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!

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.

New Who Review #83

Night Terrors

This story was absolutely terrifying but i love it. It follows a boy called George who thinks his family don't want him and is scared of everything. His toys are alive and they take the creepy form of the Peg Dolls. The design on the dolls are so truly creepy and nightmare inducing. I saw this at 6 years old and I had so many Nightmares afterwards. I'm a bit bias on this story because it's my first ever doctor who story but it's so good. The pacing is a bit dull because half of it is just eastenders but when you get to the good stuff it's truly truly scary. This one introduces a new thing for the next few episodes it's a creepy nursery rhyme called "Tick Tock Goes The Clock" and it will get stuck in your head and play at night so you can't sleep and I hate it. People really underrate this story because in my opinion this is in the top 5 of 11's era. It's pure doctor who and pure horror but comedy horror. Overall a really creepy story with a really good story and it's definitely one of my faves of 11's era. 10/10

A comedy episode wearing a scary one like a Halloween mask, and honestly none the worse for it, with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are both at their funniest . It spins its wheels a bit, and there's a sense that Mark Gatiss is writing what he thinks a soap opera is rather than actual people, but it's *way* too much fun to be judged especially harshly.

Thank goodness the actor playing little George is so sweet - and so talented! - or the whole thing would fall apart. But he is, and it doesn't, and on rewatch I had a great time.

so it's a funny thing because it's not that great a story but I've rewatched this one a lot for whatever reason, and I have to give it that credit. Quintessential background Who