A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)

A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)

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A Good Man Goes to War
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eleventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Amy Pond Rory Williams
Main enemy:	Kovarian Headless monks
Main setting:	Demons Run Stormcage Containment Facility London, 1888 Battle of Zaruthstra, 4037
Key crew
Writer:	Steven Moffat
Director:	Peter Hoar
Release details
Story number:	218a
Release number:	Series 6
Premiere broadcast:	4th June 2011
Format:	1x 50 minute episode

A Good Man Goes to War was the seventh episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who and the last episode of the spring half of the series. Narratively, it was significant for revealing the identity of River Song, naming her as Melody Pond, the daughter of Amy and Rory. Additionally it saw the reappearances of several of the Doctor's allies and enemies.

Synopsis

Amy Pond has been kidnapped and the Doctor is raising an army to rescue her as the drama continues. But as he and Rory race across galaxies, calling in long-held debts and solemnly given promises, his enemies are laying a carefully concealed trap. In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demons Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor.

Plot

Amy picks up her newborn daughter Melody as a group of guards watch on. She tells Melody that her father will come from her; he is a man who is the last of his kind, who has lived for hundred of years though he looks young: the lone Centurion.

A group of Cybermen and their leader are raising weapons at a door which Rory wearing his centurion armour emerges. He states that the Doctor has a message but first Rory asks the Cybermen where Amy is. When the Cyberleader asks for the message the response is that all but one Cyberships are blown up by an unseen force.

TBC

Cast

• The Doctor - Matt Smith
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
• Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
• River Song/Melody Pond - Alex Kingston
• Baby River Song/Melody Pond - Harrison/Madison Mortimer
• Madame Kovarian - Frances Barber
• Dorium - Simon Fisher Becker
• Henry Avery - Hugh Bonneville
• Toby Avery - Oscar Lloyd
• Colonel Manton - Danny Sapani
• Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
• Jenny - Catrin Stewart
• Strax - Dan Starkey
• Lorna Bucket - Christina Chong
• Thin Man - Dan Johnston
• Fat Man - Charlie Baker
• Lucas - Joshua Hayes
• Domincus - Damian Kell
• Captain Harcourt - Richard Trinder
• Eleanor - Annabel Cleare
• Voice of the Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs

Crew

to be added

References

Races and species

• Strax is seen tending to soldiers of a near-human species, rather than Sontaran troops. Presumably, Strax was forced to work as a mercenary, just as Commander Kaagh did for the Bane.

Story notes

• This episode was originally entitled Demon's Run was changed to A Good Man Goes to War, although His Darkest Hour had also been considered as a potential title.
• The end credits list Russell T Davies as creating the Ood and Judoon. However, no Ood appear in the episode.
• The battle of Demon's run takes place after 5145, as evidenced by the death of Dorium, who first appeared in 5145 selling River a vortex manipulator.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

• Karen Gillan is leaving the series and Amy Pond will be killed off at the climax to the spring half of the series. This was proven false long before the episode aired; many photos have shown Gillan on set.
• River Song will die. This was proven false.
• We will learn of the identity of River Song. True, she was revealed to be the daughter of Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
• River Song has been recently rumored to be Amy's daughter as well as the Doctor's wife. True she was revealed to be her daughter, but it is still unknown about her marital status.
• We will find out who River Song killed. Steven Moffat has said "a good man will die – a good man, and a hero to many."Have yet t have firm confirmation, but could imply the doctor considering the revalations of River's identity and the events of episode one.
• The Cybermen will be newly designed Cybermen. The only difference was the lack of a Cybus Industries logo.
• The Cybermen will be planning to trap and capture the Doctor, before freezing him. This was proven false.
• The character named Jenny will be the Doctor's Daughter in her second incarnation. This was proven false. Though, it was not explicitly stated so. Therefore, technically, this was/is unverified.

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

to be added

Continuity

• Rory's Centurion armour and warrior skills, as well as his age, were first shown in The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.
• The Doctor gives a brief history of Rory's time in the TARDIS to Vastra. Refrencing facing "sexy, fishy, vampires". (DW: The Vampires of Venice) Rory dying (Ironically, at the hands of Restac, who like Vastra, is a Silurian played by Neve McIntosh.) and being erased from time, (DW: Cold Blood) then coming back. (DW: The Pandorica Opens) The Doctor also mentions rebooting the universe. (DW: The Big Bang)
• The Cybermen return in this story. They resemble the parallel Cybermen from Pete's World and have warships identical to one of the unamed ones above stonehenge as seen in DW: The Pandorica Opens, . But unlike those Cybermen, these Cybermen lack a Cybus logo on their chest, but have a bump in place of it, unlike the markings as seen on the Cybermen from VG: Blood of the Cybermen. It is possible that these Cybermen could be Mondasian Cybermen from our universe. This is also surported by the fact that they are said to control a large area of that section of the Galaxy, similiar to this universes Cybermen's empire. And as none of the Alliance ever happened due to rebooting the universe and they were only there because the cracks were weakening the wall between the unverses were weakening, its more likely they are native to this universe.
• Returning characters that the Doctor calls upon are: Dorium (DW: The Pandorica Opens), Spitfire pilot "Danny Boy" (DW: Victory of the Daleks), and Henry Avery and his son Toby. (DW: The Curse of the Black Spot)
• Silurians, Judoon and Sontarans also returned in this story.
• The Church make their second appearance after The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone. Although some soldiers had the rank of Cleric printed on their uniforms, Manton was referred to as Colonel instead of a religious rank such as Bishop.
• A fake version of Amy and Rory's child turns out to be Flesh. (DW: The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People)
• The Headless monks were first mentioned in DW: The Time of Angels.
• The Fat Man tells the Thin Man a rumour that the Doctor once "chased the Atraxi off a planet" and "called them back for a scolding". (DW: The Eleventh Hour)
• Dorium says that the Headless Monks are customers of his. (DW: Prequel (A Good Man Goes to War))
• River Song says that she and an unspecified Doctor ice skated on the frozen Thames in 1814 during "the last of the great frost fairs". This is a positive reference to CC: Frostfire, and means that both River, Steven Taylor and Vicki were on the same ice at roughly the same time.
• It is not the first time that the doctor creates an army composed of some of his old enemies (PDA: Warmonger)

Home video releases

Part One, which will contain episodes one to seven will be released in Summer, shortly after the airing of episode seven.