Doctor Who Series 7 Episode 6 - The Bells Of Saint John - Review

Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Celia Imrie & Richard E. Grant

Written By: Steven Moffat

Directed By: Colm McCarthy

 

With the Christmas special now past, it's time for Series 7 to get going again. Now, the first half of Series 7 has been ... decent. It's certainly been more consistent, in terms of quality, than Series 6, but there hasn't yet been anything that stood out from the rest, or blown me away with brilliance. But hopefully, now that we've entered a new year for the show, Doctor Who can start getting back on track, and at a standard where it deserves to be. So how did our starter, The Bells Of Saint John fare?

 

The Bells Of St. John takes place on modern day Earth, where people across the globe are being taken by a mysterious Wi-Fi network and soon being found dead once they've connected to it. A young woman living in London, Clara Oswald, phones a helpline to get connected to the internet, but ends up getting through to the Doctor. When the people behind the killer Wi-Fi attempt to take Clara, the Doctor rushes to her aid, and prevents her from being taken. Together the Doctor and Clara must now find out who is operating the rogue Wi-Fi and stop them uploading people's souls through the internet.

 

First of all, I'm really glad of the very modern urban London setting for this episode. It's reminiscent of a lot of Russell T Davies' episodes, and that, for me at least, is a very welcome move. I also like the simpler ideas and plot surrounding the Wi-Fi, especially after a great deal of Steven Moffat's long and complex story arcs. But while I'm glad of the simpler story, I’ve got to admit that it is a bit too similar to The Idiot’s Lantern, only set in modern-day London as opposed to 1950s London. Where are the two stories so similar? Well, lots of people's faces seen on multiple screens, taken through means of ordinary Earth technology, and the Doctor having to climb a major London landmark to stop the sinister female villain. Sound a bit similar? I may be criticizing the episode for its similarities to The Idiot's Lantern, but that's not to say I didn't still enjoy it. Although the episode revisits London for the umpteenth time, the reason I love it here so much, is that London has never looked this beautiful in the show before. It is arguably the best urban thriller that Doctor Who has ever presented, and the sleek, polished environment is just gorgeous. Such an environment goes hand in hand with Colm McCarthy's stylish and fluent direction, and after this episode, I really hope he'll back to direct more.

 

With such a modern setting, its great to see it complimented with technologically advanced villains. Teasers and pre-broadcast information about this episode told us that the villains would be called the Spoonheads. I cringed when I heard that name, how can you be threatened by something called a Spoonhead? Thankfully though, we only heard this name once, and even then it was revealed to just be a nickname. While the Servers are literally plot devices here, the real villain is Ms Kizlet, played by the always-fantastic Celia Imrie. While I'm glad that Celia Imrie has finally appeared in the show, Ms Kizlet is a brilliant character who commands every scene that she's in. (Spoiler Warning!) Ms Kizlet’s best scene and one of the best of Series 7 so far, is at the end where she is free of the Great Intelligence’s control, but is left with mind of a child. Not only did it make the character even better and deeper, it's just a haunting moment to watch, giving the Great Intelligence a real fear factor.

 

This episode also marks the first full appearance of Clara, or at least the version that will be travelling in the TARDIS. While the Dalek Asylum and Victorian London versions were either too cocky or too much of a smart-arse to be likeable, the real Clara is an improvement in some ways and a disappointment in others. To be honest, there's nothing to her. Due to the mystery surrounding her character, the Doctor keeps referring to her as special and unique, but nothing is seen in the episode to prove this. It may still be early days for her character, but right now, Clara’s personality can't develop as Steven Moffat is spending too much time on the mystery of how she died twice in different time zones, and not enough on the actual character. If it weren’t for this mystery, I’m not entirely sure if the Doctor would even willingly travel with her in the TARDIS. However, Jenna Louise-Coleman is in no way bad as Clara as she gives a fantastic performance, and shares some brilliant chemistry with Matt Smith throughout the episode.

 

To sum up, I think that I can safely say The Bells Of St. John is a welcome and solid start to the second half of Series 7, and an improvement over a couple of previous episode. I love the modern, polished feel that the episode has throughout, and it’s arguably the best urban episode Doctor Who has ever done. Celia Imrie gives a wonderful guest performance, Matt Smith and Jenna Louise-Coleman share some great chemistry together, the production values are high and the direction is stellar. There might be times where the episode comes across as a re-write of The Idiot's Lantern, and as a character, Clara is soon going to need some serious development. But as it stands, The Bells Of Saint John is an enjoyable romp and gets the second half of Series 7 off to a good start.

 

 

The Bells Of Saint John



8/10