Doctor Who and The Rings of Akhaten

The Rings of Akhaten

Image by Francesco Francavilla

“We never run.”

Story 7.07
Written byNeil Cross
Transmitted 6 April 2013

The Doctor is increasingly curious about Clara Oswin and creepily travels through her timeline watching how her parents met and raised young Clara into the precocious gal she is today. Not only was the opening sequence incredibly self indulgent (honestly, does anyone think that the story of their parents meeting is written in the stars??) but it was also so poorly told. Clara’s father-to-be stumbles through the streets of a British suburb while the Doctor peers over the top of an issue of Beano (apparently listening to the Specials on an iPod) while said father is assailed by a massive leaf and is almost hit by a car if not for the timely intervention of Clara’s mother-to-be. A man who is nearly killed by a seemingly deadly leaf deserves to die in my book.

(Special note– yes, I am behind on my reviews. This was not on purpose. As I no longer have cable, I have to rely on other methods to find the episodes and the BBC has apparently been cracking down on this. I appreciate the patience of readers who may have been waiting on my two cents’ worth)

The Doctor takes Clara to some cosmic event that is totally awesome at first and becomes very very dire in no time flat. The initial reveal of the TARDIS on an asteroid is impressive, if not for the fact that the Doctor is still a chap who likes to impress ladies with his neat tricks. Honestly, where has the gentleman traveler of space and time gone? Despite his lack of romantic interest, it seems like he’s just trying to wow her enough to get lucky.

Getting closer to the event, we are assailed with goofy aliens milling about on a set. It looked bad the last few times they did it, it looks worse now. Clara soon becomes wrapped up in some local intrigue over a missing girl Merry, gives her some pat advice involving her dead mother even though it is apparent that this girl is in some serious trouble and sets her on her way. It soon transpires that Merry is the latest in a long line of singers to lull a god called ‘Grandfather’ into perpetual sleep. But something goes horribly wrong and the Doctor tries to save the situation. But in the end it is the simple leaf kept in Clara’s book that saves the entire population, with its promises of what could have been.

Some time ago, Charlotte Church had a variety show and performed a brilliantly spot-on lampoon of Doctor Who. In it, even the Doctor was confused that they were just sitting on a bench watching Charlotte cry rather than fighting Daleks but she insisted that it was important. Likewise, we get Clara’s book of 100 places and her leaf connecting back to her parents which is somehow on the same level of a galactic mummy guarding a planet-sized monster kept complacent by lullabies. It just doesn’t work and is very lazy.

The Doctor’s use of the sonic screwdriver is downright comical as it somehow holds a ‘very heavy’ door up in the air, but relies on his ability to hold it up with his own strength. If it’s a sonic resonance, I can understand that.  The entire culture of Akhaten revolves around resonances (albeit through painful singing) but it should not also involve effort. Also, how can the sonic screwdriver stop the Vigil who I admit look very cool but are in the end useless? It’s almost as silly as the Doctor offering up ‘all his stories’ to the giant sun monster-thing which looks like it is killing him and pulling that magic fairy dust from his body but…. what? Did they take a break?

Why is the Doctor not dead? Is he only kinda dead? Did the monster give the energy/stories back when Clara walked on with her magic leaf? It makes no sense.

The concept of this story is so backwards and weird that it reminds me of Fear Her by Matthew Graham, the brilliant creator of Life on Mars. Fear Her was written (quickly) from the point of view of a child, something that Graham thought was relevant since Who is a children’s program. In this case, Neil Cross, the likewise celebrated screenwriter of Luther has some very wring ideas of how Doctor Who works. The set piece is contrived, the logic juvenile and the resolution ham-fisted. Adding a child guest star to singing and throwing in over the top acting is the surefire way to produce one of the worst stories since the program returned in 2005.

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… aren’t you glad I got to see this one?

I am almost halfway through Cold War and it is much better, by the way.

The Rings of Akhaten had an overnight audience of 5.5 million viewers, a share of 28.8% of the total TV audience.

Doctor Who was once more third for the day, although the gap between the series and the programmes at the top of the chart was slightly larger, perhaps reflecting the lighter evenings.

