The Bells of St John.
Ah. It may not be completely to everyone's taste, but you can't truly complain about this episode.
Let's start with expectations. The only real way you could be disappointed with Bells, is if you were expecting too much of it. It's a new series! It's the impossible girl's debut! It's the 50th anniversary year! Expectations are very high. But maybe the expectations should be directed at the series as a whole, not the first episode. The Bells of St John could never live up to those expectations.
But it damn well tries.
Story:
The story is tight, well written, and very cool. I say cool, because that's the best way to describe it. The setting is cool. The villains are cool. And the Doctor's new costume is very cool. The Doctor saves the day in a very clever way, much akin to The Empty Child, Blink and The Eleventh Hour. You can certainly tell Moffat's put a lot of thought and effort into making this story make sense. It wasn't "Timey Wimey" none of it felt far fetched or half explained. Time travel was used properly. Like the Doctor skipping night time to cut to breakfast. It really breathed a new breath of life into time travel; I've never wanted a TARDIS as much as I do now.
Moffat promised Bond-esque. And he certainly delivered. Driving up the side of a building on a motorbike? Gadgets, wifi and cameras left right and centre? Spoon heads? It was gadget galore. And very Bond.
No explosions though, I suppose there was almost an explosion, but the Doctor stopped that.
Characters:
It felt nice to meet a companion's family again, well, almost family. Although we didn't see much of em, they were a nice touch.
Clara Oswald for the win. Os-win! One thing Clara brings to the tables that was sorely lacking with the Ponds, is a sense of realism. Clara felt down to Earth, and very real. And much less fairy tale. In all honestly, it made the entire show feel much more grown up. She's still got that cliche flirty attitude that all Moffat's female characters seem to have, but to a much smaller degree than Amy or River.
The Doctor kinda took the same route, even he feels more realistic. He's still the Doctor, he's still Matt's Doctor, but he felt much more genuine.
The villains:
The spoon heads weren't the real villains. No more than the sonic screwdriver is the hero. The Shard were great though, real proper human villains. It felt great to have the Doctor go up against humans, something that's so rarely done in Doctor Who. It reminds us how Time Lord the Doctor really is.
Of course, Miss Kislet is the real villain. No zip on her forehead, no Zygon beneath the skin, and she's certainly not got 13 lives. She's as human as they come, and it certainly works well for the plot. Celia Imrie plays the part beautifully, and there really is no fault with the writing.
Of course the mastermind was the Great Intelligence, no complete surprise, if you've heard the rumours.
The setting:
It's great to be in London again. It's been sorely missed, and I hope Moffat pays a visit to contemporary London again soon. Blimey, I never thought I'd be saying that.
The music:
Wow. If there's one thing I wanna praise (even more so than Smith's new costume) it's the music. My single favourite episode, if it was down to the music played. An acoustic version of I am the Doctor! A new version of the majestic tale! I kinda hope the music stays in this episode, because it screams the Bells of St John.
Overall:
Positives - Great story, great villains, great music.
Negatives - it was a bit slower paced than it could have been. But who says that's a bad thing? The only real complaint, is perhaps Clara's unnecessary flirting. And even that's unnoticeable.
