Doctor Who: Sleep No More (9x09)

Unfortunately, this was not a good episode. I don't have a lot of positives to mention at all.

Cons:

This episode was found footage, with a twist. But even with the twist, I still think that this found footage thing is getting really old. And if you can't come up with something new and totally fresh to do with it, you shouldn't bother. I'm not convinced this episode totally knew what to make of its found footage framework, and although there were a few cool moments, for the most part there wasn't anything creative about camera angles or anything. The whole story could have been told just as effectively without this element.

Mark Gatiss wrote this episode, and usually I can depend on him to come up with creative and distinct characters. But this episode just didn't have that. In many ways, the setup reminded me of the "Under the Lake"/"Before the Flood" double episode, what with it all taking place in an enclosed space, and the focus on a group of people in mounting peril. But that story worked mainly on the merits of the very distinct and memorable characters. This episode didn't really have any standouts at all.

The Doctor and Clara's relationship has actually had a lot of strong moments this season, but in this episode they acted virtually like strangers. I think it was something to do with seeing the episode through the eyes of strangers, but I didn't really feel any strong connection between the two of them.

The Sandmen, this episode's alien baddies, were a bit silly. There was a lot of promising setup with these monsters, at first. They could have been really intelligent and clever monsters, but they ended up being big, growling slow-moving monsters. Kind of a letdown.

Pros:

But despite a letdown of an episode, there were a few elements that I rather enjoyed.

Gagan Rassmussen was one of the guest characters, and he was pretty interesting. Basically, he comes across as a coward who is unwilling to try and figure out what's going on. He just wants out. In the end, it turns out he's already been assimilated and taken over by the Sandmen. I liked this little twist. The episode ends with Clara and the Doctor defeating his plans... but then it turns out that the entire episode was a collection of found footage that Rassmussen put together so that it could be transmitted out and others could fall under the Sandmen's lure. It was a pretty effective way to end the episode - mighty creepy!

Despite the general lack of relationship goodness between the Doctor and Clara, there was one part that I loved. The Doctor says to Clara "Hold my hand," and when she says "I'm okay," he replies with: "I'm not." This was a great way of showcasing the Doctor's dependence on Clara as his emotional support. He's supposed to be the strong one, but often that job falls to Clara.

I guess that's where I'll stop. After a very strong beginning of the season, these last few episodes haven't really done as much for me. Hopefully next week will be a return to form.

4.5/10