Since Moffat took the helm of Doctor Who, it has often been criticised for not being 'homey' enough; being starkly contrasted against the warmth of Russell T. Davies' stories. Fortunately, Night Terrors proved these critics wrong by doing just that. The inclusion of a local atmosphere where the audience can easily relate to the occupants of the flat was a clever decision on Moffat's and Gatiss' part, as it eased the story away from the multi-series arc and brought it back to one of its well-received, older roots - the 'Monster of the Week' type episodes.
The first glimpses of the episode from previews and trailers gave it a very The Girl In The Fireplace feel about it, regarding the Clockwork-esque monsters, the focal point of the child and they way the Doctor is called in to save the day. Whilst watching it, however, the episode seemed to point much more towards another Series 2 episode - Fear Her. In fact, many of the episode's twists and turns were incredibly similar. Perhaps the most annoying was the child: both Chloe Webber and George are 'controlled' in some way by an external alien force and both are 'saved' by the end of it. There is a cupboard involved in both and not forgetting the climax, where the child comes to terms with their fears and saves themselves. Thus, the episode was removed from what it could have been into, controversially, a glorified Fear Her.
Although Gatiss did well in using other characters, Amy and Rory's subplot seemed out of place and the episode may have been better as a simple 'companion-lite' story, echoing the greatness achieved by Midnight. Amy and Rory did not do much to the plot, nor to the overall series' storyline, but it was refreshing to see a tiny burst of fun at times to remind the viewer that things aren't totally bleak.
Overall, whereas the story promised a lot, it lacked substance. The aesthetics were commendable, for having such a vicious yet ugly creature to deal with and the direction certainly gave the episode an extra nightmarish oomph, but unfortunately it did not deliver as well as it could have - especially in the way which everything was hastily explained about the 'Tenza'. Gatiss' first effort, The Unquiet Dead, remains his best.
6.5/10
6.5/10
8 comments:
You are in error, I'm afraid, George is not controlled by an external aline force, he is just an alien, full stop.
Hence the inverted commas duhh
Now, I loved this episode. Yes, the Amy/Rory story line wasn't top-notch, but it was great to see them focus on each other for once. And, as always, Amy led the way.
What I loved most was the idea of taking seriously monsters in the closet, and childish fears. This was an episode the whole family could watch together and enjoy. It didn't require a score card or several re-watches to get; just sit down on Saturday evening, put up your feet, and have a great adventure with the Dr. and his friends. And it had heart. I've missed that this season. It was great to be back.
Yup, I felt it was just Fear Her done better. An apology for that awful, annoying episode. Personally I'm much happier with Moffat's lack of "homey" stories. The number of times I watched the RT Doctor Who and cried out "London again!". There was the whole of time and space and almost every other episode they were back in London with Roses mum or whoever.
not gonna lie. i thought the episode was a complete waste of time. it felt like a bad combo of a 10 / 11 doctor story - being dark but "family friendly". i honestly felt like i was watching a bad intro, which had been dragged out for 45 minutes instead of an episode. worst episode of both seasons with matt, worst episode of the new series since 2005 (yes, fear her was actually better in my opinion). hopefully its just a one off though!
Have to agree with the previous posts that this was the worst episode for the Matt Smith era so far and that it is only marginally better than Fear Her, the worst episode yet since returning in 2005. Also want to add that I am not a fan of stories by Mark Gattis. When I heard he was the writer for this episode, I did not have high expectations.
I really quite disliked this episode; as others have said, it just didn't feel "right". I never felt scared or tense, it was just another "Somethings going to happen. Oh look, it hasn't."
I don't know what it is about the writing since Matt started, of whether it's the acting, but the scary moments - The Unquiet Dead, Blink - just aren't, well, scary. I don't know why Blink is such good quality and this episode isn't, considering it was so good and yet so Doctor/companion-lite.
I don't agree with others about Fear Her, though, it's actually, believe it or not, one of my favourite ever DT episodes. :P But hey, each to their own.
Oh, come on. People don't seriously think this was worse than the pirate episode? It was a classic kid-oriented Who, which is perfectly acceptable to me. One of the things I liked about this show is that fact that not all the episodes are exactly the same. You could tune in each week with an open mind, expecting only to be delighted and entertained. I don't think the first part of this season did that as well. I've been pleased with this half of the season so far, and once again look forward to watching to see what will come next.
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