It’s the most anticipated episode of the series, but has superstar writer Neil Gaiman delivered on all of the hype that preceded Episode 4, The Doctor’s Wife? Our review will tell the tale, so read on.

FIGURES AND MORE REVIEW: DOCTOR WHO – SERIES 6 – EPISODE 4: THE DOCTOR’S WIFE

*WARNING* THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A FULL PLOT SUMMARY AND SPOILERS – READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Note: The summary will be in normal type, my comments will be in italics.

The episode begins on a junkyard planet, lit by an eerie green glow,where a woman wearing a tattered Victorian gown is being led towards a room by an old woman. They approach an older man in some sort of military uniform. The clothes of both the man and the woman are tattered. I cannot help thinking of the Thenardiers from Les Miserables. The woman, speaks to the man, whom we learn is called Uncle. Uncle says that whatever is about to happen to the woman, whom we learn is named Idris, “it’s really gonna hurt.” We also see that, in the room with them, there is an Ood with green eyes and a green light emanating from the translator orb. This is the Ood from the Series 6 trailer, and doesn’t he look sinister? Ood have not been seen since “The End of Time.” This is a nice nod to recent history. We learn the Ood is called Nephew, as the process is explained. Standing on some sort of grate, Nephew drains the soul and the mind from the woman, leaving her body empty. But, not to worry, the older woman says as the younger woman begins to choke as gas rises from the grate “soon you’ll have a brand new soul. They’ll be a Time Lord coming.” The younger woman collapses

The Doctor (Matt Smith), Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darville) are flying through space in the TARDIS. The Doctor is telling Rory about a meeting with King Arthur. Rory is skeptical, but Amy says she was there. Suddenly, the warning lights start blinking, prompting the Doctor to say he’s getting rid of them. Rory and Amy steal a moment to again discuss the Doctor’s impending death. Without warning, and, to the surprise of everyone, there is a knock on the TARDIS door. The Doctor goes to open the door, and finds a glowing white cube floating in space, which he is instantly enamored with: “Come here. you scrumptious little beauty.” The cube zooms into the TARDIS, zipping around, and whacking the Doctor on the chest before he is finally able to secure it. This is a short, but absolutely hilarious sequence. What follows next is one of the funniest lines this series. Amy asks the Doctor what it is, to which the Doctor replies “I’ve got mail.” Fortunately, the Doctor goes on to explain further that this is a Time Lord Emergency Messaging System. This is the item from “The War Games” that so many outlets teased about. ” In an emergency” the Doctor explains “we wrap up our thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. The Doctor is excited, because it seems to confirm the existence of another living Time Lord. The Doctor confirms to Rory that there are no living Time Lords in the Universe, but the Universe is not where they’re going. Confused yet? Good, then Neil Gaiman has done his job correctly. This is par for the course with Neil. The Doctor further explains that the snake design on the side, known as Ouroboros, is the mark of Time Lord called the Corsair, and mentioned that he has changed genders when he regenerated. So, for those of you hoping for a female Doctor in the future, a little fuel has just been added to your fire. the TARDIS begins to shudder as the Doctor announces they are leaving the Universe “with great difficulty.” By the way has anybody noticed that the series began with a mystery summons, and now, three episodes later, here we are again. This time, though, the Doctor has no reservations about following it. The leaving of the Universe requires a great deal of energy, and comes at a great cost. Namely the Swimming Pool (There goes our hopes of ever seeing it), the Skullery and Squash Court 7.

They arrive at their destination, a glowing green asteroid. The TARDIS lands with a thump and then mysteriously loses power. The Doctor says “it’s as if the Matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished.” Hey Doctor! We know something you don’t know. The Doctor asks “where would it go?” We still know something you don’t know. Back in the room, Idris (Suranne Jones) wakes up. an orange/gold gaseous stream, similar to what is seen just after a regeneration, is seen. The TARDIS dematerialization sound effect is heard coming from her mouth as Uncle and the older woman look on. Idris looks at her hands, which are also glowing, and we’re off to the opening titles. Believe it or not, everything I just described has taken only 3 minutes and 48 seconds!

