Doctor Who Series 7-7: The Bells of St John (SPOILERS)

[Encurtidos]

The TRADIS felt so cold and sterile...kind of puts me off, its upsetting. The TARDIS should be a place of warmth and never-ending dreams, however it was not. Upsetting unfortunately.

 

[Lilani]

Just finished it and my thoughts were, In rough order...
1. Time Vortex is worse. Old one was better.
2. Hmm. new TARDIS. I prefer the old one.
3. Wait, thats whatshername from the planet of the mental Daleks! AWESOMESAUCE.
4. Oh, he looks different. Does he? Cannot really tell.

The episode wasn't too amazing either. I mean, it was interesting. Ish...

I dunno. This series has not been too brilliant (I mean, this is part two of the 7th series) Some brilliant episodes, yeah. Some rather sub par ones though.

Then again, maybe I am spoilt cause I recently watched one through 5 (Or was it 6?) on Lovefilm. So I just had my Tennant fix.

It seems you haven't seen the Christmas special then, lol. Clara was also in the Christmas special, and that really laid the groundwork for this episode (why the Doctor was so fixated on finding her, the significance of "Run you Clever Boy run," and introducing the Great Intelligence). While it is a bit unusual for the main series to rely so much upon continuity revealed in the Christmas special, I sort of liked it. It allowed the episode to jump into the action a lot faster than you usually see in a series opener.

As for me, I rather liked the general feel of the episode. It was whimsical and mysterious, a nice change from the depressed and shut-in Doctor I was worried we were going to be stuck with for quite some time. The cheeky little details were nice, too. There was that little quote at the beginning from Clara, when she took note of the boy's book by Amelia Williams,

"What chapter are you on?"

"10."

"11 is the best, you'll cry your eyes out."

Oh, Moffat you do like to jab at us when you can. And the whole pneumonic tying into her "run you clever boy" phrase. I dunno, maybe it's just me but I really like to see little plot lines tied together like that.

In general, "meh". Nothing much happened, except arc plotting, and the Dr not bothering to save untold hordes of people stuck in the datacloud.

What do you mean "the Doctor not saving everybody in the data cloud?" Everybody was dumped out of the cloud at the end. That's why he trapped that lady in charge--she couldn't be released without the entire cloud being released with her. So he forced the workers to release her, and in turn Clara and everybody else.

 

[Lilani]

The TRADIS felt so cold and sterile...kind of puts me off, its upsetting. The TARDIS should be a place of warmth and never-ending dreams, however it was not. Upsetting unfortunately.

Sorry for the double post, but I feel like this TARDIS (along with the new intro graphics) is a throwback to the TARDIS of the Classic Who, which makes perfect sense given the 50th anniversary of the series this year.. The geometric shapes, the symmetry and such. I can see why you think it's colder, but I rather like it. It's more mysterious and epic, which along with warmth and dreams are aspects of the Doctor and the TARDIS.

The main thing that bothers me is, why and when did the TARDIS change? When it changed the last time, it was because 10 damaged it when he regenerated and 11 crashed it in Amy's yard. But this change sort of just...happened, sometime after the Ponds left and before the Snowmen episode. I can imagine a few reasons as to why--the old room reminded him too much of the Ponds (but if thinking of them upsets him so much then why did he keep Amy's glasses?), or he had a fit of nostalgia just in time for the 50th anniversary special. I don't really care which excuse they go with, I just wish it would be addressed in some way.

 

[kailus13]

Things I really want to know:

Why the client was doing all the above.

Apparently he was eating them. "My client requires a steady diet of living human minds"

Why he made sure the modded versions of people had high level expertise in computer science.

This part I don't get either

Why he only downloaded people who'd connected computers to a weird-lettered computer network.

Presumably he had to for some reason.

Why two of the people downloaded were "integrated" in such a way that they couldn't be uploaded to wet, squishy hardware without doing the same to a load of other people.

As far as I can tell, all of the people in that wall were fully integrated. All of the people working were hacked, not digitized

Why such a mysterious villain is introduced when we've already got a mysterious, and apparently non-connected, supporting character for us to find out all about.

Because it's still interesting? And better to have an overarching villain then to end like last season.

"Where are my Mummy and Daddy?" That part freaked me out.

