Midnight

"She's goy my voice. She's got my words."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14 June 2008

Series: 4.10

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Tenth Doctor and Donna go to a leisure planet for a simple, relaxing holiday. However, life with the Doctor can never be that simple. Things decide to go horribly wrong when the Doctor offs on a bus trip to see the Sapphire Waterfall, starting with the bus shutting down. When a mystery entity infiltrates the shuttle, no one is to be trusted. Not even the Doctor himself...

Verdict

Midnight was a great episode to continue our way through the fourth series of the modern era of Doctor Who! This is such an interesting episode and I swear that my enjoyment differs every time I watch it. I always think I give it a perfect rating but when it comes to actually watching it I usually give it the same rating. That’s what happened here after checking out my previous blog entry. It’s a good move and Gemma informed me before we watched that it was intended to be a subtly political episode, something I hadn’t realised beforehand. That’s probably because on my last viewing I was only really getting interested in politics and I can certainly see that here. It’s clever from Russell T Davies in how he wrote it. The contained setting of the transporter was excellent and it was obvious from the moment the Doctor put the phone down to Donna that he wasn’t going to have a simple trip to the sapphire waterfall. The phone call to Donna was fun and this being the Donna-lite episode with what’s to come works surprisingly well. She isn’t missed but boy I bet she would be a hoot on this journey! Sky was actually sensational and whilst it does go on a little too long, the uncomfortable nature of her first repeating and then talking in sync with the Doctor and his fellow passengers was brilliant. It’s so unique and I really appreciate the acting on display. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been and they really do a splendid job. The way the directing is done adds to the uncomfortable feel and whilst I do think it is slightly overboard and a little clumsy, that probably suits the feel and theme of the episode. The passengers all compliment each other well with a wide range of characters. We have Jethro who is quite quiet as a whole but then peaks up when he can have a little fun with Sky. He’s the only one paying attention to her though when everyone else is bickering and questioning why the Doctor is in charge. I loved the moment where the Doctor had to admit that he was interested in what was going on, although I do think it was unfair for him to be accused of enjoying events. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a brand new life form? The knocking on the outside of the species from a diamond planet was excellent. I thought it was pretty comical for the Doctor to use a stethoscope though! Sky being infected and then actually focusing on the Doctor as the cleverest voice in the room was great and the slow deterioration of the Doctor was sublime. The use of the Doctor’s phrases set a lightbulb off in the stewardess’s mind as she could see that Sky had taken the Doctor’s voice. It wasn’t the right thing to throw him out, which was a powerful thing to be happening. Just when something different popped up, the human instance was to commit murder. The Doctor challenging them on that was a really good Doctor moment. Show them that you’re better. The stewardess sacrificing herself to take out Sky was very sudden and I’m not sure why she couldn’t just push her out, but the fact nobody knew her name was just incredible. That was so powerful. The events had clearly impacted the Doctor as he was noticeable different when talking to Donna about what he’d experienced. He didn’t even want her joking about the repeating. Overall, another great episode! 

Rating: 8/10