The Doctor finally gets Clara to join him on a journey in the TARDIS in The Rings of Akhaten. This will be a spoiler-free review, but I will have a ‘reveal box’ full of spoiler information and speculation.
Series 7 Part 2, #2 of 8:
The Doctor takes his new companion Clara Oswald to the Rings of Akhaten, where several planets revolve around a larger one. They attend a religious festival where the young Queen of Years, is about to be sacrificed. Determined to save Merry, the Doctor and Clara come face-to-face with the parasite of Akhaten, who requires memories, stories, and items of sentimental value. FIRST BROADCAST: 6 Apr 2013
The episode opens with the Doctor trying to learn about Clara by traveling into her past to watch her. He returns to the present day, none the wiser and convinces Clara to join him on an adventure, her only request bring “show me something awesome.” We visit the Rings of Akhaten: “seven planets orbiting one sun, a star where the Sun-Singers of Akhet believe all life began.”
It is the Festival of Taanamat, a time when the planets align allowing a golden pyramid built on a asteroid to shine upon the sun. The pyramid is a temple, housing the mysterious Grandfather, a imprisoned “mummy” who must be sang to every alignment to ensure his continued slumber. While exploring the marketplace, Clara meets a young girl (The Queen of Years) who is hiding as she is due to sing at the ceremony and is afraifd of getting it wrong. Clara reassures her and together with the Doctor they attend the ceremony, where things don’t quite go according to plan…
I am unsure if the budget for Doctor Who has been increased by the BBC but yet again the visuals on show are astounding. The effects showing the Rings themselves are just remarkable and the makeup is not only as good as ever for the alien effects, but we see more of them thank I can recall in a episode ever before. The marketplace and religious ceremony just teem with an assortment of alien life and give the episode a grander sense of scale despite the story being relatively simple and straightforward. The show also welcomes Neil Cross (creator of Luther) to the fold with his first written episode. Interesting change in style from what he usually does and I’m intruiged to see what he contributes next.
I will say, for as much as I love Smith and his portrayal, his speech towards the end of this episode was a little off for me. I hold his “Hello Stonehenge” speech from The Pandorica Opens as a benchmark and while here his lines are powerful and emotive, I felt his delivery a little slurred which distracted me a tad. Really interesting content though. We do, thankfully, see somewhat of a return to form for the Doctor here. Last time out (The Bells of Saint John) had him in solitude and absorbed in uncovering the mystery of Clara, prior to that (The Snowmen) he was essentially in mourning for the loss of his old Companions. To see him stepping up, facing down a God and showing off some of that old swagger is a great sight.
“I have walked in Universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man”
We also do see more definition of Clara. Her encounter with the young Queen of Years is a great opportunity to show how caring she is. Their interaction also lays down the religious theme running through the episode. Song is at the core of the religion, and the theme of sacrifice is interesting and nicely unveiled. It is also refreshing to not have a deconstruction or criticism of a religion occur throughout, aside from a throwaway line from the Doctor early on (“It’s a nice story”). The relationship between the Doctor and his new companion is also spelled out primarily for Clara’s benefit. Where they go, what they do, and what is expected of them. She remained true to what he wanted at the end, not only stepping up when needed but also her decision to return to her loved ones, although we know she will be back for another adventure.“Listen. There is one thing you need to know about traveling with me, well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts, you don’t walk away…”
SPOILERS AND SPECULATION HO! CLICK HERE TO VIEW
So, it was a relatively straighforward episode with only a few interesting things to consider. Old companion watch, the Doctor was wearing Amy Pond’s old glasses — still grieving? Also, he didn’t give them up as payment for the hoverbike, he let Clara pay with her mothers ring. It wasn’t the only nod to the old with a little reference to the Doctor being a Grandfather.
For the new Companion, Clara continues to puzzle. It is known the TARDIS possesses the ability to and indeed does translate alien language for the Doctor and his companions, but it does not extend this to Clara. The Blue Box also refuses to let Clara in when seeking refuge prompting Clara to muse on whether the TARDIS does not like her. Does the TARDIS know or sense something the Doctor cannot?
I liked The Rings of Akhaten. There was something very familiar about it, harkening back to something maybe we would have seen during the adventures of the Forth or Fifth Doctors. Solid story, amazing visuals and just a fun ride, again showing how Doctor Who separates itself from most other things on TV. I’m not sure it was timed appropriately. Following on from last weeks episode, the main mystery, the question on everyone ones lips (including the Doctors) is “who is Clara?” Granted, we get some back story with the Doctor looking through her past, but nothing that gives us new information. We kind of pulled away from getting deeper into this mystery with this episode. If they had instead shown the Doctor tell Clara what was going on, and together journeyed into her past to find out if there was anything unusual together, it would have made for a more unique, interesting, and insightful contribution to the story arc.