The Bells of St John Review
Review for Doctor Who 7X07: The Bells of St John. Spoilers of course. Apologises for the text colour. I would recomend copy and pasting this into a word document. I'll try harder next week.
Overview
So after a long hiatus, save for this year’s Christmas special, Doctor Who is back, ready to roll into the 50 anniversary in November.
With a new companion, a new TARDIS and a new attitude, The Bells of St John marks a new chapter, in the annals of Doctor Who.
Episode Summery
“And I repaired the quadracycle”
“The what?”
“I found a disassembled quadracycle in the garage
“I don’t think you did,”
“I just invented the quadracycle.”
One of the best pieces of dialogue in a sparkling, madcap, bonkers adventure, that somehow managed to balance a bucket load of whimsy, with a serious threat and a smidgeon of darkness and danger.
Moffat has made a career out of turning the mundane and the everyday into something that makes us want to curl up at the bottom of the bed, with our duvets over our heads. That’s why a whole generation of small children, are now terrified of gas masks, statues, broken clocks, shadows, déjà vu and the snow. To this we can add the Wi-Fi (something I predicted would come along one day). One thing I do wonder was how long after he quit it, was the joke about Twitter was written.
Some reviews have drawn the parallel between this episode and the Idiot’s Lantern and the resemblance - people’s minds getting dragged into a piece of technology - are there, but at the same time this was different. For example, the idea that people could be hacked and upgraded, was unique to this episode.
If this episode can be criticised for anything it was that the Doctor did not in fact come face to face with Miss Kizlet’s “client,” dealing with the monkey rather than the organ grinder. But there may be a reason for this, and I think we have to wait to see how this pans out in the long run.
And another question that needs an answer. Who was the woman who gave Clara the Doctor’s number?
The Doctor
The Doctor is back.
Having descended into a post Amy and Rory sulk during The Snowmen, he dashed off at the end of that episode, in search of Clara. And having apparently failed, at the beginning of this episode he had retired to a monastery to contemplate the mystery of “the woman twice dead”
Who then rang him.
The Doctor in this episode is a man who has been to the depths of despair. He’s lost the people who matter the most to him in the world, seen them not only fade, but be snatched away from him. He’s been taken to the very edge of himself. Now he’s found something else, you can bet your bottom dollar he’s not going to lose her (not again anyway).
The scene at Clara’s door, and when he put her bed and then stood guard over her, were beautiful (and beautifully accompanied by a great score from Murray Gold). The Doctor has found someone to see the universe through again, and he can’t wait to get started.
The Companion
Can I just say that I loved the little nod to Amy and Rory at the beginning? They may be gone, but they are not forgotten.
Now onto Clara. This episode was quite odd, because usually when we meet a new companion for the first time, it’s just that. For the first time. We have that episode to be introduced to them, and decide whether we’re going to like them. The difference here is that we’ve already met Clara twice. Yet at the same time we haven’t. This is the first time we’ve met this Clara.
Yeah it’s a bit timey wimey.
But she was still brilliant. Smart, funny and ballsy. In interviews it’s been said that one of the things that liked about Jenna-Louise was that she was able to keep up with and speak faster than Matt and you could certainly see that here.
There are certainly a lot of questions to be answered concerning Clara, but I’m sure they will be answered, in time.
The Bad Guy
So the Great Intelligence is back, this time with the face of Richard E Grant. I don’t know, you don’t appear nine Doctors and then you get two episodes back to back. Little bit greedy if you ask me. I also wonder if he’s going to be playing a bigger part in this half seasons arch. I’m sure we’ll find out.
Miss Kizlet was great though as well. Evil, but with just enough charm to pull the whole thing off. Though this may have something to do with my love for Celia Imrie.
The revelation that not only had the whole staff been brainwashed and altered, but that she had been brainwashed as child though, certainly put a new spin on things.
