Sunday 7 April 2013

Doctor Who: The Rings of Akhaten


Well that was way better than Les mis!

I’m not normally one for singing in science fiction, but this really worked. The key was that the singing complimented the story and wasn’t just there to pull in fans of musicals or the Voice.

Turning to the story, it was a pretty good one which managed to keep some of the mysteries from the previous episodes going. It also gives the make up and props department a lot to play with, given the Star Wars-esque setting, diverse range of aliens and weird looking fruit.

The plot is pretty straightforward and involves commentary on religion, hubris and the importance of sentiment.

We learn a bit more about Clara, but nothing substantial, just some hints…why doesn't the TARDIS like her?

On the downside, while the supporting villains are suitably creepy, the god (or grandfather) is a bit un-emotive and Neil Cross seems to blur just how his powers of absorbing things work, ergo, does it have to be via a sentimental object, or can it just anything that’s important in someone’s mind?

The villain is also very similar to the Great Intelligence in nature, which would be a criticism, except I’m fairly sure that this is a deliberate move by the writing team.

Not really much else to say, this was a good episode, which dealt good subject material. It has some problems with the villain, but allows for much and fun and more character development of the new companion.

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