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One of only two Clara-heavy episodes in this series (or this half of the series) that includes mythology, is a bit mad in places, and yet I enjoy it. Am I ill? No, but it is all correct that Clara, the woman I loathe, mythology, a thing that I think takes advantage of the vulnerable, and some rather frantic writing all struck a balance for this one episode. I don’t know why either, as the writer isn’t someone I’ve crossed too often. The director is Farren Blackburn of “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe,” and I mean, it stars Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara around a kid.

Apparently, no one told royalty to keep the kids away from bad people. The Queen of Years, Merry Gejelh, has to sing to the sun god Akhaten as he wakes from his slumber. It turns out Merry, the little scamp that she is, is just a sacrifice to a god that eats memories, stories, and the feelings you’ve experienced. He is a lovely chap really, goes golfing on the weekends with Satan from “The Satan Pit” and has drinks with the Raccnoss Queen every Tuesday. I’m joking! What kind of person would want to end a paragraph on a horrible child-eating monster that believes it is a god?

Clara (as it turns out) is really one of the main focuses. Though she is still a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a steak-bake, she’s yet to be explained. On top of that, the ever-curious one just has to work out why she’s been in a Dalek, the 19th Century, and now is just an idiot that doesn’t know what Twitter is. Those around Akhaten only trade in belongings that are of value. Value is based on your connection to something, and thus a locket that is prized within your family is almost priceless in more ways than one. Beyond the baked goods from a very northern bakery holding heart disease and mystery, she’s actually got a bit of a human element to her here. She has a love story for parents and tragedy in her mum’s death. I think her dad ends up seeing 11’s little Frobisher.

Though she becomes a teacher, later on, this is the only moment I think Clara becomes good with a kid. I mean, the bar is set pretty low when she’s ready to kill some kids because they won’t see their parents. For reference, that is something she says in front of a 1000+-year-old man who doesn’t have anyone else of his race and her orphan boyfriend. I bang on about “In the Forest of the Night” for two reasons: Frank Cottrell-Boyce should never have been allowed near Doctor Who, and Clara was palatable here. From here I wanted to like her. I wanted to see her grow and be something fun or interesting. Then Moffat did that whole mystery nonsense for far too long.

I think one of the many reasons I like the backstory of Clara’s parents and tragedy (alongside Merry’s wonderful innocence) is the world. It is alien, idealistic to our egalitarian goals, yet is still somewhat capitalistic but without placed value on paper or card. It is familiar, chaotic, and inviting, all while being some far-flung alien market. It is beautiful despite being a bit brown everywhere, and shows so many different cultures, species, and otherwise, sharing valuables, foods, and experiences. It reminds me of childhood memories of markets in big fields filled with people, and being a child in that place getting lost. It is scary as a child, but looking back on it with this viewpoint now, those are invaluable experiences.

The mummy-thing is a bit crap. Again it is a companion-introduction episode, so the threat may not be entirely the focus. If you think about it, the Nestene from “Rose” wasn’t much of a threat. Florence wasn’t much work in “Smith and Jones,” the less that is said about the Atraxi the better, and the lesbian puddle from “The Pilot” does not need to be spoken about. Now that I think about it, I think that’s why I don’t like this series so much, or this half anyway. “Cold War” brings back the Ice Warriors and sets up a bit more of Clara the carer, “Hide” can jump in a bin, and “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS” is the first episode that feels like we’ve gotten into a swing of things. Too bad that’s four episodes from the end of the series.

I feel like I’ve said this a thousand times before. I enjoy a fun adventure that is maybe a bit colorful, and that’s what this was. What is frustrating is knowing bi-polar Clara here is going to turn from a woman who can be kind and caring and turn into a mass-murdering psychopath that should never be allowed with 1,000,000 lightyears within a school. “There’s one thing you need to know about traveling with me […] We don’t walk away,” and for Clara to repeat this, later on, that’s the Clara we should have gotten and the Clara a kind world would have gotten.

I’ve avoided Smith’s Doctor so far simply for how much Clara pulls focus. However, his speech here, much like “I. Am. Talking!” in “The Pandeorica Opens,” is one of the few classics of his era. It is right up there with the one on war in “The Zygon Inversion” and Tennant’s “I don’t want to go.” Some might argue it is a little anti-religion or anti-theology and that is somewhat true, but “All these people who’ve lived in terror of you and your judgment?” is a line that is as anti-bully as it is anti-religion. It is one of the few beautiful speeches on Smith’s years, and it is only backed by one other thing.

I don’t talk about it too often because the point of it (more often than not) is to simply be there in the background. Murray Gold’s music has been a staple of Doctor Who since 2005. While there will always be nostalgic parts of me happy to hear “Rose’s Theme” “Martha’s Theme,” or that moaning of the 9th Doctor’s theme, the pieces that stand out the most as a collection are from this episode. Of course, based around a larger choral sound and the religious theming of the episode, it brings a larger emotional sound despite the rather simplistic nature of some segments to support the episode as a whole.

Despite the mummy being superseded by a literal sun-god, there are bits that just fall a little flat in those terms. Again, the threat isn’t all the focus, it is the fear of a child and the horrors running through her mind from all the stories she and many others have been told of the god. It is effective in the broad strokes painted, using the second episode to set out the intentions of how this companion will experience the world. This little segment of the galaxy is simply beautiful in just about every way, filled with so many interesting species of beings. Again, it is one of the very few episodes I think Clara isn’t the worst thing in. That would just be the lack of Brendan Fraser.

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Doctor Who "The Rings Of Akhaten"

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• See Clara, this is how to act around kids!
• That speech is one of the greats.
• "We don't walk away."

Cons

• The mummy/I am Groot.