Top of the list was Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway with 7.3 million watching, while The Voice was second with 6.4 million viewers. (via Doctor Who News)

Overnight ratings from Doctor WhoTV:

The Bells of Saint John – 6.18 million (overnight) 8.44 million (final figure)
The Snowmen – 7.6 million (overnight) 9.87 million (final figure)
The Angels Take Manhattan – 5.9 million (overnight) 7.82 million (final figure)
The Power of Three – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.67 million (final figure)
A Town Called Mercy – 6.6 million (overnight) 8.42 million (final figure)
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.57 million (final figure)
Asylum of the Daleks – 6.4 million (overnight) 8.3 million (final figure)

Next time: Cold War

First look at Doctor Who series 7 Part Two

A few promotional images for the first half of the second part of series 7 have arrived. There are a few details, but nothing Earth-shattering, so feel free to read on and not fear spoilers.

Introducing the new monsters ‘The Spoonheads,’ Steven Moffat describes this episode as “the traditional Doctor Who thing of taking something omnipresent in your life and making it sinister, if something did get in the Wi-Fi, we’d be kind of screwed. Nobody had really done it before, so I thought, ‘It’s time to get kids frightened of Wi-Fi!”

“The Bells of Saint John”: The Doctor’s search for Clara Oswald brings him to modern day London, where Wi-Fi is everywhere. Humanity lives in a Wi-Fi soup. But something dangerous is lurking in the signals, picking off minds and imprisoning them. As Clara becomes the target of this insidious menace, the Doctor races to save her and the world from an ancient enemy.

Written by Mark Gatiss, this story will be set in a submarine and feature a new take on another classic monster, the Ice Warriors, joining the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and Macra in the list of of classic baddies re-imagined for a new audience.

“Cold War”: The Doctor and Clara land on a damaged Russian Submarine in 1983 as it spirals out of control into the ocean depths. An alien creature is loose on board, having escaped from a block of Arctic ice. With tempers flaring and a cargo of nuclear weapons on board, it’s not just the crew but the whole of humanity at stake!

Written by Luther’s Neil Cross.

“The Rings of Akhaten”: Clara wants to see something awesome, so the Doctor whisks her off to the inhabited rings of the planet Akhaten, where the Festival of Offerings is in full swing. Clara meets the young Queen of Years as the pilgrims and natives ready for the ceremony. But something is stirring in the pyramid, and a sacrifice will be demanded.

Set in a haunted house and again written by Neil Cross.

“Hide”: Clara and the Doctor arrive at Caliburn House, a haunted mansion sat alone on a desolate moor. Within its walls, a ghost hunting Professor and a gifted psychic are searching for the Witch of the Well. Her apparition appears throughout the history of the building, but is she really a ghost? And what is chasing her?

Series 7.2 trailer for BBC America

Still to come: “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS,” which is what it says it is and written by Curse of the Black Spot’s author, Mat King, “The Crimson Horror,” by Mark Gatiss which will reunite the Doctor with Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, “The Last Cyberman” by Neil Gaiman and the untitled finale by Steven Moffat.

Series 7 part two starts on BBC America March 30th

Neil Gaiman returns to Doctor Who with the Cybermen in 2013

Looks like cult author Neil Gaiman will be coming back to Doctor Who next year for the second part of the seventh series along with the evil cyborgs the Cybermen. I’m a big fan of the Cybermen and have long thought that they are among the creepier of the classic monsters. Sadly they did not age well outside of the 1960’s and while I do enjoy both Revenge of the Cybermen and Earthshock, they never really came close to recapturing their horror found in those black and white adventures.

In their 60’s appearances, the Cybermen were slow-moving zombie-like creatures who lurked in the corners of space stations, lurched through the snow-swept terrain of the arctic and even wandered through the sewers of London roaring like mad mummies. An attempt from the production team to top the Daleks, the Cybermen have long played second favorite to the dreaded pepper pots, but given that Terry Nation and Ray Cusick’s creatures are regarded as the most popular Who monster ever, that ain’t half bad, is it?

The latest version of the Cybermen from a parallel reality are decidedly un-scary, river-dancing their way into living rooms with a battle cry borne from an office keyboard. Despite a strong introduction in 2006, they have yet to make any real impact in the BBC Wales Doctor Who, though the headless Cyberman in The Big Bang was impressive. Can Gaiman succeed where so many others have failed? We’ll have to wait and see.

