Sitting up and taking notice

Well, finally.  I was getting rather lackadaisical about Doctor Who.  And a little depressed, frankly, because, looking back at Matt Smith's third season as the Doctor, I couldn't remember the plots of any of the episodes.  Well, okay, I do remember "Asylum of the Daleks" which introduced Jenna Coleman as . . .  not the new companion quite yet, but someone clearly related to her.  That one was pretty good. I can vaguely remember what happened in "The Angels Take Manhattan" because that marked the departure of the characters of Amy and Rory.  However, I don't recall getting that worked up about it, although everyone else seemed devastated.

The sad thing about this is,  I liked Matt Smith's Doctor.  I liked the characters of Amy Pond and her husband Rory, even if they killed him several times too often.  I like Clara.  However, in the last season, I just didn't feel compelled to pay attention.  I didn't watch episodes more than once, and as a consequence, didn't recognize references in episodes because I couldn't remember the episodes to which they referred.

I felt so shallow. I loved the fiftieth anniversary special. Did I only watch for David Tennant, after all?  If so, why did I like the first New Who season with Christopher Eccleston?  I was  excited by the choice of Peter Capaldi for the Twelfth (Thirteenth?) Doctor, and really enjoyed his debut episode, "Deep Breath".  Saw it twice on television and once in the cinema.  And then came another episode with bloody Daleks.  Elder daughter tells me I'm not a true Doctor Who fan because I'm not enamoured of Daleks and Cybermen. This was followed by a story with Robin Hood which was supposed to be light-hearted and whimsical, I guess, but just struck me as silly.

But tonight.  Tonight's episode "Listen" was something I've been waiting for.  A regular episode that isn't a special or an season opener (the season closers are often a disappointment), which also manages to be gripping and a dripping with meaning without being maudlin.  I'm remembering this one.

And I've only seen it once.

I intend to see it again.