Sleep No More

Sleep No More is the first single part episode of the series. The NEXT TIME trailer at the end of the previous episode gave the impression that it was a dark story and after having several episodes where this was the case, I wondered whether this was the right thing to do.

The most noticeable thing about the episode is that there wasn’t a theme tune. There was a caption that had the words DOCTOR WHO on it but that was about it. The information about the writer and director and producer was put on at the end. This was the first time that no theme tune played at the beginning of an episode. Yet in the history of the show I suspect that this information will get overlooked.

The whole set up of the episode is that the Doctor and Clara find themselves on a spaceship above Neptune where they (and others) are being hunted by strange looking creatures. That is as standard a Doctor Who story as you need but being a Mark Gatiss script, its going to be a bit more interesting than that. I worked out that that the monsters were made of sand just before it was revealed but I thought that the whole episode was more about what we saw on screen as opposed to the context of the plot. To be honest I don’t think that it was one of the strongest stories for Gatiss in terms of plot. I liked the found footage take on the episode as it feels very much of its time. I wonder if people will appreciate this in 10 or 20 years time. I thought that this episode was well directed by newbie Justin Molotnikov. It was very dark, very claustrophobic and also moved along at a good pace. I think having got use to two parters and the pace that those stories bring, it was nice to have a story that moved a bit quicker.

The idea that someone has created a machine that condense a month sleep into a few minutes is something that is pure SF. The beauty of the idea is that everyone but the person who ‘creates it’ knows that its going to fail. In this case we are talking about Rassmussen who is played superbly by Reece Shearsmith. The best bit from Shearsmith comes at the end when he is talking to the camera and says that we as viewers have been duped into watching and he rubs his eye and it starts to crumble.

The performances from Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman were ok. They weren’t as strong as in previous episodes. I think that the style of the episode meant that there wasn’t the possibility for anyone one person to stand out. Quite unusual for a Doctor Who story.

I think that this story is designed to be followed by sequels. If not then the ending doesn’t quite work but when watching it I found myself being impressed with it.  It’s not the greatest episode of the series but I think that it tried to do something different and that should always be praised. The next episode looks like quite an interesting and the ending for Clara is coming.