Doctor Who: Cold War (7x08)

I'll admit that I didn't take notes on this episode as I watched, so this will be a rather brief review. Basically... I liked it! It was a nice, normal, solid episode of Doctor Who. I didn't jump for joy at anything, but I was enjoying myself the whole way through.

The idea of bringing back the ice warriors (villains from Classic Doctor Who) was an intruiging one, and I am glad that Mark Gatiss stuck to his guns about this in order to write the episode that he wanted. However, the design of the alien in this episode was probably the weakest point for me. It was cheesy and not particularly threatening.

Some of the side-characters were compelling - I liked the relationship between Clara and Professor Grisenko, and the animosity between the Doctor and some of the other characters. But... I was really distracted by all the British people playing Russians. Couldn't they have gotten Russian actors? It really bothered me.

The highlight of the week, however, was the growing bond between Clara and the Doctor. I know I sound like a broken record, but I honestly love their chemistry. The best part of the episode was when Clara volunteers to go talk to the captive Ice Warrior, and the Doctor gets this big grin on his face, after which he pretends to object strenuously to the danger she'll be in. He trusts her and is confident that she can take care of herself. In general, that's what's nice about Doctor Who. The female companions are treated like competent human beings. Ont he flip side of this, it was endearing to see the Doctor's worry for her when things started to go wrong.

I really see Clara as being Matt Smith's companion companion. Like, the way Rose was for David Tennant. Amy was great, but her relationship with Rory was always something strong enough to pull her away from the Doctor. Rose and 10 were soul mates, and I think Clara could be that for 11. They certainly have more chemistry than the Doctor ever did with River!

As I said before, I didn't take notes so I don't have a lot of specifics to say about this one. I like that the Doctor was willing to blow them up; although it's not a new gimmick, it's always pretty intense. I liked that the TARDIS wasn't around so that they really did feel trapped. Again, it's been done before on this show, but it is a pretty effective plot device.

A decently solid week, but nothing too outstanding.

7/10