Apollo's Rebellion

After much anticipation the new episode of Doctor Who aired yesterday and what an episode it was. In this episode the Doctor is more dejected and refuses to help in anyway possible. He knows that there is something sinister going on, but he is still adamant on not helping "Team Vastra" as they've been dubbed by fans. There is, however, one person who can change all that... (Warning! Spoilers ahead)

This year's Christmas special brought about a whole lot of news. New TARDIS interior, new companion and a new title sequence and theme tune, but I'll get to that later. Firstly let's begin with the story line.
It all starts with a little boy who excludes himself from the kids. Probably because he doesn't like them or more so maybe because they don't understand him or maybe he prefers his own company. For whatever reason, this telepathic snow chooses little Walter Simeon to mirror. 50 years later and Walter and his giant snow globe are trying to take over the world one snowman at a time. It's a classic Doctor Who villain story and Richard E Grant makes a perfect Dr Simeon, but the person who stole the show was none other than Jenna-Louise Coleman. She is such a superb actress and Clara is a no nonsense kind of girl. Barmaid by night and prim governess by day, Clara is just the perfect type of person to bring the Doctor back from the sad place he entered when Amy and Rory left. Clara, like most of us, is very curious and she is also very brave. One of the first things she does is chase after the Doctor's coach and pop her head through the roof as well as following the Doctor to his TARDIS in the sky. Jenna-Louise Coleman is perfect at playing her, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

Moving onto Team Vastra. It took me a while to get used to Vastra, Jenny and Strax and, although I liked their parts in A Good Man Goes to War I wasn't sure if I would like to see them return, but I quickly warmed up to them. Vastra and Jenny are such a good pairing and to me it doesn't seem at all weird that Vastra is a lizard woman let alone lesbian. The thing that bothered me was seeing two of the Doctor's enemies become his friends, still Strax brings a humorous side to the episode and I like that Vastra is also nicknamed the Great Detective. Speaking of detectives there are multiple Sherlock Holmes references in the episode from Dr Simeon mentioning a "Dr Doyle" to the Doctor wearing a deerstalker and going under the alias of Sherlock Holmes. It was almost like Steven Moffat's way of saying this is the closest thing you're going to get  to the Doctor and the famed detective. (Just a little side note the Doctor has dressed up as Sherlock Holmes before.)

This Christmas special was possibly one of my favourites, it was humorous, sad, captivating and played out like an hour long movie, but the biggest mystery came at the end when the Doctor realised Clara's full name (Clara Oswin Oswald) and he set about trying to find her. The episode ends wonderfully with Clara (or Oswin or Jenna or whatever you wanna call her) standing over her tombstone in modern day England. This sets in motion the rest of series and I can only assume that the Doctor finds her soon after that because she is wearing similar clothes to some of the behind the scenes pictures.

Anyway, getting back to review at hand. Let's move on to the "news":
New title sequence and theme tune: I had to watch this twice to fully grasp everything about it. I have two words: Classic Who. It reminds me so much of the classic series, but is also up dated and somehow feels modern. I like the new arrangement of the theme and it gives the show a bit more of mystery-thriller atmosphere which it sometimes is, but it stills feels like it had that adventure to it. The only problem I have with the new title sequence is that it's a bit too red for me, but that's just me.
New TARDIS interior: I don't like it. I can live with, but I don't like it. After making the TARDIS into a living breathing person, you can't all of sudden make it into an odd metallic machine! The TARDIS felt so homely and welcoming before, but now it feels more like something that is just transport. The TARDIS isn't just transport it's a whole world inside a 1960's police box! Yeah, it might take me a while to get used to this new interior.

How could you not fall in love?

New companion: I love her. She is wonderful. Truthfully, I liked Karen and I liked Amy, but there were times when I didn't like Amy. I didn't like the way she treated Rory and occasionally tossed him aside, but then the next minute she's proclaiming her love for him. Clara, I can say, is no Amelia Pond. She's fun, clever and extremely good looking. She's also really good with kids. Clara is the only person able to get the Doctor back to his good ol' ways and with just one word: Pond. Her entire interview with Vastra is fantastic and quirky. As you probably know this isn't the first time Jenna-Louise Coleman's appeared in Doctor Who and the mystery of her character is further investigated. She's a face that keeps cropping up everywhere and keeps dying. I hope the dying stops, though, I don't want another repeat of Rory. Oh and did I mention, "It's smaller on the outside."

The episode was wonderful. It kept me engrossed and it wasn't bordering on too dramatic. It was well thought out and not lazily written like some previous episode. After a somewhat disappointing series 7 part 1 and one of the most annoying companion send-offs, it was nice to see Steven Moffat and Matt Smith back on top form and keeping me entertained.