Doctor Who - Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

An interstellar salvage team get their hands on the TARDIS, sending its systems into meltdown. With Clara lost in the depths of the seemingly infinite and labyrinthine ship, the Doctor enlists the help of the salvage team to try and find her, but the clock is ticking, and there’s something else lurking in the TARDIS’s winding corridors... Stephen Thompson’s Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS promised us, as one would expect from a title like that, an adventure deep within the bowels of the Doctor’s iconic time-travelling police box. I had very high expectations...

The last time an episode of Doctor Who took us into the TARDIS itself was in The Doctor’s Wife (I think I’ve managed to mention that episode in all of my reviews of this series...), which did it rather well to say the least, and as one of the finest episodes in living memory it was naturally going to be a tough one to beat! We weren’t treated to a full tour of the TARDIS in that episode, but we were introduced to the complexities of shifting corridors and time dilation. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS did this and a little more, giving us a glimpse of the oft-mentioned swimming pool, a brief wander in the majestical library, and a look at the Eye of Harmony. And corridors. Lots and lots of corridors. The sets were truly magnificent, exceedingly well produced and brilliantly inspired; it gave the sense of a ship far larger than one could possibly imagine, an infinite number of rooms down an infinite number of winding corridors, and was precisely the kind of thing you’d hope to see in an episode set inside the TARDIS. I only wish we could have seen more of it!

However, with the potential to explore the TARDIS in all its marvellous complexity, this episode felt like it fell short of what it could have achieved. Getting lost in the TARDIS could have turned out to be a fantastic episode, but unfortunately for me it felt more like a sub-plot to the salvage team’s story and the search for Clara. As a result, not enough time was spent dwelling on the various rooms and secrets hidden in the TARDIS, with a few things getting just a customary passing glance rather than a proper look at them (for example, what I’m guessing was an observatory, which got all of two seconds and a “huh” from Clara). The library got a bit more exposure than most areas, just enough to reveal the existence of written records from the Time War, and a brief game of hide and seek with an ossified demon, but ultimately this too felt too brief, with the majority of the episode revolving around the endless corridors.

There are also a few story elements that didn’t quite work. For starters, the three-man salvage team felt quite redundant (as did their plot twist, which in my opinion bore no real relation to the narrative what-so-ever), and I reckon the story’s key premise could have easily been carried out without them. Sometimes, a few of the plot points came and went so quickly that if you hadn’t been keeping up with it this whole time you’d be thoroughly lost! There are a few niggly things as well, like the fact that the TARDIS was behaving as if it didn't trust the Doctor. After 900 years of a relationship between man and ship, a bond stronger than the Doctor has had with any of his companions, based on their mutual trust of one another, you'd expect the TARDIS would be a little more helpful! It's behaviour didn't seem consistent with previous situations (especially considering last week's episode, where it risked itself to save the Doctor), and preventing the Doctor from getting to where he needed to go just didn't add up. There’s also the matter of the episode being neatly tied up quite literally at the press of a button, which essentially rebooted time back to just before the episode began, fixing everything that went wrong - simply pressing a reset button never feels like a satisfying conclusion to a story.

That being so, the ideas behind Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (henceforth known as JTTCOTT or ‘the episode’, because I’ll be buggered if I’m typing that title out every time I mention it!) aren’t without merit. There were some good ideas that were well executed; time leaking was an especially good plot point, causing the past, present and future to converge in a typically wibbly manner. The shambling, burnt corpses marauding the corridors were also a fine addition, maintaining a level of mystery and intrigue, and the revelation of their true identities was a nice - if rather macabre - twist. And as mentioned before, the set pieces gave the sense of a ship that existed beyond just the control room.

