'Doctor Who' Review - 'Bells Of St Johns' Finds Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman In Reassuringly Fine Form

TV REVIEW: Doctor Who - Time Lord And Assistant In Reassuringly Fine Form

This first new episode, number 7 of Series 7, found Stephen Moffat's team using their typical flair for sniffing the zeitgeist and giving it their highly visual, strong narrative twist, in this case the idea of souls being uploaded to the internet, something many people would say needs no time travel to discuss.

Matt Smith is back, with Jenna-Louise Coleman along for the ride

The mission to prevent this happening at human cost found the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his newly recruited companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) going on a whistle-stop tour of London, with a satisfying number of spottable landmarks.

This unprecedented pot of human souls - the "wi-fi soup" of the Doctor's fears - was being stirred by one Miss Kizlet - Celia Imrie in best pale stare mode - but her unnamed client was more of an enigma, providing viewers with all sorts of potential conspiracies and metaphors for our modern world.

Jenna-Louise Coleman acquitted herself with reassuring aplomb as the bemused but spirited companion to the timeless Time Lord, following their very 21st century reunion - he was trying to save the world, she was trying to sort out her internet connection.

The Doctor takes Clara on a very personal tour of London landmarks

Colour and character are as potent as ever this time around and, as for the chemistry between the pair… well, there is a sweet, courtly hint of sentimentality between the pair of them, in the best will-they-won't-they screen traditions. "Is that a snog booth?" she wondered about his travelling telephone box.

What do you think of Jenna-Louise Coleman as the Doctor's new Assistant? Let us know below...

Whether this will ignite into a full-blown romance, we've got seven more episodes this time around to discover. But a certain Riversong might just have something to say. Either way, something tells me we'll be hearing a bit more about Clara/Oswin's special book.

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