As the credits fade, the Doctor, Amy and Rory exit the TARDIS and we get our first real look at the amazing junkyard planet they have constructed for this episode. It is really spectacular. Remember as you are watching this that this is a quarry they have dressed. The Doctor says that the place is full of rift energy, and that the TARDIS will probably refuel automatically. Suddenly, Idris comes running towards the Doctor, screaming “thief, thief”  Uncle and the older woman in pursuit. She approaches the Doctor, and promptly kisses him. “What have I stolen?”, the Doctor asks. “Me”, Idris replies. She seems to be having trouble with her speech, specifically getting the tenses and words right. We finally learn during the introductions that the older woman is called Auntie. She warns the Doctor that Idris, the mad woman bites. And, without warning, she leans over to the Doctor and does just that. The suddenness and spontaneity of this action make it both shocking and utterly hilarious. Bravo to Mr. Gaiman for such a fantastic moment. Idris tells the Doctor that “the little boxes will make you angry.” She tells Rory That the word petrichor means “the smell of dust after rain.” She goes on to tell him that, although he hasn’t yet, he will ask it’s meaning . Aunite thinks Idris should rest.  She mentions “an off switch”. and promptly collapses. Uncle thinks she’s dead, but Rory says she’s still breathing. Uncle tells Nephew to “take Idris somewhere she can’t bite.” The Doctor, noticing Nephew for the first time, explains to Amy and Rory that he is an Ood. He asks Nephew if he can talk. The Doctor looks at the broken translator globe. Auntie mentions that they were all broken when they came here, and that House repaired them all. The Doctor repairs the translator globe, and suddenly the air is filled with the distress cries of Time Lords.

the Doctor asks who else is here. Auntie replies there’s just the four of them “and the House.” Auntie again tells Nephew to take Idris somewhere where she can’t hurt anyone, and Nephew leads Idris away. The Doctor asks who the House is. Auntie replies that the whole world is the House, and asks if the Doctor would like to meet him. The Doctor tells Rory and Amy that somewhere nearby, there are lots of Time Lords. They follow after Auntie and Uncle.

Idris is in a cell, being guarded by Nephew. She suddenly sits up and begins speaking about a word that “will be sad”, wondering why the word is so sad. Idris is being acted like she could be a sister to Bellatrix Lestrange, unhinged, yet strangely compelling.

The take the Doctor, Amy and Rory to the room from the beginning of the episode with the grate. The Doctor works out that the asteroid is sentient and that the House is the creature at the center. Suddenly, House takes over Auntie and Uncle and begins speaking through them. House tells the Doctor that many Time Lords have come here and the have been many TARDISes on his back, though there are no Time Lords here anymore. The Doctor tells him that he is the last Time Lord and that his is the last TARDIS. House encourages them to make themselves comfortable. Auntie encourages them to look around saying “House loves you.” When she touches Amy’s face, the Doctor notices that her hand doesn’t quite fit with the rest of her. That is, it seems to have belonged to a man. This just looks REALLY creepy.

Idris, still in her cage, is engaged in what seems to be an imaginary conversation with….herself.  Idris is ahouting now, asking over and over for her “thief.” The Doctor, Amy and Rory are getting nearer. Rory wants to leave, but the Doctor says there are time Lords there and he can save them. Amy reminds him he will have to explain what he did. This is a reference to the unseen events of the Time War. Another cool nod to recent history. Good on ya, Neil. Amy says that the Doctor wants to be forgiven. “Don’t we all?” the Doctor poignantly answers, in a plaintive tone. Amy asks what she can do. The Doctor tells her he’s left his Sonic Screwdriver in the TARDIS in his other jacket. Rory has a great line here “You’ve got two of those?” Amy warns the Doctor about getting emotional, gives him her cell phone and goes off to get his screwdriver. He sends Rory off to look after her. Amy is a little cross to find Rory following her and not looking after the Doctor, which leads to a hilarious bit of banter between the two about the Doctor’s capabilities. Rory: “he’ll be fine. He’s a Time Lord.” Amy: “That’s just what they’re called. It doesn’t mean he actually knows what he’s doing.” Top notch dialogue, further advancing Amy’s determined mission to look out for the Doctor all of the time. She’s become like an over-protective big sister. Rory follows her into the TARDIS.

An eerie green fog begins swirling around the outside of the TARDIS. Inside, Amy calls the Doctor on her cell phone. He takes his screwdriver, which is not in the TARDIS, out of his pocket while he is on the phone with her. Activating it, he locks the TARDIS doors and then hangs up. This is not going to win the Doctor any points with Amy at all! Amy is suspicious, but Rory is clueless, so he goes to look for the jacket.

