If it wasn't for Heaven Sent I'd say this is Moffat's masterpiece. It's phenomenal. And a great prologue to his era too, but still kept within the RTD palette. The pre-credits sequence hasn't been bettered to this day either.
So many great details, like you said, too. One of my favourites (can't remember if it's in this or the second part) is when the little girl curiously slides open the door at the bottom of the remote control to see what's there. It's something a kid would actually do, rather than "I think a kid would do these things but I don't really know". Just an odd little detail that Moffat is so good at.
It's strange how at the time it felt like Riley was a bit of a "get" for the show, when now she's pretty much just a pub quiz answer ("Which actor married and divorced Elon Musk twice?")
The fact that Davies was happy to let Moffat do this and it worked is a testament to the strength of both of them as creatives - to allow someone to do a story that is essentially an advert for their own imminent era feels really interesting, and far more so in hindsight.
It's terrific. I think it does the big thing that Doctor Who does, which is getting children to think about death. All of Moffat's best stories are about death.
A couple of things I loved: the Doctor replying "Get out" to "Hello sweetie". And the meandering explanation from Other Dave about why he's Other Dave, instead of Proper Dave - it's really nicely written and performed in a lovely deadpan way.
I just looked on IMDB to see if I could find that bit of dialogue but found this instead (which is nice):
Other Dave : Who is he? You haven't even told us - you just expect us to trust him.
River Song : He is the Doctor.
Strackman Lux : And who is the Doctor?
River Song : The only story you'll ever tell if you survive him.
If it wasn't for Heaven Sent I'd say this is Moffat's masterpiece. It's phenomenal. And a great prologue to his era too, but still kept within the RTD palette. The pre-credits sequence hasn't been bettered to this day either.
So many great details, like you said, too. One of my favourites (can't remember if it's in this or the second part) is when the little girl curiously slides open the door at the bottom of the remote control to see what's there. It's something a kid would actually do, rather than "I think a kid would do these things but I don't really know". Just an odd little detail that Moffat is so good at.
It's strange how at the time it felt like Riley was a bit of a "get" for the show, when now she's pretty much just a pub quiz answer ("Which actor married and divorced Elon Musk twice?")
The fact that Davies was happy to let Moffat do this and it worked is a testament to the strength of both of them as creatives - to allow someone to do a story that is essentially an advert for their own imminent era feels really interesting, and far more so in hindsight.
'River has the same kind of gun Jack has in the Doctor Dances, which feels oddly telling.'
She later (earlier for her) buys Jack's vortex manipulator from Dorium, so this feels quite neat.
It's terrific. I think it does the big thing that Doctor Who does, which is getting children to think about death. All of Moffat's best stories are about death.
A couple of things I loved: the Doctor replying "Get out" to "Hello sweetie". And the meandering explanation from Other Dave about why he's Other Dave, instead of Proper Dave - it's really nicely written and performed in a lovely deadpan way.
I just looked on IMDB to see if I could find that bit of dialogue but found this instead (which is nice):
Other Dave : Who is he? You haven't even told us - you just expect us to trust him.
River Song : He is the Doctor.
Strackman Lux : And who is the Doctor?
River Song : The only story you'll ever tell if you survive him.