The Rings of Akhaten review

 

“We don’t walk away”

Well the first thing I have to say about this episode is its very different from last weeks. The opening scenes provided a little more insight into Clara’s background. We see the meeting of her parents her some saves her father from being run over after he staggered into the road because he was hit in the face with a falling leaf. This scene reminded me of Rose saving her dad in Father’s Day. There are more scenes on the Doctor “stalking” Clara as she grows up. We see where Clara gets her 101 places to see book and that her mother died when she was growing up. It’s something that obviously affected her and would come to have greater relevance later in the episode.

So after the still awesome new titles; we catch up with Clara grasping her book and waiting for the Doctor like she said she would. Taking her travelling in the TARDIS for real for the first time she asks to see “something awesome” and he does just that. As I mentioned last week, Doctor Who has never looked better and this week’s episode showed that off in spades. The visuals just get better and better, I loved the look of the meteorites that made up the rings of a very Saturnian looking Akhaten, all surrounding either a sun or more likely gas giant type of planet. 

That said when we get down on to one of the asteroids it does have a lot more of the feel of RTD era Who with different aliens milling about. The costume department must have had a field day but for me it brought to mind “The end of the world” and to a lesser extent “Turn left” even the musical sting seemed to scream the reference. There are a lot of nice interactions between Clara and the aliens and the new world she’s in here. This Culminates in a slightly daft barking alien which while is probably chucked in for the kids does give chance to introduce an important plot point. They don’t use money; things of sentimental worth are traded instead. A great concept but probably a pain in the arse when you pop to the shops for a pint of milk and some bread and all you have on you is your wedding ring.

When the Doctor and Clara are split up she meets a young girl known as the queen of years. Her elaborate costume and title tell us she’s not superfluous to this story. Indeed this scared little girl has an integral role to play and it was nice to see the interaction between her and Clara because it shows of one of the strengths she has as a companion.  She’s inquisitive and compassionate with a sense of adventure. Far more so than I think Amy ever was. I really like her however the Tardis doesn’t seem to; it wouldn’t let her in just as it wouldn’t let Jack in after he became immortal. There’s something about her that’s not usual and clearly the Tardis knows it.

Blimey I’ve done four paragraphs already and we aren’t that far through. I’ll try to be more succinct. Clara has convinced Merry (the queen of years) to perform her song. A crowd is gathered of which the Doctor and Clara form a part and the next few scenes are some of my favourite from the whole episode. The central concept being that Merry’s people sing songs to the “grandfather” or god to keep him appeased. The ritual being passed on from generation to generation. A second more mature male chorister stands much nearer to the “god” and also sings to him. The singing and all round performance of Merry was astounding. The songs themselves felt ethereal the kind of music that I’d love to fall asleep to. It really stuck with me since seeing the episode I’ve been humming bits to myself at random.

Unfortunately the singing does not seem to be working this time. Merry gets captured and of course it’s up to the Doctor and Clara to save her. To follow Merry they must hire a kind of space moped to hop to the next asteroid. Here Clara is made to give over something of huge sentimental value, her mother’s ring, in exchange for the moped. Though surely the Doctor could have given up something instead? Maybe he is just testing her mettle as a companion. They chase her down and follow her into a sort of chapel/tomb. It was nice to see the sonic screwdriver being used for what its original purpose, opening doors, even immensely heavy ones.  It’s also later put to use in a sonic battle with the creepy vigil that was more than a little akin to the battles between Voldermort and Harry Potter.

It’s at this time where we learn that the big bad, a kind of vampire of souls with a mean looking face and a temper to match isn’t really the big bad at all but just his “alarm clock” The real enemy seems to be the Planet/Star itself. I have to admit that while I enjoyed the premise it’s nice to have an enemy that isn’t conveniently humanoid in appearance but I did find the pumpkin face a bit silly but I like the episode far too much to let that spoil it. The speech the Doctor gives at the end of the episode is emotional and wrought with a passion that shows that Matt Smith just IS the Doctor these days. It’s clearly effortless for him and that’s what makes him the best Doctor in new who by some margin.

The doctor of course is always better when working with a companion and this episode was no exception. The central conceit being that the Planet/Sun feeds of memories or stories means that Clara becomes incredibly important. The leaf that she keeps in the front of her book, the same one that caused her parents to meet is, to her, the most important leaf in human history. Filled with the memories of her mother’s premature death means its imbibed with all the possibilities of a life cut short. For me personally that was very powerful and a great way to defeat the enemy. Essentially force feeding it too much memory until it imploded.

Like I’ve already said or at least implied I really enjoyed this episode. I’ve mentioned a few of the references and pop culture mentions already but there are a lot more than that sprinkled in there. I really enjoy things that are heavily referential it brings out the nerd in me, well I say brings out it feeds the nerd in me. What I’ve really enjoyed about these first two episodes is on first viewing they are easy to follow and enjoyable stories. On the second or third viewing you get more from it, you notice little things that may or may not be significant. It’s like having a puzzle in part work, every episode adds more pieces but also jumbles them around a little just for fun. Something the first part of the series lacked was continuity. The much maligned (wrongly) arc is back and long may it continue.