After a clash with the football last night I was able to watch Doctor Who this afternoon, and – wow. I wasn’t expecting much from Midnight, mainly because of the clever way that the producers disguised the episode as a fun romp in the vein of Voyage of the Damned – last week’s trailer showed us none of the chilling tension that we saw throughout the full episode. All of my attention had been on the next three episodes anyway. Yet still – wow.
Midnight turned out to be the scariest episode of the series so far, easily surpassing the creepy Silence in the Library, and though it was a different type of fright than Blink, I think it was right up there with my much-trumpeted favourite ever episode for the scare factor. Lesley Sharp was mesmerising as the woman possessed by the voice-stealing monster without a name. As commented on by the (pretty good) supporting cast, her eyes were what really did it. I was expecting some hideous face contortion when she turned around to face us after that build-up, but the simple reveal of the same face but different aura was excellent.
The best bit was how scary we humans were made to look. The mob mentality kicked in subtly, and though as a viewer you knew the Doctor was right, you empathised totally with the passengers and genuinely feared for his life. It was sickening, but utterly compelling.
And I have to say, while she’s been getting a bit better recently – wasn’t it lovely to have an episode almost entirely sans Donna? I didn’t notice until she came back at the end just how much I really wasn’t missing her in the slightest. Luckily for me, next week’s ep is the Doctor-light one with much more of her, but it doesn’t matter, because ROSE IS BACK! YES!
I’m excited.
15 June 2008 at 3:58 pm
I have to say that I thought last weeks episode was going to be the best of the series but this week’s episode is now my favorite. It what freaky and thoroughly terrifying to watch. But I also liked it because unlike most other doctor who episodes the doctor wasn’t really the hero, he didn’t even help to provide a solution to the situation, apart from initally calming the passengers. In fact the solution was fundamentally something the doctor wouldn’t do because it would involve killing .
I found it interesting seeing the doctor have as much as clue as what was going on as everyone else, having no “deus ex machina” knowledge, this allowed us as the audience to try a deduce what was going on without relying too much on the doctor’s input. It was also interesting how it wasn’t really clear what had happened at the end, unlike other episodes they didn’t explain the monsters motivations or aspirations the keep the incident mysterious. I also think the lord of the flies mentality was a nice touch.
But most of all I liked the fact that the episode proved that you don’t need a high budget to have a good episode. It was the superb acting which created the tension and excitement not to mention horror.
Hmm it seems I’ve write a blog entry of my own sorry CDB, I got a bit carried away.