Entitled ‘The Last Cyberman,’ the misplaced read-through script has been the subject of a minor scandal, but in truth not many details have leaked from the event other than the title and confirmation of the new companion’s name (Clara).

Cybermen ’67

Via LATimes:

The Doctor will once again face off against some of his oldest enemies. The Cybermen are returning to “Doctor Who” in 2013 in an episode written by fantasy author Neil Gaiman, BBC announced Wednesday.

Gaiman’s episode will be directed by Stephen Woolfenden, who served as assistant director for four of the eight “Harry Potter” films. The episode will take the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his new companion (Jenna-Louise Coleman) to another planet, where they meet a band of misfits portrayed by Warwick Davis (“Life’s too Short,” “Harry Potter” and “Willow”), Tamzin Outhwaite (“Hotel Babylon”) and Jason Watkins (“Being Human”).

The Cybermen have been around for nearly as long as the show itself, debuting in 1966′s “The Tenth Planet” opposite the first Doctor, played by William Hartnell in his last episode before regenerating. In the series, Cybermen are people whose bodies have been replaced with artificial parts and whose emotions have been deleted, leaving a race of cold, calculating and deadly cyborgs.

“Cybermen were always the monsters that scared me the most,” the show’s lead writer Steven Moffat said in the announcement. “Not just because they were an awesome military force, but because sometimes they could be sleek and silver and right behind you without you even knowing.”

The 2013 Cybermen episode marks the second venture into “Doctor Who” for Gaiman, whose previous episode — 2011′s “The Doctor’s Wife” — won a Hugo Award and a Ray Bradbury Award.

“I saw my first Cybermen watching Moonbase, as Jamie thought the Piper was coming for him (scary). Then Tomb of the Cybermen terrified me,” Gaiman tweeted, referring to two 1967 episodes starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor.

And here’s an picture of the redesigned Cybermen (from here where more excellent images can be found)

Doctor Who and The Power of Three

The Power of Three

Written by Chris Chibnall
Story 7.04
Transmitted 22 September, 2012
“I’m running to you and Rory before you fade from me.”

Amy and Rory are struggling to come to grips with their unusual lifestyle. They are both a married suburban couple and a pair of time and space travelling champions who occasionally cross swords with nasties who threaten all of creation. Whereas the modern Doctor Who has repeatedly hammered home the message that the pedestrian lifestyle is unacceptable, the Ponds are realizing that it’s what they want. But just as they are about to make the big move to a real life, a new cataclysm arrives, ‘the slow invasion.’ The puzzling arrival of featureless black cubes across the planet has even the Doctor nonplussed and he reluctantly decides to move in with the Ponds for the duration until the answers present themselves.

If The Power of Three was actually about the Doctor living with Amy and Rory that would have been somewhat interesting, but even Chibnall could barely muster up enough interest to give us a quick montage. I’m not exactly interested in that (this was already covered in the series 5 story The Lodger to great effect. It’s barely even about what Amy and Rory are like without the Doctor because if seeing is believing Amy does sweet FA while Rory busts his skinny arse at the hospital.

The arrival of U.N.I.T. and its new leader Kate Stewart (complete with hand-held tri-corder/mobile phone) also fails to make much of an impact because its all so very boring. I do like Jemma Redgrave as the new head of U.N.I.T. but the decision to downplay her character left her little to actually do aside from be somewhat (but not too) plucky and clever.

The planet (well, England) has been invaded far too many times to count since 2005, so all that is left is for this story to put an interesting spin on it. The result is the pet rock invasion. That should be the actual title.

Aliens attack humanity using our gullibility and sheer stupidity by dropping scanning devices on our front lawns that we dutifully take in doors and keep as pets. When a year passes and people suddenly start dropping like stones it should have been viewed as a mercy killing rather than a disaster. People are so dumb that the press idly wonder if it’s some kind of viral marketing gimmick.

I was reminded of this time a few electronic devices appeared on a prominent bridge in Boston. It was immediately shut down and the bomb disposal squad was called in only to find that in this case it really was a marketing device (for Aqua Teen Hunger Force).

This has to be one of the all time most moronic stories I have ever watched, be it Doctor Who or Bullwinkle and Rocky. It makes absolutely no sense, serves no purpose and in the end frantically tries to serve up some kind of ‘message about the goodness of the human race’ at the viewer with nothing to back it up.

