Doctor Who Review: Sleep No More – The Good, The Bad And The Crumbly

A jumble of mismatched puzzle pieces that never quite fit together and the weakest episode of a very strong season.

WARNING! SPOILERS: This post contains spoilers and speculation for the Doctor Who series nine episode €œSleep No More€. Sleep is a mysterious thing. We are left vulnerable in a world of shadows as our brains attempt to collate and classify the experiences of the day. €œSleep No More€ capitalizes on our mistrust of a commonplace occurrence that we do not fully understand. The idea for a story based on monsters formed out of the detritus of sleep is an intriguing one yet the execution suffered from the lack of a cohesive narrative. The found footage format is choppy by nature and when combined with a multitude of viewpoints devolves into a muddled mess. There are strengths to laud in this experimental script by Doctor Who veteran Mark Gatiss and while there may be just as many weaknesses an ambitious failure is always worth more than a mediocre retread. As series nine slides into the final stretch Gatiss treats us to an old fashioned even nostalgic adventure with a contemporary twist in the final moments. Does it work? Not really, but it sure is fun to watch it fall apart and almost redeem itself at the end. The premise of €œSleep No More€ is ridiculous, some performances are over the top and the monsters look like a blob of Play-Doh rolled in a bag of kitty litter. It€™s a jumble of mismatched puzzle pieces that never quite fit together and the weakest episode of a very strong season and still more entertaining than almost anything else on television.
Contributor
Contributor

Mary Ogle is the author and illustrator of “Orangeroof Zoo” a whimsical tale of magical realism told through the pages of a coloring book for adults. Working as a professional artist in the digital medium, Mary’s commissions have included everything from fine art to fan art, book cover design, illustration and book layout. Find more of Mary’s work at www.maryogle.com. Mary currently finds inspiration in the Ojai Valley, residing in a snug little cottage with a recalcitrant cat.