Doctor Who [12]

The River/Doctor relationship. Pathological and unequal. Her life revolves round him she is nothing without him. spends all her time stalking him through time and space. gag inducing flirting and sexual overtones.

The Rose/Doctor relationship. Healthy friendship between equals. no sexual overtones.

The Donna/Doctor relationship. Healthy friendship between equals.

The Clara/Doctor relationship. He insults her physical appearance a lot. stalks her from childhood.

The Amy/Doctor relationship. Pathological on both sides. he stalks her from childhood, traumatises her, then lets her be tortured physically and emotionally at every opportunity.

What nonsense Figg!

As usual you have to ignore most of what actually happens in episodes and cherry pick a few moments then make these absurdest claims based solely upon them and devoid of context.

And if there are no sexual overtones in the 10/Rose relationship why to be happy does she need a physical version of her own? In fact why is Rose incapable of getting over loss and moving on with her life? The usual message Who has about loss, you don't forget you don't not feel the pain, but you don't let it consume your life or there will be negative consequences- but with Rose the Doctor actively prevents her form even beginning to move on. She needs a man given to her by him or she will never be happy. What sort of a message is that?
Given this comes on top of how unpleasant she has already been to so many people by this point it doesn't exactly make her an endearing character.

that's why she is regularly voted favourite companion.

I note you did not address a single question I put to you.

And Rose does top a lot of polls but less and less over time. As always happens. Donna is often now no1- there seems to be a growing appreciation for her over a time and decline for Rose.

nah Rose is no.1.

Ahhhh Donna.
The one thing we all seem to agree on.

Well that, and that the subtitles were wrong; the slithering cape dude did indeed bring ham.

The Canadian station that broadcasts Who, SPACE, have released their figures for this series so far-

'DOCTOR WHO remains the most watched program on Space with an average of 731,000 viewers. It is also the #1 program on Canadian entertainment specialty television this broadcast year to date for total viewers and the key demos of 25-54, 18-49 and 18-34. Season 9 is also the most-watched season of the series to date in the key demos of A25-54 and A18-49, with 421,000 and 416,000 viewers respectively.
Space has been airing Doctor Who since The Dead Planet in 2009.'

So good news in Canada!

..and the difference between this episode and Under the Lake is?

answers on a postcard please....

 boring boring boring running down dark corridor from monster.

I honestly don't know what I think about this episode- first I will definitely need to see it again as for the first time ever I think, I am not sure what just happened, or if it even makes sense. Or if there is even sense to be made of it.
It was certainly brave, and it had some good moments and scenes in it, the ending was creepy even if I don't think I actually understood it! And there were some good performances (and nice to see Who's first transgender actor). But it also seemed disjointed in a way that both felt deliberate and was a problem.
But off the bat my main complaint would be that Gatiss is steeped in horror, its his thing, he has done documentaries and books on horror, yet this, for me anyway just wasn't scary. And that seems a problem for a horror story and an odd thing coming from Gatiss.

Right now for me,this looks like this is yet another Gatiss episode to file under 'nice try'.

Wrong.

Typical of you to rather like the episodes I am really not sure on!

ouch! Hollywood news don't like it at all.

(spoilers)
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2015/11/14/doctor-who-9-9-blog-sleep-no-more-contains-spoilers/

First episode this series to get very mixed critical review- some love it others hate it- Radio Times gave it 5 out of 5 stars- http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-14/doctor-who-sleep-no-more-review-mark-gatiss-keeps-us-wide-awake-in-his-spookiest-episode-yet - a mixed reception is not exactly unusual for a Gatiss episode it has to be said.

Spoiler:

There is a similar split-in opinion evident on the Gallifrey Base poll to. 10% have voted it a 1 out of 10- which is high- but on the other hand 16% have voted it an 8 out of 10 out of 689 votes cast so far tonight.

it was dire. end of.

No you thought it was dire which is different.
Clearly many people thought it was quite good. I know at least one person who thought it was pretty good for a Gatiss episode. I on the other-hand am not sure at all even what I make of the episode yet.
There are other opinions out there on this one.

nice try.

it was utter shite, and most reviewers agree with me. I could list them if you need 'proof' but it would take all night and my pussies are in need of de-fleaing.

You dont need to- Ill do my usual press round up and quotes later as usual. And reviews good or bad are proof of nothing they can be an indicator- I dont use them as proof, I have always just done a press round up for folks here convenience.

But I could equally quote positive reviews and lots of appreciative comments from Who forums (and as many negative, probably more as negative tends to say more than folks who liked it, but a majority, slender for Who as it is, still liked it more than dislike it in that poll)- arguably they are audience after all. Don't see it would help in this case (or ever) however to quote anything- its clearly a Marmite episode.

As I said I am not even sure if I like this one or not- its either cleverer than I thought or as messy as I thought- but I really don't know yet as I'm still  not sure I've entirely worked the plot out yet.
Others I know liked it.

Certainly it seems from reaction on the kids thread on Gallifrey Base it did just fine in scaringg the crap out the kiddies at least!

Mrs Figg wrote: nice try.

it was utter shite, and most reviewers agree with me. I could list them if you need 'proof' but it would take all night and my pussies are in need of de-fleaing.

