To get the new blog going, I will be going back and reviewing the two previous Doctor Who episodes that I missed. Starting with the Series 7B premiere, The Bells of Saint John, which premiered on March, 30th. This was the first new episode since the Christmas Special and first new regular episode since September. Since it had been quite the wait the anticipation for this one was rather high, especially when you add in the element of a new companion joining the show.
Leading up to the premiere of the episode, Producer Steven Moffat had hinted that this episode would make people afraid of WiFi. That promise was paid off right in the cold open. The show begins with a character conveying a warning to others to stay away from a strange WiFi. Once a user clicks on it and connects they then become victims of the people who had placed the WiFi there in the first place. This was an interesting way to go with the concept of WiFi, a person being able to be sucked into the WiFi and their consciousness locked away in the Internet. It also showed that this was a worldwide event and not just isolated to London/England like other Doctor Who episodes. I just wonder why there are so many people clicking on strange, unlocked WiFi in the first place. Are people really that greedy/needy for the Internet? I guess in this tech culture that is probably plausible and they are in fact "like rats to the cheese."
The episode was well paced for what it was meant to be. What I mean by that is that it had the task of not only being a premiere, thus setting up the remainder of the season, and also it had to introduce us to the Doctor's new companion. Because of the latter, the plot becomes secondary to the interaction between the Doctor and Clara. Out of the 45 minute episode if the Doctor/Clare interaction was taken out, the plot would probably only take maybe 15-20 minutes. But does that mean it's not a good episode? Of course not because it is still a very good 15 minutes of plot. Plus the 25 minutes of the Doctor & Clara is just fantastic.
Speaking of the Doctor and Clara, let's talk about that a little. This is the first time when we get to see Clara proper, or at least the version that gets to travel with the Doctor. Jenna Louise-Coleman already showed Doctor Who fans glimpses of what she could bring to show and in this episode she kept that ball rolling. Her performance did not disappoint this Whovian. Clara is a very clever character and plays off of Matt Smith's Doctor very well. This episode gives a clue as to where Oswin (Asylum of the Daleks) received her computer knowledge and reveals a nanny/governess connection to Victorian Clara (The Snowmen). This episode did a brilliant job of setting up Clara as a character and I have a feeling she is going to be a companion that will be remembered.
Going back to the shortened amount of time for the plot, the only thing that really bugged me was the quickened resolution. Seemed like a lot of build up for what was a rather fast ending. But besides it being a quick wrap-up it was still a clever one. It was an extraordinary twist by having the Doctor use one of the Spoonhead WiFi stations to do his work for him. I just thought that there was more that could have been done.
Some quick notes: I enjoyed the couple of callbacks in this episode. Tom Baker's scarf, Patrick Troughton's bow tie and David Tennant's coat were all seen in this episode. Also the book written by Amelia Williams was a nice throw in. The "client" in the episode was revealed to be the Great Intelligence (making a return from his appearance in The Snowmen). This leads me to believe that the Great Intelligence will be making a return to Doctor Who either in the Season 7 finale or in the 50th Anniversary special. Steven Moffat is smarter than to just throw something like that in without it meaning something, especially considering that Moffat not only was the writer of The Snowmen but also will be the writer of both the finale and 50th special. Celia Imrie guest starred as Miss Kizlet, the person being controlled by the Great Intelligence. She did a great job in the episode and was very believable as the "baddie" in the story. Her acting skills really shone through in her ending scene when she was revert back to childhood.
This episode was very much needed when it premiered. It sat just right on the pallet. It was a nice opening to the season, but it still didn't just blow me away. Acting was great, plot was so so, and the threat was new and interesting. 7.5 out of 10.
Feel free to post your comments down below with your own feelings and thoughts. My review of The Rings of Akhaten will be posted before the newest episode, Hide, arrives on Saturday.
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