- Title: Doctor Who – Closing Time
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The series jumps forward from the last episode which saw The Doctor (Matt Smith) say farewell to Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill). The Doctor is now only hours away from his fatal meeting on the shore of Silenco Lake. On the eve of his foretold death, and in need of a friend, The Doctor decides to pay Craig (James Corden) a visit, and that’s when things really get interesting.
For those who don’t remember, Craig was The Doctor’s roommate when he was temporarily separated from the TARDIS and stranded in last year’s episode “The Lodger.” The Doctor takes a quick peek to make sure all is well but almost immediately notices something is wrong (although not with Craig’s baby who The Doctor insists on calling Stormageddon).
Taking a job in a nearby shop, The Doctor begins to investigate a series of disappearances and comes across a cybernetic rat and a ship of Cybermen which crashed years ago and have finally awoken. The Doctor immediately tries to distance himself from Craig who decides the safest place is next to the Time Lord. Whether he wants it or not, Craig understands (as the best companions do) The Doctor needs help, especially when he won’t ask for it.
The episode is full of fun moments between The Doctor and Craig and the various observations The Doctor infers from Craig’s young son (remember, he speaks baby). There’s also a nice miscommunication between Craig and one of the other department store workers about the nature of his relationship with The Doctor. And if the method the Cybermen are defeated is a bit schmaltzy and over simplistic, it works well enough to wrap up events in a somewhat haphazard manner.
The show ends with a final sequence teasing the season’s final episode “The Wedding of River Song.” In the scene River (Alex Kingston) is approached by Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber) and the final pieces of the season’s first episode “The Impossible Astronaut” are revealed. As the clock is about to strike midnight all the players are ready to take center stage.
The second half of the season has been got progressively better week after week. With one episode left we will see if showrunner Steven Moffat can outdo the mid-season finale and take The Doctor out with a bang.