Soapy water. Drown the buggers.

Press round up. Mixed as predicted, but also some where the review itself is rather mixed, seems I am not the only one just not sure about this episode!

Den of Geek- 'I don't take pleasure really in penning reviews of things that I didn't really like too much. Especially if there are interesting ingredients, that don't really mesh together. But, after going through Sleep No More twice - once by myself, once with my kids - I confess I struggled with it....Taking it away from the superb Zygon two-parter that it followed, Sleep No More started intriguingly. It's immediately different..Gatiss then structured, with some discipline, Doctor Who's first found-footage episode, wrapping the camera points of view into the plot of the episode...So far so good...he episode certainly has things to say too, that shouldn't be overlooked....Not for the first time in Gatiss' Doctor Who writing, his finger is very much on a modern day pulse..I do like the fact that there's a good science fiction idea here, even if I struggled with the episode itself. It made me think of Russell T Davies' Gridlock, which used science fiction thinking to logically expand on where things around us today would head, left unchecked. I wasn't a mad fan of Gridlock, but its core thinking stuck with me. That may well be the case here, too..et other parts of Sleep No More didn't do much for me... I just couldn't really understand how they worked. And I eventually concluded that whilst that may not matter, if I'm actively thinking about it in the middle of the story, then the story can't be fully working for me.
I may be having a dim day there - I do have lots of them - but after two viewings, I wasn't much the wiser...Steven Moffat, for instance, is expert at taking seemingly simple things - blinking, the things you spot in the corner of your eyes, even breathing - and turning them into effective Doctor Who threats. But the sleep feels like a device, rather than anything sinister in itself....Another thing. I can't honestly say that I was always on top of what was actually going on...here were a few moments where I couldn't tell you what was happening...t's a brave and bold move to commit to found footage for 45 minutes of Doctor Who, and I love that the show took such a risk. Yet it never gelled, and ultimately felt longer than its 45 minute running time. I found myself warming to some of its moments, but really not to its whole...I find Capaldi's Doctor really quite unpredictable still - no small achievement after 22 episodes - never quite knowing whether he'll crack a joke, or pull the floor from under a character with one perfectly delivered line. When he stares at me from the telly, I dare not avert my eyes... hope the rest of you got more out of Sleep No More than I did, though. It's the first episode in a while I've struggled with. It's telling, though, that even in the midst of a Doctor Who story I didn't really warm to, there are plenty of things of note worth discussing.'

Telegraph- 'The latest Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is a particularly efficacious dabbler in the dark arts of coming across simultaneously serious and silly. He can segue from barkingly over the top to unnervingly subtle while making the titular Time Lord feel at all times like a cohesive personality. It's impressive slight of hand – all the more so because mostly you don't even realise he's doing it....Sleep No More was by no means a classic – but as a stand-alone 45 minutes of escapism it went down easily...Even when nothing was happening – and there was lot of mucking about in the space-station shadows – his Doctor Who crackled with uncanny energy.'

Radio Times- 5 out of 5 ' relish a Doctor Who that wrong-foots the viewer, one that can break a square-inch of new ground. Hard to do after 52 years....The story gives few easy answers. You have to stay alert. I watched Sleep No More twice through because some points perplexed me. ..Shearsmith is perfect casting for Professor Gagan Rassmussen...Sleep No More is the closest he’s (Gatiss) come to hardcore sci-fi – and it’s rather wonderful...Despite this madness, the “found footage” format works extremely well and, I promise you, the more often you watch this episode (should you choose to watch it again), the more impressive it becomes...Sleep No More? Well, you certainly have to stay wide awake and alert to follow what is happening. At times it seems deliberately perplexing... Yet I love this episode for its apparent complexity and despite its few absurdities.'  

IGN- 8.4/10 'The episode also culminates in a freaky moment that will leave fans talking -- and quite possibly confused.
At first glance, the found-footage trope seems a disappointing way to go. Obviously a show like Who has to find new and different ways to tell its stories, having been on the air for so long, but still. And yet, frequent DW writer Mark Gatiss turns the concept on its ever-watchful head, essentially making the very notion of found footage into the bad guys of the story....It was fun watching the Doctor start to piece together that something was off here..There’s even a picture of an artist painting a picture of an artist painting a picture of an artist painting a picture moment which predicts the truth here -- that the Doctor and Clara are simply living out Rassmussen’s story....Speaking of which, the Sandmen are creepy enough, although I think this season’s ghosts from “Under the Lake”/“Before the Flood” were more effective. But the moment that is sure to give nightmares is in that last shot...A good standalone horror story, “Sleep No More” also plays with some of the tropes of the genre, from the found-footage aspect to the idea of the story-within-the-story. The final moments when all is revealed are both scary and confusing, and are sure to have fans scratching their heads even while they pull the blanket over them as well.'

Metro- 'Mark Gatiss’s eighth Doctor Who story returns to the kind of macabre horror he delivered in The Idiot’s Lantern, Night Terrors and The Crimson Horror, combined with the claustrophobia of Cold War...Combining the characters’ point of view with CCTV footage creates a more intimate and visceral experience, with its jerky movement and tighter field of vision. There are no wide-angle or tracking shots, which only adds to the sense of claustrophobic paranoia...I’m not sure whether the pseudo-science that underpins the existence of the Sandmen – a carnivorous life-form created from the dust that forms in the corner of the eyes during sleep – holds up under much scrutiny. Nonetheless, this was still an excellent story from Gatiss...A rare combination of both style and substance, and one of this year’s high points.'

Gamesradar- 'It’s also the first episode this series that fails to hit the mark, despite evidently lofty ambitions and some creepy new creatures...The episode is given an extra wrinkle by its presentation, but the found footage proves as problematic as it does innovative....the experimental format comes at the expense of clarity, with the murky lighting and erratic shifts in point of view making the action a struggle to follow...The Sandmen, however, are fab – those gaping mouths the stuff of nightmares, with their exceptional sound design complementing the creaks and groans of the Le Verrier..After last week’s magnificent monologuing and Zygon doppelgangers Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman settle back into a comfortable groove here. Gatiss gifts the pair some solid gold dialogue but it’s the kind of material they could deliver in their sleep at this stage. The troops fail to make much of an impression, only Nagata is fleshed out beyond “blindingly obvious Redshirt” (amusingly each character is given a “survival rating” at the start of the episode)....“Sleep No More” isn’t boring or offensively bad, it’s just a little underwhelming and the risky found footage format never quite gels. It’s not the first time a Doctor Who story has failed to realise it potential, but we can’t fault it for trying.'

Sunday Express- 'he adventure, penned by seasoned Doctor Who writer and Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss, made sure the questions kept coming but without answering any of them....While keeping us in the dark was probably the intention, it grew increasingly infuriating as the episode went on and even more so because of the Doctor's speculative theories about what on earth was going on. He's the Time Lord, he's supposed to know everything. If the Doctor doesn't know what's going on then we're in trouble....But leaving aside the mystery wrapped in an enigma that was Sleep No More's plot, the monsters themselves left a lot to be desired.
Apart from looking like and sharing the same name as a Marvel villain - remember Spider-Man 3? - the idea of creatures formed from compressed sleep from the corner of our eyes was getting just a tad silly. It did feel like they had suddenly run out of monster ideas and plucked this one from thin air.
Yes, the Sandmen will probably send kids squealing and hiding behind their parents for safety but they ended up looking like hulking lumps that could be despatched with a dust devil.
Perhaps the only redeeming moment for the Sandmen or Dustmen was the last scene that has become a contender for one of the creepiest moments on Doctor Who ever....Even the grown ups were likely to have been left unsettled by that image. Undoubtedly this episode will do what it says on the tin and plenty of kids will sleep no more - or for at least a week after watching this.
Guest star and League of Gentlemen actor Reece gave a wickedly good performance....Sleep No More was the first one-episode adventure in a series of  two-parters and felt unresolved. No doubt our burning list of questions will eventually be answered and we probably won't like what we hear. Like what is actually going on and what really happened at the end of the episode?
The thing is, it was always going to be difficult to follow up from The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion, which is one of the best stories told on Doctor Who to date.
Sleep No More is a fair instalment with some nods to Blade Runner and even Steven Moffat's brand of psychological terror like the Weeping Angels and the Silence, but you get the impression that this was  a cracking concept that worked much better on paper than it does on screen.'  


As I said mixed- even often within reviews themselves they are mixed reviews.

"Pay close attention, your lives might depend on it "
Well, now youve said that Ive lost interest straight away. What do I think ? I think Ive found damp lumps of sugar at the bottom of the bag that looked like these "monsters". After running away from Joseph Merricks family Ive decided it was all a DREAM. It was a dream that we could all view. A dream anyone of us could have & therein lies the horror. I really wasnt impressed by this story either. I still like Capaldi just dont like the ideas.

Well that was fairly boring...living dust monsters? That ranks with the flesh eating dustbins, farting aliens and Zaarbi as one of the stupidest aliens in Who ever.

As the Doctor himself said 'This dosen't make any sense!'

Why does Gatiss keep getting writing gigs? I've more or less enjoyed all his episodes to some extent, but almost all of them have been generic, silly forgettable romps and I'm not sure I'd actually call most of them any good.

It's getting a huge kicking on Facebook and Reddit.

Apparently he's signed on for series 10, and planning a sequel  

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-14/mark-gatiss-has-a-sequel-planned-to-doctor-whos-sleep-no-more

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-11-14/steven-moffat-finally-reveals-the-fate-of-the-doctors-daughter---sort-of

"I've got Russell T Davies' answer. Apparently it was me that kept her alive, because I said – when I heard about the idea – 'Oh don't kill her at the end, that's the Star Trek thing to do.' So he kept her alive just because I said that. And I wrote to him after and said, 'well I didn't know that I did that,' and he said, 'oh it doesn't matter, Steven, she flew straight into a moon!”

I've never got the fan obsession with her, a very thinly sketched character from a forgettable one off episode years ago, if they had any interesting story ideas they would have done something with her by now, I'm surprised people even remember the character...