 

[wolf thing]

it was better than the shit that was the last series. the new companion is good, she funny but im not sure there will be much behinder her character over some one liners and her plot of restriction but its early doors yet. the plot over all was fine nothing to big or massively interesting, there was some good effects and camera work. the main villain, this intelligences thing was poorly suved in in this story and had unclear motivations which made the whole episode lack any importance. i know he was the bad guy we show in the christmas speciel and im sure he will be returning but i felt he could have been better integrated.

still, looking forward to next episode.

 

[thiosk]

Yes, I saw an episode of the original dr who as part of the special they're running, metallic, geometric, symbols and shapes.

This one is a throwback.

I'm not sure when it was changed... Was it changed in the Christmas episode?
I presume he did it on a whim as part of his brooding.

My wife doesn't care for Clara... Preferring Amy. Personally, I was so tired of Amy and rory by the end that I watched the first five this series mostly in anticipation of their impending demise.

No episode has yet matched blink. The cube episode could have, but it fell flat right at the 40 min mark.

 

[kailus13]

Yes, I saw an episode of the original dr who as part of the special they're running, metallic, geometric, symbols and shapes.

This one is a throwback.

I'm not sure when it was changed... Was it changed in the Christmas episode?
I presume he did it on a whim as part of his brooding.

Yes it was changed in the special. Perhaps he wanted to be closer to the Timelords when he chose to shun humans. Thank you for the information on old Who, it's really quite interesting.

My wife doesn't care for Clara... Preferring Amy. Personally, I was so tired of Amy and rory by the end that I watched the first five this series mostly in anticipation of their impending demise.

How can you be tired of The Last Centurion? He was the best character in the season!

No episode has yet matched blink. The cube episode could have, but it fell flat right at the 40 min mark.

Comparing episodes to Blink is unfair. Entire shows pale in comparison to Blink, it's just that awesome.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I liked the little nod to the Great Intellience, and the trailer for the next episode looks interesting enough.

I liked that it came with a nod to The Web of Fear.

For those that don't know that's the 2nd Great Intelligence story (Snowmen was the 3rd). It tries to invade London through the Underground with robot yetis and is stopped by some soldiers and the Second Doctor, which lead to the formation of UNIT.

Umm, actually....
The Great Intelligence has appeared several times previously:
First time was actually in the *First* Doctor story 'The Zarbi'
Second time was in the story 'The Abominable Snowmen' (Second Doctor)
Third time was in 'Web of Fear' (Second Doctor)
Fourth time was in a BBC special that had a direct to VHS release called 'Downtime'
(the Doctor was not present in the events of Downtime, which featured old companions)
Also appeared in the 'Missing Adventures' novel 'Twilight of the Gods'.
It showed up in a couple of the 'New Adventures' novels, though for the life of me I
can't remember which ones. It was also in the 'New Adventures' series of novels that
the Great Intelligence, the Nestene Consciousness, and some other vague super-threat
aliens were established in the continuity as being the 'Great Old Ones' beings that
had lived in the Universe that existed previous to ours, and had forced their way
from the older universe in to ours, in part by leaving their bodies behind. The Great
Intelligence is cast in the role of Yog-Sothoth. At the time these books were coming
out, the BBC stated that the events in them would be considered continuity, a decision
that I think they now regret.....
It was in 'Twilight of the Gods' that what had previously been referred to as simply a
mysterious disembodied intelligence in 'The Zarbi' was established to be the Great Intelligence,
possibly as a retcon to provide greater flow of continuity.

 

[Thaluikhain]

In general, "meh". Nothing much happened, except arc plotting, and the Dr not bothering to save untold hordes of people stuck in the datacloud.

What do you mean "the Doctor not saving everybody in the data cloud?" Everybody was dumped out of the cloud at the end. That's why he trapped that lady in charge--she couldn't be released without the entire cloud being released with her. So he forced the workers to release her, and in turn Clara and everybody else.

It was pointed out to the Doctor that most people in the datacloud wouldn't survive going back, presumably they'd been too long dead and their bodies had decomposed or been cremated or whatever.

The Doctor says "but they'd be free" or something, and does it anyway. He doesn't bother looking for a way to bring those people back without killing them, he just does it so he can save the person he cares about.

 

[The_Echo]

I haven't like Smith's Doctor basically since his inception. But this season... it's been pretty good, comparatively. I really like Clara, she kind of feels like another Donna, who is probably one of my favorite Companions. It also kind of feels like they'll have the Doctor fall for her, instead of the other way around. And that's an interesting prospect.

