What if this episode had been 5.11?

[Amuro]

In his Q+A with the Guardian, Neil mentioned that in its original slot - right before the Pandorica episodes - Idris warned the Doctor about the events of the finale rather than the River in the Forest and, most interestingly, how to solve it (Quote: 'It meant that the TARDIS was no longer trying to warn the Doctor about the events of The Big Bang, or how he could get out of it.')

I found this really interesting for 2 reasons.

1. Just imagine how much more of an impact the Tardis exploding would have had - particularly for Amy - after they had met Idris. I think this would have really upped the stakes of the finale.

2. I can imagine Idris warning the Doctor would have clarified a lot of the events of the Big Bang. In my head, I imagine Idris criticising how the Doctor always has such a linear concept of time and emphasising the possibility - and requirement in the circumstances - of bending the rules of time in order to avoid destruction. The whole theme of 'time can be re-written' could have really been solidified in this episode and made some of the Big Bang more plausible (after all, the Tardis would know better than the Doctor the possibilities of time travel, so having his Big-Bang plan informed by Idris would have made a lot of sense).

All in all, I'm disappointed this wasn't in series 5 for the reasons above, and because I felt an amazing episode like this was needed to really hammer home the new era of Who in series 5 (sure, Vincent and the Doctor seems to have been given this mantle by many, but to me it went one Athlete song too far in moving away from the core of what Doctor Who should be, whereas the Doctor's Wife is a brilliant example of the show at it's best). The Lodger was not as bad as I thought it would be, and probably interested a lot of casual fans, but its conclusion was mindless. Sure the Faux-Tardis might come to be important, but still a throw away episode instead of a timeless, brilliant episode ala-Doctor's Wife.

[Roranicus]

To a degree I would say I agree with some of what you have written. It would certainly have slotted in better in series 5 and made more sense in the larger narrative. However, I don't think that the actual events of TPO/TBB would have been any different had this episode aired as planned last year, at least not without knowing what it actually was that the Doctor would have been told by Idris

[Tardis-Console]

Yea I agree. I think that the last two episodes of the last series would have played out the same, especially because we don't know how much of this story was adapted to fit the outcome in the first place, then changed to fit into this series. Also, just because they were his intentions for the original episode, it doesn't mean that that is what would have eventually ended up on screen

[Vampyros Adric]

I have some sympathy with the OP but I also think the obverse is true as well. It is only from TPO/TBB that we know how dangerous it is to muck about with TARDISes and we can see why House had to take the TARDIS matrix out of the mechanical gubbins.

I do agree though, it would have added a great deal of poignancy to the last two episodes but in a way I'm glad its come now - it has added a dynamic to this season (death of the doctor etc).

Great OP Amuro