As I sat here writing this analysis at an ungodly—Good choice of word, Mr. Dawkins?—hour, I unintelligibly decided to take another look at the Silents as shown in the recent BBC America trailer. That GIF: it's never-ending, and it's terrifying, and their eyes are so hollow, and so now I'm writing this post from behind the sofa. It's cold here, and I'm so lonely . . . but at least th-those things can't get at me now.
In an overview of mere seconds, a glimpse of the bearded Future Doctor starts everything off, followed in rapid succession by Idris and the Doctor standing over the metallic landscape of the junkyard world; a cloaked figure in an old city alleyway; those veiny eyes that might belong to Lily Cole's Siren, or perhaps something even darker; a doll from Mark Gatiss' episode; the titular Impossible Astronaut; and River Song kissing the Doctor, with obvious reciprocation on his part.
In an overview of mere seconds, a glimpse of the bearded Future Doctor starts everything off, followed in rapid succession by Idris and the Doctor standing over the metallic landscape of the junkyard world; a cloaked figure in an old city alleyway; those veiny eyes that might belong to Lily Cole's Siren, or perhaps something even darker; a doll from Mark Gatiss' episode; the titular Impossible Astronaut; and River Song kissing the Doctor, with obvious reciprocation on his part.
The BBC's full Series 6 trailer proved to be more than a worthy appetite-whetter, with the BBC America one at least equally so. To briefly remark on the latter, what we mostly get are some lovely screenshots of cinematic moments that, together, don't make much sense. Images of the green-eyed Ood and a veiny creature turning to the camera and the TARDIS being revealed in the Oval Office, while appropriately engaging, fail to link in any sort of theme.
Sure, the Silents are scary. Absolutely terrifying in some base, human way. But while it's nevertheless a great trailer that will no doubt attract viewers stateside, the BBC One trailer truly celebrates the arrival of Series 6. It holds to a brilliant, exciting concept: the rise and fall of the greatest man to ever live. If this series has an arc, it will certainly be stronger than single-phrase hints like Bad Wolf or Mr. Saxon.
Voice: "Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."
The Doctor: "Fear me. I've killed all of them."
Doesn't that just say it all? Imagine any other Doctor delivering that line: Tom Baker would have done it with a wink and a grin and a poorly veiled solemnity; Chris Eccleston would have given us doe eyes and whimpered it to himself; and David Tennant would have sighed and growled it at us and then give a monologue. No single way is technically best, but simply comprehend the subtle passion in Matt Smith's delivery. His Doctor isn't sad or happy or angry; he's disgusted with himself, weary of his sins, that he must accept the past while always traveling to the future, even if his heart hasn't quite left everything behind. River's prophecy of the Doctor's "darkest hour" will obviously come true—but in what way?
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| Lily Cole as a Siren |
As one would expect, it's simply too much to take in without making frequent use of the pause button. And surely we could analyze every last frame, each character's episode-specific costume, the color of the Doctor's bowtie, and the sets to discern which episode or scene in which each individual moment takes place; but for now we're only concerned with the Big Important Stuff, which is next to the box labeled Bigger Important-er Stuff, where the Silents GIF still lives. Therefore, the Doctor's nonsense babbling and Peter Pan stance don't quite factor in. If you want second-by-second analysis, I suggest you go here.
Here's what does factor in: these are some of the most relevant questions this trailer has us asking.
- From what space-time supernova-like explosion is the TARDIS fleeing? A Crack in Time?
- Is the image of Matt Smith opening the TARDIS doors from the first scene of "The Doctor's Wife"? After all, it begins with "a knock on the TARDIS doors".
- How come the Maldovarium from "The Pandorica Opens" has made an explicit appearance in this trailer? Is this how the big blue man figures into Series 6 again, as previously reported?
- Are those armored staff-wielding soldiers from "Rebel Flesh" and "Gangers"? If so, that would probably make them cloned soldiers.
- Why is Matt Smith so lovable?
- Is River Song fighting the Silents? That might make sense, since the panel to the right looks just like the Faux-TARDIS from "The Lodger", which we know she finds at some point. Is this before she jumps off of that building?
- How do the Sirens fit into the overall Series 6 arc? Perhaps they will be displaced like the Venetian Vampires.
- Why is that little boy from Gatiss' episode so stone-cold terrified of the lumbering dolls? Also, please let him title the episode "Night Terrors"!
- From what episode is the Voice claiming to have killed hundreds of Time Lords? And is it the same Voice from the console room in "The Pandorica Opens"?