The Doctor, meanwhile is searching for the source of the Time Lord voices. Unfortunately, he finds it. A cabinet is full of Time Lord Distress beacons. Auntie and Uncle come up behind him. He now realizes that Auntie and Uncle have been repaired by House using Time Lord body parts. They are patchwork people. In fact, Auntie has the arm of the Corsair. We are shown the Ouroboros tattoo. There is a mixture of anger and pain in teh Doctor’s face as he realizes it has all been a cruel trick. He tells Auntie and Uncle to run as his anger boils over, but Uncle tells him he is too late and House is too clever. This is a great scene with Matt Smith displaying some great emotion as he learns the truth of the situation he is in. The anger Matt conveys as the Doctor picks apart the pieces of Auntie and Uncle, recognizes the Ouroboros tattoo and now realizes that the hope he had for a reunion with friends is well and truly gone is so palpable that you would sear you can fell the heat of it through the screen. Matt is really to be commended for this performance. Amy angrily calls the Doctor, asking why he locked the doors. As he’s about to explain, he remembers Idris’ earlier comment that “the boxes will make you angry.” He tells Amy and Rory to stay put and rushes off to find Idris.

Confronting Idris, the Doctor asks how she knew about the boxes? Idris again refers to him as “my thief.” The Doctor again asks her who she is. Meanwhile, the fog around the TARDIS continues to swirl and increases in intensity, green light now streaming through the windows.

Idris opens her mouth, playing the TARDIS dematerialization sound effect. The Doctor comprehends at last. Idris’ body has been made into a receptacle  for the TARDIS’ matrix, it’s soul. YAY! The Doctor is finally on the same page as we are, now we can get on with the story. Idris talks to the Doctor about when he first saw her, a fond memory for the Doctor. “You were the most beautiful thing I’d even known.” Ah, memories. Idris reveals that they stole each other. She tells him to open the lock, and he does. She steps out, sizing up the Doctor. She asks if all people are “bigger on the inside.” Some more great Gaiman dialogue. Idris is sill looking for that word that is “complicated and sad.” The Doctor asks why they would remove the Matrix from the TARDIS. Idris says that House eats TARDISes. A conversation between Idris and the Doctor fills out the details of House’s plan. This is a great back and forth scene, featuring a reference to fish fingers. In fact, Idris asks the Doctor if fish have fingers. Idris also seems to know what the Doctor will say before he says it, so there is a lot of line repeating.

The Doctor has realized Rory and Amy are in danger, but it’s too late. As he runs back towards the TARDIS, House begins his takeover. The doors refuse to unlock. Inside the TARDIS, Amy and Rory begin to panic as the Cloister Bell tolls. Never a good sign. The doors won’t open. The Doctor watches helplessly as the TARDIS dematerializes right in front of him. The Doctor is clueless at how to proceed. This is a fact, he is strangely pleased with for a second, before he slaps himself back to reality. This is pretty hilarious. I mean, really, only the Doctor could be happy about being clueless.

Inside the TARDIS Console Room, now lit by an eerie green glow, Rory tries to comfort Amy, saying they are safe because they are inside the TARDIS. The disembodied voice of House informs them that they are half right, they are in the TARDIS. He asks them why he shouldn’t just kill them.

Back on the junkyard planet, the Doctor informs Idris that the TARDIS has been hijacked. This is typical Gaiman weirdness. The Doctor is essentially telling the TARDIS that the TARDIS has been stolen. Auntie and Uncle say that is time for them to go. They, of course, mean die. Without House, everything in this universe is dying. The Doctor has told House since it was the last TARDIS, so House is off to the real universe to find more.  Idris tells the Doctor they have to go, and her body begins to fail. Idris tells the Doctor not to get emotional and to focus. He still feels helpless, until he realizes that the whole asteroid is TARDIS junkyard. Excited, he begins to rush off with her. He asks her name, she says he calls her “sexy”. “Only when they’re alone” the Doctor says. ” We are alone.” Idris says. “Come on then, sexy.” he says. It’s great that the Doctor lowers his voice self-consciously, as if someone might be listening in.

Meanwhile, back in the TARDIS, House is still feeling out his new home. He is still waiting to hear Amy and Rory’s answer as to why he shouldn’t just kill them. Rory comes up with the fact that House needs them to entertain him. That he needs to make someone suffer, like Auntie and Uncle. Rory: “I had a PE Teacher just like you.” More priceless dialogue. “So, entertain me.” House orders. “Run.” So, by this point, I personaly couldn’t wait for the eventual resolution where the Doctor sticks it to House. I mean, what a jerk this guy is. Amy and Rory run from the Console Room.

