TV Review: DOCTOR WHO - 6.11 "The God Complex"

By Jamie Slough / September 17, 2011

Doctor Who Series 6: Episode 11

Written By: Toby Whithouse

rating: 3

For an episode that pushed so many buttons and got so many things right, I am really struggling to like The God Complex after I€™ve finished watching.

"The TARDIS lands in what looks like an ordinary hotel, as the time-travelling drama continues. But the walls move, corridors twist and rooms vanish. There is a room for every visitor that contains their deepest, darkest fears. Fears that will kill them. What lies in the Doctor€™s room? And when his turn comes, will he welcome death like all the rest?" BBC Press Office

The supporting cast did a surprisingly good job throughout this episode, props especially to the character of Rita (played by Amara Karan), a compelling character who approached the problem of real world religions subtly in the out there universe that is Doctor Who. David Walliams should also be noted in this episode as Gibbis the giant space mole. As enjoyable as his performance was, I feel Walliams wasn€™t given the best material to work with. Gibbis appears, confirms he is a coward, chooses his safety over others in the group and screams a lot. Wash, rinse and repeat. It€™s a shame that this guest stars much anticipated and most likely only appearance on Doctor Who for many years (much like every guest star) was so underwhelming.

I actually quite liked this episode from a technical standpoint. Director Nick Hurran took full advantage of the locations he had to work with. The constant shifting depths, dolly zooms and warped images worked very well within this almost demonic hotel. The Minotaur was also very enjoyable to watch, the design and animatronics for the creature was highly detailed (once again under the tight grip of a BBC budget). Hurran was wise to hide the full detail of The Minotaur behind water, glass and mirrors for a majority of the episode. Even as we reached the shows climax he resisted the cliché glory shot of the creature, this worked well with the story and was a satisfying end to the creatures personal journey. You can never see or understand your fears fully, this is paralleled quite well with the creature.

This episode was littered with extremely good character pay off€™s: people redeeming, confessing and confronting their fears and their true feelings worked very effectively throughout the story, one being a great moment between Matt & Karen as Amy confronts her true faith in the people she holds most dear. However the biggest pay off €“ The episodes final reveal of €œwhat is the hotel€ fell extremely flat for me. After such a specific tone had been struck during the first forty minutes, we then bare witness to a complete change in mood, scenery and era. It is such a violent shift that happens so quickly. By the time you have your bearings you€™ve already missed the episodes ultimate explanation. For a very supernatural and fantasy driven story it felt jarring to see it resolved with such a technological and cold conclusion.

I feel this episode was a necessary evil, the means needed to set up the chessboard for the impending season finale. However a better-executed conclusion could have accomplished the ultimate endpoint for Amy & Rory a little more smoothly and help make this episode not have to feel like a necessary evil but rather just an exciting episode, which takes our characters to the next natural point in their story.

I was up and ready to give this episode a very positive review however the reveal of the hotel€™s existence was so out of the blue, it took me completely out of the moment and shook up my opinion on the episode completely. Even with a very enjoyable final scene between The Doctor, Amy & Rory, I struggle to recommend this episode. A story€™s build is only as good as its execution and eventual pay off. The third act of The God Complex really struggled to execute the great pay off this story had been building too and indeed needed to be a true success.