There's always something quite exciting about a companions first proper trip in the TARDIS. That first moment where they realise the infinite possibilities of where this magnificent ship can take them. Clara's first trip certainly shows her some awesome sights as the Doctor takes her to the rings of Akhaten.
I have only seen this episode a couple of times and I always find it a little confusing. The rings are made up of several "planets" or asteroids and I'm never entirely sure on which rock the Doctor and Clara are meant to be.
This episode is not great in terms of its story. It's pretty dull actually. Saying that it's an enjoyable enough watch due to its fantastic music and several songs which take place during the course of the episode. The people who live in the rings have a tradition of singing a lullaby to a creature sleeping in a pyramid in order to keep him asleep. Quite who this creature is or how he came to be there is never really explained. The creature wakes up but then it turns out he's not the big bad guy but the sun itself is and this creature is merely his "alarm clock." If you are feeling confused then I'm sorry but I literally can't explain this any better than I am as it is quite a muddled mess. It's not "Ghost Light" confusing but it's getting there.
So the story itself is pretty crap but we have some great scenes for both Clara and the Doctor. We learn more about the history of Clara due to the Doctor travelling back in time and snooping on various moments of her life in an attempt to solve the mystery of how she keeps popping up in his life.
The Doctor also has a great scene when he is standing alone and facing the "sun god". The god lives off people's stories and emotions so the Doctor gives it all he can by raging at him about all the things he has seen.
"I walked away from the last great time war. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment until nothing remained! No time. No space. Just me!! I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. And I have warched universes freeze and creations burn. I have seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things you will never understand, and I know things, secrets that must never be told and knowledge the must never me spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze!"
Matt Smith is excellent at these sort of moments. It seems he showed how great he was at these kind of speeches way back in the The Pandorica Opens and so now the writers give him every opportunity to act his heart out again by giving him something like this to do. I also like to think that the mention of walking in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man is a reference to the antimatter universe created by Omega way back in the The Three Doctors but I may be clutching at straws there.
Also the Doctor refers to the fact that he last came to the rings of Akhaten with his granddaughter. That's a nice little reference. I'm not sure if this was intentional but it seems in its 50th anniversary year that many nods to the past were made. In fact if you consider this to be a reference to the first Doctor then the next story contains a reference to the second Doctor and the one after that to the third! I'm thinking that must have been done on purpose. I'll have to look out for more references in the final days to come.
Oh and one more thing about this episode. The thing which is probably the most inexcusable. At the end of the episode the god is defeated and the sun disappears. We immediately see the Doctor taking Clara back home. So what about the people who live on the rings? They no longer have a sun....did no one stop to think about the repercussions here! Utter nonsense!
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