As with Hide, JTTCOTT is an episode founded in great ideas, but let down by its narrative. In my opinion, it would have made for a better story if the TARDIS had hit some temporal turbulence or a spatial rupture. In dire need of repair, the Doctor and Clara set about looking for spare parts and components to patch things up, but they’re separated by dimensional distortions changing the TARDIS’s layout (a la Amy and Rory, The Doctor’s Wife), and must try to navigate the ever-shifting corridors to find each other and repair the ship. This would give reason to having a look around several different rooms and allow more time in exploring the TARDIS, as they must search for different items to fix it - this would also eliminate the reboot button, or at the very least make it feel less like a reboot button due to the effort they had to go to to create it. But back to the episode itself...

For me, the bit that stands out most about this episode is something that is no doubt going to be touched on later... The History of the Time War. It only gets a brief look in this episode, but I’m hoping that through its pages we might learn more of this cataclysmic conflict. However, from the book Clara learns something that no-one must ever know - the Doctor’s true name (presumably to be revisited in the episode titled The Name of the Doctor - just a hunch!). Now that events have been reset, it can be assumed that Clara no longer has this knowledge, but it’s intriguing to know that she (with three different versions of her meeting the Doctor at different points in time) might know his true identity. Is Clara’s impossible nature intrinsically linked with the Doctor’s name? (Which, incidentally, I hope is never revealed; the mystery is far more tantalising than the possibility of ever knowing the truth, and if his name is revealed then it kind of renders 50 years of cultural history null).

I suppose, at the end of the day, there were good bits and bad bits to JTTCOTT, but everything aside from the set pieces and lead actors ultimately felt a little lackluster. The story wasn’t as gripping as I’d anticipated, and what we saw of the TARDIS didn’t feel quite as special as I’d hoped it would. However, there were plenty of good ideas behind the story, some of which were executed particularly well, and the setting was exceptionally well designed.

Overall, I’d quantify this episode as a 6/10.

Next week’s episode sees the return of Vastra, Jenny and Strax in Mark Gatiss’s The Crimson Horror.

If you technically missed last night’s episode because time was rebooted at the press of a big friendly button, you can watch it again (or for the first time, subjectively speaking) on iPlayer here.

You can read last week's review of Hide here.

(Never have I written the word TARDIS so many times in one place...)

Doctor Who - Hide Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

“It’s not a ghost story, it’s a love story.”

That quote best summarises the latest episode of Doctor Who, Hide; it’s not about a ghost (well, it is, but it’s not), but it is about the power of love. Penned by Neil Cross, the man behind The Rings of Akhaten (and, of course, creator of Luther), the episode takes us to Caliburn House in 1974, where a professor and a psychic medium are tracking down a ghost...

From the promotional images and trailers, I had imagined Hide was going to be quite a creepy, haunt-y, ghost-y kind of story, but it didn’t yield quite the spook-factor I had anticipated. The episode was largely focussed on the relationship of Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) and Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) during their investigation at Caliburn House, whilst the ghost story (and its SciFi twist) felt more like a backdrop to the story than its driving force. That being so, the set of Caliburn house was marvellously designed, a perfect setting for a ghost hunt, and the array of 70’s paranormal equipment was a nice touch (and enough to make anyone want to tinker with the numerous bits of gadgetry) which all helped to create a proper haunted house atmosphere when the first ghostly happenings began.

Much like The Rings of Akhaten, I felt Hide had a lot of good ideas and plenty of potential, but alas the story fell somewhat short of what it could have achieved. That’s not to say it was poorly written, by any means - there are some great bits of dialogue throughout - but the story itself failed to captivate me. The ghost aspect itself never took on a more prominent or sinister form, and the monster of the episode turned out to be completely misunderstood in a twist reveal in the final two minutes (which, to be honest, felt completely redundant). And why was the episode called Hide? No-one hid anywhere at any time... There was no hiding in Hide!

