What a beautiful episode. The look of it is breathtaking. George Lucas could stand to take this “less is more” philosophy. The eponymous Rings of Akhaten themselves are a simple green screen effect but colored vibrantly and provide a radiant backdrop. Clara further assimilates herself into the Doctor's world with her first trip away from Earth. She asks to see “something awesome” and the Doctor, as well as those responsible for the episode, oblige.
Writer Neil Cross (Luther) has a real talent for building to climax. The first third of the episode is all about Clara, at least, the present day incarnation. It provides a little peak at her childhood as well as the significance of the leaf inside her book from childhood. She then encounters the child Merry, the Queen of Years, a girl that possesses and houses the entirety of her world's history. Merry is afraid of performing her part in the upcoming festivities but Clara reassures her with memories of her mother. All the while, the Doctor is wandering about elsewhere.
He meets up with his new companion and they attend the girl's recital of sorts. But, inevitably in a Doctor Who episode, something goes awry. The “old god” appears dissatisfied with Merry's vocal rendition and tractor beams her to his cave. After determining that they “don't walk away”, the Doctor and Clara go after the girl but it appears, again as always, that things are worse than initially appear. It turns out that the real enemy is a less than effulgent soul-eating sun. The only way to defeat it is to sate it.
There are leather military uniformed and metal-plate mouthed aliens, a rocket moped, and Indiana Jones-like collapsing doors (as you could have guessed by the show's poster). At the heart of the episode is the tremendous courage and conviction of its leads. Clara has early on distinguished herself as a more than worthy companion and partner for the Doctor. This series continues to astonish.
Doctor Who airs on Saturdays on BBC America at 8/7c.
Comments