Emma Talks Nerdy About: Doctor Who "The Rings of Akhaten"

WARNING: THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS

Last week in this here humble blog I compared "The Bells of St John" to "The Eleventh Hour" so would The Rings of Akhaten be Clara's equivalent of "The Beast Below"? Thus far in post 2005 Doctor Who the companions first ventures onto an alien planet/through time have been less that great, in series one The Doctor seems to think Rose will enjoy seeing her home planet incinerated but instead she's nearly murdered by a gobby trampoline, Martha ends up in Elizabethan England where she repeatedly sleazily chatted up by William Shakespeare, Donna gets to watch people get slaughtered by a volcano eruption and Amy has the treat of the dystopian nightmare of Starship UK and getting covered in Space Whale barf.

So how does Clara get on? Surprisingly well actually, she only suggests legging it about half an hour after I would have floated it as a possibility! The first trip for a companion these days is as much what the army call a "bottle test" as an adventure, so The Doctor can see if they've got the right stuff to travel with him and I would say that Clara passes with flying colours. Indeed I can imagine The Doctor observing from the shadows as Clara comforts the terrified Merry. Once again Jenna-Louise Coleman was on sparkling form in this episode, she was asked to do a lot in this outing and she rose to all the challenges presented.

 Demonstrating a willingness to get stuck in with a mad collection of alien life, dropping everything to hold the hand of a little girl and giving us a tantalizing glimpse of a possible future where she demanded to know if she was a replacement for someone from the doctors past. I don't imagine she's going to be too happy when she discovers the full extent of what's been happening, and remember that the doctor left a portrait of a former Clara in a 13th century monastery! Potential for quite the conflict there. Matt Smith is usually excellent so when he decides to step up the next level it leaves this viewer with her jaw on the floor "That Speech" as I've seen it referred to around the interwebz was just astonishing, interestingly it was also pretty much the exact opposite on the one Davros makes in the episode "Journeys End" maybe The Doctor is taking some speech making tips from his old nemesis!

Where that soliloquy speaks of the comprehensive destruction of everything The Doctor talks about how out of chaos the unique entity that is you is created. Mind you this wasn't the only speech The Doctor busts out here, his Blade Runner-esque rant at Grandfather is pretty effective to say the least but as you'd expect from Clara she's the one who ultimately saves the day. For me it also serves as a useful rebuttal to everyone who thinks this doctor is entirely too silly for his own good. Away from the acting this episode seems to have caused quite the division, 50% loved it whereas 50% found it to be a load of sentimental old tosh. First time writer Neil Cross previously of astonishingly grim crime drama Luther doesn't quite hit all the marks, the story feels sluggish and too drawn out to fill the 45 minute running time, fans will also be reminded of more than a few other post 2005 stories the sentient sun from "42" the group hymn from"Gridlock" The Doctors confrontation with Grandfather is much like him shouting at The Devil in "The Satan Pit" and the story overall is to me like a less depressing "The Beast Below" The Vigil were about as close to The Winders from that story as you dare get.

All this being said I think I firmly fall in the "love it" category, being a sentimental old git myself the bits where Clara gets her Mum's ring back and gives up "the most important leaf in the universe" had me looking around for the Kleenex. It surprised me that this story thread was paid off so early in Clara's journey, maybe Moffat is wary of introducing too many little mysteries into the narrative for fears of making her Amy Pond 2: Electric Boogaloo. I loved the design choices in this episode too, all the reds and golds made it feel lush and added to a sense of terrible beauty emanating from Grandfather. Ultimately this episode was a somewhat weak story saved by some truly top notch acting, some lovely script work and beautiful design and subsequently it feels like it becomes more than the sum of its parts.