Sleep No More

"Now you can go a whole month without sleep..."

Writer: Mark Gatiss 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14th November 2015

Series: 9.09

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The 38th century: a time of unparalleled prosperity. A golden age of peace, harmony, and industry. But every shift must come to an end. Every working day must stop. Sleep claims us in the end...

Until now! "Welcome Morpheus!"

Verdict 

Sleep No More was a brave and audacious episode of Doctor Who, but one that I felt sadly didn't quite work in all aspects. There was good, lots of it actually, but it was slightly weighed down by a number of issues which I thought was a real shame. Excluding Night Terrors, I'm usually a big fan of Mark Gatiss and his work and after seeing the trailer and reading the DWM preview, I did have high hopes for this episode. Maybe that's why it easily gets my lowest rating of the series so far. It just didn't quite match up which was a real shame. I wasn't struck on the idea of the whole story being told through the found footage format, it lost its effect as the episode went on I felt. I also have no idea why there were no opening titles! How ridiculous was that? It made no sense and I'm not sure at all what it offered the episode other than setting an unwanted precedent. I just didn't understand it and I really disapproved of that break from tradition. Thankfully there were a lot of shining lights in this story that saved it from disaster - it was far from it actually! Reece Shearsmith is a wonderful actor and I really loved the character of Rassmussen I must say. He really was brilliant. Nagata added some exquisite beauty alongside the always beautiful Jenna Coleman. I'm not sure why we needed a Geordie Chinese girl but I'm not complaining! It just seems an odd mix. Chopra and 474 weren't as good though I didn't think. I'm not sure why there was a lot of fuss regarding Bethany Black's casting - why should it even be recognised as different when someone openly transgender is cast? Her character didn't offer too much though sadly. The Sandmen were superb and I adored the concept but I felt they looked like a bit of a cheap knock off of the Time Zombies from Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. With Rassmussen having invented a way of gaining the benefits of a month's sleep in just five minutes, there was obviously going to be some kind of byproduct, and that turned out to be the Sandmen. The brief comedic dispute between the Doctor and Clara over who had the naming rights on alien species was superb. But perhaps the most beautiful moment of the series occurred in this episode when the Doctor asked Clara to take his hand, not because she was scared but because he was. That was so incredibly stunning and it just shows how much Clara means to him. It's going to break him when she leaves, especially if the fashion is as is currently being rumoured. I did like that we got quite a few Classic story references thrown in. They were some of the highlight moments of dialogue that's for sure. We had subtle references to The Space Pirates and Frontios but I think my favourite throwback was that of Doctor Who and the Silurians! That was marvellous. Throughout, the Doctor and Clara were wonderful together and during this series, especially after last year, their closeness really has been a breath of fresh air. It's going to be mightily intriguing come Series 10 when this Twelfth Doctor has a brand new companion. How will he react? I'm sure a certain River Song will help ease the pain over Christmas. The climax to this episode was a bit confusing I felt. Rassmussen seemed to die for the second time, much to Clara's disgust, and I did like how the Doctor deactivated the anti-grav system to allow escape from the Sandmen and TARDIS access, but what the hell was going on with Rassmussen at the end? It didn't quite seemed to be all tied up. I'm not quite sure if Gatiss was joking in the DWM preview when he said about Moffat asking him to do a sequel. I'd be open to it for some explanation but I don't want to see a found footage format again in Doctor Who. It's been used once and that's enough. Overall, a lot of good but sadly this was comfortably the worst of the series so far which was a real shame. 

Rating: 7/10