The Bells of Saint John

"People's souls are being uploaded to the internet."

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast: 30 March 2013

Series: 7.06

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

The Doctor's search for Clara Oswald brings him to modern-day London, where Wi-Fi is everywhere. Humanity lives in a Wi-Fi soup. But something dangerous is lurking in the signals, picking off minds and imprisoning them. As Clara becomes the target of this insidious menace, the Doctor races to save her and the world from an ancient enemy.

Verdict

The Bells of Saint John was a great episode to kick off the second half of the seventh series within the modern era! This feels like a brand new series and I guess technically it is, and it feels so different already from what we had with Amy and Rory. Clara becomes companion during this episode but given what has happened in setting up her mystery arc in Asylum of the Daleks and The Snowmen, she already feels like the person in that role. We come to the present day rather than the Victorian era with the version of Clara that sadly died in the previous episode, and she’s in a position as a nanny now rather than a governess. I think that’s quite fun and I love the dynamic she has with the Doctor right from the off. There’s instant chemistry and there’s just the right amount of flirting and innuendo. I think it’s great that she refers to the TARDIS as the snogging box and that’s understandable given the frank way the Doctor tries to get her inside. I think doing an episode on the dangers of wifi is great and it’s amazing really that this aired eleven years ago. My girlfriend Gemma mentioned how this story shared similarities with Dot and Bubble given the focus on uploading and the internet, and I couldn’t disagree. I did prefer this one though I must say! It feels very modern which is good and I always remember Steven Moffat describing this episode as somewhere in the middle of his contributions. It’s not bad but it’s not amazing. It’s just there. I don’t think that quite does the story justice as it’s a lot better than that, but I can understand what he meant. I think it’s hilarious that the Doctor genuinely goes into help mode when he gets a call on the TARDIS phone regarding the internet. The mystery of the woman in the shop giving Clara the phone number is fun and I’m delighted that Gemma guessed it as Missy, but she has no memory of how there are multiple versions of Clara. That’s going to be a fun reveal in the finale! I think the spoon heads look pretty freaky and the concept of uploading souls to the internet is terrific. The mystery of the client is strong although the reveal of the Great Intelligence being behind it comes a little too late. I know it leads towards more moving forward in the series, but it could have happened quicker. I’m also not a huge fan of the anti-grab motorcycle sequence up the Shard. Clara deducing where the operations were was sensational though, especially with the Doctor not even being able to hack them. That wasn’t required though! Kizlet as the head of operations being uploaded by the Doctor hacking his own clone was fantastic though and it was clear the entire cloud would be downloaded to save Clara and the rest of the victims. That was neatly done. Kizlet’s reaction once she was uploaded was priceless and she soon stopped caring all about the client and the job at hand. She was concerned with herself only. The restoring of factory settings was intriguing as a means of finality, but I did really enjoy the arrival of UNIT as the clean up crew. The Great Intelligence referencing The Web of Fear as a means of having encountered them was marvellous. I thought Clara’s moment of entering the TARDIS was joyous and I really love that she accepts the offer to travel with the Doctor, just not right away. She’ll wait a day. And the Doctor is excited. He wants to find out who she is! A good journey is about to ensue. Overall, a fine episode to kick off the next half of the series!

Rating: 8/10