Sunday 31 March 2013

Doctor Who Review: The Bells of St Johns

Oh hello blog. It's been a while. Due to my business there's been no film reviews on here and there hasn't been any new Doctor Who since Christmas. But here's the new... season? Half-season? 8/13 of a season? Oh, I don't know, I just know what I thought of it.


As episode 8 of season 7 this was a reasonably good episode. The script was rather witty at points (although certain bits like the now obligatory "Doctor Who?" line were somewhat cringe worthy) and the direction was fast paced which is what this particular story needed. The acting was top notch and there were some lovely (if completely under-developed) character moments for the lead villain and her staff. Even the monsters were pretty nice, a very creepy image, even if the turning head thing has become a bit over-used in Who, it's rarely used as well as it is here.

As a season opener though? This was a bit rubbish. So far I'm not convinced by Clara. I mean she's fine, but I was hoping this episode would make us care about her. At the moment most of her lines could have been said by basically any of the past New Who companions. She doesn't seem to bring anything new. Which is a shame, because I really liked her at Christmas and I think Jenna-Louise is a good actress, it's just the character isn't very interesting except for her mystery. While she might become better as time goes on, she's the main problem with this episode as so much time is spent with getting to know her character that the actual plot is sidelined. The idea of the Wi-Fi could have been really creepy, but without the time to slowly build the threat, it felt a little empty and the story just felt a bit hollow.

So all in all, it was a fun ride that didn't bore me, there was just enough going on that I had a good time, but after Moffat's previous season openers (which is what this was billed as), it just feels a bit shallow. If we'd already met Clara and this was just a random mid-season story I can imagine it being reworked as quite a chilling tale, but the way it is now, it's probably the most 'popcorn' that the show's been all season. Great fun, but with no deeper meaning or intelligence.

3/5