#Doctor who sleep no more review full
#Doctor who sleep no more review series

Even so, while we obviously canвЂ™t say much about the direction the story takes, there is, in the USP and modus operandi of the monster, the kind of meta-fiction at work that has become increasingly stale in Doctor Who, through overuse. In fairness to Gatiss, there are no story twists here that are any less ridiculous than the Moon being an egg or a parasite god being placated by a lullaby. GatissвЂ™s voice вЂ“ decent, companionable, urbane вЂ“ is usually a welcome fireside companion but here, as his predilection for darkness plays out in a sci-fi setting, the act of ventriloquism falters. Get it wrong and you achieve only a kind of weary preposterousness. Get it right and the story somersaults are thrilling. Dare to match the master, or else come across as a purveyor of Moffat fan fiction. In modern Doctor Who, particularly over the last five years, high-concept storytelling has often been the order of the day but inevitably, anyone who chooses to tread on Steven MoffatвЂ™s territory faces a risk. However, for us, while the breaking of form is well accomplished by the production team, it doesnвЂ™t feel so innovative a thing ( The Blair Witch Project was 16 years ago now) to distract from the challenges to our credulity. The central story idea вЂ“ the given reason for RasmussenвЂ™s experiments вЂ“ is a great one, and the story leaps that follow it, however improbable or barmy, are at least extrapolations from that central conceit. ThereвЂ™s decent stuff, then, in embryo here. Look past the breaking of form, and at its heart this episode is another spin on that classic story staple, вЂAgatha Christie in spaceвЂ™.

#Doctor who sleep no more review series

It may be also that you have a taste for the kind of Doctor Who that juxtaposes the lunatic trappings and conceits of the modern series with the quaintly old-school story forms we remember from decades gone by. If you love the episode вЂ“ and there will be those that love it вЂ“ this is what you will love it for.

#Doctor who sleep no more review full

Full credit to the team that, within these parameters, they succeed in producing 45 minutes of intelligible Doctor Who. Everything from the visuals to the eerie sound design (thereвЂ™s little of Murray GoldвЂ™s traditional music) has to evoke a disjointedness that is also utterly coherent and clear. No one could assume that this episode was easy to put together.

A found-footage story, it assembles the episode from various different points of view, even abandoning the title sequence in favour of something more in-context вЂ“ and herein lies the ambition. WhatвЂ™s less traditional, however, is the form of вЂSleep No MoreвЂ™. The setting for вЂSleep No MoreвЂ™ is a space station in the 38 th century which, thanks to the hubristic endeavours of scientist Gagan Rasmussen (Reece Shearsmith), carries a less than benevolent life form вЂ“ one which has its origins in the kind of nature-subverting ambition which never ends well. This week, however, in Season 9вЂ™s most proudly experimental offering he chooses not to play it safe вЂ“ and, in doing so, delivers what may be the most divisive episode of the run yet. Mark Gatiss, inside Doctor Who fan circles, has tended to become known as a master of historical pasticheвЂ¦ДЄ Renaissance man who has achieved greatness in other spheres вЂ“ in the company of other extraordinary gentlemen, in his work on Sherlock, and in his marvellous Lucifer Box books вЂ“ but has, in his writing for Doctor Who, consistently been a safe pair of hands.