Midnight

The usual Doctor Who episode contains tons of monsters, special effects and a lot of action. This one is a pleasant change of pace. The focus has shifted from all the scary costumes and onto the actors themselves. While some may find this episode boring, others may treasure how well all the actors were handling their parts - the strange lonely lady, the common family with a rebellious son, the professor who thinks he knows it all and his bright, but overlooked assistant - these are all characters acted out with the utmost conviction. I am happy that the suspense in this episode does not come from another blatant alien attack on Earth and from the weird-looking aliens themselves, but from the build-up of strange occurrences, which leave room for the viewer's own imagination. As for Catherine Tate missing, well, that made the episode just more cohesive, because she would have ruined the atmosfear ;)

For me, this is one of the best stories ever. And I mean top 3 stories of all time! It is my favourite "NuWho" story.

That is despite the superb Donna only being in the episode a small amount and most of the episode being limited to the interior of a small transport with a few people. In fact, that is one of the strengths because it is in the style of great film maker Alfred Hitchcock who would make a film where incredible tension and drama is created in a very limited, claustrophobic setting. Russell T. Davies has absolutely nailed that Hitchcockian brilliance by writing an awesome, scary, tense and suspenseful story.

RTD deserves huge credit for bringing Doctor Who back so successfully and keeping series quality consistently excellent. This is the best example showing he was capable of writing the very highest standard stories.

In addition to the incredible story idea and phenomenal script we also are given the finest quality acting and direction. Alice Troughton won well deserved awards for direction as this is perfectly executed. David Tennant puts in a masterclass of acting, not just being a top notch Doctor but a top notch TV performance by any standards.

The performance of guest star Lesley Sharp is equally amazing, totally convincing and chilling. The repeating of speech is such a fabulous idea and is acted so well that it is scary and unbelievably impressive.

The rest of the guest cast including David Troughton, son of 2nd Doctor Patrick Troughton, is solid as a rock and provides interest. The themes are great and similar to the Hitchcock classic Lifeboat (developed expertly from Steinbeck's story) which explores people turning on each other out of fear. This theme obviously links in to larger societal issues.

This is simply Doctor Who at its very best. A total masterpiece of TV magic!

My Rating: 10/10.

Seriously. Just. Wow.

"Midnight", I can safely say, is a Doctor Who experience unlike any other. In a series that had previously left me quite underwhelmed, this completely blew my mind.

This is bar none Russell T. Davies' greatest work. He tosses aside all of the DW typicality: the companion, the hideous monsters, the running... Even the Tardis takes a leave of absence. In their places, he gives us a claustrophobic,motionless, and tense 45 minutes of sheer paranoia - and boy is it amazing!

Here we find The Doctor leaving Donna behind at a spa while he boards a tour bus on its way around Midnight, or 'the diamond planet'. He gets acquainted and rather chummy with the other passengers to pass the time, until suddenly the bus stops unexpectedly in a place where no person has ever gone, and they realize that they are no longer the only passenger on board . . .

As we all know, Steven Moffat is the master in creating a disturbing, chilling, and very cerebral atmosphere. Remember "Blink"? He created a monster that was genuinely terrifying without being aggressive or loaded with prosthetic. Well, Davies does him one better here. This time, we don't even know what the monster is, or what it looks like. It's more of an essence, like a demon possession. It grabs hold of its victim and corrupts it. How? We don't know. Why? Don't know. And that's what makes it so horrific.

This seems to be The Doctor's strongest adversary to date. He can't use words to talk sense into it, or use his screwdriver to find out more about it, and as paranoia strikes everyone on bored, he can't even win their trust. There's nothing for him to fight, and he is left in the mercy of scared innocents that think of him as a risk to their own safety. In fact, this is the only time we've seen the 10th rendered completely helpless - and David Tennant plays to that beautifully! In fact, everyone in this episode did a magnificent job! It's just a gripping study in character and emotion from start to finish.

All in all, this was my favorite episode to date, and by the end of it, my heart was racing so fast, I just had to watch it again.

It would be hard to top the Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead duology with anything remotely similar, so it's probably a good thing that this episode went in an entirely different direction.

As opposed to vast, unearthly (CGI-generated) settings, almost the entire episode takes place in one small confined place, a tourist shuttle craft. This gives it almost the feeling of a stage play, and also a sense of claustrophobia that's very effective in enhancing the feeling of being trapped.

And as with a stage play, when you don't have elaborate sets and props to depend on for effect, it all comes down to acting, and the human factor - both of which are truly excellent in this episode. It's a very strongly character-driven story, and while the basic premise of small group of people trapped in a dangerous situation gradually turning against each other may have been done before (from Lord of the Flies on down through the movie Cube and many others), that doesn't lessen its impact, or change the fact that this is an extremely well-done rendition of that theme.

No, it's not standard Doctor Who fare - technology and aliens are decidedly second to human psychology here, and the Doctor for a change does not come across as all-knowing and able to handle anything. But that just makes it all the more effective.

All in all, a strong if atypical episode, and a nice break between Silence/Forest and the concluding three-episode story arc of the season.

With minimal set and a small group of actors, this is a fantastically claustrophobic and effective episode. Unusually for one penned by Russell T. Davies, this episode is removed from the story arc of the series, and as Blink, would stand alone as a short sci-fi horror.

A strange choice to follow the atmospheric Forest of the Dead, as three such strong episodes in a row could make the overall arc of the series uneven - but it's an episode worth watching purely for itself, regardless of the rest of the series. Interesting and frightening, with a marvellous performance from Lesley Sharpe, and an unusually restrained turn from David Tennant. Magic.