“But Bron,” I hear you cry, “you can't be negative about Doctor Who! There must have been something good about it?!” And you’d be right, voices in my head. Although I didn't find the story particularly engaging, it was well-written nevertheless, and certain aspects did prove to be quite intriguing. Despite it's purported ghostliness, the primary force behind Hide is love. Or rather, the timeless power of love which can stretch across infinity. This is primarily touched on through Palmer and Grayling, with their feelings for each other being apparent but not being revealed to one another until towards the end of the episode. It is also their love that ultimately resolves the episode, as the ghost is actually their time-travelling great-great-great-great-great-grand-daughter trapped in a pocket Universe, and it's their bond that makes returning her to this Universe possible (and is quite likely to have lead them both to Caliburn House in the first place; when it comes to matters of the heart, it can often lead you to exactly where you need to be, even if you don't know it at the time).

The Doctor's reason for coming to this place at this time was to get Emma's feelings on Clara, to find out who – or what – she is (according to Miss Grayling, she's a girl... Pretty handy psychic work there, if you don't mind me sayin' so, ma'am!). Meanwhile, Clara seems to be getting some not-so-friendly signs, as she feels the TARDIS doesn't like her (and it locks her out, as it did in The Rings of Akhaten, too), and she's warned by Emma Grayling to be wary of the Doctor as “he has a sliver of ice in his heart.” I'm hoping this is foreshadowing the Doctor's darker aspects coming to the surface again, especially with the mirroring between the Doctor and Alec Palmer regarding the guilt over the lives of people lost.

There’s also a fair deal to explore with the TARDIS in this episode, too - perhaps quite fittingly, given the premise of next week’s episode Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. For starters, there’s mention of the Eye of Harmony (last heard of in the 1994 movie starring Paul McGann, I believe), the artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their homeworld Gallifrey, and to power their time-travel technology. Unless it’s been moved, like the library’s swimming pool, then the Eye of Harmony sits at the heart of the TARDIS in the Cloister Room. There’s also the matter of the cloister bell (a.k.a. the Universal early-warning alarm) sounding when the Doctor is trapped in the pocket Universe. Although the TARDIS out-right refuses to grant Clara access (speaking to her via hologram), stating that taking the TARDIS into the pocket Universe to save the Doctor is an impossibility, it does eventually (albeit begrudgingly) let her in and flies itself into the pocket Universe. I suppose there again is the tale of love in this episode; quite fittingly, the heart of the TARDIS keeps the wormhole to the pocket Universe open, whilst the TARDIS risks itself – putting aside it's personal preferences – to save the Doctor. There is truly no greater love than that between a Time Lord and his time-travelling police box...

Hide once again brings the intrigue of the series plot-arc back to the forefront of our minds with the question of “who is Clara Oswald?” She’s an enigma to the Doctor (“You are the only mystery worth solving.”), and apparently the empathic psychic Emma Grayling can divine no more information other than “she’s a girl.” So who is Clara, the girl twice dead, who the Doctor has now met on three separate occasions in the past, present and future? My personal theory (among many, but this is my favourite); she’s a crack in the mirror, a split projection in time. In much the same way a broken mirror reflects and refracts an image, yet despite the fracture the image still remains whole, the same can be said for the concept that is Clara. Her very being could be fractured like that mirrored image, a crack in time causing separate reflections or embodiments of Clara to appear scattered across time and space.

Or, slightly stranger, she’s a reflection of the Doctor; a self-created illusion to prevent himself going mad from primal loneliness, an invention so he can save the girl twice dead as a way to repent for his guilt over the lives he could not save. She is his loneliness, his guilt, his sorrow, his regret manifest. She is the Doctor’s shadow.

I don’t know, but I do like a good mystery!

Overall, Hide was a good episode with some great ideas and concepts behind it, but sadly it didn’t quite captivate me as I had hoped it would. The story fell a bit short of what I felt it could have achieved, but it was well-written nonetheless, with some tantalising and thought-provoking pieces. All in all, it was a good episode, and maybe I’ve just been spoilt with the likes of Cold War!

Next week, we take a Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and Clara gets lost in the depths of the labyrinthine time-machine...

If you missed Hide due to being trapped in a pocket Universe, you can catch it on iPlayer here.

A Look At Star Trek Online: Legacy of Romulus

This article can also be found on Media Gateway.

