Doctor Who - The Vampires of Venice (5.6)

DOCTOR WHO: THE VAMPIRES OF VENICE

In Which: The Doctor decides to take Amy and Rory on a trip together as a wedding gift in order to help solidify their relationship. So they end up in Venice and promptly run into some pointy-teethed minions of evil. Or are they what they seem?

What did I think?: I loved this episode. From start to finish. And I think the opening of it (and therefore the motivation for the characters to be there (i.e. The Doctor and Amy's kiss in the bedroom)) beautifully paid off the end of the previous episode.

And I loved that the thread ran all the way through it, rather than have Amy completely forget about the Doctor's fanciableness (is that a word?), we got lots of jokes and awkward conversational snippets about it, so that by the end of the episode, you believe that she really wants Rory again, hence the invitation to travel.

Meanwhile, this felt like a nice romp through 16th century Venice (well realised by using a small Croatian village) with everything you'd (or at least I'd) want from a Doctor Who episode.

Compelling villains? Check - OK, Francesco was a bit of a pantomime villain, but Rosanna had a reason for doing what she was doing, rather than just being after power or money, or just being inherently evil, which is always nice.

Companions stepping up? Check - Rory was the big surprise of the episode for me, as I actually found myself warming to him, and am glad he's joining the TARDIS crew, mostly because we now seem to have (mostly) dealt with Amy's fancying of the Doctor, which will surely lessen now that Rory is around

A myth explained in an all new and bizarre Dr-Who-Esque fashion? Check - Vampires that are actually alien fish-type-beings who, being fish, don't like sunlight, but who hide using a Perception filter, which therefore explains why they don't appear in mirrors? Genius.

An alien device powered by a small metal flip-switch? Check - I laughed so hard when that happened. They build the secondary device on top of the tower and it's turned on and off with a tiny switch. And people complained about this fact online - what do you use that you DON'T turn on and off with a switch??

A comedy sword fight? Check - Who didn't love it when Rory attempt to show off with the broom before the fight started, and then later on when he tried to stab Francesco with the bristly end... brilliant.

Reference to the season-long arc? Check - The 'Vampires' came through a crack, to escape the silence... the silence itself occurring again at the end of the episode...

And of course - the funny moments? Check - Including some brilliant ones such as: "It'd never work, I'm a Time Lord, you're a big fish. Think of the Children", Rory and the Doctor's discussion about him kissing Amy while they are breaking in;
"What's there between you and Amy? You said she kissed you!"
"Now? You want to know now?!"
"I have a right to know. We're getting married in 430 years!"
And of course, the brilliant moment where the Doctor reaches for his psychic paper, and instead reveals his library card. With a photo of the first Doctor on it.

In fact, my only minor gripe with the episode was the editing once they had reached the climax, with Rory and Amy ripping out the insides of the chair and the Doctor chasing the cables - the editing following the Doctor felt a bit choppy to me, almost as if they were cutting down to the second to stop the episode over-running, and it just felt incongruous. But this is a minor complaint.

So where do we go from here? The trailer for next weeks - Amy's Choice - seems very intriguing and new, and I can't wait.

The Good: Pretty much everything. Rory was the standout in this, but both The Doctor and Amy continue to impress. The Sword Fight. The gentle build up of the crack/silence tension...

The Bad: Some slightly strange editing choices. Also, a little dodgy CGI (the Doctor climbing the tower)

Conclusion: 9/10. More like this please!