Doctor Who Recap: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

On today’s recap I’m not only going to be sharing my thoughts on last weeks episode of Doctor Who, but I’m going to share a theory I have, as well as point out the abundance of Easter eggs and references in the episode! If you’ve read any of my other recaps, I’m sure you already know that there are spoilers ahead! Also, one “Dark Knight Rises” spoiler, which you’ll understand when you read it.

I thought “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS” was a really fun watch. It was full of references from Amy and Rory’s time with The Doctor all the way back to some 1963 Doctor Who classics. Much like the rest of this season, the episode seemed to focus on the guest characters more than The Doctor and Clara. The only problem with this is that I didn’t really care too much about them. Not to get off topic, but remember Matthew Modines character in “The Dark Knight Rises”? The cop who had this whole story and rise to heroism happening in the background? I can compare their characters to this subplot. It was an okay story, but I felt no emotional connection to them at all. It felt too forced. Whenever they were on screen I kept waiting for it to cut back to Clara because what she was doing was way more interesting.

Another thing I’ve noticed about this season is the focus on the monster. They’re really trying to scare us with the most grotesque looking creatures they can create, even though past episodes prove that fans respond more to simplicity. First the Power Rangers monster, then the love sick centipede, and now Siamese zombies?  Give me a Dalek any day. But not actually, Daleks are scary.

During her time exploring the TARDIS, Clara learned a lot. Presumably even The Doctors name. She also learned why The Doctor is travelling with her. I got my hopes up thinking we were finally going to learn something about Clara, but then they all forgot about everything and the events of the episode never happened. Seriously Moffat, when are we going to get some sort of hint about who she is?

I have a simple theory involving the TARDIS. As we learn in this episode, the TARDIS and Clara still aren’t getting along. Remember in the episode Utopia when the TARDIS wouldn’t let Captain Jack on board? It was because she knew he wasn’t right. He was something in time that shouldn’t be there. I have a feeling that the TARDIS feels something similar towards Clara. The TARDIS is as baffled by Clara as The Doctor is, and she doesn’t trust her. On a side note, I love referring to the TARDIS as a character, and as her no less!

So how many of the Easter eggs and references did you notice? The obvious ones are the pool and the library. They have both been mentioned several times, but for the first time we finally get to see them. When Clara is exploring we see The Doctor’s crib from “A Good Man Goes to War”, the telescope from “Tooth and Claw”, and the Seventh Doctor’s umbrella for a brief moment. When the TARDIS starts leaking the past, we hear several voices too. A few that I picked up:

– Several of the past Doctor’s including the Ninth, Fourth and Fifth.

– The classic Susan line from the very first episode ever: “I made up the name TARDIS from the initials: Time and Relative Dimension in Space!”

– Several past companions including Amy Pond, Martha Jones and Ian Chesterton

I highly recommend watching the episode again to see what you can pick up on! It was a nice trip down memory lane! Now with only three episodes left in the season, I really hope we start getting some answers! Clara has had me on the edge of my seat for months! Next weeks episode is called “The Crimson Horror”! Looks like some of my favourite characters are back! View the trailer below!

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