Earlier this year, Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment announced their first expansion for Star Trek Online: Legacy of Romulus. The expansion introduces a third - and long-speculated - faction to the game, the Romulans, as they struggle to rebuild after their homeworld was destroyed by a supernova. It goes without saying that the STO community was a-buzz with the news!

I was honoured and privileged to be invited for the closed Beta test of the new Romulan faction. With a leap and a bound, I marched beneath the Raptor's wings and took to the testing server to try out life as a Romulan. (NB: This article may contain spoilers for the tutorial of Legacy of Romulus. You have been warned!)

Meet my character, Caius Ne'Ral, a former tactical officer of a Romulan Warbird, brought to the colony of Virinat a few short years ago by D'Vex, a man devoted to helping the Romulans rebuild after the diaspora. Now trying to start his new life on the colony, Caius has taken up work as a farmer, tending to the vineyards.  With its large, ramshackled marketplace, extensive vineyard and rustic housing, Virinat is quite a quaint and charming little colony - its certainly a far-cry from the former imperialism of the Romulan Star Empire.

After the loss of his homeworld, Caius took to a life of staring wistfully into the distance...

Some may argue that these aren't "true" Romulans as we're used to seeing in the Star Trek series, and they'd be right; so far on Virinat, I have yet to meet a vindictive, militant double-agent, and everyone's been incredibly friendly to my character. It may not be what some would call a traditional Romulan society, but I do like this new approach; a race of people trying to rebuild after the destruction of their homeworld and the destabilisation of their government. The imperialistic Romulans of old are still about, mind you, as their former intelligence department - the Tal Shiar - try to grip on to the old empire with a neutronium fist, and Empress Sela is trying to build an empire fit for her ruling, but the people of Virinat just want to lead a peaceful life secluded from the troubles and conflicts that mar the face of the Alpha Quadrant. It's a move that makes sense for a people without a homeworld or a stable government, and is a fine founding stone for the narrative of the New Romulan Republic.

But back to Caius's life. Some Khellids (a kind of large, flappy bug type thing) have been chewing through the irrigation pipes in the vineyards and Caius has been called upon to fix the leaks, blasting a few Khellids with his plasma pistol along the way. However, the Khellids are acting strangely aggressive, so Caius goes to investigate. In a cave not too far from the town, where swarms of Khellids buzz about as large buzzy insects are wont to do, there's a suspicious looking beacon. With the beacon deactivated, and a few Khellids splattered by plasma fire, Caius returns to the market place in time for an evening of festivity in this new and peaceful world.

I could get used to a life here.

Commemorating the founding of their settlement on this world, the Romulans settle in for a night of revelry. Fireworks sore into the ink-black skies, erupting into firey orange, sparkling blues, plasma green... Wait, that's no firework!

WHY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS?!

With the ground-works of this new Romulan settlement now established, it's all swiftly blown to pieces by the Tal Shiar. Grabbing a high-density plasma beam rifle, Caius makes a dash for the shuttlecraft where he, and other survivors of this onslaught, would make their escape. Escaping the atmosphere into orbit, the surviving shuttlecraft make their way to an abandoned Bird-of-Prey left in orbit several years ago - a ship I christened the Raptor's Talon.

Set a course for that interesting looking nebula, Mister T'Val.

This segment is another triumph for the opening of Legacy of Romulus; the first bridge officer to join your crew is a man you met on the surface of Virinat, and who helped you escape the devastation. The acquisition of a new officer prior to this (in the case of both the Federation and Klingon factions) just felt like buying a new commodity, but Legacy of Romulus has woven this new officer into the fabric of the story. The fact that he's a somewhat developed character means I'll probably keep him as a permanent tactical officer, as his dialogue makes him as much a part of Caius's story as the other central characters in the game.

