TV REVIEW: Doctor Who, The Rings of Akhaten

Who on earth* is Clara? What is The Doctor’s mental state? Does he still miss the Pond-Williamses? Well we’ve got absolutely no idea, and we won’t for a while, but nevermind that let’s all go to a market stall on a distant planet with all sorts of weird and wonderful aliens, hurrah!- seemed to be the order of the day in this week’s Doctor Who episode, ‘The Rings of Akhaten’.

In what has become standard Doctor Who second episode of a new companion fare, ‘The Rings of Akhaten’ began with The Doctor asking Clara what in all of time, space and all the bits of fluff and otherwise in between, that she would most like to see. Clara, betraying little touches of her character with almost everything she says, again standard fare at this point in a new character’s TV lifespan, asks simply to see ‘something amazing’. That something turns out to be a suitably far off planet, or more accurately, seven planets, rotating around a pyramid commonly believe in those parts to be not only a God, but the source of all life. Conveniently for the plot, if not for Clara’s “nice day out”, they arrive just in time for the Festival of Offerings, where a young choir girl is in danger of becoming a young sacrifice to an old God.

With its issues of religion, faith and it’s prominence in society, as well as the presence of a giant godhead sleeping just out of sight, this episode is very reminiscent of Series 2’s ‘The Satan Pit’. The resemblance actually went further than just the basics, with Matt Smith’s Doctor confronting the god figure in much the same impassioned and heartfelt way as David Tennant’s did the devil back in 2006. Said speech was undoubtedly one of Smith’s finest moments as the time travelling hero so far, with the solitary tear streaking down his cheek at one point as he spoke of “those lost” adding sincerity, rather than the melodrama it could so easily have been accused of. He really did act his socks off, and, for me, usually more of a fan of his predecessor, finally standing up and owning the role as his own. Hey, it’s only taken me three years to come around.

And speaking of coming around to a character, Clara is developing into a bright and witty companion, much more instantly likeable, dare I say it, than the two parts feisty seven parts grumpy Amy Pond (I mean she was married to Arthur Darvill for goodness sake!). We still don’t know who she is, but we are being slowly drip fed details of who she might have been. Albeit in the style of ever frustrating programmes such as ‘Lost’ –  i.e in a way which pretends to give you clues but actually just presents yet more questions. Aside from that, though, my fellow Blackpool born Jenna Louise Coleman is very watchable, and I look forward to seeing what she can do when given a plotline that isn’t entirely based around who, what, where, how – HUH?!? The second most googled phrase about her beyond her full name also happens to be ‘Jenna Louise Coleman hot’, so er, good for her I suppose.

 Many people seem to have been annoyed in their droves by this episode, presumably because it was a little too Fiction, with not enough Science, falling foul of that age old Doctor Who problem of wrapping up the main drama far too quickly without a thought for the consequences or how this is all meant to have happened. Personally, though, I think the main point of an episode such as this,  what with Clara being the new girl and The Doctor still grieving his lost friends, was always going to be more to do with character than the plot itself. Whilst others were not happy with that, and understandably so, given just how fantastic said character development was, particularly in the case of Matt Smith, personally I’ll happily take the compromise.

Perhaps tonight’s episode, ‘Cold War’ we’ll satisfy a wider range of viewers? Becky will let you know.

The next episode of Doctor Who, ‘Cold War’ is on tonight, BBC One, 6pm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006q2x0

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*Consider that your first ‘what on earth’ pun of this series. Plenty more where that came from, fret not.

  Jen

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TV REVIEW: Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Snowmen

For those of us not overly enamoured with the idea of The Snowman and the Snowdog, there were other snow creatures afoot (adrift?) this Christmas. ‘The Snowmen’, this year’s festive Doctor Who episode, had it all. Scary Christmas monsters, fantastic guest stars, at least half of a sensible plot and it was set in the heart of all things considered by TV land to be appropriately festive – Victorian London.

After an unusual introductory sequence involving a small boy talking to some snow, The Doctor descends on the snowy streets of London, moping about on his own and generally being very Scrooge like, barely showing a cursory interest in Richard E Grant's Dr Simeon and his Great Intelligence institute. Naturally, of all the gin joints in all the world, he happens to walk past the tavern worked in by Jenna Louise Coleman’s Clara, who would have ‘new companion material’ written all over her frock even if we hadn’t already seen her in ‘Asylum of the Daleks’. The two deduce that a nearby snowman has somehow managed to build itself, and must consequently have some sort of intelligent mind. Utterly disinterested in all matters timey-wimey as The Doctor is at this point, he attempts to run away, pursued back to the cloud on which he’s parked the TARDIS by the feisty Clara, who then runs away herself after knocking on his door.

