7X07 The Rings of Akhenaten (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

Good. Like last week, one notch below the top grade. Definitely entertaining and interesting. The realization of the far out setting was fantastic. Top notch for creativity. However, the resolution was weak, very weak. I suppose it was trying to build the mystery surrounding Clara, but't it's got to stand on it's own. It fell short there.

So, was the reference to Susan (unless he has other Grandaughters), a throwaway line or is it of importance? Where did the Doctor vanish to? Was he off on another adventure? If we were supposed to gather some mysteriouness from the Doctor's visits to Amy's past, I missed it other than just seeing the importance of the leaf.

Mr Awe

 

QFT.

Somebody needs to save the show from the fans. I still love Rose. And the Ponds. And Martha. And Donna.

"Eww, what is this icky lurve crap?!?!"

 

That's an excellent way to put it and a HUGE part of the problem. The fact that the actual resolution was poor made it even worse.

Mr Awe

 

And, the planet would be Akhenaten, as named in the title. So, the title is finally relevant to the story and people miss it!

Mr Awe

 

Akhaten, not Akhenaten

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rx0lj

 

He was off doing the things seen in the start of the episode.
The visiting of her past.

 

That's one possibility. Or, he might've done that after the last episode and before he picked her up in this one. If the Doctor was doing that while on the rings, how was the TARDIS still there for Clara and the Queen to hide behind?

Mr Awe

 

Yeah, I guess the TARDIS still being there kills that theory

 

I used to have this problem, but I checked my speaker/sound system setup and it wasn't right - The music used to drown out the dialogue, but I turned them down or something. I'm not overly technical so can't explain any better then that sorry lol

 

Except that's not the title. The Title is The Rings of Akhaten

I enjoyed it, I thought the Currency was a great idea, The Doctor's curiosity and checking out Clara's past, the Leaf overloading the Hungry Beast with the infinite possibilities of Futures Unrealized. The Goofy stuff (Ahkenaten's Face, the Space flying sled), was of course, throwing a bone to the kids, so, I don't hold that against them. Seems there's often complaints about the sappy sentimental endings, such as TD,TW,aTW or this one, which is strange since it's a Kids or Family show, that kinda of ending should be expected far more often then the Fandom is asked to endured

Oswin is not part of this Clara's name, I wonder if Dalek Clara might not be the remains of the Digital Clara from The Bells of St John, rather then the end of "Clara Prime's Life". OS Win could be Operating System Windows.

Also, I wonder if the mysterious lady who gave Clara the number could be Ms. Kinzlet acting under the Great Intelligence's orders, to lure the Doctor into the scheme, and that he'll be doing so all Series long, and is responsible for The Doctor running into Clara over and over again and that she will be a trap for him in the end (At the Fields of Tuzanore)?

On BBCA, the sound was definitely an issue. The opening theme was barely audible, and then the music overwhelmed the dialogue. Don't know if it was BBCA's transmission that had an issue, or the Source files they got from BBC, but, definitely the sound wasn't properly balanced

 

Not a bad episode, overall pretty average. I like the concept, but it felt like they didn't go with it. Matt Smith was great, especially in the final confrontation. As for Clara, I liked the character better in "Bells of St. John" than I did here. And I hope that dropping her back home at the end isn't going to be a regular thing.

Okay, is it me, or did it look like part of the console shifted/broke at the start. Right after Clara says "Something awesome" and the Doctor is running around the console, as it pulls back to an overhead shot it looks like a segment of the console shifts out of place.

 

I don't even know what to say there. Is that supposed to be some sort of admonishment for mistyping the planet's name or something?

Or, much more likely, as emphasized heavily in this episode, all the different variations of Clara are the "what if" versions courtesy of the leaf, with the super-hacker-infused digital Clara being one of those what ifs.

Not only were all of her potential selves realized as psychic creations by an immensely powerful being, they were intermingled with all of the Doctor's memories at the same time. That's not a coincidence.

 

Put me in the camp with those who preferred the first two versions of Coleman's character to this one, but I'm willing to give her a shot.

 

I believe Matt Smith is always breaking the Tardis.

 

Huh?

The Asteroid planets and the title of the episode are The Rings of Akhaten. The Big Bad planet in the Episode is called Akhenaten

No admonishment meant

 

Average for me, though the prologue and the finale were both excellent, even though her having to give away the leaf was so obviously telegraphed it still gave me a lump in my throat at the end. It's just a shame everything in between was, well ok, but nothing great.

Surprised no one has mentioned (unless I missed it) the Blade Runner homages? "I've seen things you wouldn't believe" which I would have let pass if they hadn't followed it up with "Home again home again jiggedy jig."

Is Clara a replicant?

I wish I liked Clara more. So far I liked Victorian Clara slightly less than Alaska Clara, and I like modern day Clara slightly less than Victorian Clara. At the moment she's behind Donna, Amy and Rory, and possibly behind 1st series Rose for me, still ahead of all other Roses and Martha at least

So given the Doctor told Clara "We don't walk away" and her mum told her "I'll always be there when you need me" anyone else thinking that when Clara leaves/dies, she somehow keeps returning through sheer force of will to come and help the Doctor? So Alaska and Victorian Clara's were both effectively future echos of this Clara.

So, to sum up, some very good bits sandwiched between some meh bits. I really did expect something meatier from the man who gave us Luther?

 

Thank you, Asbo!

 

Well just watched the episode and Dr who does what it says on the tin, entertains for the 50 mins it's on, and this time it even did something diffrent, not bad for a show that's been going 50 years.

On the issue some had with the audio i can only say that from my point it was crystal clear on HD freeview, although i do remember some episodes from past Smith seasons were i was straining at times to catch what people were saying, seemed like they were mumbling their lines here and there.

My only other minor grips are with the theme tune and intro, i personally dont think the theme tune is meaty sounding enough, if that makes sense, and the intro from the face to the retro Who tunnel effect are great, but i find the beginning a bit meh.

But only minor minor grips, i wont be burning my Who DVD collection just yet. lol

And the tardis being locked to her, could the tardis now something about her we dont???