'The Bells Of Saint John' has quite an odd feeling about it. Technically we're slap bang in the middle of Series 7 where the themes and arc of this current season should start to develop (I'm a firm believer that Doctor Who seasons in general leave the best stuff for last, which wasn't necessarily the case for this season) and yet it almost feels like we're starting over again with ANOTHER character introduction for Jenna Louise Coleman's (or JLC as I'll call her from here on, save me typing out her name every god damned review) character Clara and another high octane episode that barely has room to breath. *LOOKS AT EPISODES WRITER* Oh yeah, of course it's Steven Moffat writing this one. At this point I kind of want to say 'SLOW DOWN!', because recently it's got to the point where his episodes are trying to cram a million billion things into them without ever taking the time to slow down and let a few of the characters breath. It's stimulating sure, heck every time I watch Series 6's finale 'The Wedding Of River Song' I get the impression that someone has stuck a needle full of that drug from the film 'Limitless' into me and it's exhilarating but it can't be ALL that ALL of the time surely? The episodes at the start of the season are going to be very much like this, with some of the more emotional or down to earth episodes coming at the lower end of it but perhaps this blockbuster a week style of thinking won't allow for that. The series needs two parters to flesh things out more and it feels a tad disappointing to be back to page 1 with this episode but to be fair, it's essentially treated as another series opener and does take the time to stop and talk for a bit, the problem is that we never get a sense of who the new companion really is and her background in this episode (she kinda just tags along), so as a result it feels rather shallow and going through the motions. In other words, I can't find a better example of an average Doctor Who episode.
Just something about this episode didn't quite click with me. I felt oddly removed from proceedings and I think it has to do with the fact that this version of the Clara character felt a tad underwhelming at first, and because I had the sneaking feeling that I've seen all this before. In fact the more you think about it, the more this story resembles the Season 2 episode 'The Idiots Lantern' just with a more modern setting and with Wi-Fi being used as the 'soul trapper' instead of television sets. It's the most Deja-Vu I've ever felt for a Doctor Who episode, I mean just look at the comparisons:
-They're both set in London.
-They both feature aliens planning to consume vast amounts of human souls via technology.
-These aliens also like to feed on peoples souls/minds and divorce them of their body.
-A lot of the imagery is revolving around peoples 'faces' being taken.
-The alien also mind controls a main henchmen to do his/her bidding, who end up having a rather tragic demise/fate.
-The companions gets their face taken away so the Doctor gets angry.
-The Doctor climbs a famous building to confront the villain at the end.
-....And in both stories the Doctor uses the villains own technology against them.
-Also the alien/main bad guy is some sort of disconnected conscience that has no physical form.
That's A CRAP TON of similarities, the only real difference between the two are the periods that they're set in. They're pretty much the same exact story. I mean granted Season 2 was AGES ago (it's been like 7 years) and I have been re-watching a few of the old episodes lately to prepare myself for the 50th Anniversary but COME ON, do you have to be this blatant about it Moffat?
As for JLC's third iteration of her (seemingly resurrected) character I was also slightly underwhelmed. As I said before we don't really get any characterisation for her this episode as things are constantly on the move, and even the quiet scenes she gets with Matt Smith doesn't really shed any more light on her back-story other than she's not exactly what you'd call tech savvy (the scene when she was trying to type in the Wi-Fi password was cringe worthy, I mean WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT THESE DAYS?) and she shares an awful lot of similarities with her predecessors'. Because we've been introduced to the same basic character three times now (with slight variations in their personalities) it was a bore to go through the 'companion introduction' process again. So yes, more Deja-Vu. Also because she's present day Clara she feels like the least interesting of the three, I'd have much preferred it if Victorian Clara had survived the Xmas episode and come on this adventure instead, it would have been nice to have a non-present day companion for once. She get's a pass so far though simply because JLC is a really charismatic actor, I mean how can you not like her? For once the companion isn't cheating on her boyfriend or falling head over heels for the Doctor....yet.
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| Welcome to an average day with the Doctor! |
The villains of the story (I don't think they were ever given a name as a collective group), in stark contrast to 'The Snowmen' were actually for once the most entertaining part of the episode, Celia Imrie's Miss Kinzlet is probably the most deliciously fun villain we've had on DW for a while, her remarks about killing one of her drones after he's been on holiday were hilarious. Once again I hate to draw parallels but she is quite similar to Jane Foster's Nurse Redfurn character in Series 4's 'Partners In Crime' (she even dresses the same), but I'll forgive this since Imrie is so deliciously good at the role and it's nice to finally get another female 'human' Who villain who isn't someone dressed up as a monster. The way she controlled her minions with an iPad was also inspired but a bit confusing, I mean why WOULDN'T you put the IQ slider all the way up, along with obedience? Perhaps if they were smarter they wouldn't put their work info on Facebook....(brilliant gag by the way, so true). I also liked how they were defeated in a way that wasn't overly complicated or involved lots of lurve *SHUDDERS*, in fact the Doctor outwitted them rather easily without even getting out of his chair. It's a running trend this season that the enemies don't seem to be much of a challenge for the Doctor or that much of a threat but I think that given the light-hearted nature of this story as a whole (effectively being another Series opener) I'll give that a pass.
I probably won't be re-watching this episode for a while, a lot of it has been seen before and despite some cool set-pieces (the plane and traversing up the Spire were the episode highlights) and a few entertaining villains I kind of want more than that at this point: 6/10.
Positives:
+ Thrilling set-pieces, action
+ Fun villains
+ JLC
+ Signature Moffat wit, dialogue
Negatives:
- Villains are once again too easy to defeat
- Feels like I've seen all this before...
- To fast paced, not enough down time
- This is the THIRD introduction to the same character
P.S I felt kind of numb seeing that the GI (or 'Great Intelligence') was behind all this. He was a rather weak villain in the Xmas episode so to see him brought back here made me groan, because it probably means we're going to see him again in the Finale as the 'Big Bad' if they're making him a recurring theme. I hope they make him a better villain this time (and explain how he survived the Xmas episode and has somehow lived til' the 21st century!).
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| AHHH! It's Richard E Grant, RUN!!!!! |
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