Leaf it mate, he's not worth it

So this Neil Cross bloke is going to be the saviour of Doctor Who? Apparently he done invented Luther but I don't watch it so I couldn't vouch for that. Anyway, any potential future showrunner who isn't Chibnall-shaped has to be something to cling on to. I don't think I could handle it if Doctor Who was forever at risk of "oh, did I not mention Will Mellor can see dead people?" being a thing. I mean, whatever, whoever replaces The Moff when he leaves will be fine I'm sure *cough* Whithouse is now available *cough*

Aaanyhoo.

"The Rings of Akhaten" by Neil Cross, directed by Farren Blackburn. Spoilers under the cut.

So if last week's episode was the "Bond movie" I guess this week's was The Mummy? I'd say Indiana Jones but clearly even the episode itself wasn't aiming that high. I mean, it was better than I'd expected from the trailer last week, which suggested it would just be Running And That. At least it sort of had a bit of a story. But it really fit into the series' mould of "new companion's first trip to space" episodes, which generally haven't been great. It really looked like an RTD-era space episode as well; I think it was all the orange.

It's not a dreadful episode, but it's a bit underwhelming. The best bits are when the Doctor gets to remember he's all ancient and has Seen It All^TM. With Matt Smith being the youngest-ever Doctor I always think it makes sensed to play up the "old man in young body" thing, and his sometimes eccentric line delivery suits it well.

So... was Aled Jones' daughter meant to be a sacrifice all along or not? They didn't seem to expect the ceremony to end in the mummy waking/the sun turning into a Jack O'Lantern, but Merry seemed to know she was intended as a sacrifice, and the chicken-skull aliens were there to make sure she got eaten if she changed her mind. And if Akhaten feeds on memories and experience, isn't using the Queen of Years as a sacrifice totally flawed from the outset? Is a child who's been locked away since birth learning songs really much of a feast, memory-wise?

These "movie posters" for each episode are nice, but maybe not giving away the ending on them would be an idea. As soon as it was established that items with emotional value had currency, the picture of Clara offering up the Leaf Of Specialness pretty much told us all we needed to know about what the episode's magic solution would be.

I assume there was a deleted scene where the Doctor rehoused an entire solar system 'cause he just destroyed their sun?

And anyway, is an episode largely based around songs telling the audience to go to sleep such a great idea?