The other aspect of the show that I can’t stop praising are the visuals. When we first saw the actual Rings of Akhaten, I was stunned. The planets looked amazing throughout the episode. If there was a weak spot, it was when the Doctor and Clara zoomed through space on a moped. But it isn’t really worth complaining about considering how good the rest of the episode the looked. The sun itself was particularly beautiful to look at and the shot of the Doctor and Clara in front of it reminded me (and I’m sure most of you?) of the Ninth Doctor and Rose from “The End of the World” episode, which I greatly appreciated.
The silhouette of the Doctor with the new costume really is different from the tweed jacket. I’m not sure I can imagine him with the tweed anymore, not with Clara. Two episodes in and the purple costume has already established itself. On a side note, I am enjoying seeing the Doctor constantly use the Pond glasses. It really fits him, especially with the purple outfit.
The plot of this week’s episode was relatively simple, as it involved stopping the God of the people of Akhaten, which was the Sun, from devouring their planets. If you analyze the subtext, the story can be seen as commenting on religion in the world and how it makes people behave. In this case, the girls must sing to keep their God asleep or else it will eat their souls, which is made up of their memories and feelings of everything they love. Again with the memory motif. It’s been a recurring theme throughout Moffat’s tenure as showrunner.
While I loved the plot, the ending wasn’t particularly amazing. No, they didn’t solve everything using the sonic screwdriver (although it was used quite a lot throughout the episode). Instead of feeding off the planets, the Doctor let the Sun fed off the his memories, as well as Clara’s leaf. The leaf not only represented her mom’s life, but what could’ve been of her life had she not died. These infinite possibilites of what could’ve been is what killed the Sun. Admittedly, the ending was almost too easy, but it worked for the episode. One thing to point is in both this episode and the last one, the monsters were trying to eat our souls in some form. A clue pertaining to Clara’s future perhaps? Never ignore coincidences, the Doctor once said.
“I’ve lived a long life, and I’ve seen a few things…I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, I have lost things you wouldn’t understand…” Due to Matt Smith’s brilliant performance and the beautiful singing by the young Queen, the speech by the Doctor was pretty epic. It’s one of the highlights of the episode. The Doctor never really goes wrong with his epic speeches, and this one in particular hit right in the heart as it reminded us just how alone he is.
It’s more than likely that when he mentioned the “secrets that must never be told,” he was alluding to the ‘Doctor Who?’ plot that’s been going on for the past two seasons. He also mentioned the Time War, which I really appreciated. The best reference of all though was when he mentioned how he came here once before with his granddaughter earlier in the episode. That must have been about 500 years ago for him. If you can’t tell, I’m loving these references and I’m sure there’s more to come.
By the end of the episode, Clara realizes the Doctor was observing her at her mother’s grave, and when asked why, the Doctor tells her that she reminds him of someone who died. She quickly makes sure to let him know that she is going to be nobody’s replacement. Surely I wasn’t the only one who remembered Martha Jones at that moment? I was surprised that she went back home at the end, but it could be just a pit stop.
Overall, this episode focused more on Clara and who she is as a character. During the first half she befriends the young Queen of Years and shows us her compassionate side (revealing something about her mother in the process). This is something we see everyone companion do as soon as they get aboard the TARDIS, sort of to prove why they deserve to be the new companion. She didn’t need the Doctor around to show how strong of a character she really is.
While not perfect, “The Rings of Akhaten” felt like a classic Doctor Who story that felt like something from the Tennant days and just made me feel good inside. The mystery of Clara seems self-contained for now, but I’m sure it’ll grow into something more soon, probably to connect with the ‘Doctor Who?’ arc if nothing else. There is a perfect balance between her story and the rest of the episode and I hope it continues for the rest of the season. Next week, we get the return of the Ice Warriors, and if the last two episodes are anything to go by, it’s going to be a good one.
What did you think of this week’s Doctor Who? Let us know in the comments.