In addition, having got main power and primary systems back online, you have to start scavenging for spare parts. Blowing apart debris from ancient, discarded vessels is a good start, as you start to collect components to turn this old rust-bucket into a functioning starship. It's just another thing that helps you engage with the narrative behind Legacy of Romulus and become a part of this rag-tag band of survivors in their exodus. As much as I like my Federation Vice Admiral, in his sleek uniform and state-of-the-art starship with a crew compliment of 2000, there's something about the story of these people from humble beginnings with their battered and worn clothes, forced to try and find a new life amongst the stars in their creaky old starship. The story is further embellished when you pick up a nearby distress signal from other survivors trying to escape the Tal Shiar. Engaging the enemy, you rescue the crew of these now derelict ships and beam them aboard your own.

Deftly evading plasma beams... Not bad for a farmer-turned-captain!

I didn't get to experience much more after this point, as the shard was taken down for maintenance (and there appeared to be a sudden increase in server-side lag), but from what I experienced thus far it had rekindled my excitement for Legacy of Romulus's release.

The story was engaging, weaving in core game mechanics as part of the narrative rather well, and if it continues in a similar vein then it will not disappoint! I encountered no bugs (except the Khellids!) in my first foray into Legacy of Romulus, and aside from the slight lag just before server maintenance the gameplay was smooth and thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the latest updates to the user interface, such as the ability to change the colour of your UI and the updated viewscreen/dialogue window, are a nice touch and create a more Trek-y vibe. The character creation screen has also been given a nifty new make-over, with it's over-hauled layout and dynamic background, which certainly looks good but might take me a bit to get used to! In fact, my only gripe with the experience was that during the cut-scenes, some of the subtitles went by a bit too fast, but I was able to get the gist of things (hopefully it'll be slowed down a bit for release on May 21st).

However, this is only the beta test for the biggest update to STO to date, and as Daniel Stahl stated in a recent Q&A, "This is an early build with many bells and whistles still missing. There is no VO yet and many of the cutscenes aren't finalized. You will find bugs and rough patches, but we would like to start getting feedback on the Romulans at this time."

All in all, Star Trek Online's first expansion looks set to be nothing short of spectacular! From the tutorial alone, Legacy of Romulus shows great promise and I'm looking forward to seeing where the course of events will take Caius and myself next...

Click here for more information on the Legacy of Romulus.

To sign up to Star Trek Online, which went free-to-play last year, please click here.


Bron's main character in Star Trek Online is Oracle@MorosAtum, an Arcturian science officer serving in the 12th Fleet.

Doctor Who - Cold War Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

If there’s one thing you can say about Mark Gatiss’s writing it’s that it never fails to be entertainingly eerie and scintillatingly sinister, and Cold War is absolutely no exception. Set in 1983, Gatiss’s episode takes us to a marooned Russian nuclear submarine somewhere in the Arctic Circle, where an ancient alien warrior is roaming the U-boat’s cramped and claustrophobic corridors...

It has to be said; Cold War has taken it’s place alongside The Doctor’s Wife as my joint-all-time-favourite episode! Everything about it felt like a classic (and, dare I say, proper) episode of Doctor Who. With the welcome return of the truly classic aliens, the Ice Warriors, the building tension in this seemingly unwinnable situation, and the genuine sense of foreboding and fear, Cold War certainly ticked all the boxes for me. In many ways, aspects of the episode felt comparable to Ridley Scott’s Alien; a single, formidable alien creature stalking the crew in the confines of the narrow corridors of a ship, slowly and expertly picking them off one by one... That, combined with the atmosphere of being trapped on a submarine that’s stranded some 700-odd meters below sea level, and you’ve got the recipe for a perfectly tense and gripping episode of Doctor Who.

