The Ring of Akhaten Review
Reviews for Doctor Who 7x07 The Rings of Akhaten. There will be spoilers.
Overview
The first episode by Luther writer Neil Cross, anyone who was expecting a dark, grim episode on a par with that would have been disappointed.
What we did get was an emotion punching episode, that summed up all the good things about Doctor Who.
Episode Summery
New companions first trips in the TARDIS are traditionally ones that pull at the heartstrings a bit. From Ten and Donna having to deal with the killing off the people of Pompeii to Amy and Eleven saving a space whale. But this one, unlike past episodes, felt neither soppy, or cliché.
The theme running through this episode - that we are all the sum of our parts, of our experiences - is a long running theme in Doctor Who. After all it was the whole point of The Big Bang, and Amy's initial run as a companion.
The use of the leaf though - tipped off as important at the end of the last episode - was very well done indeed. If stories, and all that comes before, give power, than all that is to come - all the thousands of imagined possibilities surely have more.
And for the record, did anyone else find the Doctor checking up on young Clara a little...weird. Even if he did have good reason.
The Doctor
I've said this before, but quite often we forget how old the Doctor is. The fact that he's played by Matt Smith - who turned thirty during the shooting of this episode - quite often helps with this. Every so often though, the show goes out of it's way to remind you that this is an old old man, who has seen much and lost even more.
Dropping a mention of his granddaughter in at the beginning - and yay for a mention of Susan - was one way of doing it. But the seen at the end, going against the parasite god, where he informed it of everything he had seen and done, and urged it to take it all went the whole hog. It's scenes like that that you realise why Matt Smith was given the job in the first place, over older and potentially more experienced actors.
It's also good to see that he has fully returned from his self imposed exile, where he swore no longer to help, asserting to Clara that there was one thing she needed to know about travelling with him. That they never walk away.
The Companion
"I don't know who you are. I've never been here before. I've never been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help.
This line more than any other, tells us all we need to know about Clara. She's the one who looks out for the lost and those in trouble. It's why she stuck around to help the Maitland's after their Mum died. She's the one who cares.
But she is also the one who is willing to make sacrifices. First her Mother's ring, and then later on, her parents leaf. An item of great sentimental value. Clara is the one who is willing to give up everything to help those who need help.
I'm also not alone in thinking apparently that her line about "not being some bargain based replacement" was something that Martha should have said long ago. It would have solved a lot of problems if she had.
The Bad Guy
Double layered bad guy in this one. Everyone - and I mean everyone - I suspect thought - thanks to the trailers - that the bad guy would be the guy in the box. The idea that the bad guy was actually the sun itself was something I suspect, nobody had even considered.
Feeding on memories was a good idea for a villain though, showing once again the importance of stories. The pre-resolution where everyone sang in order to try and keep it at bay was good as well.
Conclusion
A story with a good message, and reasonably epic in scale, promising for this early in the season. Can't wait to see Neil Cross' next episode in two weeks time.
Next Week: Ice Warriors.
Overview
The first episode by Luther writer Neil Cross, anyone who was expecting a dark, grim episode on a par with that would have been disappointed.
What we did get was an emotion punching episode, that summed up all the good things about Doctor Who.
Episode Summery
New companions first trips in the TARDIS are traditionally ones that pull at the heartstrings a bit. From Ten and Donna having to deal with the killing off the people of Pompeii to Amy and Eleven saving a space whale. But this one, unlike past episodes, felt neither soppy, or cliché.
The theme running through this episode - that we are all the sum of our parts, of our experiences - is a long running theme in Doctor Who. After all it was the whole point of The Big Bang, and Amy's initial run as a companion.
The use of the leaf though - tipped off as important at the end of the last episode - was very well done indeed. If stories, and all that comes before, give power, than all that is to come - all the thousands of imagined possibilities surely have more.
And for the record, did anyone else find the Doctor checking up on young Clara a little...weird. Even if he did have good reason.
The Doctor
I've said this before, but quite often we forget how old the Doctor is. The fact that he's played by Matt Smith - who turned thirty during the shooting of this episode - quite often helps with this. Every so often though, the show goes out of it's way to remind you that this is an old old man, who has seen much and lost even more.
Dropping a mention of his granddaughter in at the beginning - and yay for a mention of Susan - was one way of doing it. But the seen at the end, going against the parasite god, where he informed it of everything he had seen and done, and urged it to take it all went the whole hog. It's scenes like that that you realise why Matt Smith was given the job in the first place, over older and potentially more experienced actors.
It's also good to see that he has fully returned from his self imposed exile, where he swore no longer to help, asserting to Clara that there was one thing she needed to know about travelling with him. That they never walk away.
The Companion
"I don't know who you are. I've never been here before. I've never been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help.
This line more than any other, tells us all we need to know about Clara. She's the one who looks out for the lost and those in trouble. It's why she stuck around to help the Maitland's after their Mum died. She's the one who cares.
But she is also the one who is willing to make sacrifices. First her Mother's ring, and then later on, her parents leaf. An item of great sentimental value. Clara is the one who is willing to give up everything to help those who need help.
I'm also not alone in thinking apparently that her line about "not being some bargain based replacement" was something that Martha should have said long ago. It would have solved a lot of problems if she had.
The Bad Guy
Double layered bad guy in this one. Everyone - and I mean everyone - I suspect thought - thanks to the trailers - that the bad guy would be the guy in the box. The idea that the bad guy was actually the sun itself was something I suspect, nobody had even considered.
Feeding on memories was a good idea for a villain though, showing once again the importance of stories. The pre-resolution where everyone sang in order to try and keep it at bay was good as well.
Conclusion
A story with a good message, and reasonably epic in scale, promising for this early in the season. Can't wait to see Neil Cross' next episode in two weeks time.
Next Week: Ice Warriors.