Doctor Who:-The Bells of St John

Alright, I might as well write a review about this episode. I've tried to write reviews for all the episodes recently but got nowhere with time being a problem. Still this episode deserves an in-depth look. Or at least as in depth as I can get.

First things first, the so called bells of StJohn. Yes it was the TARDIS phone ringing. Next. Well not quite, lets look at this point for a second. The Doctor has retreated to a 13th century monastery and taken up the role of a monk in an effort to find Clara, the woman twice dead. When you have a TARDIS, something that has access to pretty much all the information in the universe, it might take awhile but just throw the TARDIS randomiser on and travel. If you're going to bump into her you will. I love Steven Moffat's run on Doctor Who, but these pointless asides are getting grating.

The whole point was the phone call and the line "Some woman in the shop gave it me, supposed to be the best helpline in the universe." Fan theories are ten a penny as to who gave Clara the number to the TARDIS. Most people betting on River. Me, I'm leaning in the direction of either Amy or Rose. But I'm fairly sure that it's a dead end. It won't effect the overall mystery of who, or how Clara is who she is. Speaking of which, neither will this episode. Other than the Doctor meeting her I highly doubt what happens here is going to have more than a tangential impact on the overall story, much like the giant floating Eyeballs in Amy's first episode. Still they are the focus of this episode so that's what I'm going to look at

Again Moffat is, by now, legendary at taking the most innocuous of things and making them scary. Statues, shadows, a crack in the wall, an empty room and now your internet connection. Thing is that last one doesn't quite work, evil hacking into our brains via wi-fi sounds impressive but it doesn't translate well into visual events. Hence the scrawling meaningless symbols flying over the screen during "Intense Hacking Action"

That's why we had the "Spoon-heads" but these guys fall into the same trap as the "Smilers" in The Beast Below They are threat-less. Just standing there as action happens around them, they might be slightly creepy with the whole disguise trick but fail on the threat side of things. I built scarier and more practical robots out of Lego when I was five.

Oh and the big threat, yeah. Saw him coming a mile off, was hardly a surprise.  Again that's why I don't think the events here are going to have massive impacts. It might be something to do with each of Clara's live mirroring each other. The same threats, same jobs, same attitude. Just in a different order.

As you may have guessed I'm trying to be glib and spoiler free. While a lot is predictable and the whole thing comes together nicely with a bow (heh heh heh) there is enough quick twists to keep you going.

Before I get to the round up lets look at what I did like. Matt Smith just goes for it in this one. It's obvious that the Doctor is thrilled, exited and fascinated by Clara. The mystery she represents, wrapped in an enigma and presented in a very attractive package, is something that even he hasn't seen before. As such he's like a kid in a toy shop, bouncing around from thought to thought. That Clara has no idea just how fascinating she is just adds to the sense of adventure that rolls of the Character in waves. While the Doctor is enjoying it I'm sure so is Smith. As for Jenna-Louise Coleman I haven't got a feel of her yet, how much is her and how much is Clara. Clara is cheeky, fun, adventurous, flirtatious and most of all fearless. A classic Moffat Companion, but there are some differences. For example Amy would flirt, but to her it was a game. Clara treats it all as a joke. Amy, right up to the end, was still the little girl playing at being an adult. Clara is a lot more worldly, but at the same time has a lot less experience. She sees the Doctor as an adventure but knows she has responsibilities. While Amy would run off and play with her imaginary friend, even on her wedding night, Clara is willing to put her own wishes and goals to one side for those that need her. Not to say she won't jump and throw herself in with the Doctor, but not yet. It's an interesting difference.

The point of this episode was to re-introduce Clara and to kickstart the Doctor's latest adventure and that's what it did. It could have been better, more threatening for instance, but still a good start to the second half of the series. It's biggest problem was that at times it was too smart for it's own good and others it didn't have the time necessary to expand on the important bits, but it did what it set out to do and well enough to be entertaining. All the actors did a fantastic job and I'm looking forward to the next half a dozen episodes and for the mystery to be solved, for I'll give Moffat this he does know how to pull it all together in the end!