Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Just as you know a Doctor Who ghost story like the last episode is not going to be terribly scary, you know from the outset that a story set on board the TARDIS is going to be primarily about pointless running down corridors. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS does not fail to deliver on that unwanted expectation.

It must be said that we have seen little of the TARDIS interior beyond the console in the New Series, the only exception being the The Doctor's Wife, with it's bland corridors. The TARDIS interior that we see here is more interesting than that (and possibly more so than the white corridors of the Davison era). Yet it still looks too much like a spaceship. The Invasion of Time TARDIS looked cheap, but it was surreal and surprising. Having the TARDIS look like an old-fashioned hospital is weird enough to work.

It was nice to have some ethnic diversity in an episode. Just a pity the three guest actors were such terrible actors. I don't think the regulars were all that bright here either. There was so little believable emotional reaction in this story. I am at a loss to know just how Clara reacted to her discoveries in this. She shows so little emotion about it. And despite Dr. Who lying to the brothers and threatening to kill them, why do they never seem to show any anger or hostility towards him? Not once did they look like they wanted to punch Dr. Who.

I understand why the zombies were included; they were necessary to create some conflict, seeing as the brothers were too dumbstruck to threaten Dr. Who. However, they weren't terribly interesting. And I have no idea why burn victims would turn into zombies.

The biggest failing of this story is the use of the reset button. It's a lazy cop-out resolution (even if it was set up in the plot and so not a deus ex machina). It also takes away any of the impact (if any, given the lack of emotional reaction on Clara's part) of her discoveries.



We get some more nonsense about the Doctor's name. Since when has the Doctor been all that bothered about his name? He didn't seem to care in Silver Nemesis. Besides, we all know his name is Who. Even if fans close their eyes when the credits roll on every classic episode until JNT.