Doctor Who Series 7-8: The Rings of Akhaten (SPOILERS)

[TimeLord]

I always like new companion episodes, it's always fun to watch them realise that the world is so much bigger than what they thought it was. Even if they always end up getting themselves into trouble. Despite in the end, yet again saving the day instead of the Doctor. Something which I think is a very important part of Doctor Who. It shows that the Doctor needs a companion to fill in the gaps in his own abilities.

Also a reference to the Doctor's Granddaughter!
And the Doctor reads the Beano! He has good taste in comics!
Still interested as to who Clara actually is, since it's now blatantly established that she's grown up from a baby to current time Clara with no interference or memories of her 'other selves'.
I did think when the Doctor started telling the star god to take his memories that it would be another 'feelings win the day' ending, and while it was, it was very well executed and extremely well acted by Matt Smith with him reliving his memories of the Time War and friends he has lost.

Also; my new wallpaper!

 

[spartandude]

God this episode was so amazing...ly shit!
ok it started off rather meh with him following her parents. but then when he meets up with clara again and they go to the space station i thought it was getting pretty good and i was enjoying it alot. however as soon as they get to the opera house bit it didnt so much go down hill but jump off a cliff. The story became nonsensical (did Casey Hudson write this?) and the singing... my god did that singing become grating after 10seconds


atleast the next episode they're on a ship being commanded by Lord Davos.... just watch out for the wild fire

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

It was nice to see the Doctor actually doing his homework and checking to make sure Clara wasn't some form of clone from the future and that she'd had no interaction with her other selves rather than his usual "wait it out and glare suspiciously at the companion for a few episodes" response in these situations.

Loved the hesitation to hand over the sonic screwdriver, that "aww, hell no" face, but a little concerned by the doctor just running off and leaving her in the middle of a market in an alien town to get payment. It was her first trip out too so she has no idea how to behave and he just leaves her and trusts that she won't get into trouble.

Also concerned by Clara's attempt to abduct some random girl into the TARDIS, Doctor probably needs to go over some ground rules (I'd imagine "dont invite strangers into the TARDIS" is pretty high on the list).

I think that memory of her mother that Clara had came off as more sinister than reassuring "Where ever you are, I will find you and I will come and get you" and the weird distorted effect in that scene made me suspicious but it's probably just me being paranoid.

I was a bit concerned we were going for a repeat of "the power of feelings/love/motherhood/bullshit" resolution but they avoided that...sort of, okay it basically was that kind of ending but in my opinion the pulled it off this time and it wasn't so hammy as the other times.

Mostly concerned about the "next week on" clip showing a guy with what looks like an AK-47 on a submersed submarine because an assault rifle is clearly the perfect weapon to have in that kind of environment....what could possibly go wrong? Hull breach, catastrophic de-pressurisation and death of crew That'll probably get handwaved or subverted at some point but I'm wondering what idiot gave him that type of gun in the first place.

 

[Phasmal]

I didn't like it at all.

First of all, I guess the TARDIS doesn't translate if it would be funnier not to.
I also thought The Doctor would actually level with Clara and tell her about the whole weird situation but I guess stalking her in the past is just as helpful...
And what the hell at the end of the episode the alien sun got destroyed and everyone is just kind of fine with it.

 

[NooNameLeft]

I still think we need a new Doctor, like right now. Someone with a completely different personality to make the series fresh again.

The Ninth Doctor got one season, the Tenth Doctor got three and the Eleventh Doctor is also getting three or maybe even four seasons. I liked the Eleventh for one season, but now I just want to punch him everytime I see his face.

 

[Plinglebob]

I felt it was an ok episode that will be remembered as great due to Matt Smith's performance at the end. Nice singing though.

 

[Gizmo1990]

Yay the bad guy was defeated with the awesome power of the human spirit. Again. And it was the companion that stopped it in the end instead of the Doctor. Again.

I was hoping that as Amy and Rory have gone it would change from being The Amy and Rory show to being about the Doctor again but no now it is The Clara show. Why does Moffat think that his human characters are more important and more interesting than the ancient alien super genius they travel with?

Matt Smith was good at the end I will give you that. It also hinted that perhaps the Doctor is older than he says he is but other than that, for me, it sucked.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I really hated this episode, which is really disappointing since I loved the previous one.
I hate it when Doctor Who relies on feelings and emotion to save the day as opposed to brute force, science and determination. I was also really put off by the child-queen, who irritated me, and all the singing, which was OK when the Ood did it in Tennant's run, but here it just aggravated me.

One question I do have is, Why the hell did they need to get the Space-Moped? Couldn't they just, you know, use their compact-sized Time Machine/Spaceship? Also, I must ask, Can someone give me a brief run-down on what happened in the Christmas episode? I missed out on it when it aired and it seems by doing so I am REALLY confused as to who/what Clara is meant to be.

Still, the next episode looks a lot more promising! Sinking Nuclear Submarine filled with deep sea space monsters? Sounds good to me!

 

[ThatRandomGuy42]

I have no strong feelings about this episode one way or another.

Spoiler: Although...

The show is increasingly adding support to my theory that Clara is really Susan Foreman. I called it the moment I found out about the new companion, and I don't think the Doctor's mention of his granddaughter in this episode was just a continuity reference.

She did see rather surprised he mentioned Susan, but she claims she had never been there before.

 

[Encurtidos]

I have no strong feelings about this episode one way or another.

