Reviews

Of course, Inside No. 9 is known for its dark twists and so on and so forth, but this episode is far from dark, even considering the (implied) death at the ending. Frankly, incredibly poignant, if anything. The comedy, drama, everything is toned to a realistic level and of course the red herring synopsis that there's going to be a big falling out at a reunion was always going to have some twist on it considering what show this is but I did not expect it to be such a moving one. Perhaps it's just caught me off guard, but that was incredibly moving. The ending, especially, being so understated yet so clear in its intent, I wish I could put it into words. I'm so glad I caught it live, without any knowledge as to what the plot would have been, hence why I'm spoilering this review despite still being somewhat vague about it. Possibly the best episode of the entire show (yes, better than Christine), and almost certainly of all time.

I only managed half of this episode and then skipped to the next time trailer, but what I did see was dire. Pacing almost non-existent, some remarkably bad acting, 2000s CBBC level CGI that someone must have made the decision to go ahead with anyway despite the obvious budget cuts and/or mismanagement that has evidently taken place and a story better suited to a fanfiction, especially considering what I've heard from someone who could handle to stick around to the end. Even what little that did improve from the Chibnall tenure has somehow been squandered, with a camera operator at times that seems incompetent. I could go on about how the Sea Devils look goofy, an entire town is murdered and then not brought back up again, the forced chemistry that still fails to work between Yaz and the Doctor, the plot being set in... it was China, right?- and that fact not contributing to anything... there's too much to mention. I wouldn't be surprised if Chibnall was deliberately tanking the show before his tenure is over.

The main problems I see argued when this story is criticized are the plot, the acting and the camerawork. Let's take a look at each of these.

Firstly, getting it out of the way quickly, the camerawork. Really? Criticizing camerawork on a found-footage story? Just think about that.

Secondly, again to get it out of the way quickly, the acting - the found-footage element meant the characters had much more colloquial acting than the norm found in Doctor Who and works perfectly fine in context. Focusing on one actor in particular, Shearsmith plays a brilliant character, with both of his reveals as a twist-villain and, ultimately, a sandman feeling perfectly surprising with his slightly holier-than-thou attitude before getting to know the crew and his almost apologetic attitude in the tapes which would make sense considering what he would have been through were that actually him as we knew him before the reveal he would be like that.

Now, the juicy part. The plot. People rag on this episode for plot holes, and to this I have two things to say: 1) all the best New Who plots have holes in them (Blink being the main example of this) and 2) nothing in this episode is so egregious as to draw out your investment. The plot has been described by many as boring. That's simply because you're not watching it properly. Overall the episode has an absolutely brilliant atmosphere, with dark corridors and sinister futuristic tech that got the better end of Under The Lake/Before The Flood's endless hospital-white or whatever The End Of The World tried to do, and it perfectly compliments the slowly unraveling plot that people called tedious because they didn't follow along well enough. The hints are enough to make you want to keep watching. The 'survivability' bar, the fact Rassmussen has a camera feed without having a camera, 'Do you ever get the feeling we're being watched?' - it is very engaging to those who notice. Along with some surprisingly good comedy at times and the play on the found-footage ploy by having 'nothing' to take the footage - this is all a very entertaining, very intelligent and very underappreciated story. Hell, they even make you feel for the grunt. 10/10, exceptional.