The Rings of Akhaten (TV story): Difference between revisions

[[File:Welcome to The Rings of Akhaten - Doctor Who The Rings of Akhaten preview - Series 7 2013 - BBC One|thumb|left|"Welcome to the [[Rings of Akhaten]]."]]

The Doctor walks her out of the TARDIS, with her eyes closed, into the light of an alien sun. He bids her open her eyes so that he can welcome her to the [[Rings of Akhaten]]. A golden [[pyramid]] comes into view. It is the [[Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten]], a holy site for the [[Sun-singers of Akhet]]. This is a [[star system|system]] of seven [[planet|worlds]], orbiting the same [[star]], and they believe that all life in the [[universe]] originated on [[Akhaten]]. Clara asks to go to it.

They wander an [[alien]] market. The Doctor says that most of the people around are local [[species]], and points out some: some [[Pan-Babylonian]]s, a [[Lugalirakush]], some [[Eukanian]]s, a [[Hooloovoo]] and an [[Ultramanta]]. He does a ritual greeting with a [[Terraberserker]] of the [[Cadonian Belt]], mentioning that they're not common. He says he forgot how much he liked it there — he'd been there a long time ago with [[Susan Foreman|his granddaughter]]. Clara's a bit shocked at this, but the Doctor's moving fast. She runs after him and he presents her with [[Exotic fruit (The Rings of Akhaten)|a glowing blue fruit]]. She takes a bite as he scans it with his screwdriver. She shakes her head at the taste.

The place is crowded because of the [[Festival of Offerings]], and a creature comes up to Clara, barking and growling at her. The Doctor returns, barking himself to communicate, and introduces [[Dor'een]] to Clara. Dor'een had been asking if they want to rent a moped. Clara asks what it costs and the Doctor explains that they don't use money, here. They use objects of sentimental value as currency. "[[Psychometry]]. Objects [[psychic]]ally imprinted with their history." She dislikes the idea, thinking it's terrible to have to give up something important to you in trade. The Doctor says it's better than bits of paper, so she says that he should pay, as someone who's a thousand years old should have something that he cares about. The Doctor pulls out his [[sonic screwdriver]], then shakes his head and puts it back.

[[File:Dor'een.jpg|thumb|left|Dor'een in the market.]]

Clara turns her back for a moment, then goes looking for him. [[Merry Galel|A little girl]], wearing crimson robes, bumps into her and runs off. Shortly afterwards, two men wearing similar robes, presumably monks of the religious order of that system, ask Clara if she'd seen the [[Queen of Years]]. Clara shrugs and they search on.

Clara goes to look for the young girl, and finds her in the back corridors. The girl runs, and Clara slowly follows. They startle each other and laugh. The girl says she's hiding and is confused and sceptical that Clara doesn't know her. The girl says she needs help to hide, and Clara knows the perfect box. [[Vigil|Three men wearing black uniforms with brass buttons and facial masks]] appear and start whispering, calling out for the girl. Clara takes the little girl to the TARDIS and tries to open the doors, but they are locked. She rattles the doors a bit, then states that the blue box just doesn't like her.

Clara gets a little angry, but she forgets it when the little girl ducks behind the TARDIS. She tells Clara that her name is [[Merry Galel]], and she's the Queen of Years. She was chosen to become this as a baby, when the previous Queen died. She knows every story, poem, legend, and song of their culture. She's scared because she has to sing a special song to their god to keep him from waking. Clara tells her that everyone's scared when they're little. She had been scared of being lost, until she'd gotten lost once. Her mom found her and took her home, and told her that no matter how lost she was, her mom would always find her. Afterwards, Clara was many times scared, but never of being lost.

Merry believes Clara when she tells her she'll get the song right, and Clara takes her back to the men in red robes who were looking for her. The Doctor comes up, eating the glowing blue fruit.

In a room in the pyramid, a man in red robes sings to a [[Mummy (The Rings of Akhaten)|mummy]]. He switches out with [[The Chorister (The Rings of Akhaten)|the Chorister]].

[[File:Merry_singing_to_the_Old_God.jpg|thumb|right|Merry continues the Long Song.]]

Clara and the Doctor arrive to view a ceremony. The Doctor shushes Clara when she tries to ask if they're supposed to be there. There is some grumbling, then silence as Merry looks at Clara before she begins to sing a duet with the man in the pyramid. The Doctor reads the program and tells Clara that they're signing the [[Long Song]], a lullaby to keep the [[Old God]], or Grandfather, asleep. There has been a [[Chorister]] singing this endless song for generations. Others in the audience hold up offerings, gifts of sentimental value, to feed the Old God. The viewers, including the Doctor, join in the song.

The Chorister in the pyramid falters, and they all stop singing, looking around in confusion. The Chorister raises his hood and continues. The ground shakes at the pyramid and in the viewing room, and a golden energy seizes Merry and starts moving her towards the pyramid. She screams and Clara asks if anyone is going to help her. She follows the Doctor, who is already leaving, saying he can't just walk away because Clara talked Merry into doing this. He replies: "Listen, there is one thing you need to know about travelling with me. Well, one thing, apart from the blue box and the two hearts. We don't walk away."

He walks up to Dor'een, barking, then pats his pockets and looks back to Clara. He tells her he needs something. She's confused, saying that he must have something himself. He pulls out the screwdriver, saying, "I don't want to give it away because it comes in handy." She looks down and quietly takes her mother's [[ring]] from her hand and hands it over. They take the moped and fly it out to the glowing ball carrying Merry. Clara almost takes her hand, but the little girl flies into the pyramid.

The Chorister is still trying to sing the god back to sleep, and the Doctor advises he run. He stops, and declares that the Long Song has ended with him. He presses a button on his wrist band and teleports away. The mummy begins to move, and the Doctor tells Merry that they didn't wake him, he woke because it was time to wake up.

The Vigil disappear, and the Doctor says they're gone because Grandfather is awake and they're no longer needed. He declares that he's made a tactical mistake. He thought that the Old God and Grandfather were the same thing (the [[Mummy (The Rings of Akhaten)|Mummy]]), but "it was just Grandfather's [[alarm clock]]". ''[[Akhaten]]'' itself is the Old God. Merry declares that the entity will eat everyone in the system and then continue across the stars. Clara and the Doctor talk about going somewhere else but she knows he's going to stay to fight it.

* The Doctor would [[regenerate]] or give away his regenerations. ''This turned out to be false. The golden light the Doctor was connected with was his memories, not regeneration energy.''

* Clara's mother was killed in the Auton attack shown in ''TV'': ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''.  ''This was neither proven nor disproven.''

=== Ratings ===

"The Rings of Akhaten" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on [[BBC One]] on 6 April 2013. Overnight ratings showed that it was watched by 5.5 million viewers live, a 28.8% audience share. When time-shifted viewers were factored in, the final rating rose to 7.45 million, making it the sixth most-watched programme of the week on BBC One. In addition, "The Rings of Akhaten" received over two million requests on the online [[BBC iPlayer]] in April, coming in first for the month on the service. The episode also received an Appreciation Index of 84.