Spoiler: Although...

The show is increasingly adding support to my theory that Clara is really Susan Foreman. I called it the moment I found out about the new companion, and I don't think the Doctor's mention of his granddaughter in this episode was just a continuity reference.

But if it really was the Doctor's granddaughter, wouldn't she have any recollection of her past??

 

[Generalissimo]

One thing that bothers me...

How can a star be alive? Secondly, how will the seven worlds now survive without a star?

 

[elvor0]

One thing that bothers me...

How can a star be alive? Secondly, how will the seven worlds now survive without a star?

It's not that out there, the green lanterns have a sentient planet as a member:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogo

Or it could be that conciousness was projected into the star or it was some "entity" that chose the star as a vessel, nestled in the fact that people worshipped the sun in tribal times etc.

But yeah, they're still fucked without a star, all the worlds should just float off into space to freeze to death. Well done Doctor, you've just doomed seven planets.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

I found this episode to be incredibly dull. Very disappointing after a relatively strong start to the new series last week... Other than the cool scenes with the sun that reminded me of The Illusive Man in ME2, I'm struggling to think of any redeeming factors for this episode =/

 

[Dryk]

The ending was a bit weak and missed an opportunity for the power of the leaf to be tied into the mystery surrounding Clara in favour of inconsistently applied multiverse nonsense and I too was wondering why the writer chose for the star to disappear rather than having its consciousness die but remain an active star.

Overall though I really enjoyed the episode and I'm left wondering what everyone else on the internet was watching, because apparently it wasn't the same thing I was

 

[Robot Number V]

*sigh*

It started out good, but then (much like the first episode, actually) it devolved into poorly explained nonsense and the Doctor did something that SHOULD have had enormous ramifications but inexplicably didn't. (If you're curious, I'm referring to the fact that in the first episode, the Doctor murders literally hundreds of people and doesn't even feel bad about it, and then allows the thing that forced him to murder hundreds of people to escape without even making the slightest attempt to find out what it was)

Look, I'm willing to overlook the absolute pointlessness of the monster in the glass cube. I'm willing to overlook a random song somehow keeping a giant psychic parasite asleep. I'm even OK with the song inexplicably ceasing to work for no apparent reason. But some things about this episode reeeeeally stretch my tolerance for bullshit.

In this case, Clara defeating the Psychic Vampire with some multiverse-style nonsense. If the leaf represents not only her memories of what happened, but also every possibility that didn't happen (no idea how that works, by the way) then doesn't the same principle apply to literally every other memory the thing has absorbed? What makes the leaf so special?

And also, why is it not a big deal that seven planets no longer have a sun? It even shows that everything has gone dark. Seriously, that is fucking GAPING plot hole.

I was a lot happier when it looked like the Doctor would defeat it just by letting it read his mind knowing it would explode from too much unadulterated Badass. THAT makes enough sense to me for me to accept it.

I know Dr. Who has always been ridiculous, but it's always had some kind of internal consistency. If they were going to have a platoon of space rhinos raiding a hospital on the moon, the actually took the time to explain how that happens. Nowadays, it seems like the writers just say "It's Doctor Who, it's never made any sense! Just throw in a speech about the HUMAN SPIRIT and we're good!"

 

[JoJo]

Surprised by a lot of the negative responses here, I thought the episode was generally a good one. Alien worlds are always interesting, the kid was cute and the singing was pleasant on the ears. Ending was the only weak point for me, "human spirit overcomes all" has been overdone recently on Doctor Who but oh well, not enough to entirely bring down the episode in my eyes.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

That was a shit episode. Got bored less than half way through. An entire cast of new and potentially interesting aliens wasted too. I miss when Dr Who was guaranteed to be always good. Now it has good and bad episodes like any other show.

 

[DJjaffacake]

I miss the days when they actually took the time to explain stuff, not just, "It's a parasite planet because it is."

At least the preview for next episode explains why Davos Seaworth was such a good smuggler.

 

[Dryk]

In this case, Clara defeating the Psychic Vampire with some multiverse-style nonsense. If the leaf represents not only her memories of what happened, but also every possibility that didn't happen (no idea how that works, by the way) then doesn't the same principle apply to literally every other memory the thing has absorbed? What makes the leaf so special?

Yeah that was my main gripe with the ending. Also the fact that said leaf is being wielded by and is responsible for this conception of a girl who has existed three times already, they didn't NEED the multiverse stuff to explain it.

That was a shit episode. Got bored less than half way through. An entire cast of new and potentially interesting aliens wasted too. I miss when Dr Who was guaranteed to be always good. Now it has good and bad episodes like any other show.

I have seen all of the new series, most of the fifth, sixth and seventh doctors, the first two serials, the movie and Genesis of the Daleks... I don't remember coming across a time like that at all.

 

[Rylot]

I enjoyed watching this one more than the last one, but it just completely falls apart the moment you stop and think about it. It seems like Moffat has some big plans for the end of the season with the anniversary and all but he's spent so much time and effort on it that the rest of this season's episodes are just shoddy plot-hole ridden affairs just meant to introduce things and fill time till the finally. I mean I kinda liked the few times in previous seasons when they brought back villains (they did lean too heavy on the Daleks) but now they seem to be doing it a bit more. This opinion is probably brought on by the fact that I just watched the episode today of Tennant's Doctor that was stuck aboard a ship crashing into a sentient sun.