Very glad they gave the Doctor new clothes. I was, personally, sick and tired of the tweed jacket. I like the way the TARDIS looks too, though I'm not entirely sure why that happened, or why it travels instantly now. (Also, I miss the noise.)

 

[Lilani]

It was pointed out to the Doctor that most people in the datacloud wouldn't survive going back, presumably they'd been too long dead and their bodies had decomposed or been cremated or whatever.

The Doctor says "but they'd be free" or something, and does it anyway. He doesn't bother looking for a way to bring those people back without killing them, he just does it so he can save the person he cares about.

Oh yeah, that. Well, honestly what could have been done at that point? He couldn't have just summoned up a bunch of vessels for their minds to return to, and it was made pretty clear their existence in the virtual world was a living hell. I just took that decision as a "lesser of two evils situation," sort of like the decision he faced with the star whale in his first adventure with Amy. And I didn't mind the deaths because while I do love the "everybody lives" episodes I feel like it loses its magic if in every single episode he manages to save everybody. There was some major bending of the rules done in order to bring everybody back in the cube episode[footnote]If all those people died of heart-attacks, then even if the Doctor started their hearts back up they would have been brain dead. The brain can't survive without oxygen that long, in fact about four minutes is the limit. It was definitely more than four minutes from the time their hearts stopped to the time when the Doctor revived them.[/footnote], so I was actually quite relieved they didn't do the same kind of bending over backwards to force a happy ending here.

 

[lord.jeff]

It was all right, but I for one am tired of Steven Moffat's Manic Pixie Dream Girl fetish. He's stomping my face into a curb while yelling "YOU WILL FIND THIS CHARACTER INTERESTING! AND QUIRKY! AND BRILLIANT! AND YOU! WILL! LOVE! HER!". The only difference is that this time the curb is labeled "Oswin" instead of "River Song".

I'm feeling the same way about Oswin and I'm really hoping that she becomes more separated from River in the next few episodes but annoyances with the companion aside I still enjoyed the episode over all.

 

[Thaluikhain]

It was pointed out to the Doctor that most people in the datacloud wouldn't survive going back, presumably they'd been too long dead and their bodies had decomposed or been cremated or whatever.

The Doctor says "but they'd be free" or something, and does it anyway. He doesn't bother looking for a way to bring those people back without killing them, he just does it so he can save the person he cares about.

Oh yeah, that. Well, honestly what could have been done at that point?

Well, the Doctor could have scrabbled round for a solution, found there wasn't one, and given a speech about how angry he is about having to kill lots of people. That's much more Doctor-ey, IMHO

 

[Zantos]

I really enjoyed it, creepy as fuck with a good emphasis on lifesaving scenarios and not sodding about. I don't know about how others feel, but I'm finding Matt Smith to be heavily inspired by McCoy more and more. It could just be my naivety on older doctors, but his eccentricity coupled with his pragmatic approach to solving problems, I kinda just want to go watch my Sylvester McCoy tapes again just thinking about it.

 

[Rylot]

Getting more and more disenfranchised with each passing season.

Kinda gotta agree with this. I've always like Tennant better but I re-watched some of the older Matt Smith ones and they kinda grew on me. I was moving when the first run of this season aired so I've been catching up on them in the past few days and dear God I'm struggling to watch the last few. He fought killer snowmen in the Christmas special... It physically hurts me to type that. Oswald is an interesting Companion and all but I'm not sure how long she can keep my attention. My biggest problem with Moffat is he writes like those late eighties mid-nineties generic sci-fi novels. We know the Doctor is gonna win. The bad guys will lose. Companions will come and go but still always get a fairly happy ending. It's just too safe. They'll never explore the Doctor's past or have significant changes to his character; Moffat will always cop out ala Wedding of Riversong. Or the actors will realize that the show has gotten all it can from their characters long before the writers and want out. Of course done in an unbelievably over hyped event that everyone will know months if not years in advance.

Also if I hear one more God damn fucking play on 'Doctor Who?' being said in the show I'm going to fly to Cardiff and kick Moffat in the face. It's an amusing throw away gag interspersed through out a season at the best of times. When they start using that joke several times an episode it's just stupid and lazy. It's just sad when Moffat thinks he's being clever. IMHO Doctor Who has gotten too popular. I'm not trying to be a hipster I'm just saying that they'll never take chances or change anything major for fear of loosing fans.