Conclusion
Fluffy and light in places, but still gripping. A great introduction to the second half of the season, and a great introduction to Clara
Next Week: An alien planet. YES!!
Overview
So after a long hiatus, save for this year’s Christmas special, Doctor Who is back, ready to roll into the 50 anniversary in November.
With a new companion, a new TARDIS and a new attitude, The Bells of St John marks a new chapter, in the annals of Doctor Who.
Episode Summery
“And I repaired the quadracycle”
“The what?”
“I found a disassembled quadracycle in the garage
“I don’t think you did,”
“I just invented the quadracycle.”
One of the best pieces of dialogue in a sparkling, madcap, bonkers adventure, that somehow managed to balance a bucket load of whimsy, with a serious threat and a smidgeon of darkness and danger.
Moffat has made a career out of turning the mundane and the everyday into something that makes us want to curl up at the bottom of the bed, with our duvets over our heads. That’s why a whole generation of small children, are now terrified of gas masks, statues, broken clocks, shadows, déjà vu and the snow. To this we can add the Wi-Fi (something I predicted would come along one day). One thing I do wonder was how long after he quit it, was the joke about Twitter was written.
Some reviews have drawn the parallel between this episode and the Idiot’s Lantern and the resemblance - people’s minds getting dragged into a piece of technology - are there, but at the same time this was different. For example, the idea that people could be hacked and upgraded, was unique to this episode.
If this episode can be criticised for anything it was that the Doctor did not in fact come face to face with Miss Kizlet’s “client,” dealing with the monkey rather than the organ grinder. But there may be a reason for this, and I think we have to wait to see how this pans out in the long run.
And another question that needs an answer. Who was the woman who gave Clara the Doctor’s number?
The Doctor
The Doctor is back.
Having descended into a post Amy and Rory sulk during The Snowmen, he dashed off at the end of that episode, in search of Clara. And having apparently failed, at the beginning of this episode he had retired to a monastery to contemplate the mystery of “the woman twice dead”
Who then rang him.
The Doctor in this episode is a man who has been to the depths of despair. He’s lost the people who matter the most to him in the world, seen them not only fade, but be snatched away from him. He’s been taken to the very edge of himself. Now he’s found something else, you can bet your bottom dollar he’s not going to lose her (not again anyway).
The scene at Clara’s door, and when he put her bed and then stood guard over her, were beautiful (and beautifully accompanied by a great score from Murray Gold). The Doctor has found someone to see the universe through again, and he can’t wait to get started.
The Companion
Can I just say that I loved the little nod to Amy and Rory at the beginning? They may be gone, but they are not forgotten.
Now onto Clara. This episode was quite odd, because usually when we meet a new companion for the first time, it’s just that. For the first time. We have that episode to be introduced to them, and decide whether we’re going to like them. The difference here is that we’ve already met Clara twice. Yet at the same time we haven’t. This is the first time we’ve met this Clara.
Yeah it’s a bit timey wimey.
But she was still brilliant. Smart, funny and ballsy. In interviews it’s been said that one of the things that liked about Jenna-Louise was that she was able to keep up with and speak faster than Matt and you could certainly see that here.
There are certainly a lot of questions to be answered concerning Clara, but I’m sure they will be answered, in time.
The Bad Guy
So the Great Intelligence is back, this time with the face of Richard E Grant. I don’t know, you don’t appear nine Doctors and then you get two episodes back to back. Little bit greedy if you ask me. I also wonder if he’s going to be playing a bigger part in this half seasons arch. I’m sure we’ll find out.
Miss Kizlet was great though as well. Evil, but with just enough charm to pull the whole thing off. Though this may have something to do with my love for Celia Imrie.
The revelation that not only had the whole staff been brainwashed and altered, but that she had been brainwashed as child though, certainly put a new spin on things.
Conclusion
Fluffy and light in places, but still gripping. A great introduction to the second half of the season, and a great introduction to Clara
Next Week: An alien planet. YES!!