It’s always a tricky task, taking an alien from the classic series of Who and bringing it into the 21st Century; will they stand the test of time and be equally as interesting to the modern world as they were some 30 or 40 years ago? Especially when dealing with the Ice Warriors; a race whose appearance in the original series seems to be the epitome of an old-school, low-budget 1970’s monster. Thus, successfully bringing an Ice Warrior - last seen in 1974 - to 2013 is no mean feat, but is something that Cold War pulls off fantastically. The familiar armour of these Martian warriors is wonderfully recreated in a style that’s identical to the old yet doesn’t feel out of place in our world of modern TV wizardry. The fact that the presence of a single Ice Warrior (dear ol’ Grand Marshall Skaldak) in this episode can create such a sinister sense of tension, foreboding and fear is surely a testament to this (and please pardon the pun) timeless foe. Cold War felt like the perfect re-introduction for this classic race, and given the conclusion of this episode I hope this isn’t the last we see of Skaldak and the Ice Warriors.

Much like the 2005 episode Dalek, Cold War shows just how impressive and threatening a single monster can prove to be. By focussing on the single enemy and fully explaining its motives, it makes it feel all the more tangible and menacing and, by extension, makes the episode a more engaging watch.

Both Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman continue to provide superb performances and build on their onscreen chemistry; they’re now perfectly in-synch as Doctor and Companion. Since her inaugural episode, Coleman has gone from strength to strength, and in this episode she conveys a truly captivating mix of bravery and fear throughout. For what is essentially her fourth proper episode, Coleman has well and truly established herself in the role of Clara, and feels as much a part of the show as the TARDIS itself. And Matt Smith is, well, Matt Smith! He never ceases to be on top form, and I still maintain that he’s the definitive Doctor. (And if anyone happens to know where one might be able find a Teddy Boy style drape jacket similar to the Doctor’s, please leave a comment below!)

In addition, David Warner was superb in the role of Professor Grisenko; one could feel the genuine warmth and caring his character evoked as he calms Clara when the true horror of their circumstances hits her. He and Liam Cunningham’s Captain Zhukov helped bring more gravitas to the situation, and their wonderfully natural performances certainly brought a sense of gripping realism to the episode.

With its tense and claustrophobic atmosphere and the revival of a classic enemy at its heart, Cold War proved to be a spectacular and thoroughly enjoyable episode, continuing what I feel has been a particularly strong run of episodes. It’s certainly up there as one of the best in recent years, with its engaging narrative, tense atmosphere and truly effective use of a single, lethal monster. It felt like proper, classic Doctor Who; I might even go so far as to call it perfect. Might.

If you missed Cold War, you can catch it on BBC iPlayer here.

Next week, the Doctor and Clara go ghost-hunting in what looks set to be a phenomenally creepy episode, Hide.

Doctor Who - The Rings of Akhaten Review

This review can also be found on Media Gateway.

For her inaugural adventure in time and space, Clara asks the Doctor to take her somewhere awesome. His response: the Festival of Offerings on the eponymous Rings of Akhaten. In this episode penned by Neil Cross, the Doctor and Clara travel to a world of myriad aliens, ancient traditions, and sacred beliefs. But, on the horizon, the Old God has awakened and he has an insatiable appetite...

The Rings of Akhaten felt like a really traditional episode of Doctor Who; the world felt unique and alien, with a plethora of weird and wonderful alien beings (personal favourite: the bluey-turquoise fellows with the bulbous heads) milling about the marketplace in a style not too dissimilar to Star Wars’ Mos Eisley cantina - minus the catchy music. The story itself may not have been the strongest we’ve seen in the series, and it didn’t feel as if it reached its full potential, but it was certainly an enjoyable and engaging watch, and seemed to have some religious subtext (millions of people coming together in celebration out of fear of the Old God... Isn't that basically every Sunday?!).
However, it’s the performances in this episode that really stand out.

The new companion’s first trip in the TARDIS is a staple in Doctor Who legacy; it’s these episodes that often show us the capabilities of the Doctor’s latest accomplice, and how they’re going to cope with their future wild endeavours. This episode, therefore, was fairly Clara-centric. It goes without saying that Jenna-Louise Coleman makes for a fantastic companion; ever since we first met her in Asylum of the Daleks she was evidently time-travelling partner material, and in Clara’s first proper adventure Coleman most definitely shines. There are segments that are carried by Coleman’s performance; helping and befriending a little girl who - quite rightly - is living in fear, and saving millions of lives by confronting the Old God and sacrificing the days that never were. I may not be particularly keen on the idea of the companion being equally as competent and brave as the Doctor himself, but it’s in these moments that we see Clara’s (and Coleman’s) full potential as a marvellous companion in this episode.

