C+Q - The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
I'm not a big fan of New Who's reliance on Earth. This show
could be set anywhere, in time and place, yet every episode is
either set on or around the one planet in the universe that
everyone watching lives on. While The Rings of Akhaten still has
Earth-based scenes, it's such a breath of fresh air to see an
alien planet with a huge populated marketplace and an
amphitheatre full of different species. In this episode, you
really get a feel for Akhaten's culture, like their traditions,
their food, their currency, and their modes of transportation.
I'd love 14 episodes of this every year. And before you say the
BBC is restricted by budget, the old series used to throw Tom
Baker into a forest full of oddly-dressed extras for a 4-episode
serial and it looked fine. All you need is suspension of
disbelief.
The design of the aliens and the planet in general is beautiful,
and it's so refreshing after The Bells of Saint John, The Most
Londony London Episode Ever. It makes the Doctor's universe feel
so much bigger and more alive. Series 7 Part 2 begins with the
standard RTD opening trilogy: a 21st century Earth episode, a
future alien planet episode, and a historical episode, not
necessarily in that order (see also: Series 2, Series 3, Series
4, and Series 5). This is pretty much a perfect way to start a
series of Doctor Who because it re-establishes the show's
versatility and scope every year by taking you to the past,
present, and future before the main arc of the series has even
begun. I suppose the argument could be made that the whole point
in The Bells of Saint John's boring everyday setting was to show
the harsh contrast in locations between Episode 1 and Episode 2,
which is reinforced by The Bells of Saint John's cold, metallic,
blue colour scheme and the boiling red and orange colour scheme
of Akhaten.
The Rings of Akhaten's significance in the overall plot of the
show is that it's Clara Oswald's first proper trip in the
TARDIS. In terms of the 'Impossible Girl' mystery arc, this
episode does quite well in furthering the Doctor's
investigation, but don't get used to this sort of plot
advancement every week. The pre-title sequence is an excellent
backstory on Clara that builds on things we saw in The Bells of
Saint John, like the book, the leaf that was in the book, and
why Clara feels a need to look after children which will define
her character in episodes like Nightmare in Silver, Listen, and
In the Forest of the Night. The Rings of Akhaten itself explores
Clara's maternal instincts with regards to Merry Gejelh (played
by a very capable young actor, Emilia Jones). It's standard for
a companion to wonder off and make friends with the locals while
the Doctor solves the big problem of the episode, and here it
serves as both character development for Clara, and a way of
immersing us more in the setting as we learn about the Queen of
Years and her part in the Festival of Offerings. It's
exposition, but it's exposition that has more than one function,
and thus goes by unnoticed. By the way, we never did actually
learn why the TARDIS hates Clara? Is it due to her being
'impossible'?
The addition of a Hartnell-like coat and reading glasses to Matt
Smith's costume for the 50th anniversary really seems to make a
difference to how he plays the role. Either that, or the choice
to change his costume was deliberately prompted by a change in
Smith's portrayal. Since The Eleventh Hour, the Eleventh Doctor
has really developed and as much as I love Capaldi, I really
wish we'd had Smith for one more year so we could see more of
this development. Neil Cross' excellent script even makes
reference to Susan Foreman at one point, inviting the Hartnell
comparison. Moments like that really help to tie all the
incarnations together into one being, reminding us that Doctor
Who is just one long 51-year-old story. Mentioning such an old
character like this is an amazing display of confidence and
proof if ever it were needed that New Who has generated the same
level of momentum as the Classic run had. Since 2005, the show
has been slowly powering back on bit by bit (Series 1 brought
back the Daleks, Series 2 brought back the Cybermen, Series 3
brought back the Master, Series 4 brought back the Sontarans
etc.) but by 2013, the 50th anniversary year, the show is back
to running at maximum capacity. Remember that the episode after
The Rings of Akhaten features the Ice Warriors, five episodes
after that has the Great Intelligence, and the episode after
that has the Zygons. 2013 was really the year when Doctor Who
had finished returning and was now just back.
Something that adds to the feeling of Akhaten's culture is the
different levels of villains. There's the Vigil, the cool
whispering masked creatures who serve the Mummy, the Mummy who
just sits in a glass box for a while, and then the final boss
fight against Akhaten itself. All three of these villains are
really menacing, visually stunning, and completely justified by
the plot rather than feeling crammed in. In terms of creepy,
slow-moving, whispering monsters with vaguely-human shapes and
weird mind powers, the Vigil are way more effective than the
Whispermen from The Name of the Doctor, despite the fact that
the Whispermen played such a huge part in the hype for that
episode. If we learned a bit more about the Vigil's purpose and
origin, they'd almost have the potential to be recurring.
Much like The Pandorica Opens, The Rings of Akhaten will mostly
be remembered for its huge speech scene which takes place
towards the end and features the Eleventh Doctor ranting at a
colossal alien threat that he seems hopelessly overshadowed by.
It's a fantastic scene with Smith's acting and Murray Gold's
music elevating it to being one of the most memorable moments in
recent years.
I think The Rings of Akhaten is one of the strongest episodes in
Series 7. Some love it and some hate it, but criticisms of this
story generally come down to the singing, and I personally like
all that stuff.
Next: Cold War