There were several moments that were so hackneyed and poor that I felt like I was stuck in a nightmare where Russell T Davies came back to the program and all hope was lost.

There were several moments that were so hackneyed and poor that I felt like I was stuck in a nightmare where Russell T Davies came back to the program and all hope was lost. Companion narration, blurred edits, celebrity cameos, pop culture references, madcap zany comedy, TV news anchors staring at me in a strobe of successive scenes of info-dumping and the inevitable ‘humanity is so great’ speech at the end. The only difference was that Davies would have made it a two parter and placed the cliff-hanger with the Doctor having a hear attack. The second part would have had the exact same plot points as this episode, just with extended scenes of the companion crying as the program tried to fake the viewer into thinking that the Doctor was dead.

That raises another problem that I have with Doctor Who (and Torchwood, for that matter), it lacks any understanding of the concept of death, its meaning and consequences. I mean, we see epidemics where people drop dead like droids in a Lucas film and it has just as little impact because the program has told us several times over that there are no consequences. If you doubt that, I refer you to the time the Doctor restarted the universe by recreating the Big Bang (something that Red Dwarf would use as a clever joke Doctor Who now relies upon as a plot device).

As another (far more well written) review stated, The Power of Three is hampered by the new series format. The short run time demands that a good 3/4 of the story is set up and the resolution is a magic wand flourish. Added to that the ‘blink and you miss them’ alien invaders and you’re left wondering what the point of all that was. The Doctor and the Ponds did not have an epiphany, the aliens harmed no one, U.N.I.T. was re-introduced and useless and the Doctor just hit the reset button on the magic box devices to save humanity. So… what was that for?

The only saving grace (again) was the cast. Smith was just superb (aside from the cringe-worthy Saturday Night Fever dance after coming back to life) and both Gillan and Darvill held their ground with some execrable material. Returning guest star Mark Williams (of Red Dwarf and the criminally under-rated and unavailable Strangerers) was very nice if you ignore the fact that he is a stand-in for Bernard Cribbins. Why the program feels the need to dangle the possibility that something may actually happen after showing people die then come right back to life as if they’d just had a snooze I have no idea.

Kate Stewart

Post-modern reverse-viral marketing? The cast eat fish fingers and custard while watching TV, something fans have been doing since Smith started as the Doctor

What?? A space craft? Is this a sci-fi program?

Doctor Who ‘jumps the shark’ again?

Some reject alien from Deep Space Nine?

When in doubt, wave a magic wand at the problem. That doesn’t work? Wave it MORE.

Yay! We’re all alive again!

The most interesting moment of the episode is a reference to something we never see.

Next week: ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’

Overnight ratings from Doctor WhoTV:

1. Asylum of the Daleks – 6.4 million (overnight) 8.33 million (final figure)
2. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.57 million (final figure)
3. A Town Called Mercy – 6.6 million (overnight) 8.42 million (final figure)
4. The Power of Three – 5.5 million (overnight) TBA (final figure)
5. The Angels Take Manhattan

Doctor Who once again wows fans at Comic Con, shows dinosaurs on a spaceship

Yet more CCI coverage here, this time courtesy of ScreenRant.

For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is the longest lasting science fiction TV program. Started in 1963 by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert, the program was focused on entertaining the entire family, offering something for every age bracket. Constructed as both educational and exciting, Newman had a strict ban of Bug Eyed Monsters… but lost out after the first monster, the Daleks, rocketed the series into cult status. Very few details made up the core concept of Doctor Who to start with. Two school teachers followed a peculiar student home only to discover that she lived in a junk yard with her grandfather. Their ‘home’ was a small blue box that was far bigger on the inside than out. Capable of traveling through time and space, the quartet began a series of adventures with no way home as sadly the old man (known as The Doctor) had no way of piloting the ship… since he stole it from ‘his people.’

Made on a shoestring budget (think Star Trek the Next Generation made with the same money it cost to produce Cheers), Doctor Who is renowned for its innovations and downright brilliant sound and visual effect… usually.

