This week Clara has been blackmailed into taking the two kids she's looking after on an adventure with the Doctor.
I'm sure this Neil Gaiman penned adventure will go well for them...
***SPOILER****
They pop up on a planet that is apparently the greatest theme park in the world. They soon run into the people here, soldiers and a weird man in a weird hat.
After tricking the military into thinking he was working for the Emperor they run off with the weird man in a top hat. He takes them to his hideout and asks if they want to play chess.
He introduces them to the challenger.....The enemy... A Cyberman. Wooooooooooooo.
It turns out that Warwick Davis controls the Cyberman, its dormant though. But the Doctor notices something and decides to stay on the planet instead of leaving. Whilst the weird guy orders the chess board the Cyberman moves and sends loads of little bugs into the man to "upgrade" him.
Back to the kids who have been left on their own... Well obviously they wander off, or at least the girl does, the boy stays. She wanders off straight to the military base where she goes about telling the women in charge all about Porridge (Davis character). They are disrupted by a Cyber attack though.
You can not say that these Cybermen are slow and clunky... It moves faster then light!
And steals Angie (the girl).
The military group is a punishment platoon so the Doctor automatically distrusts them and leaves Clara in charge of them whilst he goes to save Angie. And as it turns out he'll have to say Arty (the boy) as well.
The things Updating the kids and weird man are Cybermites. Whilst talking to the weird guy about the new and improved Cybermen the weird guy throws Cybermites onto him and turns the Doctor Cyberman-y.
The Doctor and the Cyber Doctor spend most of the rest of the episode fighting for control of the Doctors mind, the Cyber Doctor wants to get his hands on all the secrets of the Time Lords, obviously.
Clara takes the military guys to a castle to defend it, unfortunately it doesn't work very well and the real person in charge, just as she was about to implode the planet, gets killed by a Cyberman outside of the castle. So Clara steps up and orders the band of misfits to defend the castle.
Meanwhile the Doctor and his three Cyber controlled buddies find their way into the castle where the Doctor demands to be tied up to finish his chess game. The Doctor sacrifices the game to save the kids whilst an army of Cybermen march on the castle. It turns out Porridge is actually the Emperor, he implodes the planet and then proposes to Clara. Awwww cute! I'd say yes.
So the Doctor drops Clara and the children home and Porridge carries on trying to avoid being Emperor and with that the penultimate episode of 7b has ended.
Trenzalore next week friends!
So how did I feel about tonights episode?
Much the same as much of this season I'm afraid. The only saving grace was that it didn't have any "tacked on" bits like Hide did. Plus it didn't send me to sleep like.... You know what my mind is even blank on the name of that one what was the second one called? I'm not trying to be a dick but I really can't remember and other than maybe once when I get the boxset don't plan on rewatching it again!
To start with, does Neil Gaiman realize Amy has gone? Was it just me or did anyone else feel a Amy feel to how Clara was written? It jarred, especially as I loved Amy Pond from episode one. To be honest I've loved Jenna and her acting, she's been brilliant BUT the character of Clara isn't real to me. She's a alien or a robot. She's not a normal girl going on adventures, she seems too cold in some scenes, looks too much like she's "outside" the action. There was this one scene, I don't know if I've mentioned it before, with David Warner where I felt the REAL Clara, the HUMAN Clara surfaced. There has been one or two flashes of that brilliance again and Snowman Clara was wonderful! But too often is she on the side of the action looking totally bored or blank. Not Jenna's fault, if Jenna was told to act more heartbroken she would if she had a say in something she would. But she has been written like an observer more than a companion.
The girl annoyed me, but not because I thought she acted poorly, the character (know it all teenager just like my sister) grated.
Warwick Davis was a wonder to watch though, really enjoyed his character. Nice to see him get a nice part as well. Also Matt was just lovely. Ohhh Matt!
The story wasn't poor, I've never been a Cybermen fan, never seen the point of them to be honest, but this has changed my mind a little bit. The whole head turning 360, indestructible hands coming off, upgrading so things won't effect them.... It was all very cool.
I don't know I just think it was a weak episode, there was something missing (probably Amy Pond to be honest and this is the first time I've wanted her back) it felt like the Ganger two-parter the other year. A lot of set up and then a fizzle at the end.
This series has attracted some amazing actors (Tobias Menzie being the bestest of the bunch!) but the stories have just... Fizzled. The only one I actively dislike is the one I can't remember the name of. I hated Hide's ending, I found Bells a bit.... All over the place and hectic. Cold War and Crimson Horror were awesome. This kind of goes in the middle, closer to Bells then Cold War. Something, just one little thing that I can't place my finger on, could have been added and the episode would have been so much better.
Plus no matter how much I love Matt that whole Doctor/Cyber Doctor thing went on a little too long, it would have been better if they'd had past Doctors do voice overs and dub them over Matt or have something (slowly growing more Cyberlike as he slowly lost the game) but for most of the time it was like watching a play. Which is all good and well but we weren't watching a play, we were watching a Sci-Fi/Science Fantasy show on the BBC at 7pm.
The finale looks... Interesting!
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