Doctor Who: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS Review

Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS Header

rating: 4

To us Whovians, Doctor Who is like experiencing Christmas morning every week. The anticipation drives us, the excitement makes each episode's possibilities an exciting blend of fear and giddy joy, and ultimately there's two possible outcomes. Which leads to two types of Doctor Who episode, which I like to call "The Socks" and "The Racecars". "The Socks" are the episodes that you kinda smile through and admit that while they're practical, and indeed not a complete write off, and "The Racecars" are the episodes that are exciting gifts that keep on giving, leaving us with such a rush of satisfaction. After last week's 3.5 star pair of socks known as the "horror story turned love story" that is Hide, Doctor Who has come back to the land of the racecars with "Journey To The Cenre of The TARDIS". It all begins like any other Doctor Who episode, really. The Doctor and Clara are mucking around with the TARDIS as The Doctor somehow is convinced to let her try and fly the craft. Unbeknownst to them, a trio of scrap scavengers known as the Van Baalen Brothers, have locked onto their signal and are bringing in the old girl to see how much she's worth on the scrapping market. This upsets the TARDIS, which damages the engines, separates The Doctor and Clara, and setting into motion a labyrinthine turn of events. In other words, it takes a ticking clock adventure where the TARDIS risks total annihilation to bring the current series back on the winning streak it started on. Now before I go on to the story of this week, I need to give a massive debt of credit to the best usage of the TARDIS' infinite interior for the first time in modern Who history. Sure, we saw the wardrobe in "The Christmas Invasion", and we've been told about some of the other rooms present, but we got the biggest peek yet into the secrets that the vessel actually holds. The library is massive, the hallways are still confusing as ever, and the engine room is pretty cool too. The visual flare that this show has been known to have from time to time is out in full force this week, and they spared no expense. Story-wise, we're back into proper one-off territory as the last two episodes have left me feeling the absence of two part stories that we were used to in the earlier seasons of the modern run. The Van Baalen's are interesting enough antagonists, though thankfully they aren't really all that bad. They're opportunistic, as well as stubborn and money hungry, but they aren't without honor or dignity. They pose just enough of a threat to make The Doctor resort to trickery, but not enough to make him threaten their lives. We also continue play with the current themes of identity, regret, and atonement; as Clara is given a chance to roam about the TARDIS archives in the Library, as well as an artifact room. Even better, we're once more teased with the ultimate mystery of The Doctor's name, as Clara has kinda seen it in The History of the Time War. (Which, by the way, would be an AWESOME tie-in novel for the BBC to authorize for the near future. Hint hint.) Also, there's a particularly pleasing fan moment where moments from the recent and classic runs of Who are recalled through audio clips played in the console room of the TARDIS. As we are reminded of what we know (and don't know) about The Doctor, we're confronted once more with the same known/unknown quantities in regards to Clara. While the finale may be named "The Name of The Doctor", Clara's background is just as important to us. One final point, the monster of this week are interesting, but again not all that scary if you're above the age of six. The concept is creepier than the look, as we're faced with physical manifestations of The Doctor's possible failures in the future; and this doesn't do The Doctor's nerves any favors. Overall, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS brings us to the core of The Doctor and Clara themselves, as well as their wonderful flying machine What say you, What Culture Republic? Did the Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS excite you, or was it nothing more than a pile of scrap ready for picking? Transmit any raves, rants, and theories in the Comments section below.Next Week: Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax are reunited with The Doctor (again) and Clara (kinda). This time, they're investigating a colony of people too perfect to be true. Mark Gatiss has a chance to redeem himself for Cold War as Dame Diana Rigg guest stars alongside her daughter in "The Crimson Horror". Poster and promo below... The Crimson Horror Header
Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.