Karen Gillan

[A] family-friendly science-fiction series redefined for the new millenium by an especially grand, generous spirit to its storytelling.

The Doctor dead? Not on your life.

In the penultimate batch of episodes before Doctor Who's jubilee year, executive producer Steven Moffat continues to marvel with his ability to keep the time-and-space-travelling Doctor in ever-so-complicated trouble.

Lurches along a bit awkwardly, but always with utterly dazzling visuals and a goofy gag at the ready.

The pivotal realization--that, in the end, using your heart beats using your head--works as a pithy instruction manual for this diverting but disposable adventure.

If The Next Level plays fast and loose, it also makes an effort to prompt viewers to reflect not only on the freedom of fantasy, but on the fraught but essential relationship of mind and body.