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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Production Code

2.4

Written by

Mark Gatiss

Directed by

Richard Clark

Runtime

45 minutes

Time Travel

Present

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth

UK Viewers

7.07 million

Appreciation Index

86

Synopsis

The Eleventh Doctor receives a distress call, bringing him, Amy Pond and Rory Williams to Earth. George is a young boy terrorised by the monsters in his cupboard. Are they imaginary, or are they real?

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Reviews

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2 reviews

I enjoyed the majority of this, it had a lot of good ideas, an interesting concept and very creepy villains. It was a little schmaltzy though and seemed to end far too soon, meaning the villains didn't really get much of a chance to shine. Sometimes, they try to cram too much into episode and this was one of them.


This review contains spoilers!

An underrated gem with a flawless premise and a beautiful performance from a scared little boy. It is in my view Mark Gatiss’ most impactful story since The Unquiet Dead.

It’s so nice to have some Doctor Who which doesn’t feel the need to be BIG, IMPORTANT, or INTERCONNECTED. It feels like I’m finally catching my breath this series with the first monster of the week since The Doctor’s Wife. I’m so glad that over the years this has been the show’s default mode. It fits nicely.

Great to see a council house prominently displayed on the show after a couple of series that have focused on the posher end of society. It gives us a lovely set of characters.

The peg dolls, the dollhouse are great visuals, but it’s the alien boy with OCD trying to assimilate that is the most successful thing about this 45 minutes of TV. You can project a lot of meaning on him.

Feels like a lost series 5 episode. More of these please!


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Statistics

AVG. Rating550 members
2.91 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating1,115 votes
3.71 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating165 votes
3.00 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

1219

Favourited

27

Reviewed

2

Saved

1

Skipped

1

Owned

10

Quotes

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ALEX: I mean, he's scared to death of everything.

DOCTOR: Pantaphobia.

ALEX: What?

DOCTOR: That's what it's called. Pantaphobia. Not a fear of pants though, if that's what you're thinking. It's a fear of everything. Including pants, I suppose, in that case.

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Transcript Needs checking

[George's bedroom]

(Night time at a large block of flats. The residents are making their way home for the night. An old woman struggles to get her shopping trolley up the steps to the lift. A little boy in his pajamas can hear the noise it makes as it travels in its shaft next to his bedroom wall)

CLAIRE: Bed.
GEORGE: But Mum
CLAIRE: George, I won't tell you again. Get into bed. I'm going to be late for work. It's just the lift, love. How many more times?
GEORGE: Don't like it.

(Mum Claire is a nurse.)

CLAIRE: Well, what do we do with the things we don't like? We
BOTH: Put them in the cupboard.
GEORGE: The thing. You have to do the thing, Mum.


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