The Doctor and Idris arrive at the graveyard of half-eaten TARDISes. Idris is sad to see all her sisters are dead. The Doctor hatches a plan to build a working TARDIS from the different half-eaten ones. This plot was actually hatched on the British children’s show Blue Peter last year. The console that you will see was actually designed by a 12 year-old girl.

Now we catch with Rory and Amy, who are running through corridors which seem to be similar and infinite. The pattern is reminiscent of the 70’s and 80’s Console Room, with large yellow shapes on grey walls. Amy and Rory have been getting very accomplished at running as a couple lately. House says he is enjoying himself, and warns that he has turned off the corridor anti-grav, just before Amy is about to fall into a pit. Jerk. They pull each other to safety over the pit and continue running.

Back on the asteroid, the junkyard TARDIS is beginning to take shape. Idris is trying to instruct the Doctor on how to proceed, with causes him to become angry.The two of them bicker. My favorite exchange from the argument. Idris:” Idris: There’s a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for 700 years. What does it say?” The Doctor: “That’s not instructions.” Idris:”There’s an instruction at the bottom? What does it say?”  The Doctor: “Pull to Open.” Idris: “Yes, and what do you do?” The Doctor: “I push.” Idris: “Every single time. 700 years, police box doors open out the way.” This whole scene is just a Whovian’s dream come true. The Doctor arguing with the TARDIS and the TARDIS arguing back. “ The exchange ends with a tender moment. The Doctor: “You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go. Idris: “No, but I always took you where you needed to go.” Idris’s body starts to fail, she’s lost one kidney. There’s not much time left. Idris’ body will fail in 18 minutes. Conveniently, this is about how much time is left in the episode.

Back on the asteroid, the junkyard TARDIS is almost complete. The Doctor installs the central time rotor column. Idris tells the Doctor they chose each other. Her doors were unlocked because she wanted to see the universe. So, she says “I stole a Time Lord and ran away.”  The TARDIS is complete, the Doctor grabs some seat belts.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy runs through a doorway, which then shuts before Rory can get through. Amy finds him around the corner in front of another door. He says she’s been gone for hours. Identical corridors and time discrepencies, Neil Gaiman at his finest. She leads Rory back though the corridor, runs through the doorway again , and , you guessed it, the door slams in Rory’s face again.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy wanders the corridor. Facing an intersection, she hears a faint voice call her name. Turning around, she sees Rory. He is much older and leaning against a bulkhead, with long hair and a beard, but it is definitely him. Rory says that she left him again. She is crying now, telling him she didn’t mean to. He lunges at her screaming. He backs her through a doorway, which closes. Rory’s outburst is a great piece of acting by Arthur Darville, who seems bound and determined to develop the character of Rory whenever possible.

The junkyard TARDIS now complete, the Doctor and Idris take their place at the console. The Doctor tries to start the machine, but it will not work. A hilarious aside, there is a small face mirror in front of Idris and she pokes and prods at her face as she looks at it in the mirror. The Doctor is despondent, saying he’s got nothing. “Oh, My beautiful idiot” Idris replies, “you have what you’ve always had. You’ve got me.” With that, she gives the junkyard TARDIS the golden “kiss of life”, and off they go, disappearing a golden globe of energy.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy enters a corridor where the words Amy, Die and Kill are written all over the walls. Note to House: That is some seriously sick redecoration. There is also a skeleton dressed in what appears to be Rory’s clothes. Amy screams, and falls to her knees when she sees it, sobbing. Suddenly, Rory comes up behind her. Amy turns to look at Rory, when she turns back, the writing and the skeleton are gone. They continue running down the corridor together.

Idris tells the Doctor they will have to lower the shields for them to phase through. The Doctor says that the telepathic circuits are online, and asks Idris if she can get a message to Amy. Idris asks “which one is Amy? the pretty one?” There have been so many over the years, you really can’t expect the TARDIS to keep track. Amy and Rory are climbing up a ladder and she contacts…Rory!? “Hello pretty” Rory is the pretty one? I bet that’s news to him. Rory holds his head as Idris’ message comes through. The Doctor joins Idris in Rory’s head to explain the situation. Idris says she is putting the route to a secondary control room in his head. She says she will send him the pass code when he gets there. Rory and Amy set off towards the old Control Room. The Doctor wants to know how they are going to get the shields down, since House is in the Control Room. Idris says she sent them to one of the old Control Rooms. The Doctor says there aren’t any, but Idris says she has archived them. She says she has about 30. The Doctor says he’s only “changed the desktop” a dozen times. Anybody else hear that kine about the desktop and think of “Time Crash?” has everybody figures out which Old Console Room they are heading to?

