IMO, I think Rings of Akhaten was one of the best episodes of the season. I get that people think it had a serious RTD feel to it, but I think it was also a great poke in the eye at the action hero type Doctor of which Davies was so fond. Somewhere in this thread I remember bringing up Moffat slowly pulling back from that. I think Cross did an excellent job of continuing to push that divide between eras.