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| A lullaby for a sleeping god. |
1 episode. Approx. 45 minutes. Written by: Neil Cross. Directed by: Farren Blackburn. Produced by: Marcus Wilson, Denise Paul.
THE PLOT
The Doctor takes Clara to the distant future, to a truly alien environment: The Rings of Akhaten. This is a system of small worlds, circling the giant planet Akhaten, from which the people of this system believe all life originated. The Doctor and Clara have arrived in time for the Festival of Offerings, a holy event that takes place only once every thousand years, when all the rings align. "It's quite a big thing," the Doctor explains, "like Pancake Tuesday."
Clara is distracted when she sees a little girl running away in apparent fear. She goes after the child and finds her hiding. She learns the child is Merry Galel (Emilia Jones), selected at birth to be "The Queen of Years." Merry is afraid because she has been chosen to sing a special song to their "Old God," also known as "grandfather," and is terrified that she will get it wrong. Clara reassures her, and even goes with the Doctor to watch her perform.
Merry sings beautifully... but a tendril of energy emerges from the pyramid and snatches her away. The Doctor and Clara chase after the girl - but soon, all three of them are trapped inside the pyramid. The parasitic "Old God" is about to awaken, determined to feast on Merry... on the Doctor and Clara... and on the seven worlds in their entirety!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: The teaser sees him following the leaf from "Page One" of Clara's book, 101 Places to See. He traces it back to the first meeting of Clara's parents, then spies on her as a child and even watches her mother's funeral from afar. It's obsessive behavior, and disturbing to watch - all the moreso with the show ending as the Doctor's smile turns into a very dark scowl the second Clara's no longer watching.
He's much more himself when actually traveling with Clara, particularly once the crisis strikes. Matt Smith gets two of the very best monologues he's had. The first comes when talking to Merry, pushing her to realize her worth as an individual by describing her uniqueness as elements of an exploding star, combined and ripped apart over and over again until they finally came together in just the right way to form her. It's a great speech... And even so it is dwarfed at the episode's climax, when he faces down the "Old God" by daring it to consume his own memories: all that he's seen, all that he's lost, all that he's known.
Clara: Much more a full individual in this episode. Her nurturing side is on full display in her scenes with young Merry. As soon as she sees the young girl running off, she can't help but follow to try to help. She is very Doctorish herself as she talks Merry into singing by telling her that she won't get it wrong. When Merry is snatched, Clara is ready to fight the Doctor into going after her and is ready to give up something personally precious. When the Doctor hints at her similarity to her other selves, she insists on being seen as a unique individual - but I find myself wondering if her words at the end about futures "that never got lived" and days "that never were" might hold a clue to her full nature.
THOUGHTS
I am impressed.
I wasn't expecting much out of The Rings of Akhaten. In general, new Who follows a consistent trend: A big opener, followed by one or two throwaways. That was very much what I expected from this episode.
I certainly did not expect what I got, though I have no idea how I could have. This is possibly the most unusual story since the series' return. The first half in particular recalls the stories and style of Christopher H. Bidmead's Who, only with an emotional core added to the high concepts. The story is often bizarre, visually remarkable for something made on a television budget, and surprisingly heartfelt.
The story works as much on a figurative level as on the literal one. Sure, the little girl in peril and the monster who claims to be a god works as a story on its own terms. But the real interest is in seeing this tied to Clara and particularly the Doctor.
The Doctor is a grandfather, as he reminds us when he and Clara arrive. The "Old God" is also referred to as "grandfather." When the Doctor confronts the "grandfather," he snaps that it is not a god but "a parasite, eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others." He could almost be describing the way he viewed himself at his lowest point in Series Six, when he looked back on his companions and could only see lives that he had ruined. The "grandfather" is prophesied to wake, wreak destruction, and then "embark upon a new odyssey among the stars" - which is basically the Doctor's entire existence, from a certain point of view. It's also worth observing that the Doctor's extraordinary defiance fails to stop the grandfather. It's a completely different offering that chases it away, not the Doctor's.
All of this is punctuated by some of the most fantastic visual moments since the series' return. There are epic visuals: the Doctor and Clara, standing before a gorgeous CGI shot of the titular rings, with the small worlds and the pyramid all floating in space before the brightness of Akhaten itself; the ceremony, with Merry singing to the pyramid as it floats across from her and as a large, multi-species audience looks on; the Doctor, standing before the angry brightness of the "Old God," defying it with himself.
Just as important, though, are the smaller beats: The opening shot, of the leaves rustling before the wind acts on just the right leaf at just the right time; Clara, sitting on her stairs waiting for the Doctor to keep their date from the last episode, a smile very gradually crossing her face as she hears him arrive and realize that he's arrived on time (a notable difference from his inability to be on time for Amy); Clara, giving Merry an encouraging smile like a mother at a school recital just before the little girl sings. Each visual seems precisely framed, individual panels forming a larger whole.
As I said, I did not go into The Rings of Akhaten expecting much. I came away genuinely impressed. This may be the most purely individual episode of Doctor Who since The Doctor's Wife. I know this episode had a mixed reception, so I expect some argument - but for me, this one wins full marks.
Overall Rating: 10/10.
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