However, it was Matt Smith who completely stole the show (and why shouldn’t he, he’s the titular character!). I’ve always said that Smith makes a remarkable Doctor, and he’s never failed to deliver excellent performances, but in this episode he provides a positively phenomenal performance. Smith delivers some magnificent speeches throughout the episode (none more resplendent than when he’s addressing the Old God), and somehow manages to go from youthful enthusiasm one moment to impossibly ancient and wise in the next. Words cannot quite do this awesome man’s performance justice!
He is the quintessential Doctor.

One would be remiss not to mention Emilia Jones, the young Queen of Years, who provided a fantastic performance throughout as well as giving voice to the rather brilliant soundtrack of the episode (props to Murray Gold for another superb composition!). Miss Jones certainly has a bright future ahead of her, and a truly remarkable voice.

In addition to its stellar cast (almost literal, if you count the Old God’s performance as well), The Rings of Akhaten was also one of the most visually stunning episodes for quite some time. Previously this series we’ve seen big location pieces in A Town Called Mercy and The Angels Take Manhattan, and some great shots of London in The Bells of Saint John, but nothing really does compare to the majesty of space (sorry London... I mean, London’s brilliant, but space is all nebulae and stars and asteroids and bluey-turquoise guys!). The revealing shot of the Rings of Akhaten was truly awe-inspiring, and the Doctor silhouetted against the blazing Old God was an excellent piece, along with the burning star morphing to reveal a sinister face on its molten surface. These stunning alien exterior shots, combined with the marketplace filled with the veritable smorgasbord of citizens from the Galactic community, made for a captivating and believable alien backdrop to the story. I’m hard-pressed to think of another episode of Doctor Who which so brilliantly portrays a convincingly alien world, both inside and out.

Overall, despite its slightly lackluster narrative, The Rings of Akhaten was certainly an enjoyable, visually fantastic and stupendously cast episode. It may not have been one of the strongest episodes this series, but it was most definitely a great watch with some interesting concepts.

Next week, some familiar foes re-emerge in the Cold War, and it looks set to be a good one!

If you missed The Rings of Akhaten because you were busy devoting yourself to the Old God, I hope you were able to appease him. Catch up with episode on iPlayer here.

An Interview with Charlotte Campbell

This article can also be found on Media Gateway.

Charlotte Campbell's PledgeMusic campaign for her debut album, Blue Eyed Soul, has been going from strength to strength since its inception. With just under two weeks to go until release, and almost 600% of her initial target raised, I reckon it's safe to say that she's doing pretty well for herself!

She very kindly agreed to an interview with me about her album, her inspirations and working as an independent artist in the music industry.

You’ve been singing for as long as you can remember; what's your earliest musical memory?

My earliest musical memory is watching my dad play the piano and learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because my dad put stickers on the right notes! Also singing on long journeys to Wales with my Grandparents; show tunes were a particular favourite!

Having started composing your own material from the age of 15, what things have helped to inspire your music over the years?

I think teenage crushes and love and heartbreak were my first inspirations, and I really just wanted to get all my feelings of anxiety and injustice out in the open. But as I got older I realised that that doesn't necessarily make for interesting song-writing, and started to really analyse why we connect with certain lyrics and how to create something heartfelt but also universal.

What is it about music that has made it such a driving force for you?

My family have always been very musical so it's been an important part of my life since I was young, and as I grew up I saw how much emotion can be expressed through music and writing so it has kept me strong in hard times, and always gives me something to work towards and achieve. It's also basically the only thing I've ever been good at...I wasn't good at sport and my drawing skills are something to be desired, and I was not very intelligent at school, but was good at singing and so I worked hard at it.

