I Dress Like a Nazi Now, Nazi's Are Cool.

[inflatable dalek]

Considering it could form a fully functional motorbike as well I don't think a beard (or a faux regeneration) is much of a stretch (as to why bother... presumably the Doctor wasn't locked up with shaving equipment so it was necessary for the deception).

I was incredibly dim on that score and didn't twig as to the Numbskull Doctor until it was revealed even though it should have been really, really, really obvious. I hope the crew got out OK rather than being burnt to ashes with the rest, but if they had escaped, with their firm belief in law and order, wouldn't they get River's conviction quashed?

As Brend noted, the collapsing alternate timeline thing was just a more visually elaborate version of the starless world last year, and otherwise it was all very, very obvious. Whoever does wind up in charge of the show after the Moff it'd be nice to have someone who doesn't just keep doing the same season final with some words changed round every time. Still, bringing Callow back as Dickens for three lines was strangely cool.

In the end though the whole show was stolen by the very lovely Brig tribute, short and underrated (befitting the Brig) but still touching and managed to be an big part of the plot by bringing the Doctor up short. I'd assumed by this stage we weren't getting the expected dedication to him and, though not as loudly irate as some people have been about it, was still disappointed at what seemed a huge oversight. Nice to be wrong.

And I suspect the fact it happened in a story where everyone was wearing an eyepatch would have tickled Nick's sense of humour.

[Brendocon]

Gotta say that Moffatt's Monster Mash is getting tired, too.

"I'm writing a big episode... let's cram it with stuff... what's in the cupboard? Oh, a Dalek, obviously. Cyberman costume, no hang on we just did them... oh yes, the Silurian, not had one of them since Good Man Goes to War, I can use that... a Weeping Angel? No, we dropped on of those into the God Complex... Sontaran! Yes, a Sontatran will... No, Mike the Cool Guy's not available this week, is he?... Oh! The Roman costumes, of course, yes let's give them another dusting off..."

What with the Pandorica Opens, Good Man Goes to War and now The Wedding of River Song, I'm beginning to think "throwing as many monsters or recurring elements at the screen as possible" is a deliberate attempt to distract from a lack of plot.

[inflatable dalek]

And also, I suspect, a lack of budget (we can't afford any new monster costumes! We'll compensate bu throwing them all in it! The Cybusmen outfits are actually starting to0 look pretty tired now). Having a completely pointless Dalek cameo after they specifically said there weren't going to be any this year was a bit of a twatish thing to do as well.

After six seasons, despite last years being OK, it's only really the Dalek/Cybermen smackdown that's properly worked as a grand final for me, and that's because it was unashamedly comic book and big silly fun. The rest have only really managed to convince me big long story arcs don't work so well in Doctor Who.

And what happened to the Silences ability to influence peoples minds? I thought when Churchill got his gun out it was going to be due to mind control, but they didn't even seem to try.

And come to that, how come they (and their servants) seemed to be the only creatures with complete recall of the original history? Are they just that awesome?

Oh, and I've decided that as Gattis' character was unnamed it was Fenric.

EDIT: Oh, and the "Doctor Who?" as the ultimate oldest quaestion makes no sense as at least the Time Lords would have known the answer before they died out. Plus I'm not sure how that will work as an arc for the general public when everyone knows his name is Doctor Who.

[Brendocon]

EDIT: Oh, and the "Doctor Who?" as the ultimate oldest quaestion makes no sense as at least the Time Lords would have known the answer before they died out.

Okay...

It's not "the ultimate oldest question." Ultimate means last, oldest means first. Ultimate oldest is gibberish. Is English actually your first language? I've often wondered.

It's the oldest question ("the first question"). And given that the Doctor has spent his life back and forth all over time, that's easily possible. References to the Doctor exist throughout history... Doctor who, though, nobody knows.

Yes, the Timelords knew, before they all died. But they all died. And due to the vagaries of RTD's timelock, they're out of the equation. The fact that somebody knew something before they died doesn't make it known. The knowledge was lost with them.

The only person who knows the answer to the question is the Doctor. And the Silence believe that, for whatever reason, only bad things can come from it ever being answered.

Whether it's the words themselves, or the nature of the Doctor's identity being revealed, or something to do with other events at the Fields of Trenzalore (and given that it's a situation where nobody can speak falsely or fail to answer, there's obviously something supernatural about it), who can say?* But they've clearly gone with the efficient plan of stopping it being answered by trying to kill off the only remaining soul in the universe who knows the answer.

I don't see what's hard to follow.

And for the first time, it properly occurs to me that Susan is dead.

* Who can say. Fnarr.

[Metal Vendetta]

Even though it was flubbed this time, River does eventually learn the Doctor's name, doesn't she? That's how she convinces Tennant in Forest of the Dead...so presumably the question is answered at some point, at least for her. What bearing that has on the Doctor, I couldn't say, but I suspect this won't be the last time this particular plot thread surfaces.

[Brendocon]

Indeederoonilarily.

Well, it was either his name or something else that absolutely nobody knows.