Well in regards to the new series it has been simply ages since I have done a post on Doctor Who, and particularly on Matt Smith's era, which has in my opinion been fairly good but at times also a mixed bag. But despite that I have to decided to do a review on the latest Christmas episode of Who, The Snowmen, which features the proper intro of the Doctor's new companion, Clara Oswald (played by the very foxy Jenna-Louise Coleman). So let's have a quick look at a bit of the plot (and just a bit!).
So the story starts in England in 1842, where we see a young boy play in the snow by his own, and he builds a snowman, as he refuses to play with the other children, as he calls them "silly" and he "doesn't need anyone". And all of a sudden the snowman begins to talk back to the boy, repeating what he said. The story then cuts to 50 years later, where the boy is now a man, Dr Simeon, who is the owner of the "Great intelligence institute". Simeon hires men to collects sample of snow, which are placed in a large globe in his laboratory. Simeon then has the men fed to a group of animated carnivorous snowmen. Meanwhile the Doctor, who is also in London at this time, is still mourning the deaths of his former companions Amy and Rory Pond, has parked his TARDIS up in the clouds. The Doctor is accompanied by his allies, Madame Vastra (one of the repitilian race, or Silurians if you like) and her human companion Jenny, and the sontaran officer, Strax, who he sends to check out for anything strange. Vastra and Jenny follow Dr Simeon as they are intruiged for his need of the snow.
While this is happening, a local barmaid, Clara (Jenna) investigates a disturbance outside her local pub, as she sees the Doctor walk past, she stops him and accuses him of making a snowman, which the Doctor looks at and finds the snow to be made of a strange substance which has memory. All of a sudden they are confronted by the animated snowmen, which the Doctor tells Clara to think of as melting water, as they are using her mind to come to life, when she does the snowmen melt. Despite his intruige of the snow, the Doctor refuses to interfere as he goes back into his TARDIS, parked in the sky. However Clara follows him up a staircase leading up to the TARDIS and its not before long that the two of them are linked together in their fight against the snowmen and Simeon.
The Snowmen is an enjoyable story for one of the Christmas Who episodes, which generally tend not to be quite as good as the season episodes. The story itself is also a reflection of the Patrick Troughton era story, the Abominable Snowmen, were the robotic Yeti, were controlled by an artificial intelligence. And the fact that the intelligence is voiced by Sir Ian McKellan is a nice touch, as he grandiose voice is perfect for such a part. As for the story's other aspects, its interesting to see the Doctor once again as a wounded man, after losing Amy and Rory, he no longer wishes to interfere in the affairs of the universe, and is now afraid of travelling with another companion, as he might lose them. The appearance of the snowmen themselves is also quite effective, as they are pretty creepy looking with their sharp teeth.
The introduction of Clara is well handled as she plays a double part of a barmaid and a Governess, who looks after the children of a Captain Latimer at his mansion. Although I have to say that it appears to be a key component of the new companions in the new series, that each one is a like an important link to the universe in some way, as we found with Rose Tyler, Donna Noble and of course Amy Pond. And with Clara it appears that way as well, as we already know that she has died before, as the Doctor had already met her in the Asylum of the Daleks, when she was turned into a dalek. So no doubt her significance will come evident as some point in the next series (or the next part of series 7 should I say!).
Performance wise things are pretty good in the Snowmen, as Richard E Grant plays the part of the icy (no pun intended) villain, Dr Simeon really well, as a cold (another pun!) callous man, who works for the intelligence. Jenna-Louise Coleman is really good as the new companion, Clara (the fact that she is a babe is also good!) and a different companion is a breath of fresh air for the series, after so much of Amy and Rory. Neve McTosh as Madame Vastra is also pretty good and it appears to be a source of amusment to have another homoerotic relationship in the show, as she is partnered with her human companion, Jenny. Dan Starkey as Strax also provides some amusement, as the somewhat scatty Sontaran officer (who is actually the equivalent of a wet nurse for the sontaran race!) who at one point is asked by the Doctor to use a worm to erase Clara's mind of their meeting (as the worm can do this throughout physical contact), but instead he erases his own mind twice! And finally Matt Smith as the Doctor is still excellent in the lead role, and he plays the Doc as a lonely man really well for half the story, before he is reeled back into his life as a galactic troubleshooter. Matt's funniest moment in the story appears when he rubs Strax's head and kisses him and spits out!
So that's it for the Snowmen, as its an entertaining Christmas special, which now sees series 7 at the half-way point, and no doubt its going to be very interesting next year when the Doc and his companion return to the screen.
And that's it for nooow.
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