Series 7 Part 1 of Doctor Who was a real thrill for me, all those references to the past and return of past monsters. I also loved the creation of new monsters and enemies, showing that even after 50 years there is still more to show.
Asylum of the Daleks was a fantastic start to the series. Returning to Skaro for the first time in nuwho and seeing the new Dalek-puppets was great. The parliament of the Daleks gave us the return of the Time War era Daleks, instead of just the crappy new ones. I just think, when looking at these Daleks, why on earth did they even need to redesign them? Anyway, the idea of mad Daleks really fascinated me and made them slightly more sinister. I was really surprised when I saw Oswin, as the new companion wasn't supposed to be appearing until Christmas, but the reveal that she had been converted into a Dalek really shocked me. The Doctor's manipulation of Amy and Rory in order to get them to reconcile was brilliant, and we saw that they both really loved one another. When Clara took down the Asylum force-field, sacrificing herself to save the Doctor, I was quite moved by her death. The final twist was the Daleks having no memory of the Doctor, after Clara had deleted it earlier. I thought it was excellent to hear them asking "Doctor Who?".
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was another strong episode. I liked the idea of dinosaurs on a spaceship, but I felt that they were underused and not really the main plot point. Queen Nefertiti was a great addition, as she is such a strong character. Riddell was an interesting character, one who at first seemed to be overtly sexist, eventually becoming more respectful with Nefertiti deciding to stay with him after the episode. Rory's Dad, Brian, was a character who liked his only little world and didn't travel anywhere, until by the end of the episode he was travelling the world. The villain for this story, Solomon, was a real nasty piece of work, someone who was only interested in money and cared little for others. He was left to die aboard his ship by the Doctor, who showed Solomon the same kindness that he showed to the Silurians that he killed. The "gang" of characters was a little excessive for one episode, and would have suited a two-parter better. I rather enjoyed this episode, and felt that the plot was excellent, however, it wasn't quite as good in my opinion as the first episode.
A Town Called Mercy was a fantastic journey in the Wild West. This episode showed us what the horrors of war can drive someone to do, and this draws obvious connections to what the Doctor had to do to end the Time War. Jex was an alien, whose species had a war, which drove him and several others to begin experimenting on others to enhance them and make them perfect killing-machines. The Gunslinger, Tek, was of the same species as Jex, but became a cyborg after being experimented on. After serving his duty, along with all the others, he started to seek revenge against those who had experimented upon him. He has killed everyone involved, except for Jex, and I can understand why he would. What was done to him was wrong. The Doctor at one point decided to hand Jex over, showing him no mercy whatsoever, and shockingly points a gun at him. Upon the death of Isacc, the town sheriff, who sacrificed himself to save Jex, however, the Doctor is convinced to help Jex escape. The townsfolk later attempt to hand him over, but the Doctor tells them that that would redeem Isacc's death pointless. Once Jex escaped to his ship, however, he decides to end the war for Tek, saving him from killing any, and self-destructs his ship. I felt that this was a great episode, showing the effects of war and displaying why the Doctor shouldn't travel alone, and was a worthy western.
The Power of Three was also a strong episode. I loved the introduction of the Brigadier's daughter, a great reference to a great character, and liked the fact the she had made UNIT less about guns and more about science. Also seeing how Amy and Rory's lives are affected by the Doctor was intriguing, showing that although they wanted to have a normal life on earth they would always go off with the Doctor whenever he turned up unannounced. The slow invasion was a new idea completely, showing that while the Doctor could deal with a sudden attack he wasn't able to wait around as he got bored. His attempt to hang around didn't last long, in fact it lasted just over an hour. When the cubes "switched-off" peoples hearts I was quite shocked, and was unsure how the Doctor could possible save them. The Shakri was an interesting villain, but their defeat was too quick and simple, as the Doctor only waved the sonic screwdriver and suddenly everything was fixed. This episode suffered from being squashed into one episode, and would have been better as a two-parter; for this reason alone, I feel that although this episode was strong, it was the worst episode in this part of the series.
The Angels Take Manhattan was an excellent end to the series, and one of the strongest episodes in the series. I felt that the Angels were shown at their strongest, having virtually taken over New York, but they weren't quite as scary as before. Perhaps this is down to the fact that they have lost their shock factor since having become a recurring monster. Anyway, this episodes displays the Angels literally farming humans in order to grow stronger, introduces cherub Angels, and shows the Statue of Liberty as an Angel. While the cherub's are only slightly creepy, the Statue of Liberty is actually quite scary, certainly more so than the Angels themselves. The return of River Song was great, and the way she and the Doctor react to one another is fantastic. But, this episode saw the final farewell of Amy and Rory. After escaping the Angels human-farm, Amy and Rory thought that they would be able to continue their travels in the TARDIS, but they were wrong. Rory is sent back in time by a surviving Angel and Amy, to the Doctor's agony, decides to allow herself to be sent back in time too so that she can be with Rory. While it was heartbreaking to see the Ponds leave, I am glad that they lived out the rest of their lives together and were happy. The note that Amy left to the Doctor describes how they were happy and that he shouldn't feel responsible, requesting that he visit Amy's younger self and tell her a story of their future adventures together, and telling him not to travel alone. I felt that this episode was very strong, dispite some plot problems, and was a fitting farewell to Amy and Rory.
Overall, the series was very strong, with some great moments, references to the past and brilliant acting from the leads.
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