Having racked my brains, all I could think of to say in defence of 'Fear Her' is a point that Alasdair beat me to in the review : by flipping the dynamic of 'The Idiot Lantern' it illustrates Rose's capabilities as a companion, underscoring the tragedy of her imminent departure. It's the one way in which the…

That's what I liked about it on first viewing - that playful sense of seeing lives lived in the margins of a more notable story. Not everything about the execution works (to put it mildly) but I still like the principle.

Quite so. Who are we to decide that Ursula shouldn't require love and intimacy, or would be better off dead?

I'm not sure that anyone thinks that everything worked out all right. In the end, Elton - emblematic of Doctor Who fans - learns the most important lesson for such people : that you have to accept a lot of bad alongside the good.

I think that the relationship between Elton and Ursula is of a piece with Russell T Davies' celebration of unconventional couplings. If children are exposed to the idea that a man can love a woman even if she's a paving stone, or that a woman can marry a cat, or that a fifty-first century rogue can sleep with pretty…

Yea, I would have liked it if after all of that Amy just decided not to travel with the Doctor anymore. It may have seemed prosaic, but it would have had a realistic poignancy to it, in keeping with the idea of outgrowing something.

I can easily imagine it happening, since Moffat seems to have a penchant for including well-established creatures in what amount to supporting roles.

Rise…

As far as fifty-five going either way is concerned, consider this : Peter Capaldi is fifty-five now ; William Hartnell was fifty-five when he was cast in 'Doctor Who'.

That's a good point about Amy getting to choose for herself (the Doctor more or less made the decision for her in the otherwise superior 'The God Complex') ; I would have preferred it, though, if the choice hadn't had to be made under urgent duress, and if, rather than just choosing between the Doctor and Rory - a…

I think most meat-eaters' defence of their carnivorous ways can be summed up as "This is lamb, not a lamb!"

Well, she actually learns in this episode to be more tolerant and less sanctimonious. Her actions are pretty plausible for a bright eight-year-old.

That "food chain" image that flashes on screen just after that line is priceless.

I felt that Moffat was convincingly setting things up for Amy voluntarily to give up travelling with the Doctor and to get on with her life, which is why I found it disappointing when 'The Angels Take Manhattan' contrived another tragic separation of the Doctor and his companion.

Your first complaint is addressed by the show itself, to some extent, in 'Planet of the Ood', so at least it's acknowledged on screen that the treatment of the Ood here is regrettable.

The first and the fourth of those examples are plainly teasing viewers to win ratings. 'The Doctor's Wife' could be accused of the same, but I think it's a clever, sweet and really quite appropriate title, too. 'The Name of the Doctor' is a superb bit of wordplay.

The Ood are brilliantly-designed creatures. They look complex and convincing on screen, but are also so simple, and so readily reducible to a few vivid parts, that any child could scrawl a recognisable approximation of one. Not many televisual aliens strike that perfect balance.

Well, 'Partners in Crime' (the fat-stealing episode) is fairly goofy, but 'Silence in the Library' is a contender for best of that series, so if you couldn't stand even that, then maybe season four isn't for you. As it happens, I didn't like Tate as a comedienne, or in her first appearance on 'Doctor Who', either, but…

By gum, it sure put them on the map!

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