Doctor Who (4x10) - Midnight

[fajrdrako]

Love the title.

Loved the whole thing, in fact: a perfectly-crafted stand-alone episode. An episode without a companion for the Doctor. Way cool.

1. Exceptional acting on David Tennant's part. He's always good, but this episode required a lot of complex expression to get the right balance of strength and vulnerability. The best exchange was something like this:

   Someone: Why are you taking charge?
   Doctor: Because I'm clever.

   It doesn't go over very well. It was a great moment. I wanted to scream at the other passengers, "Trust him! He's the Doctor!" but of course - they never listen.
   
   
2. Lesley Sharp was also very good. I recognized her from something - maybe The Second Coming, maybe The Full Monty.
   
   
3. I've come to love it when the Doctor says something like, "I'll save you, I promise." Nobody can be sure of keeping a promise like that, and of course the Doctor often fails to do so. But it gives his listeners hope, and encourages him too, I think, and encourages them to accept his authority because of the illusion that he can promise safety.
   
   As psychology, that's good. As storytelling, it's terrific.
   
   
4. The alien's repetition of what everyone was saying was creepy. It made me think of the Judoon speech-learning apparatus from "Smith and Jones". Only... scarier.
   
   
5. The knocking on the walls was scary, too. Unknown sound. "What's that noise?" Woo.
   
   
6. When they were afraid of the light coming in through the door, Catherine said, "Last week they made us afraid of the dark. Now they're making us afraid of the light." They made immobility scary, too, and then... the odd motions of Sky's head when she was first possessed by the creature.
   
   
7. Other bits reminded me of Lost.
   
   
8. My goodness, the Doctor was cute. I loved it that he made everyone in the tour talk to each other rather than listen to the provided entertainment. I also loved the provision of the peanuts "which may contain nuts", and his pointing out (rather pointlessly) that they didn't.
   
   
9. It felt like a closer call for the Doctor than we usually get, but was it really? Compared to being, say, exterminated by Daleks or blasted out of existed by Sontaran guns, it was very personal and immediate, very... vicious. People attacking people, not even one on one, but a small mob against an individual. Something about this reaches primal fears, or maybe schoolyard terrors. There is something terrifying and inarguable about the pattern: Make someone an outcast, then attack him, then destroy him.
   
   Did the alien play on that deliberately? Was it chance, or policy? Was the alien telepathic? How much was it malignant, and how much just opportunistic?
   
   
10. I liked it too that the alien was unknown, unnamed, unknowable. We don't even know if it was native to the planet.
    
    
11. Speaking of being unnamed - isn't the Doctor's nameless state being reiterated and even emphasized in every episode this season? Chalk it up with the Medusa Cascade and the other revisited themes.
    
    
12. Speaking of being unnamed - I loved it that it was the hostess, who wasn't very likeable and wasn't given a name, who saved them all and sacrificed her life.
    
    
13. Speaking of being unnamed - it was another great, scary moment when they forced the Doctor to say his name, and he said "John Smith", and they didn't believe him. "No one is named John Smith!"
    
    
14. I liked the use of close-ups, especially on the Doctor.
    
    
15. The image of the Doctor's foot catching on the leg of the chair was very powerful.
    
    
16. Rose. Am I the only one who screams (or at least yelps) every time we see her appear? And I particularly like it that the Doctor hasn't seen her. We have. Donna has, though she doesn't know it. I guess the Doctor doesn't keep sentimental photos of the good old times around the TARDIS. Maybe he keeps them in a box in his drawer, like Captain Jack does.
    
    On the other hand, if the Doctor is the cleverest of the clever, he's beginning to look a little thick at the way he keeps missing glimpses of her, just looking away at the wrong times. Presumably this will change next week.
    
    
17. As with many episodes whose exact time and place is not specified, I wondered if this happened in the present or the future - or the past. Not that it mattered. It's its own 'now', on the planet Midnight.
    
    
18. Of the characters, I liked Jethro best. This is partly because I noticed that he had Spike-like black fingernails.
    
    
19. My impression was that series 1 and 2 emphasized the Doctor's majestic qualities - his scope (brain the size of a planet, telepathy), his power, his godlike aspects of making and breaking worlds and fixing or changing or destroying futures. And series 4 seems to be de-emphasizing that, and zoning in on his - for want of a better word - his humanity, his weaknesses, his flaws, his vulnerabilities.
    
