Series 7 definitely isn’t my favorite season of new Who. For my money, it’s a little too much of Moffat up to his usual tricks, and I’m not thrilled about how any of the companions are written. But I dunno—I’m an easy mark, I guess, because this is one series 7 episode that I love.
For her first official trip as a companion, the Eleventh Doctor takes Clara to the Rings of Akhaten, where the residents of seven planets have gathered for a festival centered around an ancient ceremony. Clara helps a frightened little girl, not realizing they’re about to get drawn into a fight with a hungry Old God.
I really enjoy the set up of Akhaten and everything surrounding that. All the music is really well done, and I like a good “first taste of an alien world” scene for a companion—it’s fun to watch Clara try some luminous blue fruit (she’s not a fan) and attempt to talk to an alien who communicates through barks and growls.
What’s more, the whole notion of a currency based on sentimental value is interesting to me. This is an episode that’s all about what matters at the core of us: the people who’ve touched us, the emotions that shape us, the stories that make us who we are. There’s nothing more precious than that, or more powerful. And really, when you get down to it, isn’t that why we love Doctor Who?
It's a pretty decent adventure for Clara. I’ll always and forever have issues with her tugging on the locked door of a time machine and taking that as proof that the time machine doesn’t like her. But I love how kind and reassuring she is with Merry—this is the episode that makes the best use of Clara being a nanny, in my opinion—as well as how determined she is to help first Merry, then the Doctor, when things go south. She spends a good chunk of this episode confused/in over her head, but that has zero bearing on her desire to help.
Meanwhile, it’s a great episode for the Doctor, although he too has a large “I call bullshit” moment. (Really, Doctor? 900+ years old, and your sonic screwdriver is your only possession of sentimental value? I’d bet money that’s not your only possession of sentimental value that you currently have on you—I know your pockets are bigger on the inside!) His faceoff against the Old God is one of my absolute favorite Eleventh Doctor scenes. Matt Smith has such a talent for giving you these glimpses where you can see exactly how old the Doctor is, and he employs that beautifully in this episode. From the moment he cinches his bowtie and sighs, “Righty-ho, then,” I’m just gone.
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