Rory and Amy are running towards the Old Control Room, when Amy suddenly stops in the middle of the corridor, saying the lights have gone out. Rory can see perfectly well, but Amy is stumbling around in the dark. House is messing with her mind. Rory sees a bright green glow coming from the end of the hallway.A faint electrical humming can be heard.  He goes to investigate. Well, of course he does! We hear Rory scream, accompanied by a thud. Uh oh! But, it seems he’s ok, as we hear his voice a second later. He tells Amy to come towards his voice. Anyone else smell something fishy here? As Amy inches down the hallway, we see her feet pass the prone unconscious body of RORY! Uh oh again! “Rory” tells Amy to reach her her hand. She does she feels…NEPHEW’S MOUTH TENTACLES! Amy’s touch makes Nephew’s eyes light up. EWWW! Rory grabs her hand and off they go.

Meanwhile Idris and the Doctor clarify, at last, the Doctor does, in fact, call her “Sexy.” The Doctor: “You bet it’s your name.”

Rory and Amy, still being pursued by Nephew, arrive at teh door Idris has directed them to.  Idris sends Rory the password telepathically: Crimson, Eleven, Delight, Petrichor. What? Who comes up with these passwords? Rory tries speaking the password, but it doesn’t work. Amy realizes you have to think it. She does, using her memories to exemplify each part of the password. The door opens, just as Nephew reaches the door. The scene inside is familiar, yet shocking. IT’S THE 9th and 10th DOCTORS’ CONSOLE ROOM! Words cannot express how happy I was to see this set again! My endless gratitude to Neil for bringing this set back. The move to the console and lower the shields. In the junkyard TARDIS, Idris informs the Doctor that the shields are down, as they catch up with the TARDIS.

Back in the old Console Room, House is confused as to where the room came from and how they got in. He lets Nephew in and orders him to kill them. Idris sends Rory another message informing him that they are coming through, but she doesn’t know where. Nephew approaches Rory and Amy, but is atomized when the junkyard TARDIS materializes in front of them. The Doctor and Idris reunite with Rory and Amy explain who Idris is. Now this is CLASSIC Neil Gaiman. You have the TARDIS (Idris), riding in the junkyard TARDIS, materializing inside the TARDIS. Amy’s reaction is priceless: “Did you wish really hard?” Idris’ introduction is equally hilarious: “Hello, I”m…sexy.”

House notes their arrival. the Doctor mourns Nephew: “another Ood I failed to save.” This is a reference to teh events of “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit”, when the Doctor first meets the Ood. House is trying to decide how to kill them. The Doctor says that if House will promise to spare them, he will help him get into their universe. Idris’ body begins to fail, and she collapses. House gives his word. The Doctor tells him to, activate  subroutine Sigma 9 and delete 30% of the TARDIS’ rooms. House, smug in what he believes is this victory states that he will delete the room they are in. Yes, boys and girls, this is the point where the Doctor tricks the over-confident villain intp practically destroying himself. But, in House’s case, he really has all of what is about to happen coming. And, I’m really going to enjoy watching him get it. So, it’s to bid a final farewell to that old Console Room.

The TARDIS breaks though to our Universe, and the Doctor, Idris, Amy and Rory materialize in the Main Control Room. The Doctor explains that, through a failsafe, living things in deleted rooms are deposited in the Main Control Room. House gloats that they are in our Universe. And, here it comes, my favorite dialogue exchange of the series. I should’ve guessed Neil Gaiman wrote it. House: “Fear me. I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords.” The Doctor: “Fear me. I’ve killed all of them.” Meanwhile, Idris is mumbling and Rory is trying to make sense of it. The Doctor makes a show of having Amy help him congratulate House on being a worthy opponent. The Doctor explains that House trapped the matrix in Idris’ body, which has stopped breathing, so it would burn out someplace safe. But, a human body can’t hold the matrix. House asks if the Doctor thinks he should mourn Idris? “No” the Doctor replies “I think you should be very careful about what you let back into this Control Room.”

Suddenly, the orange glowing gas trail emerges from Idris’ mouth. The energy tendrils wrap around the console, the TARDIS matrix retaking control of her systems, and causing great pain to House in the process. The Doctor tells the matrix to “finish him off” and, she does. With one final fading scream, House is exorcised from the TARDIS. The green glow disappears and all of the systems come back online, the normal lighting returning to the Control Room.

