Doctor Who: 'The Rings of Akhaten' Review!

The Rings of Akhaten gives us a great glimpse into alien life on Akhaten.

Esterath's Views on... The Rings of Akhaten!

To paraphrase Ellie Oswald: "Oh my stars, what an episode!" Oh baby, it was a great episode!

So the story starts off with the Doctor taking a look at Clara's past. We saw how her mum and dad got together, learned why the leaf was important and the Doctor's frustration at still not knowing who she is. Cue the titles.

I'm glad the titles are the same, although this week it had a slightly lower bass which I liked. The logo remains the same as last week- dirty and ancient. Very nice, I like it.

Then it's time to head off to the Rings of Akhaten. Episode title namedrop! The CGI throughout the episode was AMAZING. Every piece of CGI we saw was a visual treat. Seriously, that picture at the top of the article, it looks phenomenal. The dark colours work well with the orange tint of the sun.

The acting from the two main stars was fantastic as usual. Jenna was great in her first proper story proving that Clara will be great as the Doctor's newest friend!

Matt was (as usual) great as the Doctor. Matt truly is the best Doctor to date, in my opinion. If I had to choose a favourite quote from the Doctor I would definitely choose:

This speech was possibly Matt's best moment in Who.

"I walked away from the Last Great Time War, I mark 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 madman! I've watched universes freeze and creations burn, I have seen things you will never believe, lost things you will never understand and I know things, secrets that must never be told and knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on then!! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! YOU HAVE IT ALL!!"

Amazing speech and phenomenal acting! Make it one of the best speeches in Doctor Who's history!! And I enjoyed the reference to Susan. Nice to see the Classic Series get mentioned!

Emilia Jones was sublime as the young Merry.

Now to focus on the rest of the episode. Merry Gehlal played by the young Emilia Jones was really good! I can sense a future ahead for this talented actress! She was great in her scenes with Jenna where Clara was acting like a caring mother. Obviously her 'nanny side'!

Now for the villains. Hmmm. I mean I quite liked the concept of the Mummy and the Vigil, but I just don't think they were used too much. I liked the Vigil in particular- with their steampunk-ish design and their energy rays that created some cool looking stunts!

The Mummy was quite scary and I liked the design but I just don't think it posed much of a threat. I would like to see the Vigil return or a story of their own..?

It would be scandalous NOT to mention the alien market scenes! So here it is... the aliens-

WOW! I personally would love to know more about those strange aliens, the looked amazing. Kudos to the production team! Give yourself a medal for your effort!

So, all in all. I have decided to give this episode a.... 8/10.

Doctor Who: 'The Bells Of Saint John' Review!




Doctor Who returns with 'The Bells of Saint John' where the Doctor finds
something dangerous lurking in the wi-fi... and meets Clara for the third time...

Jenna-Louise Coleman makes her first appearance as Clara Oswald,
 it's also her first proper story as a companion and she's great!

Esterath's Views on The Bells of Saint John!

Checklist:
The Doctor: ✔
Clara: ✔
Villain: ✔
Wi-Fi: ✔
Lovely London landmarks: ✔
Awesome new TARDIS scenes: ✔

Well, sounds like a good episode!

Let's take a look!

So, the basic story is the Doctor's quest to find out who Clara is takes him to
present day London where he finds a 'wi-fi soup' harvesting human minds
controlled by the evil Miss Kizlet with the aid of lovely Alexei and her right
hand man and the  Spoonheads who revolve their um, spoons to reveal the
victim being harvested by the wi-fi. So, the Doctor has to stop them and he
delves deeper into the mystery of young Clara Oswin, or is it Oswald? And I
absolutely loved the Doctor's cool new Anti Grav bike!

Matt Smith was great as the Doctor as always he has settled in perfectly and he could be considered as good as Tom Baker now! And Jenna was great as Clara, I was glad she wasn't as cocky and flirtatious but a bit more vulnerable. It gave her a sense of humanity rather than one-dimensional innuendos. Celia Imrie was great as the evil Miss Kizlet! Doctor Who hasn't had a memorable female baddie for a while and Miss Kizlet was very memorable and easy to love and hate! And I liked Alexei and George. And I liked the surprise twist about the Client being the Great Intelligence! (It was a bit obvious due to the BBC crediting him in the casting list before the episode aired!)

I liked the updated theme tune. Sounds more do-we-dooo-we-w-oh-weooohhhh! Sounds like the Classic Series theme! Angry that they haven't changed the fake looking TARDIS at the end and the doors still open the wrong way. Oh well...

The direction by Colm McCarthy was sublime and excellent! Please do bring him back! his direction was great and he made good use of the London landmarks which was fun to see. My favourite direction from was during the plane crash scene. I just loved the plane scene! Very fast and energetic! And the music was great and the shot where the Doctor and Clara are in the TARDIS and then it takes through into the plane in one shot.

The music. Ahh... Murray Gold. Murray smegging Gold! What can I say! Brilliant as always! I liked the different variation of 'I Am The Doctor' peice when the Doctor is riding his motorbike up the Shard (Now that was a scene!) And I also enjoyed the music during the 'typing battle' scene. If you enjoyed the music in it then listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOJPMUT1T4 Try typing on your computer keyboard really fast while it's playing!!

So, this is a promising start to Series 7B! If The Rings of Akhaten is as good, I think we're in for a treat! Moffat has his mojo back! So, my final rating is 8.5/10. I think that is fair and not too generous or un- generous.

NEXT TIME on.... Esterath's Views On... THE RINGS OF AKHATEN


   

What is a 'carbon footprint'?

WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT?

We bring you the answer!

A carbon footprint is a total sets of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person. However, calculating the total carbon footprint is impossible due to large amounts of data and the fact that carbon dioxide is produced using natural occurences. Greenhouse gases can be emitted through transport, land clearance, and the production and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, and services.

Remembering Robert Holmes...

WHO WAS ROBERT HOLMES? PART 1





WE REMEMBER THE GREAT ROBERT HOLMES

The late Robert Holmes- 1928-1986.



Who was Robert Holmes? Well, he was most famous for his brilliant Doctor Who episodes. He wrote his first two stories for Patrick Troughton’s final series as the Second Doctor in the late 1960s, which became ‘The Krotons’ and ‘The Space Pirates’. 











Robert Holmes's first story: 'The Krotons'.





Robert Holmes' second story: 'The Space Pirates'.

 



Happy Birthday, Douglas Adams!



Douglas Adams.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCI-FI GENIUS, DOUGLAS ADAMS!



Douglas Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English writer, humourist and dramatist. He is most famous for his trilogy of books entitled 'The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy'.

The first edition of the book.

Adams is also famous for his three Doctor Who stories: 1978's 'The Pirate Planet, 1979's 'City of Death' whixh drew in Tom Baker's highest viewing figures and most famously the uncomplete 'Shada' which was never completed due to a strike at the BBC. Since its uncompletion it has been remade in audiobook starring Paul McGann, it has been made as a webcast in 2002 starring Paul McGann and most recently it was adapted as a book written by Gareth Roberts last year by BBC Books.









The Pirate Planet.



City of Death



Shada