"You must not watch this" warns a frightened man right at the start of the episode. The man's name is Gagan (Reece Shearsmith), lead researcher aboard a space station orbiting Neptune. He informs us he'll show what happened aboard the station from found footage, and the episode gets underway without the famous Doctor Who intro for the first time in the show's history. After a promising start, Sleep No More ultimately turns out to be a mixed bag. Writer Mark Gatiss is no stranger to writing Doctor Who, and some of his ideas here are intriguing, but there is an overall sense of let down by the end of it all, making this week's episode pale in comparison to others in this series.
After Gagan' introduction, we meet four individual members of a rescue team, sent to investigate the strange happenings aboard the space station. They soon encounter the Doctor and Clara, and are promptly chased by humanoid like creatures. With the group split up, the Doctor uncovers the truth behind the monsters, and believes there is a mastermind behind their existence. As the rest of the group are stalked by the monsters, the Doctor and Clara must find a way to stop them from killing everyone aboard. But how do you fight something that can see you wherever you go?
Whatever your opinion of Sleep No More may be, there is no denying it's a unique episode in the show's history. Doctor Who has always prided itself on having frightening monsters and themes, but never before has there been a "found footage" style used for a story. Sometimes however, it is easy to forget this style is being used for this episode, as all the point of view camera angels are in high definition. For the most part though, this not too distracting, and the camera angels from the corners and television screens all work well. The episode's set design must also be mentioned, as it is clearly influenced by James Cameron's 1986 science fiction classic, Aliens. Some of the shots of the team walking through the space station's corridors, illuminated with red lighting, feel like direct copies from the film, but it is no bad thing to see the influence of one of my favourite films being shown in one of my favourite shows.
A few negatives, however, are present in the form of characters and the monsters that pursue them. As with the Under the Lake/Before the Flood two-parter, the supporting characters are barley fleshed out. Given how this is only a single story, it doesn't help that one of the team is killed off quickly, as we never get a chance to get to know his personality and significance. The episode's biggest problem, though, are the monsters. Dubbed as the "Sandmen" by Clara, they derive from possibly one of Doctor Who's silliest ideas for a monster: sleep dust. Doctor Who has often been praised for its imaginative monsters and villains, but this really feels like a desperate attempt to make something as random as sleep dust into something scary. Not only that, but the monster's appearance and characteristics are almost exactly the same as the Marvel Comics super-villain the Sandman, so not a great deal is original about this week's threat except its bizarre point of origin. The reveal at the end isn't all that surprising either, making what build up the episode have fall flat by the time it's over.
Despite some good ideas with the found footage and influence of the sci-fi classic Aliens, Sleep No More will most likely fall under the radar when this series is finished. Its monsters aren't very threatening, and its conclusion feels rushed. Mark Gatiss has proven himself to be a strong writer of horror stories in the past, and Sleep No More isn't so bad that I won't be excited for the next thing he pens. A weak episode overall, but certainly not the worst.
Whatever your opinion of Sleep No More may be, there is no denying it's a unique episode in the show's history. Doctor Who has always prided itself on having frightening monsters and themes, but never before has there been a "found footage" style used for a story. Sometimes however, it is easy to forget this style is being used for this episode, as all the point of view camera angels are in high definition. For the most part though, this not too distracting, and the camera angels from the corners and television screens all work well. The episode's set design must also be mentioned, as it is clearly influenced by James Cameron's 1986 science fiction classic, Aliens. Some of the shots of the team walking through the space station's corridors, illuminated with red lighting, feel like direct copies from the film, but it is no bad thing to see the influence of one of my favourite films being shown in one of my favourite shows.
A few negatives, however, are present in the form of characters and the monsters that pursue them. As with the Under the Lake/Before the Flood two-parter, the supporting characters are barley fleshed out. Given how this is only a single story, it doesn't help that one of the team is killed off quickly, as we never get a chance to get to know his personality and significance. The episode's biggest problem, though, are the monsters. Dubbed as the "Sandmen" by Clara, they derive from possibly one of Doctor Who's silliest ideas for a monster: sleep dust. Doctor Who has often been praised for its imaginative monsters and villains, but this really feels like a desperate attempt to make something as random as sleep dust into something scary. Not only that, but the monster's appearance and characteristics are almost exactly the same as the Marvel Comics super-villain the Sandman, so not a great deal is original about this week's threat except its bizarre point of origin. The reveal at the end isn't all that surprising either, making what build up the episode have fall flat by the time it's over.
Despite some good ideas with the found footage and influence of the sci-fi classic Aliens, Sleep No More will most likely fall under the radar when this series is finished. Its monsters aren't very threatening, and its conclusion feels rushed. Mark Gatiss has proven himself to be a strong writer of horror stories in the past, and Sleep No More isn't so bad that I won't be excited for the next thing he pens. A weak episode overall, but certainly not the worst.
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