- Falling through lava . . .?
- Are Rory and Amy trapped in the TARDIS during "The Doctor's Wife"? Why are they inside the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS? (Yes, that's Rory to the right.) Are they falling backwards through the TARDIS's timestream, or is this some playback of a golden-lighted regeneration?
- Erm . . . Clown Doctor? This seems to be from Toby Whithouse's "hotel with shifting geography" episode, the eleventh. That would explain the love child of the Nimon and the Creature from the Pit.
- And why must every trailer end with a gun? People are asking whom she's just shot, and we can assume that it's not the Doctor (appears half a second later without bullet wounds) or Rory (he can't die again).
While these "Brief Analysis" posts keep getting less and less brief, and while we continue resisting the urge to draw a visual parellel between the Silents and Katy Manning, our questions are getting more and more specific. We've got questions, so do you have any answers or queries of your own to propose? In any case, surely the tension for Series 6 has risen beyond bearable levels. Click for our trove of screencaps and for the original trailer post.
15 Comments:
Could it have been River that Amy killed? If we are to assume his scream is coupled with the gun fire, that might mean she was defending him, he's upset that River is dying, and River could've been attacking him. Hmmm
"Chris Eccleston would have given us doe eyes and whimpered it to himself"
Really?
"I watched it happen! I MADE IT HAPPEN!"
Maybe Amy shot something not someone, like a hat. Could explain the Doctor's reaction.
I think the eyes belong to a partially regenerated Doctor clone... and is it just me but when he says "eey by gum.." that the Doctor's right eye looks like its healing... just a though.
"Is this before she jumps off of that building?"
Most likely, no. The building-jumping is from the opening two-parter. She has her hair up and is wearing an evening dress. The Lodger!Tardis explosion has River with her hair down, wearing the same outfit as when she kisses the Doctor and when she is shooting things in the BBC America trailer (you can tell by the fabric and the belt). My guess is that it's from episode 7, but it's possible that River just has another costume change in the opening two parter (she already has the evening gown and the denim suit).
"Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."
1) This is most definitely NOT the same voice from The Pandorica Opens.
2) Is it just me, or does it sound a bit like a deep version of David Walliams...?
If a Silent is murdered, it takes the soul of the murderer. It drains that soul over a long period of time.
The Doctor discovers this, before witnessing Amy pulling a gun on a Silent agent. This action is a turning point for the series and will haunt events right up until the end.
I'm surprised that the people who always say Omega's returning in series 6 haven't said it. But I had a feeling, since the City of the Daleks. I had a theory. Who the silence is. In your analysis of the first seris 6 trailer you said Amy looked possessed. I'm not saying she's the silence. Although I'm not saying she's not. Ever since City of the Daleks, two things have suggested this. A magazine I think and then before that the City of the Daleks.
I have a theory that the Silence, the leader of the Silence, is a Time Lord. He killed hundreds of Time Lords. He's worse than the Master. Remember what the Master said? That the Time Lords revived him to fight in the Time War. They trusted him, not to kill them. This Time Lord, he did kill hundreds of Time Lords in the Time War. He betray the Time Lords, for the daleks...
I said the City of the Daleks. A fact talked about the five new daleks, one dalek's purpose being unknown. So who am I naming?
I NAME THE ETERNAL AS THE LEADER OF THE SILENCE!
And he is of two parts, his non-dalek form and his Dalek form. The Dalek form is here, now. When the Eternal, the Time Lord died, his soul was passed on... to one Amy Pond. If you really think Amy Pond was possessed.
The other person who the Eternal's non-dalek soul passed on to, could be, in fact, even closer to the Doctor than Amy Pond. The TARDIs was being controlled by an outside force, but if it's not Amy then it wasn't an outside force.
The Doctor calls it a "she". Are we sure he's right?
I'll leave you to ponder on that.
Isn't it the old-style TARDIS again on the supernova-like explosion picture?
my thoughts exactly!!!
I dunno, that really doesn't look like the Doctor dressed up as the clown...the eyeset is all wrong...
"Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."
It sounds like the voice of actor James Smilie. Red Dwarf geeks will recognize him as the voice of Justice World.
-S
Hey just a thought but when the doctor says something strange right after the kiss part of the trailer, well after listening to it over and over I'm like 95% sure is supposed to be bomb go bye bye said backwards. Don't know what means but there you go.
well maybe not I listened to it one more time and idk but it is something said backwards! I know that.
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