An Hour of Who a Day: May 27: "A Good Man Goes to War" Prequel / "A Good Man Goes to War"

May 27: "A Good Man Goes to War" Prequel / "A Good Man Goes to War"

The prequel is just a quick scene, showing Dorium selling security software to the Headless Monks and cautioning them against angering the Doctor for stealing his best friends' child, but it definitely puts you in the right frame of mind for the main event...

This is a bit of an odd episode to judge, as it's not really a story in its own right; rather, it's part of the overarching plot of series 6. Except even then it's not quite; we get more information and resolution regarding Amy and Rory's baby Melody, but the big question lurking in the background -- that of the Doctor's death -- is only briefly alluded to. We'll have to wait for that.

But what "A Good Man Goes to War" does is pull off its troop-gathering with considerable style. We get some highly incongruous characters -- Rory dressed as a Roman centurion, presumably as a symbol ("the Doctor's idea", Rory tells River), an Earth reptile stopping Jack the Ripper in Victorian England, a Sontaran soldier acting as a nurse by way of atonement for his "clone group" -- all being brought together to fight a war against an enemy whose sole purpose is to stop the Doctor.²³¹ They're terrified of him, and they're preparing for an onslaught. It's not dwelled upon -- there's the moment where the soldiers are quizzing each other regarding psychic paper, and there's a sign about the sonic screwdriver which reads "REMEMBER: 1. It's not sonic. 2. It's not a screwdriver" -- but it's definitely there.

Because we've had flirtations with the theme before, but this is the first time where they unequivocally state that the Doctor makes enemies and terrifies people, and not just the villains; here we see members of the Church of England, who were the Doctor's allies in "The Time of Angels" / "Flesh and Stone", now working against him out of fear. Fear of what, we don't exactly know, but fear nonetheless. Note how Colonel Manton has to reassure the troops that the Doctor "is not the devil. He is not a god. He is not a goblin, or a phantom or a trickster. The Doctor is a living, breathing man", because that needed saying. The Doctor is a dark legend, and these people are scared of him even as they try to stop him.

However, this is still the Doctor and we're still on his side, and the other side has done worse things to his friends, so it's not like there's a question as to who actually holds the higher moral ground. And so what we get is a thrilling action sequence, as the Doctor reveals himself in the midst of all the soldiers and then gets them all to leave without killing anyone, all in his pursuit of Amy. It's a good moment, even if it's later compromised by all the people killed when Madame Kovarian springs her trap. Plus there's the stuff with Amy and Rory's baby, the suggestion that she's been experimented on (presumably while still in the womb) in order to create a Time Lord to use as a weapon. "Why would a Time Lord be a weapon?" the Doctor wonders. "Well, they've seen you," Vastra replies, leading to a slight crisis of conscience for the Doctor, it seems. But it's still an interesting idea, and the cheat of the Ganger Melody is a good, albeit heartbreaking one. Madame Kovarian has gotten away for another day.

It's a good, solid episode, with some cool ideas floating around, even if it's not exactly a complete story in its own right. And it's a hell of a cliffhanger they send off this first half²³² of the season on, with finally the reveal of just who River Song is -- she's Melody Pond, all grown up. Of course, we still don't know why she's in prison (although we can hazard a guess, based on the clues they've been dropping...), but that will come in time. "A Good Man Goes to War" remains an entertaining, albeit somewhat transitional, episode.

²³¹ Apparently Ood Sigma was also going to make an appearance but it was cut for time -- but that's why Russell T Davies is credited as the creator of the Ood in the credits. It seems they also offered a spot for Captain Jack, but he was busy filming Torchwood.
²³² That's something of a first, breaking up a series American-style into multiple runs -- as opposed to a small break over Christmas, which had happened before. This was allegedly for storytelling reasons, but some have wondered if this was a knock-on effect of the 2008 financial crisis followed by Britain's adoption of austerity, requiring the BBC to have to spread the money out a bit to make it last. Note how series 7 is also split into two halves but spread over two years, while series 8 (made after the UK eased back a bit on austerity policies, which contributed to some growth for the UK's economy) was back to one single run (albeit an episode shorter).