(I originally wrote this review on 28 April 2013 for my Tumblr blog.)
Last night saw the premiere of "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS," the eleventh episode of Series 7 of Doctor Who and the fifth episode of the spring half of the season. The episode was written by Steve Thompson, who wrote the critically-meh'd Series 6 episode "The Curse of the Black Spot" and who is one of the three writers on the smash-hit series Sherlock along with Who Head Writer Steven Moffat and Who enthusiast/actor/writer Mark Gatiss (who wrote next week's episode of Who, "The Crimson Horror").
Fans of the show have been looking forward to this episode with bated breath because of its title alone; we knew that we were going to get a good, long look at much of the TARDIS's interior, which we got a small taste of for the first time in Neil Gaiman's Hugo Award-winning Series 6 episode, "The Doctor's Wife." Well, we got a pretty good look: lots and lots of dreary corridors. And this probably disappointed a lot of people. Me? Nah. The ship was pretty badly damaged, so of course, the corridors were going to be leaking steam and be quite dimly-lit, etc. It definitely lent itself to the episode's dark atmosphere. And this episode was definitely the darkest one since "The Angels Take Manhattan," the absolutely heartbreaking mid-season finale that aired at the end of September.
This episode had a lot going on: the huge emphasis on the TARDIS as a living thing, the whole dynamic between the van Baalen brothers, the many chase scenes involving the horrifying Time Zombies, Clara's (sort of) learning the Doctor's name, the Doctor (sort of) telling Clara about her multiplicity in the Universe, the TARDIS actually (almost) blowing up (again‽ XD), the time paradoxes, WHAT IS GOING ON I CAN'T PROCESS ALL OF THIS AT ONCE!
...That last part was a lie. Anyway, this is the kind of episode, perhaps more so than "Hide," that most people will need to watch more than once to really get the whole picture into their brains. (Oddly enough, I haven't needed to, even though I did for "Hide.") More happens in this episode than in...probably any episode since the series returned in 2005, actually.
The pacing seemed a bit rushed to me, at least at the beginning, but as I got used to it, and as I realized just how much plot Steve Thompson had stuffed into this almost-45-minute episode, the pacing definitely grew on me, and I was hooked. Some people just don't like to have to keep track of fifty billion different subplots and slowly-progressing story arcs when they watch an episode of Doctor Who, but the flow of this one really worked to its advantage; it makes sense (for the most part), it isn't (too) overwhelming, and it certainly isn't boring.
I loved this episode. It is, by far, my favorite of Series 7, Pt. 2 so far. Thompson's "The Curse of the Black Spot" was an...interesting romp that has grown on me somewhat over the past couple years. But "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" does not have to grow on me because it is just brilliant already! The suspense, the thriller/horror-style chases throughout, and the wonderful character dynamics throughout make watching this story a fantastic, nail-biting, cinematic experience. And perhaps more so than any episode since "The Snowmen," "Journey..." progresses the season's primary story arc and even introduces a new one— season finale title, anyone?
I would give this one a 9.5 out of 10! I hope Steve Thompson continues writing for Doctor Who in the future because this episode has shown his true potential as a writer for the show.
P.S. Stop hating on "...Black Spot" so much; apart from the pacing and the somewhat predictable ending, it was a pretty good episode!
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