4. The Setting
For a show that promises all of time and space, we sure spend a lot of time in downtown London. Not that theres necessarily anything wrong with that, but the excursion to a place weve never been before is just as exciting for the audience as it is for Clara. The setting on the Rings of Akhaten gives Whos production team a chance to shine through creature design and through set designs as well. The episode is visually stunning, and recalls in many ways Series 1s The End of the World in both tone and visual texture. It helps to remind us just how fantastical a sci-fi show like Doctor Who can be, and how well it can work when it embraces its own nature. Connected to the setting, and integral to the episode overall, was its musical score. I have always been an unabashed fan of Murray Gold's sweeping scores for Doctor Who, and he really outdoes himself here. We get the new twist on 'I Am The Doctor' once again (it debuted in The Bells of Saint John), along with all sorts of stunning new cues. The music does threaten to overpower the action onscreen occasionally, but personally, I'd rather have an overdose of it than not enough - especially when music and song is tied so strongly to the core of the episode.