The Rings of Athken

So we met or reacquainted ourselves with Clara last week in the Bells of St John.

The episode starts in flashback we see Clara's mother meeting her father. Naturally mom saves dad because... The Dr observes from afar. BTW I hope Matt Smith kept the Beano summer special

The purpose for the Doctor's observations is to see if there is anything unusual regarding Clara's birth Parent's marriage and Mother's death

Bryan Robson is name checked Is he the only footballer mentioned in Who?

But all is mundane .Clara is a pretty young ordinary lady. Who buries her mother

Dads hair is obviously whitened at the grave side

So on with the plot. The Dr and Clara visit the above mentioned rings
They both can breath in space

So the Dr and Clara visit an intergalactic Christmas market with lots of Aliens. All humanoid of course and glowing blue fruit. The Dr. name drops Susan. In passing. We learn that the local currency is based on sentimental value. Which raises a question. Surely there are differences in sentimental value. Clara talks about hiring a hover bike
So about 100 dollars? A thousand 10 thousand depending on what we are comparing it to. Jet ski or private plane. So the ring (her late mothers
Is worth how much in comparison to say tickets to her favourite movie. She saw up the West end with the girls)

Imagine if the Dr had produced a blue peter badge- a university of California student pass

Anyhow Clara meets a lost little girl and consoles her. The girl is frightened about speaking and singing in public. There is a festival in which the old god
Is sung to sleep.

The singing is beautiful.
There is a  Mos Eisley cantina of the Aliens. Watching little girl lost performing her song

Anyhow the song is interrupted and the girl is transported across the sky to another asteroid

The Dr walks off to be challenged by Clara. We don't walk away

So again with Chekov's hover bike

Indiana Jones reference the Dr and Clara and little girl lost are facing a mutant angry gumby in a glass tomb

The Dr outsmarts him. But gumby is just an alarm... The Dr must face a God. The angry looking planet

Despite  Matt Smith doing his Rutger hauler impression from Blade Runner

Clara saves the day

It was alright. Clara is pretty. The Alien market looked too cobbled together. The singing was nice. Unnecessary digs at religion too