Journey to the Center of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

So I took me a while to write my review of Journey to the Center of the TA.R.D.I.S..  Why? I generally take a couple of views to get all the references to Classic Who and pick up subtleties I might otherwise have missed.  However, the BBC did my work for me.  I really don’t write reviews of the actual episode so I’m kind of at a loss for what to write about.  One thing that sticks out is the interior of the TA.R.D.I.S..  I wasn’t actually impressed with the swimming pool.  Sorry, it was nice but I would have like spas or fountains or flying fish and more than just a passing glimpse.  The Library, now that was cool.  I could spend my life in the library.  The Encyclopedia Galifrey being bottled was cool, although J.K. Rowling might want some copyright money.  The Time war book seems to have caused a lot of tongue wagging on the internet.  I don’t know why, it speaks to the entropy in the universe.  No knowledge is ever lost.  My personal theory is that the Doctor swiped it from The Library (The planet, not his).  If Clara learned the Doctor’s name, the knowledge is out there now to be learned, she won’t “forget it” now.  The brothers that ran the salvage yard remembered some things and Clara is plucky, bright, and determined, otherwise she wouldn’t be a companion.  What was infinitely more interesting was Clara’s reaction to “apparently” learning the Doctor’s name.  (We don’t know that’s what she read, it could have be a line explain the T.A.R.D.I.S. in a simple way or something) Clara implied that the information that she read was something she ALREADY knew!  At least that’s the way I interpreted it.  I felt that there was too much crammed into the story.  I’ve been watching “Classic” Who and this story would have done well as a 4 or 6 part serial with the secondary story of the brothers expanded and more exploration of the T.A.R.D.I.S..  So all in all a meh episode.  It served to move the plot forward, sort of, except where it didn’t because of the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff.  Clara learned who the Doctor was, maybe, except she didn’t because she doesn’t remember.  Only two things really happened.  One the Doctor asked Clara what she was and she said “Clara” and didn’t know about the other three versions of herself.  Two, the salvage brothers were nicer to each other.  Let’s see what happens next week when Dame Diane Rigg joins us for The Crimson Horror!

N.B. Clara said." So that's Who.." And Also the Key to the T.A.R.D.I.S. say Smiths has to be important or they wouldn't have shown it.

Who is the Doctor?

I was sitting here and had a horrible thought.  The doctor always lies, right?  He never has a girlfriend, except for once when he was kinda sorta married.  He's old and British.  He has a critical thinking mind.  He cant resist a puzzle.  He's very witty and thinks no one knows more then him.  He's unconvential.  No one calls him by his full name.  He's a maverick who doesn't follow the rules.  He has one or more people that he directs to do his bidding.  HOUSE!!!!  Everybody lies.  What a great misdirect!!  House is writing the whole thing as a book while in jail.  What about that?

N.B. I was watching some of the extras on The Key to Time series and they(the prodcures and writers) made references to Sherlock Holmes.  This explains a lot.  The writers for House had said they intended it to be "Sherlock Homes in a Hospital setting".  Also a neat fact, the writers for Doctor Who said that they wrote the Master to be the Doctor's Moriarty.

Review Doctor Who: HIDE

So in order of viewing this is the third “modern” Clara episode we seen, although it was the first taped.  That does seem to come across in the acting.  Matt and Jenna seem a bit unsure of themselves, their touching hesitant this lines a touch slower then the previous two episodes.  Obliviously like River they are doing it backwards!  I don’t need to write a word for word plot analysis, there must be at least twenty online as of yesterday, an more on the way.  My feeling for the plot was that is only a side show, the main purpose of these episodes is to further the Clara story arc and the 50th anniversary story arc. We have been given so many clues, but which are real and which are red herrings?

First on the list is the empathic physic, Emma Greyling. Did anyone else notice a more then startling resemblance to a young Sarah Jane Smith?  The clothes, the hair, even to the point of being a “companion”.  She did come off a little more reticent the Ms. Smith, but if my theory of this being some sort of dream sequence holds , wouldn’t the Doctor remember her softer after Amy Pond and River Song two of the most forthright companions.

Another interesting fact is the house is called Caliburn House.  This must be a reference to Excalibur.  It seems doubly so with all the mentions of water.  The witch in the well, that is an obvious reference to the lady in the lady who give Arthur the sword. Who in Doctor Who is the Lady in the Lake? River Song! That would explain why the music room is the HEART of the house.

Speaking of names, when the doctor is introduced to the professor the following exchange takes place;
Professor: oh so you’re a Doctor. Of what?
Doctor: Doctor what? That’s different
The Doctor also says that ignorance is Carlisle.  And that, “I do so love a carrier pigeon”  Well, Doctor, apparently so do I if I keep watching this show!

Some throw backs to the Old and New/old shows were in there besides the Sarah look a like.  Several of the pictures seemed like they were either of people the doctor has visited or by people he visited.  Also the statues were covered(so they couldn’t turn into Weeping angels).  One of the paintings resembled a scene from THE E-BOOK written by Amelia Pond.  The line about whiskey  being the 11th most disgusting drink ever is a throwback to Matt being the eleventh doctor.  The EYE of Harmony was THE plot point from the 1996 movie.  The Metebelis stone is from Planet of the Spiders.  Also, not a throwback to Doctor Who but Prof. Alec Palmer worked for the BAKER street ministry.(Sherlock Shout out)

SO now the TARDIS talks?  And flies itself?( I thought only the Doctor and River Song could fly the TARDIS) When did that happen?  BTW it may have looked like Clara but it sounded like the DOCTOR/DONNA. What happened to the wardrobe? It was there last week.

Some other random things that don’t fit in anywhere.
The over mentioning of HEALTH AND SAFTY. WTF
Clara said that love sticks out like a big chin. (We know what you’re thinking)
Clara is the only mystery worth solving.
Why did the Doctor bring back the “crooked man” and not take the “crooked women” home?
First time hearing the cloister bells in a long time.