    I'm not sure where series 3 stands on this.
    
    
20. Speaking of vulnerabilities, I loved it that when the Doctor was unable to speak, unable to move, unable to do anything at all - he showed his fear and desperation by sweating.
    
    
21. I didn't notice at first, but this was an episode totally without the TARDIS. Have I seen an episode without the TARDIS before? I don't think so.
    
    
22. I thought Russell T. Davies' writing was even better than usual this time. Quick, someone give the man an OBE.
    
    
23. One of the eeriest bits was towards the end, waiting for rescue, when the Doctor was just... silent. So uncharacteristically silent.
    

Comments

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Did you watch the "next week on"?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I certainly did.

[nina-ds.livejournal.com]

Having Lesley Sharp definitely made up for scarcity of Donna! ::nods:: Of course, to quote Spencer Tracy, what was there was cherce. I think that final scene in the spa is probably the best scene of theirs so far - and almost exactly the same decompression scene they had in Forest of the Dead. Coincidence? Theme? Another nail in Donna's coffin?

As is well known, I do not think much of Tennant as an actor, but there was real acting in this one from him in the possession scene, not just mugging for the camera. And, as above, he's good with Donna. He can relax with her, and I think CT grounds him.

Jethro was surprisingly good for your standard emo!boy, although I found it distracting that he was so much of a present-day stereotype. They could have done something a bit more interesting than just a direct copy. Green nail polish? Biblical garb?

I love Rakie Ayola, too - she starred in one of my absolute favourite movies that no one's ever heard of, Great Moments in Aviation. She hasn't changed hardly at all in 15 years, it's a bit frightening.

This was definitely the best RTD episode in a long time. And a bit like Boom Town, which I've always loved though many people hate it, in that it's pretty much a one-on-one between the Doctor and a threat. Boom Town was a bit more complicated in terms of genre and explicit moral quandary, but in both cases, a great female guest star who isn't a Barbie doll.

[meret.livejournal.com]

Lesley Sharp was also very good. I recognized her from something

She and DT both did a terrific job! I recognized her too, and eventually recalled what *I* had seen her in was a BBC series called Afterlife. I looked at IMDB to be sure of the name of the show, and she was also in Full Monty so you were right. :)

It felt like a closer call for the Doctor than we usually get

ITA. I think it was because he was alone with no one on his side, and he was totally helpless.

I particularly like it that the Doctor hasn't seen her.

The near misses have reached the annoying point for me.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

DUDE
DUDE
the STRETCHER
the HAND
omg

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

I knew Lesley Sharp from Clocking Off.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, but this episode didn't work for me. Yes, the themes were great and the performances rocked. But, somehow, I felt myself watching an episode, instead of living in the story. Purely subjective, but there it is.

[crabby-lioness.livejournal.com]

Leslie Sharp is one of RTD's favorite actresses. She starred in Bob and Rose and The Second Coming. I wondered when she was going to appear in DW. I should have known he'd save her for something special.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

Seven days.

Erk.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Lesley Sharp definitely made up for scarcity of Donna!

I agree. Given the story, I don't see much of a role for Donna here.

and almost exactly the same decompression scene they had in Forest of the Dead. Coincidence? Theme? Another nail in Donna's coffin?

Theme, I think. More than that? Can't be sure.

there was real acting in this one from him in the possession scene, not just mugging for the camera

I agree. I think his acting has been particularly good over the past few episodes, with this is a culmination. He's been doing more introspective acting than usual. Putting more across. Less superficial.

I found it distracting that he was so much of a present-day stereotype. They could have done something a bit more interesting than just a direct copy.

I don't think they wanted to. They wanted to make the passengers seem like people of today - just as the tour bus, for all its sci-fi situation, was played up as just the kind of tour vehicle we might get into for sightseeing today. Just about anywhere.

Great Moments in Aviation

Nope, never heard of it. Or Rakie Ayola. But yes, she was excellent here.

a bit like Boom Town, which I've always loved though many people hate it

Put me down as someone who loves it with a passion. There's so much there. Character, theme, situation. Everything. And good acting, too.

The same here: an episode that was complete in itself, set off in a unity of time and place, with emphasis on character interaction.

a great female guest star who isn't a Barbie doll.

