dmarois-775-599399 Other than the doctor, River is my favourite Dr Who character. Of course, Alex Kingston has a lot to with that. She always elevates the episode. Perfect casting. This one was funny, often hilarious, but what makes it special is the most romantic ending I have yet seen. Somehow, I believe only Peter Capaldi (and possibly Chris Eccleston) could have pulled it off. And you don't even need to be a Whovian to enjoy it.

subwmn At first i was wondering where Moffat was going with this episode because next to Amy/ Rory, River Song is my favorite character. I understand she does not know his new body and is trying to find him in his old body, but as his wife, she should know him no matter what body he is in. I am surprised it was not written that way being everything they went through. As a half human, half time lady, anything is possible and should wonder if he changed since he cannot be found. I did get misty when they finally met again because Alex Kingston does a remarkable job making the scenes tender and memorable for fans. It clicks in her head that he is there because he always comes when she is in trouble. She is a beautiful woman in everything she wears and I was very happy the episode was made. It does not work when Capaldi says hello sweetie. It is all in the delivery and it doesn't work for him. Anyone cannot say it, just like Tennant's allons y.

Stephen The first 35 minutes of this episode are so so. As the episode goes, it improves until about the 36-37 minute mark where things begin to really look up in terms of quality. This all builds to a marvelous, brilliant, and tear-jerking finale. Hearing music from Silence in the Library, the doctor gifting River the screwdriver from the aforementioned episode, and the implied sentiments at the conclusion, create an amazing end to what would have otherwise been a mediocre episode. It leaves me wishing that the rest of the episode had been as brilliant..... If it had, it would have been one for the ages. The episode was well scored, filmed, and the dialog was, for the most part, great. All in all, one of the better Christmas specials.

miles-savell It's the typical Moffat bonanza of terrible storytelling.Imagine what a good episode of Doctor Who looks like, a simple concept with a sci-fi twist, which adds an element of adventure etc. The storytelling is coherent, with the Doctor both showing supernatural genius in finding a solution to whatever problem he faces, and then showing a human element in his interactions with regular people. (A rough approximation, but you know what I mean.)Take all of that, remove all of it. Add in pointless characters, story elements, and other gubbins, and you have "The Husbands of River Song".Let's go through the checklist.1. A simple Concept?Nope. Reciting even the summary of events is a chore. There is no single focus to the episode, one half is dedicated to River (Spoilers, River is in this episode) and the Doctor transporting King Somethingorother's head to an orbiting Restaurant in order to sell a diamond inside King Somethingorother's head to a buyer.The second half is dedicated to a botched love story (Thanks to aforementioned terrible Story Telling) and a deep emotional conflict within River Song about whether the Doctor loves her or not.In short, by god, there is not a simple concept behind this episode. It's convoluted and unfocused.2. Sci-Fi Twist?Um.. sure? Nothing very complex, but if cyborg-monarchs, flying saucers and an intergalactic banking system aren't sci-fi then I don't know what is. Though ultimately of course it had no real bearing on the mechanics of the story so.. yeah it was poor.3. Coherent Storytelling?Well the tone at the beginning is dedicated to "comedy" (being utterly unfunny comments made by the Doctor and a head inside of a bag), it's over the top and a bit ridiculous. Then the episode ends with "deep emotions" (being River Song questioning whether the Doctor loves her or not, a point of contention that is ultimately unfounded from my point of view), and so the tone fluctuates wildly with no reason behind it. It's poor.4. Supernatural Genius?The Doctor defeats the main villain by catching a ball that just happened to fall into his hand by complete chance. So, no.5. Humanizing Interaction?A love story that has been building up for 5 series now is thrown into doubt by the concept that the Doctor is incapable of feeling love. Not exactly human now is it?In conclusion? Unpolished, random, unimportant, incoherent, uninteresting, confusing and rubbish.3/10. (The three points being awarded because the acting was all right)