One of the old stories trotted out by those who aren't really fans of Doctor Who but used to watch it all the same (they are called normal people) is that they were so frightened of it they used to watch it from behind the sofa. Oh, the Daleks were just so scary...the title music made me shat my dacks...Personally I could never quite see it. Certainly I had a nightmare where I was trapped in the MiniScope and chased by Drashigs, but that aside I was never really scared by Doctor Who.
Until now...
Steve Moffat has a pretty good idea of what makes good Doctor Who, and it seems to center around a few facts that people really aren't going to like Doctor Who being pigeonholed as. Firstly, Doctor Who is horror rather than sci-fi, and second Doctor Who needs to have a romantic subplot. All of Moffat's episodes have those elements: creepy kid in gas mask vs the Doctor's feelings for Rose; freaky robots in French aristocrat outfit vs the Doctor's feelings for Reinette; stone statues that will kill you vs Sally and Nightingale's relationship. This time round, of course, we get shadows, a creepy little girl and skeletons in spacesuits against a woman who has, apparently, a very deep connection to the Doctor.
Moffat's idea to have the monsters as the shadows is, of course, designed purely to scare the absolute crap out of little kids as they go to sleep, but let's face it, how great is that? Kids should be genuinely scared, because fear is a great little motivator, and there is nothing better for anybody than a little bit of fright. Makes you know you're alive.
But I never thought I'd be scared by Doctor Who, and yet when Donna ripped off Ms Evangelista's veil...I almost crapped my pants. The Mill's work in that scene was superb, and the whole idea is just too deeply disturbing to think about. The very thought that in 2010 this crazy Scotsman will have total control over Doctor Who makes me realise that my child will not be watching the series for a little while to come.
And yet that thrills me terribly.
For a while, The Empty Child was my favourite Doctor Who story, but to be frank, Silence In The Library might just pip it because it takes everything in the previous story and amps it up a little. Skeletons in spacesuits saying the same thing over and over again. Those catchphrases are disturbing people - Doctor Who in the seventies embraced them like they were life savers. "Eldrad must live!", "I will kill the Doctor"...repeated endlessly in a dull monotone they get into your brain and freeze your blood. Doctor Who is never better than when it is scaring us stupid.
Aside from brilliant script and special effects, the cast of this story have really rammed it home just how good they actually are. Talulah Riley (how gorgeous is she?) plays her role fantastically, going from the stupid bimbo to the intelligent Picasso-horror, while Colin Salmon is just awesome as the calm Dr Moon (oh how clever is the whole concept?). But it is Tate and Tennant who are still stealing scenes from the guest cast, and forcing tears to my eyes. Of course I cried with Donna when her kids disappeared - how could you not? And as for the Doctor, losing someone who...well, who knows exactly who she is, but if she knows his name then she's important. Yes, Alex Kingston, it's wonderful to know that high-calibre American actors will appear in the English sci-fi programme that lords it over every other programme around.
Doctor Who reached new heights with "Forest of the Dead" and if this is the standard we can expect from Moffat's tenure as executive producer...well...the king is dead! Long live the king!.
"A+"
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