TV Review: Doctor Who: S07E10

TV Review: Doctor Who

Series 7, Episode 10: Journey To The Centre of the TARDIS

Air date: April 28th

Congratulations Doctor Who, you're finally getting back on track. 

With last week's entertaining episode Hide, Season 7, Part 2 finally managed to reclaim some of the show's key spooky, science fiction elements. This latest outing from the Time Lord, Journey To The Centre of the TARDIS is an exciting addition to the series which examines key plot elements - and provides a wealth of nods to the show's past and future. 

Its writer Steve Thompson was responsible for one of Season 6's big stinkers The Curse of the Black Spot, an episode which aimlessly dove from one special effect to the next (and even featured the death of Rory - again!). Luckily he redeems himself with Journey To The Centre of the TARDIS. It's not perfect by any means: there is some really dodgy acting from the side characters and there's too much focus on their story. The token monster also feels very shoehorned in this week too, as with a countdown and a Doctor/Clara confrontation on the go, the episode would have been tense and exciting enough without them.

There's a lot of wasted potential too - for all the promise that we would see "areas of the TARDIS that we've never seen before," the bulk of the episode is taken up with running through corridors. Oh wait, there's a new corridor at a different angle! How exciting.

Still, the premise itself is very interesting and does warrant further exploration. The action kicks off when The TARDIS, with its shields temporarily down, is caught by a shady salvage crew. Crash landed with the defences down, the TARDIS becomes an enormous labyrinth with a death trap around every corner. Heading back inside the ship to find his lost companion, The Doctor and the salvage crew must locate Clara within thirty minutes before the ship self destructs - but with money on their mind, the crew might not be so willing to let the salvage of a lifetime pass them by.

Cue chases through corridors, an enormous library within the TARDIS, more chases through corridors, audio clips from past Doctors (the Ninth Doctor's "The hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't break through those doors!" being a primary favourite), more chases through corridors, a glimpse at the ship's architectural reconfiguration system (which looks like a budget version of Avatar's tree of life) - and it all culminates in chases through corridors!

Does the episode live up to the potential of its title? Well, not really. Whether for budget or creative reasons, the endless infinity of the TARDIS is only glimpsed in passing shots. One scene which does impress, however, is Clara's journey to the library, a gargantuan maze of books - one of which, "History of the Time War", is very intriguing indeed. 

Then there was the fantastic reveal of the Eye of Harmony, the former source of power for Gallifrey, followed by a tense confrontation between Clara and The Doctor. "What are you? A trick, a trap?" It looks as though, with only three more episodes to go, The Doctor's curiosity regarding Clara is finally giving way to frustrated confusion, which should provide a very interesting character dynamic come the finale.

As for the supporting cast, the salvage crew hold very little interest in a story which should be based purely around the exploration of the TARDIS. Their story is intriguing enough but the actors' performances are borderline pantomime and the fact that their primary objective is to dismantle the TARDIS from the inside out means we never feel any sympathy for their plight.

Which brings us to the usual niggle with this particular series of Doctor Who. Journey To The Centre of the TARDIS, while an exciting tour of the titular ship, is a narrative of wasted opportunities - opportunities that could have been further explored had this been a two-parter. Steven Moffat still pushes the idea of a "blockbuster, cinematic episode" each week, which means we're basically getting a 45 minute movie set in The Doctor who universe (or the "Whoniverse"). Gone are the days of emotionally affecting, fully realised characters such as those in the Season 3 two-parter Human Nature/The Family Of Blood. 

Still, what episodes such as Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS lack in decent supporting characters, they make up for with fantastic performances from Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara (Amy who?) and Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, cementing himself as one of the most iconic sci-fi actors around right now.

Summary

It may not have realised its full potential, but Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS is an excitingly charged episode of Doctor Who which highlights both the fantastic performances from the regular cast and the importance of the Doctor's TARDIS. The supporting cast and their stories are a bit of a downer, but on the plus side the episode feels like it was written by fans for fans with references to old episodes and characters aplenty. With next week's Mark Gatiss-penned episode The Crimson Horror featuring the return of fan favourites Jenny, Strax and Madame Vastra, it's clear that big things are still to come from this season of Doctor Who...

8/10 - Great

Next episode: The Crimson Horror

Air date: May 4th