When the lead actor playing the Doctor decided to leave (or was asked to, depending what/who you believe), the ingenious idea was hatched of introducing an entirely new actor in the part. It was described initially as a ‘renewal,’ but years later became better known as ‘regeneration.’ After 26 years, Doctor Who was pulled from the BBC due to steadily declining ratings, returning once in 1996 as a TV Movie starring Paul McGann. It wasn’t until 2005 that Doctor Who would enjoy a full return and a new generation of fans has fallen in love with the series.

Doctor Who ‘Dalek’ art by Anthony Dry

The current actor, Matt Smith, is the 11th actor to play the part on the small screen and the program is a roaring success in the UK and US as well.

The Doctor (No. 11)

The next year is a big deal for Doctor Who for several reasons; it will mark Matt Smith’s third year as the Doctor, the exit of companions Rory and Amy Pond (the longest standing traveling partners in some time), the return of the Daleks and Ice Warriors as well as a lead-in to the 50th anniversary special, a mysterious new companion and a focus on single part stand-alone stories rather than multi-part story arcs. The first half of the series apparently features a western, dinosaurs on a spaceship, weeping angels and lots of Daleks.

The Doctor has returned to San Diego for Comic-Con 2012. Joining him was Amy and Rory, most likely for the final time. Not to be left out, executive producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner also joined the cast this year. In the panel, the cast and showrunners offered up details on the highly-anticipated 50 year anniversary of Doctor Who – as well as who may be returning for it.

The show started at 12:30 PM Pacific Time (3:30 PM Eastern) in Hall H and, as mentioned, featured actors Matt Smith (MS), Karen Gillan (KG), Arthur Darvill (AD), lead writer/executive producer Steven Moffat (SM) as well as executive producer Caroline Skinner (CS).

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Moffat wouldn’t elaborate further but promised more Dalek’s than viewers have ever seen, Weeping Angels, tragedy, and westerns – claiming there’s never been a “bigger variety of episodes than the ones we’re about to show you.”

Following his comments on season seven, Moffat went on to showcase a lengthier clip “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” – that sees The Doctor recruit Nefertiti (while attempting to avoid her sexual advances), a new character portrayed by Sherlock‘s Detective Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Rory, Amy, and (accidentally) Rory’s father, Brian (played by Mark Williams). The Doctor leads his “gang” to a derelict space station overrun with cobwebs – complete with spiders (very curious indeed). The group searches the craft by flashlight until they come upon a massive metal door that, upon their arrival, slowly begins to open. As everyone turns to run for their lives, The Doctor leans toward the doorway for a better look. As a pair of Ankylosauruses burst into the room, Amy tugs at The Doctor whose face twists into his iconic smile as he says “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship!”

The panel concluded with a standing ovation for Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill – before the cast exited the stage.

First Official BBC Doctor Who Convention reveals new series trailer

Via TardisNewsroom:

Cardiff plays host to Daleks, Silurians, Cybermen and cross-dressing Doctor Who enthusiasts this weekend. Loads of guests are in attendance and preview footage will be screened so expect the internet to be on fire for the next few days regarding bow-ties, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan’s possible death scene (hauntingly no one will talk about Arthur Darvill’s Rory… I bet his microphone isn’t even hooked up).

You can keep up in real time with live tweets from the Convention here, if you like and there are some videos as well here.

After glancing at the data, I learned that the Weeping Angels are coming back for the mid-series break finale and that it will be film in New York City. Also, there are not 14 episodes, but 15 counting the Christmas Special. Again… it had better be good.

Oh and Paul McGann is convinced he will not be coming back to play the Doctor on screen. David Tennant has also stated that he’s heard nothing about coming back for the show’s 50th anniversary, but that’s gotta happen. Shame about Paul. I’m really tired of referring to his Doctor as having the most untapped potential.

Here’s the series 7 trailer uploaded about 3 hours ago from the UK (get it while you can before the beeb remove it, but a high quality version will arrive on Monday).

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Update via lovely actor and the voice of the Daleks and Cybermen Nicholas Briggs on Twitter:

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Dalek Attack by the Mechmaster

Nicholas Briggs ‏ @BriggsNicholas
So yes, it’s official. The Daleks are back. Great read-through last Friday!
13m Marc sharp ‏ @marcsharp2
@BriggsNicholas So excited, are they the Hump back Daleks or slightly redesigned?
Nicholas Briggs ‏ @BriggsNicholas
@marcsharp2 I’m afraid I cannot give you any further information.

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Update 2
Official trailer: