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ed_rex at 09:10pm on 04/09/2011Edited to fix broken (and vital) link. Many thanks to ShinyDinosaur.
Bring on the night (terrors)!
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Before I say anything else, I'd like to make it known that, for a wonder, this reviewer liked Mark Gatiss' latest Doctor Who adventure, Night Terrors.
Derivative? Sure.
Cheesy? A little.
Funny? Quite a lot, at times.
And scary? Oh yes, indeed.
Whatever carps one might have about Night Terrors' similarities of plot to episodes like Fear Her, or its monsters' resemblance to those in The Beast Below, The Girl In the Fireplace or the gas-mask kids from The Empty Child, there can be — at least, there should be — no denying that Night Terrors is a well-crafted story, amusing and frightening by turn, that moves briskly along from beginning to end.
After The Doctor's Wife, Night Terrors is easily this reviewer's favourite episode of the 2011.
Not too many spoilers and fewer a lot less than a thousand words for once at Old story for old eyes (and new).
(no subject)
The only other thing that stood out for me is that Steven Moffat and his team have real issues with anything artificial and vaguely doll-like.
B on story, C on execution, I'd say.
(Almost) same grades, (mostly) different tone
Personally, I'd give it C+ on execution, B- on story.
No classic, but I'd happily sit through it again if someone else wanted to watch it.
(no subject)
That said, I loved how the father and son were portrayed throughout (a role otherwise usually reserved for women), and the other tenants. I mostly liked the atmosphere, which is one of the things Gatiss is usually very good at (along with dialogue, but aside from not being bad in any way I didn't particularly exceptional in this episode either). Loved the monsters. Loved the ending. Loved the creepy twins, heh.
One caveat
I agree in theory, but was personally okay with that because I'm not even remotely invested in the larger River Song story-arc. Moffat's completely lost me on the big picture, I'm sad to say.
My only problem with the father/son relationship was the conceit of putting the things that scared the boy in the cupboard at the foot of the bed. I let it got because I was enjoying myself, but jeez ... bad parenting 101 or what?
Re: One caveat
Hah, yes, putting scary things in the cupboard seemed a bit much, considering it was in his bedroom! OTOH George didn't actually seem that afraid of the cupboard itself. He probably felt that sending things in there actually did away with them, so apparently it worked...