Interesting characters, interesting action.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

Good post, and a really good episode. I thought it felt very Twilight Zone-ish -- which is a compliment, I love TZ. But, I mean, in the sense that one of Serling's favorite devices was people turning on each other in crisis situations (real or fabricated).

[catslash.livejournal.com]

I loved this episode. It was so interesting to watch what happens when the Doctor can't take and keep control of a situation, because the people around him won't let him. Usually he can do it to an extent, because people are so relieved to have someone around who seems to know what's going on and what to do about it, but in this episode the situation is so claustrophobic and frightening that he just can't get the upper hand. I always like to see a show shake its status quo up a bit.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

She and DT both did a terrific job!

I thought so.

I recognized her too

She has a very distinctive, rather memorable face.

I think it was because he was alone with no one on his side, and he was totally helpless.

He was. As he was helpless last week, handcuffed to the pole by River Song. In either case, here was nothing he could do to save the situation, nothing he could do to save himself, nothing he could do to keep his promise to save others.

The near misses have reached the annoying point for me.

If they did it again, it would become annoying for me. As it is, presumably next week he will finally see her.

Interesting that these "near misses" with Rose recapitulate the way in "Partners in Crime", he and Donna kept almost but not quite seeing each other, even when they were in almost the same place at almost the same time.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Seems she's been in a lot - most of which I haven't seen. Can't recall if I saw her in Prime Suspect.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wonder what made the difference for you? Perhaps because it was rather different - no TARDIS, none of the usual themes and structures for a Doctor Who episode?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I should have known he'd save her for something special.

And so he did! Sometimes I really like Davies' choice of actors - like her, like Shaun Parkes and Nina Sosanya.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Good post

Thank you!

and a really good episode

I certainly thought so.

I thought it felt very Twilight Zone-ish -- which is a compliment, I love TZ.

I don't love Twighlight Zone, but I know what you mean, and I agree - it that right type of suspense and scariness, done particularly well, and complete in one tight story that had a lot of punch.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always like to see a show shake its status quo up a bit.

I agree! it was really quite original. The Doctor was in a situation where he couldn't bluff or cheat or think of something to save the situation.

And yet: perfectly in character in every way. And all the more suspenseful for it.

I liked too the way the Doctor was so much in control, as usual. He didn't like the entertainment offered, so he got rid of it. He wanted to talk to the strangers and learn about them, so he did. He was all prepared to 'fix' everything, and then it slid bit by bit out of his control.

I love it.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I think it's that as good as pieces of RTD's eps are, I'm always aware of the plot. Whereas with other DW writers, the episodes feel more integrated. Every RTD ep. has a weak overall story, imo. The collection of thematically strong moments and performances are what save them. That's been true for me since S1.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Very interesting comments. I tend to like RTD's stories because they have high emotional content. Let me think this over a little more.

Which are your favourite Doctor Who writers? I think Steven Moffat is the best, but there's a price to pay in shorthand explanations and shortcut themes. Paul Cornell was good in "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood", but there was a price to be paid in use of the characters. (By which I mean: I'd rather not see the Doctor as the human John Smith; I'd rather not see Martha Jones as a servant.)

My least favourite Doctor Who writer by far is Mark Gatiss.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

"The Monsters Are Coming to Maple Street"?

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I think your assessment of the various writers is correct. I think I prefer Moffat's style of shortcut themes and explanations. In an odd way, those surreal shortcuts give us the most insight into the Doctor, as when he said of Charlotte in FotD, "All those voices screaming in her head, it's like being, well...me." The shortcuts make sense from the Doctor's POV, because he doesn't need the elaboration of ideas the same way the other characters do. That's interesting to me, in and of itself.

Mark Gatiss is the weakest in terms of characterization.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

9. It really was a close call because he had no control at all - not even of his body or a voice; he was totally in the power of other people. If the hostess hadn't believed him and acted the way she did, nobody could have saved him.

[katkim.livejournal.com]

Great Moments in Aviation

I've heard of it! I only stumbled across it, though, because I adore Jonathan Price. I was sitting throughout Midnight thinking that the hostess looked familiar, but couldn't for quite place her. As soon as you mentioned Great Moments in Aviation I was like 'Ah ha!'.