The Doctor is standing hunched over the console, when Idris’ voice calls out. He turns to see a sort of “astral projection” of her. Idris’ finally finds the sad, complicated word she was looking for. The word is alive. The Doctor says the word’s not sad. Idris says that it is when it’s over. Idris’ final words are “Hello Doctor, It’s so very nice to meet you.” Then in a flash of light she is reabsorbed into the TARDIS matrix. This is a tear-inducing scene. The Doctor, oversome with emotion, is openly weeping, as Rory and Amy embrace.

The next time we see the Doctor, he is underneath the console, putting a firewall around the Matrix. matt is wearing some hilarious looking goggles here. And, as a bonus, you hear the line “spacey wacey.” Rory tells the Doctor that Idris kept repeating the phrase “The only water in the forest is the river.” Oooh, a cryptic phrase? in a Neil Gaiman written episode? I can’t believe it. The Doctor says he needs to make them a new room, since House deleted the old one. Amy asks he to lose the bunk beds. The Doctor sends them off to find their new room. Standing in front of the console, The Doctor says to the TARDIS “The Eye of Oriaon or wherever we need to go.” Suddenly, the dematerialization lever pulls down by itself. The Doctor skips around the console as the episode ends.

THE VERDICT: This is the very definition of a “fan service” episode. Neil has packed so many awesome moments in this episode for fans, that you will have to watch the episode a few times just to catch them all. This episode, according to Neil, was built off of an intriguing premise: what if the Doctor and the TARDIS could talk to each other? It also serves to show us sides of the Doctor we have not yet seen. Matt Smith is again asked to up his game as the Doctor, and he rises to the challenge gladly and magnificently. He does a great job of portraying the Doctor’s sense of wonder and confusion and he and the TARDIS define the nature of their relationship face-to-face. Likewise, Amy and Rory are given their own spotlight in this episode, with Arthur Darville in particular shining as he explores new facets of Rory’s character.  In this episode, Rory and Amy face yet another test of the strength of their relationship and the scenes with the two of them are very well done. But, the star turn, and the highest accolades for this episode belongs to Suranne Jones. He spellbinding and fantastic portrayal of Idris, the living embodiment of the TARDIS, is one of the best guest starring performances since the series’ revival in 2005. She plays Idris with a manic, unhinged mental state, similar to Helena Bonham Carter’s Belleatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter series. Idris however, is much less malevolent, though every bit as unhinged and manic. She repeats lines, speaks a mile a minute, and even bites the Doctor at one point. Though, she also kisses him at one point, which should tell you how complicated the relationship between the Doctor and the TARDIS really is. This episode contains two blasts from the recent past: An Ood, named nephew, and the 9th and 10th Doctors’ Console Room.  It was really cool to see the old Console Room again, and it was pretty brilliant the way Neil incorporated it into the episode. Another thing we see in this episode. which we haven’t seen in a while is the TARDIS corridor’s. Amy and Rory have a good old fashioned chase though the corridors, which, you may imagine, are all one pattern, and seem to go on forever. The villain for the piece, is simply called “House.” He appears in the episode only as a disembodied voice, but he is no less sinister. In fact, he has by his own admission “killed hundreds of Time Lords.” But, his greatest sin, the one that causes the Doctor to show him no compassion, is to give the Doctor hope that there were living Time Lords, and then take it away. This sparks an anger in the Doctor that makes him deaf to House’s pleas for mercy. House is also a fairly enigmatic adversary, an entity who feeds on TARDISes. He also makes patchwork people, using Time Lord parts. The planet he resides on in a junkyard consisting of half consumed TARDISes, all with functioning chameleon circuits, so they look like bathtubs or washing machines, or other everyday items. It is in this junkyard that the Doctor and Idris find the parts to build a TARDIS. And, this TARDIS is controlled from a console designed by the winner of a competition sponsored by the television show “Blue Peter.” The winning console is seen in this episode, and it looks pretty awesome. And, so in the end, this becomes a episode written by a Doctor Who fan for the Doctor Who fans. It is one of my favorite episodes of all time, and an episode that I will watch over and over again. This  episode was another welcome change from the gravitas which must now take center stage again, as we begin the build-up for the mid-series finale. I certainly hope that Neil Gaiman will write another episode, especially if it is as high quality as this one.