Danny Stewart

I wanted to collect and post some thoughts after watching this week’s Doctor Who episode, The God Complex.

(If you haven’t seen the episode yet, consider yourself warned about spoilers.)

After a run of episodes ranking anywhere from abysmal to above average (and roughly in that order), the writing, pacing, and directing of this episode were all excellent. The episode felt much longer than 45 minutes, and that’s not a bad thing. There was some terrific frightening imagery here and a very focused, well-developed plot. The dialogue was sharp and the whole episode treated its audience as intelligent viewers, something I am not at all accustomed to with the new series.

Matt Smith was much more sedate this week. He was out of control (much closer to Tennant) in Night Terrors. He was much better in The Girl Who Waited and almost perfect here. I loved the scene where he is enraged over Rita’s loss and smashes everything off the table.

Rita herself was excellent. Well-written and well-cast, her dialogue was believable and there was a realness to the character that I don’t usually see on the new series. I also loved the Doctor’s reaction to meeting her. “Amy, with regret, you’re fired.”

I enjoyed the classic twist of the Doctor and companions being separated from the TARDIS early on in the episode, just as I enjoyed the Doctor’s reaction to finding his own room in the hotel. No overblown fear, no drama about it, just a knowing look on the Doctor’s face and a casual “Who else?” The addition of the Cloister Bell too was a wonderful touch.

There were some echoes of The Mind Robber in this week’s episode as well. Not just the Minotaur, but the idea of things (real or fictional) coming to life by your belief in them, and that belief being your ultimate undoing. Even better after last week’s Mind Robber-esque robots. And I enjoyed the reference to the Nimon as well; it’s unusual that a strong episode of the new series is able to lend credence to a weaker classic episode like this did.

I especially liked the scene where the Doctor had to undermine Amy’s faith in him in order to save her; “I am not a hero” is something I would like to hear more from the Doctor, and something I would like to see more on the show. The Doctor is not a hero; he should never be portrayed so heroically. He’s just a man, and one who often makes the wrong choices and has people do the exact wrong thing (as he does here). I can only hope that the tone they captured here manages to continue.

The departure of Amy and Rory was exceedingly well-handled. It reminded me of when companions left on the classic series, which is high praise coming from me. Nothing was overblown, the Doctor was slightly awkward about it (as he should be), and then the TARDIS just left. Perfect.

Finally, Murray Gold’s music was absolutely atrocious. It was by far the weakest thing in this entire episode. Music is supposed to complement the action on screen, not distract from it. Some of the episode’s best and most terrifying scenes were horribly undermined by Murray scoring it as though it were a comedy. For the first time in I don’t know how long, the new series actually achieved a frightening mood, and Murray Gold took away my ability to enjoy any of it. I am very seriously considering attempting to remove all the music from this episode and re-score it myself.