Eventually, and all in the nick of time as usual, The Doctor realises that the Earth is in grave danger from the evil snowmen, and arrives at the house Clara works in as a governess just in time to save the family from a huge, walking ice-cube in the shape of a woman emerging from the garden pond. Battle then ensues, with Clara injured and the Doctor fighting for her, the planet, and above all – Christmas.

Speaking of Clara, I cannot heap enough praise onto Jenna Louise Coleman, and believe me I’ve been trying to for the last couple of days. She’s every bit as fiery as Amy, although without a Rory equivalent in tow, she’s a lot freer to be her own person, a character in her own right rather than a part of a whole. Mind you, the whole itself is worth a mention. The return of Madame Vestra and her wife Jenny not only provides us with some gloriously, hilariously simple Moffat-ian lines such as “Good evening. I am a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife”, but gives a modern, relevant angle to the story. In fact the theme of old and new ran throughout, with new companion Clara innocently quoting ‘Pond’ as the reason The Doctor should get down from his cloud and save the world, as well as a re-vamped looking Tardis and theme tune managing to look cheerfully retro.

Sad as I am that the flirty Clara doesn’t seem likely to star alongside the equally sexually charged Captain Jack Harkness anytime soon, the chemistry between her and Matt Smith’s Doctor is plenty enough to be going along with. Not since the days of Rose has there been such an obvious attraction between the two characters, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. Now on to his second lot of companions, Smith seems to be more at home in the role than before. Having gone through the rite of passage that all Doctors must, the loss of a companion, the part is now truly his.

That said, The Doctor’s moping at the start of the episode did begin to feel a little too routine. We’ve seen it all before with David Tennant’s Doctor. We know the format. It certainly makes for a good ‘will he step in or won’t he’ plotline, but in terms of character, might it be nice if he coped with things slightly differently for a change? Perhaps The Doctor on the rebound could work? He jumps straight into the TARDIS with another companion and then has a hissy fit and breaks down a few episodes later? Unlikely to catch on as a plot but I thought it worth suggesting.

The only other thing potentially throwing snowy spanners into the works of this Christmas special were the references to Moffat’s other TV franchise, Sherlock. I for one enjoyed The Doctor’s useless attempts at deduction, as well as the suggestion that Vestra and Jenny were the true inspiration for Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson, but both references felt a little shoe-horned in. Not necessarily an issue, but when you find yourself wondering whether or not Moffat has linked Sherlock to strong female leads in another show in order to dispel the vicious whisperings that he in fact can’t write strong female leads at all – you realise that you’ve been taken out of the immediacy of the story in front of you. You’ve escaped the escapism. And funny as the references were- that’s not good.

All concerns aside though, this was a fantastically funny and pleasantly scary episode- perfectly placed in the schedules for post-lunch sofa collapse. There’s fun to be had guessing which high profile actor played the part of the snow itself, which took me far longer than it should have to figure out, and Richard E Grant is as much of a joy as ever, especially when he’s being evil. The episode continued the tradition of festive themed monsters, the beasts behind the baubles, as well as setting up the next series’ on going mystery arc, namely, who on Earth or otherwise is Clara/Oswin?

Several critics have pointed out that this episode was unlikely to appeal to the casual Who viewer. Fair point, but I think it more important that it managed to satisfy the dedicated fans whilst still leaving them hungry for more.

Which is not bad going really, considering the majority of the audience were still stuffed full of turkey and roast potatoes at the time.

- Jen

You can read more of Jen's writing here: https://memyselfandtheothers.wordpress.com/

Or you can follow her on twitter here: https://twitter.com/jenniferklarge

TV REVIEW: Doctor Who - The Angels Take Manhattan

Hello all. Having both reviewed two episodes of this series each, and being unable to decide which of us should write the finale review, we have, very diplomatically, decided to write it together. So in lieu of there being an actual episode of Doctor Who this week, get your Time Lord related fill here, with our review of The Angels Take Manhattan.

Becky: Yes indeed, together, Jen and I plan to get over our mutual mourning process for the demise of the Ponds by discussing the final episode of this first half of series seven. Talking is supposedly the best form of therapy after all.

Jen: I’m still in pieces. I think I may require counselling. Can I charge that to the BBC do you think?

B: Alas, I don't think they do compensation for mourning, but this was by far the most affecting companion departure since Rose left (for the first time). Whilst Donna's was just as tragic, the Ponds' last appearance was both terribly sad and yet still a happy ending. After all, they got to be together for the rest of their lives and proved just how much they loved and depended upon each other. Mixed emotions across the board with that one. I weeped openly and I'm not ashamed of it.

