Doctor Who - Recap: Run, You Clever Boy. And Remember

Recap and review of Doctor Who - Series 7 Episode 6 - The Bells of Saint John:

The Doctor-Companion relationship is among the more complex relationships in modern fiction, often encompassing a wide array of connections: friendship, romance, even familial bonds. Yet, more often than not, there's a universal constant: The Doctor never has to really work to get people to follow him. This is partially why "The Bells of Saint John", the 2013 premiere of Doctor Who, proves to be such fertile territory for an arc establishing a new Doctor-Companion relationship: The Doctor, for what feels like the first time in ages, has to actually court a companion.

Credit: BBC

Though I can't imagine it will ever become a romantic connection, the scenes between The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) play very much like a romantic courtship. It's a terrifically sweet bond being formed (or re-formed), springing off of the brief prequel to this episode released to YouTube, in which The Doctor unknowingly meets a young Clara. In that prequel, as in this episode, we can see The Doctor's ardent, sweet-natured desire to do right by "The Woman Twice Dead", and it seems that this cause for redemption will be the narrative fuel for the rest of series 7. That said, I can imagine some people will have tired of The Doctor sidling up with beautiful, plucky young female companions, yet Clara manages to feel different from Amy Pond, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and even Donna Noble. While all four of those previous companions provided their own inquisitive brand of intelligence and spunk, Clara challenges The Doctor in a more direct fashion. Because, really, when has The Doctor ever had to work for it? I'm pretty excited to see where this new Doctor-Companion relationship goes once it gets properly under way, since this was more of a table-setting episode for the series to come: we don't learn anything more substantial about who/what Clara is, nor does Clara learn just why The Doctor is so fixated on her. And that's fine, since this is a storyline that's more of a slow burn than a flash fire.

But I'm burying the lede, as "The Bells of Saint John" manages to be one of the most engaging stories in recent memory by playing on the hyperactive paranoia of the information age. Doctor Who has always been great about playing on modern fears and making a fable of them. Oftentimes, it's a simple fear, magnified to an impossible degree. The modern fear of the internet robbing us of our privacy is expanded, to where Wi-Fi is used as a tool to rob us of our souls. But our villains this week, a sinister group of suits who can upload people to their network while also hacking into others outright, are a bit more sophisticated than all that. Once an unfortunate soul unknowingly clicks on the secretive Wi-Fi network, an automaton nicknamed a "Spoonhead" arrives, in the form of an image from the person's own subconscious. The Spoonhead then uploads the poor soul into the overarching database, trapping them for use.

But to what end?

In one of the episode's final moments, we learn that The Great Intelligence is at it again. Last spotted in the 2012 Christmas Special "The Snowmen", The Great Intelligence has long been one of The Doctor's most enigmatic nemeses. What his exact plan is this time is anyone's guess, but he should make for a fairly interesting arc villain -- as threatening and mysterious as The Silence, yet more cunning than, say, the Angels (though I don't think The Great Intelligence is going to be giving anyone similar nightmares any time soon).

Credit: Adrian Rogers/BBC

As for the main body of the episode, there's a wonderful sense of whimsy that carries through the entire affair, as The Doctor, while contemplating Clara's whereabouts amid a company of monks in 1207 Cumbria, receives a phone call to the TARDIS. It's Clara, now a nanny in the 21st Century. She's looking for help connecting to the internet, having been given this phone number by a mysterious woman in a cafe, and being told that it's "the best help-line around". The Doctor investigates and is, ultimately, able to save Clara from being permanently trapped in the Spoonheads' network. This kicks off the partnership between Clara and The Doctor, as he courts her with bedside flowers and cookies, ultimately explaining to her who/what he is. Clara is initially disbelieving, but she's quick to accept The Doctor and his alien nature, as her reticence is outweighed by her curiosity and her ambition for travel. It's a terrific depiction that Coleman plays well, as she and Smith imbue the Doctor-Clara relationship with a vibe that is equal parts flirty and brother-sisterly (trust me, it comes off less creepy than it sounds). This early half of the episode also has some amusing shoutouts. One of the boys Clara is babysitting is reading a Victorian novel that ranks among her favorites. Who wrote the book? Amelia Williams, having apparently gotten out of the detective novel genre altogether. But the Pond callbacks don't stop there, as The Doctor relays a message to the Spoonheads after initially saving Clara, declaring that she is "Under my protection", which harks back to The Doctor's threat to the Atraxi in "The Eleventh Hour", the first episode for both Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, as Amy Pond.

But enough with the nerdery: how was the episode?

Well, without doing a bullet-point of the entire episode (since I don't think there's any way I could make a straight recap of the episode make sense), I'd argue it's as strong an opener as we could have asked for. The central mystery/conflict is eminently compelling, and it gives rise to some pretty interesting setpieces, such as The Doctor and Clara landing a nosediving plane, or seeing the sights and sounds of London on an anti-gravity motorbike, en route to noted London landmark The Shard, from which this entire Spoonhead operation is being run. Yet, as fascinating as the story this week happens to be, the plot itself becomes something of an afterthought when set against the developing connection between The Doctor and Clara. The Eleventh Doctor has grown more avuncular in his interactions with his companions, and it's a wonderful evolution of Smith's portrayal, as it blends well with Coleman's adventurous Clara. The episode also marks the return of a more lighthearted flair, as "The Bells of Saint John" provides Smith an opportunity to indulge in The Doctor's more otherworldly qualities, such as when he talks about inventing the quadracycle or coming in last in the Anti-Grav Olympics in 2074. The Eleventh Doctor is tortured and burdened by the weight of the losses on his conscience, so it's heartening to actually see him back to being a bit less grave.

Credit: BBC

"The Bells of Saint John" is a pretty great way to kick off the back half of series 7. As the episode comes to the end, Clara is still not swayed by The Doctor's pitch, but she insists if he comes back the next day and asks her again, the answer might be different. I find myself looking forward to seeing how Jenna-Louise Coleman fits as a full-time companion. Because, as she says of the leaf in her "101 Places to Visit Before You Die" book, this is only just the first page.