TV Review: Alternate Take on Doctor Who 'Night Terrors'
In which the Doctor makes a house call and diagnoses a fear of pants.
(Our second review of the latest Doctor Who episode after Jamie's from Saturday) rating: 5
In which the Doctor makes a house call and diagnoses a fear of pants. Indulge me, please, while I begin this review with a quote from Sir Terry Pratchett from his book Hogfather. I do so not just because I think hes one of the greatest writers in the English language, but because it was running through my head almost every minute of tonights episode. When you were grown up you only feared, well, logical things. Poverty. Illness. Being found out. At least you werent mad with terror because of something under the stairs. The world wasnt full of arbitrary light and shade. The wonderful world of childhood? Well, it wasnt a cut-down version of the adult one, that was certain. It was more like the adult one written in big heavy letters. Everything was . . . more. More everything. Yes. Yes. Oh, goodness me, yes. Never does that quote seem more accurate to me than when Im watching Doctor Who, and especially while watching it tonight. Our story focuses on young George, an eight-year-old boy who is scared of pretty much everything. His parents are loving, but are slowly losing patience with a boy who seems to be regressing and cowering from everything. They try to do everything they can, like hiding scary things from him, and creating a safe place in a cupboard where everything that scares him is placed. But it isnt enough, and the boy prays for salvation. A prayer the Doctor hears. Yes, hes answering prayers now. Moving on. The Doctor, Amy and Rory all turn up at the block of flats in which the family lives. We get a little introduction to the various other residents (and later find out George is scared of them, too, thus its no surprise as they start to disappear), while our heroes look around for the source of the cry for help. Eventually, the Doctor finds George and his father, Amy and Rory find an elevator that drops them into a creepy, wooden and false world. This does lead to a light-hearted moment where Rory suspects they might be dead yet again. Only on Doctor Who would such an idea be light-hearted. As the Doctor investigates further, he finds out that there is indeed something horrible, terrifying inside Georges cupboard. Something so scary that even hes very hesitant to open it up and look inside. With Georges father at wits end, George himself scared beyond all sanity and Amy and Rory being menaced by giant-headed wooden dolls, the Doctor finally reaches a decision... This episode worked on every level, and thats something that seldom happens. The humor was minimalist and effective, the creepy noises of children at play helped build a dreadful atmosphere, and the ending was wonderfully emotional, to the point that I was a little teary. Its easily one of the best episodes of the series, and certainly the best one from writer Mark Gatiss. The only minor nit I can pick, really, is that the dolls werent quite as creepy as the show wanted them to be. They werent bad, and its possible that were I eight I might be watching them from behind the sofa, but they werent nearly as disturbing as, say, the empty child, wandering in his gas mask while crying Mummy! This was a self-contained, non-arc story that was, well, just the Doctor and friends solving a problem. No River Song, no daleks, no Silence, no cracks in the universe, just a good, solid, Doctor Who story, and thats something thats always welcome. If the rest of this series continues to be as good and solid as the first two episodes, Ill be a very happy camper indeed.