by Chris Chibnall
We can't ever come home again. We won't ever see you again. And that breaks my heart. – Rory's letter to his father
And here's another serious one. And quite possibly the most character-rich Doctor Who minisode ever. I mean it's either this or "The Night of the Doctor". "P.S." was originally meant to be a proper DVD extra, but Mark Williams was unable to return as Rory's dad Brian, and so instead a version that was mostly storyboards, with Chris Chibnall's script visible. The exception being Rory's letter to his father, which Arthur Darvill narrated. And honestly, it might have been better in this format.
The odd format certainly doesn't detract. Rory is stuck in the past, and will never see his father again. But he can do one thing: send him a letter. The letter is delivered by his and Amy's adoptive son Anthony. The whole thing is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time. Rory pours his heart into that letter. And the storyboard format gives the whole thing a stark quality that helps emphasize the loneliness of Brian. And that loneliness building to Brian embracing his older-than-him grandson at the end is kind of the perfect coda to Brian's story. It helps that we get little details that point to Rory's grief at losing his father (he now carries around a trowel), which makes the whole thing feel all too real. Watching this, I was reminded of a lot of the things I miss about my own father, and the things I wish I could have told him.
I do wish the final scene of "The Power of Three" wasn't glued onto the beginning of this thing. The assumption is that if you're watching this kind of minisode you know who Brian is and how "The Power of Three" ended. And since I'm finding things to nitpick, the music is kind of distracting here. Normally I'm not going to complain about the music in these minisodes being stitched together from music composed for other Doctor Who stories because it's just in the nature of the format. They're hardly going to get Murray Gold to compose brand new music for a four minute short. But in this story, which, until Rory's letter, is otherwise silent, the music stands out a lot more, and the awkward way it's put together is just more obvious and therefore a bigger negative. Then again I don't actually have a good solution to this problem. There probably was a way to build this a bit better though.
Still, those are nitpicks. And goddamn, this thing breaks my heart when watching it. So, you know, it's great.
Clara and the TARDIS
Written by Steven Moffat/Directed by Jamie Stone
Dear God that woman is made of legs, that's the most legs on any living human. – Clara, on Amy
Well this one was definitely written by Steven Moffat. Some clever space and time bending concepts, awkward sex jokes including a female character flirting with herself, undeniably clever dialogue and more than a hint of sexism, all within a single two minute episode. Not all writers have clear markers of their work, but Steven Moffat, especially when he's trying to be funny, is one of them.
I was going to do a gag along the lines of "wait, haven't I written all of that already", but I think the truth, that I copy/pasted that from the "Space"/"Time" portion of this post, and only changed the description of how long a thing I was reviewing, says more. Although "more than a hint of sexism" is probably pushing the truth. I do think there are some hints, but it's thankfully kept to a minimum. But the companion flirting with herself somehow comes back here.
This is just Clara struggling to get along with the TARDIS, or rather the TARDIS being a jerk to Clara by hiding her bedroom. Eventually time shenanigans happen and there are countless Claras from subsequent nights all complaining about the lack of bedroom. It's mostly just a good fun time, which is a nice way to end off this post. There was a bit where Clara sees past companions for some little continuity fun. But in the end this is a little story not meant to be taken too seriously. Although in reality this would be horrifying: Clara being sleep deprived and also seeing her future and discovering even worse sleep deprivation isn't exactly a fun prospect. But the tone is kept light, so it kind of works.
Final Thoughts
Okay, let's wrap things up. I guess the question is, given the number of them: do all of these add anything to a fan's appreciation of this era of Doctor Who? In aggregate…sure. Some of these feel a bit like wasted opportunities – I might have enjoyed Pond Life, but it definitely left me wanting more, especially as far as setting up the divorce subplot from "Asylum of the Daleks". Some of them are just goofy fun, and honestly the two specials written by schoolchildren probably exist mostly for those children (who are adults now, in case you hadn't realized, and who knows how they feel about this weirdness these days). It's always nice to have more, and I wouldn't call any of these specials bad. There is some concerning stuff in the second "Meanwhile" short and "Space"/"Time" but both have their positives. And I'm certainly glad we got "P.S.", even if it wasn't in its intended form. I'm glad these all exist and that there was such a focus on telling bite-sized stories in this era.
Though honestly, did they have to be so bite-sized? Most of these things are around four minutes and some are a good deal shorter. Anyway, this was a fun detour. Now back to more serious things.
Next Time: Back to the VNAs, and it's time to check in on what the Doctor was up to while he left Ace and Benny behind. Eventually. He's going to get involved any day now.
