Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Celia Imrie, Richard E. Grant, Robert Whitlock, Dan Li, Manpreet Bachu, Sean Knopp, James Greene, Geff Francis, Eve de Leon Allen, Kassius Carey Johnson, Danielle Eames, Fred Pearson, Jade Anouka, Olivia Hill, Isabella Blake-Thomas, Matthew Earley, Antony Edridge.
The new series, or should that be the second part of the previous series or even the build-up to the 50th Anniversary of the longest running science fiction show on British television has returned after its winter sabbatical and it seems it is going to become about obsession.
Then again that isn’t anything new for those that relish every new story that comes along in the annals of Doctor Who but for the Doctor himself, this takes a new turn. In the years since the B.B.C. had the foresight to bring back one of highest rating shows that doesn’t frame itself within sport or soap operas, The Doctor has had to run the gauntlet of some of the companions being obsessed with him, whether with delusions of a doomed romantic notion or in finding him, such as Donna Noble, in order to fulfil a higher purpose in their lives. For the Doctor to go searching for someone, someone who has already died twice; must mean she is pretty special but obsessions can lead to the final bitter downfall.
In The Bells of Saint John, The Doctor finds Clara Oswald once more but this time she is not alone, she is with thousands more who have lost that little piece of themselves, their soul, thanks to the machinations of a rather wonderful Celia Imrie as Miss Kislet and her secretive client. Based in the urban labyrinth that is modern London, The Doctor takes on the marvellous Spoonheads, manages to invent a new form of transport and bring Clara Oswald fully into the series as the new companion, something that has excited the millions of fans worldwide for several months now.
The Spoonheads themselves, well there will be those that love and hate them and firmly dividing the audience. It is interesting to note though that the premise of the story is of a Wi-Fi soup; the mass communication tool that allows everyone to have their say from where ever they are sat on the planet, except if they are travelling between Runcorn and Crewe on the railway then forget that, you are certainly safe from any monsters that live in the Wi-Fi and want to attack you there, what better to have eat soup or even the liquid remains of a person’s mind than with with a spoon. Pure genius writing by Stephen Moffat it may seem basic but it is those little touches that make some enemies more memorable than others.
As for easing in a new companion, it is never easy for anyone to fill a void, especially that of the one person who represents the viewer, in this case Jenna-Louise Coleman. To take over from Amy Pond portrayed by the delightful and engaging Karen Gillan would be the one role everybody would love to have but at the back of their minds would be always the nagging doubt of how to ever fill her shoes. In three episodes, the splendid season opener last year, the stunning Christmas special and now The Bells of Saint John, Jenna-Louise Coleman has already proved beyond measure she is worthy of a key to the Tardis door and someone who can give the Doctor as much as he dares to give out in the same vein as Janet Fielding’s air stewardess Tegan Jovanka.
As with any Doctor Who story there can be undeniable moments of unkindness, to witness Miss Kislet’s reversal is one that ranks very highly in the 50 years of the show as being one of the cruellest ever shown. To be reduced in thought to the age of a child again whilst being in the body of a middle-aged woman is one that nobody would deserve to have happen. Very good writing and portrayed with great sensitivity by Miss Imrie.
As introductions to a new companion go, this was this was perhaps one of the best and in recent times only beaten by the absolute comic chemistry between The Doctor and Donna Noble. As Clara Oswald would say, “Run you clever boy and remember…” for it’s got to keep working this well as the series celebrates something very, very special.
Ian D. Hall