The Bells of Saint John review

Run you clever boy and remember.

These were Clara’s last words to the Doctor in her first two appearances. Since then she has become another in a great line of Moffatt mysteries, the impossible girl. The bells of saint john kicks off the second half of series 7 though in look and feel this episode is nothing like the previous 6 episodes. The first half and Christmas special were balls out, rock your socks off mini epics. This has a much slower feel far more character based than running around all action from start to finish and that’s a good thing. Don’t get me wrong I loved the start to this series but variety is the spice of life and Moffatt creates such interesting characters sometimes it’s nice to sit and watch them converse with each other.

So first things first, the story. There’s something in the Wi-Fi that is consuming human souls we are told in an RTD style info dump at the very beginning. The “spoonheads” thankfully not the actual name for the Wi-Fi base stations are creepy as they turn around and put me in mind of the info pod things from silence in the library.  A very interesting idea and it’s always nice to see modern technology being used to scare people as in the very best of modern Asian horror but to be honest the threat in this episode is secondary to the introduction and development on the new companion and her relationship with the doctor. Without a doubt this partnership is going to be an exciting one. The chemistry between Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman is electric; you can tell or at least they get on in real life.

There’s so much about this episode to talk about its hard to know where begin. I’ve watched it three times now and there are still little bits and lines I’m picking up on that I missed on the first viewing. It’s probably simplest to just talk about the things I really loved, you may have already noticed from the tone there is nothing I didn’t like. Like all Moffatt scripts it is full of quotable lines and clever things that to him must seem so obvious but until it’s pointed out you never realise it’s there. For example the title The Bells of Saint John, sure as soon as phone rings and the close up of the St Johns ambulance crest it all clicks in to place but before that can you honestly say that’s what it referred to?

The new titles I think first shown in the Christmas special are great. The music brings the original theme back to the forefront and along with the visuals and Matt Smiths face appearing it invokes childhood memories of watching the classic series. The music through the whole show is evocative, every variation of the Doctors theme is celebratory it makes you want to leap up and punch the air. Over the last few years Doctor Who has become more and more polished and this episode is no different. London looked fantastic as the Doctor and Clara rode through on a gorgeous bike. The new Tardis console is beautiful but simple. It’s fair to say that in this 50^th anniversary year there is very little chance of a wobbly set.

Then we have all the wonderful chances for speculation and coming up with kooky theories. What Doctor who fan doesn’t love to think up an elaborate explanation to the mystery? Even if it’s only to be dashed to pieces when the true answer is revealed. It’s always worth the wrongs for when you get it right. We are told that Clara is given the number for the Tardis phone by a woman in a shop, but who is she? The popular consensus is that its River which is probably the most obvious answer but I’m not sure it’s the right one. It just seems TOO obvious. Personally I think it may be somebody new to be revealed later. It just doesn’t seem Rivers style.

Clara herself is still a mystery but there are a few things this episode made me think about her. Firstly it’s the first time we have seen her in a contemporary setting but it’s the only time she didn’t really fit in. Everything about her seemed old fashioned for 2013, she’s a nanny, her dress sense seems a little Victorian and before she was upgraded by the Wi-Fi she seemed to have very little knowledge of modern technology. All these things are too connected to be insignificant and the Doctor himself does draw attention to it. At the very beginning the doctor is seen with a portrait of Victorian Clara and it’s made me wonder if there is some kind of twist on the picture of Dorian Gray happening here. I’m probably wrong and we definitely are not going to find out any time soon but as I said before it’s always fun to speculate.

I really ought to wrap this up as I’ve rambled on far too long already. Needless to say I loved this episode and it’s got me very excited for the second half of the series. Aside from the things I’ve already mentioned Celia Imrie’s performance was superb as always would be great to see her back but as she’s now regressed to a childlike state that seems unlikely. The swift return of the Great Intelligence was an unexpected and a pleasant surprise as I managed to dodge all the spoilers online. The doctor’s new outfit is brilliant, I’d pay a lot of money for a coat like that and the special reverence for the bow tie was a nice touch. Well that’s it; next episode looks brilliant hopefully I will manage to get a review out closer to its air date.

Thanks for reading.