Doctor Who - Series 7 Minisodes Review

Okay, so we're got an interesting conundrum - Series 7 of Doctor Who is finally released on DVD completely and it's got extras but it's only been released in the US since Tuesday. UK and Irish viewers have to wait until next month to get their hands on it and this is the cover we get ...

The set includes every episode from The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe up to and including The Name Of The Doctor, along with four episode commentaries (The Snowmen, Cold War, Hide and The Crimson Horror), behind the scenes videos, episode prequels, the Good As Gold/Pond Life minisodes, a Creating Clara feature and several BBC America features focusing on companions, science and Comic-Con to name a few. Plus these three scenes which have leaked online ...

Minisode 1: Clara And The TARDIS (Steven Moffat)

Clara (to herself): You think you've got problems? We've got to share a bed.

Steven Moffat certainly loves to revisit a trope and while that tends to generate a certain level of derision from some fans, can you really complain when it's confined to a tiny scene? Well, it might not stop some fans but this little gem is a lot of fun, even if it rethreads old ground such as multiple Claras (holograms I think) and Clara getting a crash course in some of the previous occupants in the TARDIS (her reaction to Amy alone is amusing). It's also a nice reminder that the TARDIS doesn't actually like Clara all that much either as she takes great pleasure in annoying the current Miss Oswald. Good fun, though not for Clara of course, 8/10.

Minisode 2: Rain Gods (Steven Moffat)

River (to the Doctor): We should be burning on the stake right now. It's lucky for you you're pretty.

For those of you hoping that we'd get another appearance from River Song, well I hope you liked this one. Clearly it's set between The Angels Take Manhattan and The Name Of The Doctor and more to the point, it's a scene that originally featured Amy and Rory when it was intended for The Doctor's Wife. It's a fun scene where the Doctor and River nearly get sacrificed to the Rain Gods before they're saved by lightning and head back into the TARDIS. The married couple bickering actually worked pretty well in the scene's favour too, 7/10.

Minisode 3: The Inforarium (Steven Moffat)

Info Man: Who the hell are you?
Doctor: How could you forget? I’m the Doctor, and this is the Inforarium…

Has anyone wondered how the Doctor managed to delete all the information about himself in the universe? It's one of  few things Steven Moffat seems intent on answering before the Doctor regenerates into his Twelfth form and here we get the answer - the inforarium. It's a place with all top notch info on the Doctor that the hapless guards have been giving to his enemies and without barely blinking, the Doctor quickly deletes by following the Silence's example. It's probably the weakest of the three minisodes but entertaining enough though, 6/10.

Series 7 Minisodes: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/rain-gods-dvd-minisode-53349.htm

Doctor Who - The Complete Seventh Series is out now for US buyers and will be available for UK/Irish buyers from October 28th. The Day Of The Doctor airs on November 23rd for both BBC1 and BBCAmerica.