 

[Matthewmagic]

I wasn't a huge fan of the episode but I'm still sitting around wondering who the fuck blew up the tardis in the pandorica opens. Seriously this question has yet to be answered. Who and why did someone blow up the tardis. They are just forgetting their own plot lines now. Oh well I really like the new companion though. One thing about Moffats run is that the companions are all more interesting then the doctor himself. with the exception of Rory, who I forget about the instance he is not on the screen. I hope river shows up again soon, I know she is about too leave the show and all, but hey.

 

[Albino Boo]

The TRADIS felt so cold and sterile...kind of puts me off, its upsetting. The TARDIS should be a place of warmth and never-ending dreams, however it was not. Upsetting unfortunately.

Sorry for the double post, but I feel like this TARDIS (along with the new intro graphics) is a throwback to the TARDIS of the Classic Who, which makes perfect sense given the 50th anniversary of the series this year.. The geometric shapes, the symmetry and such. I can see why you think it's colder, but I rather like it. It's more mysterious and epic, which along with warmth and dreams are aspects of the Doctor and the TARDIS.

The main thing that bothers me is, why and when did the TARDIS change? When it changed the last time, it was because 10 damaged it when he regenerated and 11 crashed it in Amy's yard. But this change sort of just...happened, sometime after the Ponds left and before the Snowmen episode. I can imagine a few reasons as to why--the old room reminded him too much of the Ponds (but if thinking of them upsets him so much then why did he keep Amy's glasses?), or he had a fit of nostalgia just in time for the 50th anniversary special. I don't really care which excuse they go with, I just wish it would be addressed in some way.

Randomly changing the interior of the tardis with no explanation has always been in the series. A you can see from this link here http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/tardis/interior/ they just do it, for no apperant reason.

 

[The Harkinator]

Great episode but i have to point out something i found weird, in Claras book of her ages going down from 1 to 24...it skipped the age 23...is there some significance there or just an oversight on the writers part?

Clara's hand-written adventure book skips age 23. She types the password wrong because she can't type 23. Last episode saw Clara dying on the 23th of November... the day Doctor Who first aired.

You saw it too! I'll admit I didn't make the connection with the 23rd November but not writing 23 and getting the password wrong I saw, thought there was something in that and now you've basically confirmed it!

In my mind anyway.......


I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW! x

 

[CriticalMiss]

I thought it was an okay episode, meant to ease us in to the oncoming storm. Hopefully things will go up a gear next week and keep the pace up. I'm not a fan of the new title sequence. It's not wibbly wobbly enough and has a noticeable lack of timey wimey things.

And the author of the book. Sad face

All I can say is Oswin better be worth it.

 

[Quaxar]

I haven't like Smith's Doctor basically since his inception. But this season... it's been pretty good, comparatively. I really like Clara, she kind of feels like another Donna, who is probably one of my favorite Companions. It also kind of feels like they'll have the Doctor fall for her, instead of the other way around. And that's an interesting prospect.

Very glad they gave the Doctor new clothes. I was, personally, sick and tired of the tweed jacket. I like the way the TARDIS looks too, though I'm not entirely sure why that happened, or why it travels instantly now. (Also, I miss the noise.)

The TARDIS is not supposed to make that noise, he just leaves the handbrake on! So maybe he forgot to leave it on this time in all the hurry.
And I agree, the new TARDIS design is pretty. Reminds me a lot of early ones with that smaller console and all. The costume too reminds me a lot of Patrick Troughton or Paul McGann, especially considering on the <url=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aW_LCShQnIw/T9HskbtVMNI/AAAAAAAAKaI/NlzU2isIIPc/s1600/080612_wallpaper_4x3+crop.jpg>promo shots he's got a waistcoat too, though I don't think I've seen him wear it yet.

The intro on the other hand... gotta say I really missed that simple time vortex but it was nice of them to do the thing with the Doctor's face again.

Now, the story itself was good even if the weird sudden ending drops it down to a meh for me. But I haven't expected brilliance from the show since RTD left and Moffat took over... not that I particularly dislike him but sometimes it feels like he's trying too hard to make every episode a Blink. Anyway, it was still very much enjoyable and I like Soufflé Girl already much more than I ever did Amy & Rory.