New companion. New adventures. Same old Doctor.

by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

The Doctor is back for more crazy adventures as Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 comes home to Blu-ray. Following the tragic loss of The Ponds, and a wacky Christmas tale in 1892, The Doctor finds himself trying to solve the mystery of Clara Oswin, the “Impossible Girl”. His adventures will take him deep into the icy waters of the Cold War, to a far away world where Cybermen still exist, and to the one place he must never go: Trenzalore.

Episode Highlights:

The Bells of Saint John– The Doctor once again finds himself paired up with a new incarnation of Clara, who has not only appeared twice before, but has died an equal number of times! When people start going missing, it is up to The Doctor and Clara to recover the missing people from the WIFI, before their souls are lost forever to The Great Intelligence!

Journey to the Center of the Tardis– When The Doctor lets Clara attempt to pilot the Tardis, the two find themselves trapped by scavengers. Now it is a race against time to save Clara before the Tardis initiates a self destruct sequence! This episode was filled with easter eggs, and gave plenty of hints about the future (and secret history) of The Doctor. Fans are finally given a glimpse at both the mysterious swimming pool and the library. While traversing the damaged Tardis, Clara stumbles into the library, only to find a complete accounting of the Time War! What secrets will be revealed?

Nightmare In Silver– Following up on the incredible tale of The Doctor’s Wife, writer Neil Gaiman returns to Doctor Who with Nightmare In Silver. What could have been a very exciting stand off against newly enhanced Cybermen unfortunately came across as overly boring and filled with plot holes. Due to some series wide story changes for Clara, Nightmare in Silver had to be adapted from Gaiman’s original script. While it wasn’t on par with his last Doctor Who episode, Nightmare In Silver did provide us with a fun glimpse of The Doctor versus an evil Cyber-Planner version of himself.

The Name Of The Doctor– Playing back to elements from the Series 6 finale, viewers were teased with the possiblility of finding out the answer to the biggest question in the universe: Doctor Who? When The Doctor’s friends are attacked, he finds himself forced to go to the one place in the universe where he truly should never visit: his own grave on Trenzalore. The Great Intelligence hatches his master plan to rid the universe of The Doctor forever. Secrets are revealed, as The Doctor and Clara find their histories forever linked! This episode also sets the stage for the epic 50th Anniversary special coming in November 2013, featuring a mysterious figure from The Doctor’s past.

Special Features:
As with most of the split series releases, Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 only includes a limited number of features.

• The Bells of Saint John – A Prequel
• Clarence and the Whispermen – Taking place right before The Name Of The Doctor, this short teaser definitely set the stage for the finale!

Fans will have to wait until Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series gets released later this year for additional specials and audio commentary.

Overall:
While Series 7 proved to be one of the more inconsistent series since the reboot, it did provide viewers with some big setup for things to come. The decision to remove The Ponds and split the season in five and eight episode blocks really did hinder the pacing. Fans anxiously await the return of David Tennant during the 50th special, and look forward to seeing what John Hurt brings to the table. If you already own Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1 on Blu-ray or DVD, then you should definitely pick this release up. If you haven’t bought the first part of the series, then I would wait for the Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series release so you can get the additional features.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 on Blu-ray – 4 out of 5 secrets from the Time War!

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