# Doctor Who S7E7 the Bells of Saint John **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381 "2013-03-30T21:16:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/41 "2013-04-02T04:10:40Z")
I very much liked this ep… liked Clara more than I had expected to. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/42 "2013-04-02T05:02:12Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I wonder if it will be relevant that the ages in Clara’s journal skipped from [del]22[/del] to 24. Year 16 was also skipped over. It might be nothing more than she didn’t obsessively read the book every year but still.. _two_ gaps. And the Girl _Twice_ Dead… Connection somehow? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/43 "2013-04-02T07:08:38Z")
Amused by the reaction to Clara. As the euphemism goes 'and something for the dads … '. No, you don’t need to be a dad. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/44 "2013-04-02T18:20:09Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > The bystanders thought they were street magicians. Big blue box appears out of nowhere. Two people walk out. One goes back in and rides out on a motorcycle that was too long to fit in the box. There must have been a beginning to that trick that we didn’t see. If they just appeared out of nowhere, then people wouldn’t clap, they’d just be confused and/or scared. I had kept thinking that’d they’d go back to show the start of the trick, where they go in the box and disappear, but maybe we’ll see that later in the season. Not that it’s important to see, but I was just expecting it. > [@CorneaGenii](#): > > That said, I did like this episode. I will probably keep watching if only because Jenna is unbearably cute and for the hope of seeing Ten (or Ten II), Rose, and Captain Jack in the 50th anniversary show. When is the 50th anniversary show? I keep hearing various things about who’s going to be in it, but I haven’t heard when it’ll be. Has it been said when it’ll be shown? > [@Don\_Draper](#): > > [spoiler] > > I liked the episode, not as creepy as it was made out to be, but it had a decent concept and twists. Let me see if I have all the clues right - > > Victorian era Clara Oswald is a governess for widower with two kids. > > Modern day Clara Oswald is “helping out” with a widower watching his two kids and has no clue about the internet (not normal for a 24 yr-old girl in 2013 London.) > > Thanks to the evil wi-fi, Clara suddenly is a genius computer programmer. She also makes a joke about “Oswald for the win = Oswin!” > > Future-age Oswin Oswald is such a computer genius that the Daleks attempt to convert her into one of them, and she is able to hack into their systems. That’s a good point about future Oswald being a computer genius. I hadn’t thought about that. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/45 "2013-04-02T18:24:54Z")
Wouldn’t that have made everyone sucked into the wifi super geniuses? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/46 "2013-04-02T18:32:09Z")
I heard that Tennant & Rose are suppose to be back but no word on if Tennent is 10 or the alt dimension human version of him. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/47 "2013-04-02T18:32:29Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Clara: “When you say ‘mobile phone,’ why do you point at that blue box?” > > The Doctor: “Because it’s a surprisingly accurate description!” My favorite line. Also, the mysterious woman in the shop–could it be the Doctor’s daughter/clone? ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/48 "2013-04-02T18:34:29Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Wouldn’t that have made everyone sucked into the wifi super geniuses? Only if they got the computer skills package: \* "We’ve got a positive lock on her, but I think she’s borderline. Very clever, but no computer skills. " “Upload her anyway, splice her a computer skills package.\*” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/49 "2013-04-02T18:40:36Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > My favorite line. > > Also, the mysterious woman in the shop–could it be the Doctor’s daughter/clone? I would expect either River Song or Sally Sparrow. The problem with everyone except River Song is how do they know the number for the dummy phone? Martha, Rose and anyone else who had a Doctored Phone always called the internal console. River Song, knowing everything about the Tardis, would know how to access that phone number, but everyone expects an unknown woman to be River Song so I hope it’s Sally Sparrow. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/50 "2013-04-02T19:01:28Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I heard that Tennant & Rose are suppose to be back but no word on if Tennent is 10 or the alt dimension human version of him. I hope it’s the latter - less timey-wimey nonsense. (Dimensiony-wensiony is somehow preferable). ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/51 "2013-04-02T19:11:25Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Honestly though, I’m kind of sick of the companions being at the center of some universe-shaking plot device. ie Rose and the whole “Bad Wolf” story arc, Amy’s bedroom cracks / daughter and now Constantly dying Clara. What happened to just picking up some curious girl and carting her around time and space getting into random adventures? I liked this episode; the bizarre corporate culture at the Shard most of all (the exchange about Alexei that **standingwave** quoted, and the idea of “hacking” the employees for whatever was optimal for the moment). That said, my one issue is as the above: the companion who’s also the Story Hook everything’s hung off of. I was hoping for the refreshing simplicity of just the Doctor and a cute, clever girl getting into scrapes and saving the day. Still, have to see where they go with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/52 "2013-04-02T19:28:45Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I would expect either River Song or Sally Sparrow. The problem with everyone except River Song is how do they know the number for the dummy phone? Martha, Rose and anyone else who had a Doctored Phone always called the internal console. River Song, knowing everything about the Tardis, would know how to access that phone number, but everyone expects an unknown woman to be River Song so I hope it’s Sally Sparrow. That’s why I suggested Jenny, the Doctor’s clone/daughter. Presumably the Doctor knows the number, so she may know it too, in a cloney-woney way. Cloney-woney? :dubious: I need to stop that, right now. Wait–is there some way it could be the TARDIS itself? (Yes, I know Idris is dead, but still.) Or could it be the Master? Bet he’s got the Doctor’s number. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/53 "2013-04-02T19:30:05Z")
I don’t think the Doctor does. When it rang the first time in The Empty Child, he was rather bemused. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/54 "2013-04-02T19:55:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > There must have been a beginning to that trick that we didn’t see. If they just appeared out of nowhere, then people wouldn’t clap, they’d just be confused and/or scared. They appeared in a row of street performers, which I suspect would be cover enough. The afore-mentioned human statue mimes disgust when everyone turns away from him to see the motorbike, so clearly even he thought he’d been upstaged. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/55 "2013-04-02T21:43:53Z")
Loved the episode. Clara is a hoot, and a beauty. Some great lines. I did have to play mental catch up with the Great Intelligence and all that. “Oh wait, I know what that is, that intelligence thing.” Did anyone else think Celia Imrie was doing a Judy Dench as M thing? > [@dropzone](#): > > Wait, the leaf in the book was “page one?” Does Clara keep it as a subconscious memento of the Gamma Forest? Is Clara the young River Song? It would help explain her rebirths as a form of regeneration, though Alex Kingston was never that pretty (nice looking, even smokin’, but not pretty. It would also explain why the Doctor has some uncharacteristic hots for her. [spoiler]Leaf from the Gamma Forest? Hmmm. I don’t think Clara is River. For one thing, River met the Doctor as Mel, and we saw Mel transform directly into River, so there’s no room for another incarnation between them. For another, Mel knew all about the Doctor from Amy and from her upbringing. There’s no way Clara is Mel/River. The leaf is still a puzzler. Is that “one of the places to visit?” [/spoiler] > [@aceplace57](#): > > Clara seemed to have some romantic interest in the Doctor. I lost count of the times she chided him for wanting to get her in the Blue Box. Then she makes a comment like “Don’t be in such a hurry”. And “snog-box”. Dammit, I want a snog-box! > [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Wouldn’t that have made everyone sucked into the wifi super geniuses? Only if they got the augment package. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/56 "2013-04-02T22:22:38Z")
The leaf looked like Canada’s Maple leaf. Maybe she visits Canada? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/57 "2013-04-02T22:41:06Z")
Or maybe he just ‘took a leaf out of her book’. Boom boom Moffatt. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/58 "2013-04-02T22:53:41Z")
Maple trees do grow in a lot of other places. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CorneaGenii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@CorneaGenii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorneaGenii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/59 "2013-04-03T01:59:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I hope it’s the latter - less **timey-wimey** nonsense. > > (\*\*Dimensiony-wensiony \*\*is somehow preferable). > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > That’s why I suggested Jenny, the Doctor’s clone/daughter. Presumably the Doctor knows the number, so she may know it too, in a **cloney-woney** way. Arrrrgh!! It has begun. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381/60 "2013-04-03T02:20:47Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I’m just glad to see the Doctor back to having adventures instead of the interminable Farewell to Amy & Rory Show. Yeah, but now it’s become “Clara Who”… :smack: not a bad episode, not a great one. A few great lines, mostly already mentioned. Thanks for the tips on the small touches I missed, like the Amy reference… cute. I’m 100% sure the lady in the shop was River. We know she’ll be back eventually, she’s still got to learn the Doctor’s name. Presumably at the Fall of the Eleventh. I still think Moffatt’s run out of gas. Didn’t he do “people uploaded into a computer” before in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead? Back to the well, back to the well… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-s7e7-the-bells-of-saint-john/654381.md?page=4)