Joseph Campbell was one of the great students of myths. It was he who pointed out the basic structure of all mythic stories: the Hero enters the Underworld to save his home/lover and, after a long journey, gains the knowledge to do so. He returns with the knowledge and achieves his goal, but learns that he has changed and cannot go home.
Sometimes the hero is a woman, of course, and sometimes the Underworld is the Woods or Outer Space or Beyond the Fields We Know or even the Center of the TARDIS.
Doctor Who is interesting because of its mysteries; at the center of those mysteries is the TARDIS, a time-and-space traversing device bigger on the inside that enables the Doctor and his companions to go anyplace and anywhen. We have had hints in earlier episodes -- and views in versions of Doctor Who in other media -- that the TARDIS is in some ways infinitely large. This is the first time we have seen that infinitude on the TV screen and the execution is weird and fascinating.
Steve Thomas, whose earlier Doctor Who script was the mediocre "Curse of the Black Spot" has done better this time. However, I have an issue: we cannot see infinity. The writer and actors and cinematographers cannot show us infinity. They have to reduce the scale so that we can see what we are supposed to be looking at. The Eye of Harmony cannot be larger than a TV screen. Then they must reduce it further so that the plot can encompass it. In the end it turns into a bunch of weird-looking stuff that isn't weird at all.
Still and all, I enjoyed the episode, for its audacity in offering us a glimpse of the immensity and mystery. In the end, though, when the hero returns home and saves the village, but is not transformed... neither is the viewer.
Sometimes the hero is a woman, of course, and sometimes the Underworld is the Woods or Outer Space or Beyond the Fields We Know or even the Center of the TARDIS.
Doctor Who is interesting because of its mysteries; at the center of those mysteries is the TARDIS, a time-and-space traversing device bigger on the inside that enables the Doctor and his companions to go anyplace and anywhen. We have had hints in earlier episodes -- and views in versions of Doctor Who in other media -- that the TARDIS is in some ways infinitely large. This is the first time we have seen that infinitude on the TV screen and the execution is weird and fascinating.
Steve Thomas, whose earlier Doctor Who script was the mediocre "Curse of the Black Spot" has done better this time. However, I have an issue: we cannot see infinity. The writer and actors and cinematographers cannot show us infinity. They have to reduce the scale so that we can see what we are supposed to be looking at. The Eye of Harmony cannot be larger than a TV screen. Then they must reduce it further so that the plot can encompass it. In the end it turns into a bunch of weird-looking stuff that isn't weird at all.
Still and all, I enjoyed the episode, for its audacity in offering us a glimpse of the immensity and mystery. In the end, though, when the hero returns home and saves the village, but is not transformed... neither is the viewer.