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“Whatever you are, whatever you do, you're my son. And I will never, ever send you away. Oh, George. Oh my little boy.”
“Dad.”
Yes, I know. Mark Gatiss has done it again. For the second series in a row, his Doctor Who episode was solved through the power of feeling. And do you know what? This time, it didn't bother me in the slightest.
If you remember, last year's 'Victory of the Daleks' climaxed with the scientist-who-was-actually-a-robot-bomb preventing himself from exploding by recalling memories of his past and the feelings they inspired in him – even though they never happened, and he was still a robot. Even in the mad world of Doctor Who, this was just too much for me. But here, the denouement of the episode, though soppy, worked completely. Why? Because chimed in with the hopeful tone of this show, and it tied in well with the defining characteristic of the Tenza – wanting to be loved. Well, that and the fact that Daniel Mays was so brilliant as Alex, and little George (Jamie Oram) was totally adorable, making me susceptible to accepting anything involving him.
But what of the rest of the episode? Gatiss managed to erase the disappointment of 'Victory of the Daleks' by writing an episode that played spectacularly to his strengths, adapting them for a Saturday tea-time audience in a way that he hasn't quite pulled off since 'The Unquiet Dead', his rather underrated episode from series one. Gatiss tells a scary story brilliantly – if you haven't checked out Crooked House, his exceptionally creepy horror mystery series, I suggest you do. 'Night Terrors' knits together an everyday setting with his ability to weave an eerie story, tapping into childhood fears and exploiting them magnificently.
Another great strength of Gatiss' is the way he can seamlessly move between scary moments and comedy, and 'Night Terrors' had some lovely funny moments. I love how many thinking-out-loud, rambling moments he gives the Doctor, especially as Matt Smith and his old-eyed face can play them so effortlessly, while Rory developed a nice little sideline in self-awareness as he proclaimed “We're dead. Again.” I also enjoyed the Gallifreyan children's stories (especially The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes) and the physical comedy of Amy walking around holding a wooden frying pan, and Alex fending the dolls off with some giant scissors. These moments lightened the mood, making the quick shifts back to creepiness all the more effective.
One of my only problems with 'Night Terrors' were the completely underused secondary characters; Elsie and Purcell served very little purpose beyond showing what George did to people who scared him. This episode was swapped in the running order with 'Curse of the Black Spot', which meant that Amy and Rory didn't have any sort of reaction to the prominence of family in this episode, even though Melody must be weighing heavily on their minds. Still, it was only a minor point and hardly Gatiss' fault, with the creepy child's song at the episode tying the episode neatly into the series arc.
This is a better example than 'Curse of the Black Spot' of the kind of Doctor Who episode I love: standalone, exciting and entertaining, with added creepiness (although, sadly, minus Hugh Bonneville.) Mark Gatiss should be allowed to write some sort of chilling tale for children every series, as 'Night Terrors' shows just how brilliant he is at it.
Next week, the focus is firmly back on Amy Pond, as we have a closer look at 'The Girl Who Waited', featuring Rory and Amy fighting robots, Amy getting old and some seriously nerdy glasses.
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