J: Quite. Anyway, this series’ Doctor Who finale saw a monster now almost, almost as legendary as my beloved Daleks, the Weeping Angels, unleash their creepy, finger pointing fury on downtown New York. A routine trip to the world capital of cool resulted in poor put-upon Rory being whisked back in time by the Angels, the Doctor, Amy and River hot on his heels with the help of a mysterious crime novel. Can they find him and bring him back to the present time before the Angels take over the city?

Despite the seemingly popular opinion that any big Doctor Who storyline now warrants an immediate hop across the Atlantic, for my money the setting change allowed for an extra level of drama in the usually London/Cardiff centric show- it raised the stakes. It also suited the show’s film noir look down to the ground.

B: With the new aim of this series being a blockbuster a week, we've seen dinosaur-related capers and horror tropes, but it was The Angels Take Manhattan that really ran with its chosen genre. Film noir is a personal favourite of mine and Moffat utilised it perfectly here alongside the Weeping Angels for which the balance of light and shadow was especially fitting. It also really suited the New York setting; instead of the usual whirlwind tour of the landmarks, we got claustrophobic buildings, badly-lit hallways and a city populated by men in trench coats and trilbies. It was an excellent choice and really added to the foreboding atmosphere of this sort-of finale.

J: The storyline worked beautifully well, and the pacing was spot on. The plot hurtled in the direction of the big finale/send-off with oodles of suspense and seat edge sitting.

B: Yes, the construction of this episode was really quite something. From the Melody Malone novel to the Doctor's repeated detestation of endings, the sense of foreboding permeated every scene. We all knew that the Ponds' demise was never going to involve rainbows and smiles, but Moffat toyed with us throughout, particularly in the suicide pact that almost, almost gave you hope that Amy and Rory might just be ok. 

J: Agreed. As has been the case all series, the Ponds far outshone everybody else on screen in almost every scene. Even the Statue of Liberty was barely a match for their coupled charisma. Despite some genuinely heart-breaking scenes, the deep warmth and quirkiness of their relationship remained apparent to the last. Whilst there were some interesting and rather sweet parallels between their marriage and that of The Doctor and River towards the end of the episode, the latter two felt very much like an add-on in the wake of the Ponds’ departure. The strategic centring of their story in every episode over the past few weeks well and truly paid off.

B: Applause must also be given to Matt Smith, the ever-present centre of the show and he really blew me away with this episode. The frequent warnings about the Doctor being alone build in well to the mourning process that he (along with the rest of the Whoniverse) must go through after losing two of his closest companions. He said early on that he didn't like endings and his pleading with Amy to stay was quite simply heartbreaking. I've long been an advocate of Smith's Doctor; I've always felt he captured all of the contradictions inherent in the Time Lord right from the start and here, he showed just how sad and how lonely the Doctor can be.

J: Not to mention that it was exactly what Doctor Who always set out to be- downright scary. The Angels have always been creepy, but this was something else. They were more freely moving than ever before and more powerful. They could have been anywhere, around the next corner or right behind you.

B: I have to admit, the inclusion of the angels was actually something I didn't think worked too well in this episode. Without doubt they are one of the scariest Who-villains in years, but they're starting to suffer a little from over-exposure (something which both the Daleks and Cybermen have suffered in recent years). Whilst Moffat found interesting things to do with them, the child-angels in particular were very creepy, the same level of suspense that had fuelled Blink just wasn't there. They were, of course, essential to the wibbley-wobbley-timey-wimey- plot that saw Rory and Amy sent back in time, but I can't help thinking the Angels need to be benched for a bit in order to retain what keeps them so scary.

J: Well I was scared.

The adrenaline of the angels gave a lovely feeling of ‘please don’t let it be over yet’ to the show, and a genuine lack of clock watching. But, alas, end it had to, giving Rory and Amy’s characters the most fitting send- off they could have had.

B: It's going to take a long time for me to get over losing Rory (you all know how I feel about Rory) but I must admit, I am immensely intrigued to see how they solve the whole Oswin-was-a-Dalek problem. If it's anywhere near as well-made as this episode, the Christmas special will be a very special festive blockbuster.

J: Roll on the Christmas special.

- Jen and Becky

You can read all of our Doctor Who reviews so far here.

Follow us on Twitter on @jenniferklarge and @beckygracelea
Or on our blogs memyselfandtheothers.wordpress.com and beckygracelea.wordpress.com