My Review of Doctor Who's: "Pond Life"

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Saul Metzstein

Amy (re the Doctor): "We need you, raggedy man. I need you."

You wait ages for some new episodes of Doctor Who and then you wind up with a five parter of snapshots from the Doctor, Amy and Rory's life when they're not around each other and it's as bonkers as it possibly could be.

Within five tiny moments, you've got the Doctor leaving messages for his friends while he meets up with the Mata Hari, surfboards away from Sontarans, drops some backing vocals for a Dizzie Rascal song and then interrupts Amy and Rory's bed time.

As for the Ponds themselves, they're certainly listening to the Doctor's messages with bemusement but their reactions to be served by an Ood is perhaps the funniest thing I've actually seen the show do with them. Then there's the heartbreak in the final part, which really did serve as an excellent lead into tonight's premiere of Asylum Of The Daleks. What the heck is happening with Amy and Rory?

- These stories took place between April and August, with each scene being set in a different month.
- Rory got a lunchbox with Roman soldiers on it, courtesy of the Ood.
- Anyone notice that Karen Gillan was wearing a wig in some of the parts for this? It was filmed after her and Arthur Darvill had completed filming.
- There were some clips of Asylum Of The Daleks and Dinosaurs On A Spaceship in this one.

It was interesting, it was brief but Pond Life was certainly fun. It probably won't make people warm to Chibnall as a writer but you'd have to be a right misery guts not to have at least enjoyed this on some level.

Rating: 9 out of 10