Midnight - Episode Review
As with most people who enjoyed Forest of the Dead, I feared that this week’s episode would be a bit of an anti-climax. However, I was proved wrong when this became my second favourite of the entire series.
LOVED: Tennant has, once again, excelled himself. I think the fact that he couldn’t speak, just repeat other people really brought out his incredible acting abilities. You could feel the fear radiating off him and it was amazing.
DIDN’T LOVE SO MUCH: The hysterical shouting. From EVERYONE. Don’t people deal with fear in different ways? So why was everyone shouting and making no sense whatsoever. Even Dee Dee (that’s how it says it’s spelt on Wikipedia) was shouting and panicking along with everyone else when I thought she’d be more calm and rational.
It was a wonderful episode with some seriously annoying characters.
The beginning bit - so domestic. The Doctor and Donna just seem to fit, you know? In another show, you can just imagine them playing husband and wife. “I’ll be back by dinner.” And the affectionate look the Doctor has when Donna’s fussing over how it’s not a date. Yes THANK YOU RTD. We know Donna’s doomed, the Doctor’s found his soul mate and you’re going to tear them apart because you want the Doctor to suffer as much as possible because you’re a sadistic bastard.
But ANYWAY the beginning:
- The Doctor’s all excited, smiley and wide-eyed. He’s genuinely excited and it’s positively adorable. Which sent out big, luminous warning signs that he was going to suffer a hell of a lot this episode (is there ever an episode where he doesn’t?)
- The passengers all look put out at the prospect of actually having to communicate with the other passengers.
- The Doctor listens with glee to the individual passengers, getting to know everybody like the little socialite he is BUT not giving anything away about himself - again, warning signs, who are they going to turn on when they’re looking for someone to blame.
The middle:
-Things start to go wrong, lights go out, everyone falls about a bit, driver and mechanic die.
- The knocking starts, and it’s yet another monster we can’t see (we couldn’t see the Vashta Narada until they took the form of something else - like in Midnight) The monster (whatever it is) takes the form of Lesley Sharp, sorry , Sky Silvestry, and starts repeating everything people say. That was actually quite creepy, particularly when it starts saying it at exactly the same time as them.
- The Doctor starts shouting about how clever he is, and this is the wonderful bit, no one is awed or shocked into silence. If anything, they distrust him more, start saying he’s in league with her. You can tell this is a shock for the Doctor, he’s used to people shutting up and obeying orders when he says his “I’m brilliant” speech. But not this time, because these humans are scared and hysterical and too mouthy for their own good.
- Angry mob = scarier for the Doctor than any monster. Power to the people!
- As soon as she said it before the Doctor I got chills. Very creepy.
The next bit was what I loved most about the show:
All the characters are arguing over what to do. It’s obvious Sky is still possessed, but everyone except Dee Dee is too thick to notice, and tell her to be quiet when she tries to point it out.
And the Doctor’s sitting there with his back to them and he’s listening to their conversation, looking hopeful when Dee Dee speaks but more and more scared as the conversation takes a certain direction. Seriously, Tennant’s acting made me shiver. I really felt for the Doctor and can honestly say I’ve never seen him so scared.
It was brilliant, I tell you, brilliant. And that alone would have given the episode a 5/5.
So then the hostess sacrifices herself to kill the creature. I was rather hoping Dee Dee might do something, as it seemed to be working up to something, but it turned out to be the hostess. Fair enough.
The end:
- The Doctor returns to Donna and she hugs him, a bit I also loved.
- “Molto bene.” “Don’t, don’t do that, don’t.” It used to be a light-hearted running joke (seen in Tooth and Claw, Shakespeare Code and Unicorn and the Wasp) Now it’s become painful for the Doctor, and that, in itself, is genius. And I don’t normally say that about RTD’s writing.
This episode really showed how much the Doctor needs a companion (Donna would have protected him from the angry passengers) and how the human race isn't all it's cracked up to be. Which is rare coming from RTD, I must say.
Trailer:
“The Doctor is dead.” Does that give anyone else the shivers?
Donna with something on her back, something… insecty? Maybe? I don’t know what other people think it is.
“You’re going to die.” Why does that make me think Donna isn’t going to die? Something bad is going to happen to her or her family, definitely, but I think it’s going to be more along the lines of forgetting the Doctor ever existed. DO NOT WANT. I want Donna to live, and even if she doesn’t travel with the Doctor permanently, then at least meet up with him occasionally. *sob*