Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife, a short review with spoilers

Now this is more like it! The Doctor's Wife has all the insanity, fun, adventure, and character moments one could possibly ask in an episode. And it's by Neil Gaiman, and it's a nicely balanced stand-alone that probably has bits of arc in it without interfering with the story.

Best bit: We get to meet the TARDIS! She's every bit as crazy, tense mixed, up, and opinionated as we always knew she was.  The Doctor and the TARDIS get to talk, sort of, for a while, and that is both happy and sad, as it should be.

There are lots of good lines, by which I mean lines that are fun in themselves and lines that actually advance the plot, not something that always happens.

Rory: He’s a timelord. He’ll be fine!
Amy: Rory, that’s just what they’re called. It doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing.

TARDIS: "I wanted to see the universe, so I stole a Time Lord and ran away."

TARDIS: Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken.

And so on...

The setting, an alien junk yard, is effective and creepy. House is a great villain, and the jeopardy is nice and limitted: Amy, Rory, the Doctor, and the TARDIS are in danger--lots of danger--without any hyperbole about the whole universe being at stake or any such.

Specially liked: Rory as "The pretty one." And I loved the fact that Amy's mental image of "delight" is her wedding day.

Less effective: Amy and Rory's running around the interior of the blue box (not really the TARDIS at that point). True, we get to see more of the interior (mostly corridors), which is nice, but the silly pair kept separating from one another even when they knew that was a bad idea. And Rory died, again. Or maybe he didn't--maybe Amy only thought he did. It's a bit timey-wimey. Still, while this may all be adding up to something in the long term, it's getting a bit much in the short term.

And can people please stop kissing the Doctor? Idris had reason, more reason than anyone else, and it was both funny and, in retrospect, somewhat sad, but enough is enough.

Side note: Eleven certainly is more angry, pushy, and violent, than Ten, isn't he? "Go get her, Girl!" Not that he doesn't have cause, but it's certainly a change from Mr. "No Second Chances" Ten and his "Let me help you" offers to various and sundry villains.

*I was recently chastised for using the word "spoilers" about an episode that has already aired. It's not a habit I plan on stopping. Just so you know, my reasoning is that it is perfetctly acceptable to wait to watch an episode and to go looking for a non-spoilery review to help you out in deciding whether or not you want to view it.** This isn't that review.

**Though by now, this season of Doctor Who, watching should be a given.