You’ve been recording the majority of your music from home; what has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced producing your material independently? (I’ve spelt that indepentendly no less than three times now. I think I need sleep, or spelling lessons. One or the other.)

Yes I have! To be honest it has been a lot of fun for the most part! The biggest challenge is choosing which direction to go with in terms of production! There are just so many options...Do I want it to be a country barn dance type track...or perhaps this is a heavy rock ballad I'm going for...? But in the end I just want it to sound like me, which is where my independence has been a blessing because the album sounds just like me, because I made it all! Saying that, I've had a plethora of help from my band (Ideawake) who have done all the drums, electrics guitars, bass, strings and mixing and I know it's been a struggle for them putting up with me! Everything is just a little bit/not quite enough spangly/stompy/squinty, or other words that I make up to describe something indescribable...They have been real troopers through this whole thing and I owe them a lot!

You’ve been following this dream your whole life. How does it feel now that dream has become reality, and your debut album, Blue Eyed Soul, is soon to be released?

I'm obviously VERY excited, (and a little nervous!). But it's strange because the dreams I had were never like this, because you never think that this kind of thing is possible. My dream was to sort of get a big record deal and make an album, but with technology and the music industry the way it is, making an album yourself is really the way to go!! So I'm quite proud of myself for growing up, seeing the state of the music industry and forming a plan of making my dream come true without the middle man. I think it's the general view that you can't make an album until you get signed to a major label, but I implore all musicians to just go and get on with it! You don't have to wait around your whole life to make a dream come true!

What has been your key inspiration throughout the production of Blue Eyed Soul?
Are there any stories behind the songs on the album?

My band are my biggest inspiration to get on with the album...Mat, Mark and Chris convinced me that I was capable of doing this myself and that they would be behind it all the way. I don't think I'd have got on and done it without them! I'm currently studying song-writing and write around 3 songs a week as assignments... Most of them have gone straight in the bin, but the briefs they set out have brought out a whole other side to me that I've really explored on Blue Eyed Soul. My favourite song on the album is about following your dreams, but I wrote it when I was really feeling constricted about my music and whether it's a viable career choice; the song kind of asks how far can we really chase our dreams, because you can aim for the sun but it'll burn you when you reach it. That's a favourite of mine because I think the lyrics express how I felt about releasing the album. And yes, it's definitely worth it.

Have any other artists had an influence on your music?

Throughout the whole album mixing I keep saying to the boys "Can we just make it sound like Colbie Caillat please?" - so mostly her. But I love my band because they bring a lot of different sounds to the table and a lot of genres have been suggested - making every song sound unique.

If you had to pick your top three songs from the album, what would they be and why?

Feathers and Wax is one I mentioned earlier. But I think I'll let everyone make their own judgements!

You received an incredibly positive response on PledgeMusic, with 100% of your target raised in just 4 hours, and it’s continued to grow exponentially (two weeks until release and almost 600% of the initial target).
What was your first reaction when you hit the 100% mark?
And how does it feel to have this much support backing your project?

I was honestly nearly crying at 100%! I was running around the room and making strange noises, and also reassessing my 'target' and sitting down making a new plan for expensive microphones! I think the best thing about reaching 100% so quickly was that people actually wanted to buy my album, and that was what got me so emotional!

What has been the most popular incentive among pledgers?

People have been really keen on the Old EP 'Stay' as well as the Blue Eyed Soul hard copy. I think because I have never made 'Stay' available as a hard copy before, people wanted a copy and I was chuffed that people still wanted the old songs!

Looking back on your career, what have been the highlights for you?
What hopes do you have for the years to come?

I will never forget opening my letter from the BRIT school and also seeing my name on the list for a set at Glastonbury. They were movie moments for me! But I have high hopes for more festivals and more albums!

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Charlotte's Blue Eyed Soul campaign comes to an end on the 13th of April. To support the release of her debut album and get your hands on some additional incentives, check out her PledgeMusic page here.
You can also find out more about Charlotte on her website, and subscribe to her YouTube channel.