Doctor Who: 10 Underrated Stories In New Who
4. Rings Of Akhaten
This season 7 episode always faces lots of criticism, but it is honestly a stroke of genius! Fresh-faced companion Clara is whisked off to an alien world to witness the festival of offerings, but something isn’t right.
We got a lot of character development for the new companion who had given the Doctor a headache after already dying twice in his care. The Doctor found himself heading deeper into the mystery go the Impossible Girl, and the alien planet was one of the greatest we’d seen in New Who.
Did we mention there were multiple villains too? And each got progressively scarier than the last. We started with The Vigil searching for Merry, but the creepy goggle-eyed humanoids were nowhere near as scary as the sleeping mummy who awoke, only to revive the Old God, Akhaten - an entire planet!
It’s the climax of this story that stands out though. The Doctor confronts the Old God with one of the greatest monologues ever seen in the series. Despite this, it’s not enough, and Clara steps in to save the day in an emotional twist that hits hard every time. The Rings of Akhaten is a stunning example of character and world-building that deserves more credit.