Midnight

[Craig @craig Emperor]

This is a cracker. While visiting Midnight, a beautiful, luxury planet, the Doctor goes on a trip without Donna. During the trip a terrifying problem arises that leaves The Doctor powerless – an unseen presence outside the ship that cannot possibly exist.

[ScaryB @scaryb]

Oh, so excited and much frustrated! This is one of my fav episodes… but no time to watch till tomorrow! (See you all then)

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

Ahhh. Midnight. Apparently the last script to be written for this series as it replaced a story that didn’t pan out.

I think this is a real gem. Apparently RTD was getting sick of some of the criticism of his approach, and decided to cast himself in the role of guest writer for once. Whatever you think about him, he took his role as show creative very seriously, I think, realising he had to play to possibly the biggest age range in TV vieweship. To him that often meant spectacle first and foremost, but Midnight with limited sets, and palpable lack of obvious crowd-pleasing visuals shows of his real writing talents, especially for dialogue.

It could only work with a good guest cast, and they pulled one together pretty effectively. Great to see David Troughton as Professor Hobbes. He appeared in his Dad’s era in his final story, War Games and in Curse of Peladon. Actually, when I had the opportunity to see Enemy of the World recently, he also has a couple of cameos in that, but uncredited. Funny to see Colin Morgan as well, just as he was about to start work on Merlin.

Real star and one of the best guest turns must go to Lesley Sharp as Sky though. No idea how hard she and Tennant worked to get those dialogue exchanges so pitch perfect, but it was worth the effort. From the slightly distant and closed-in Sky, to the savant like repetition phase to her final sneering triumphalism as she dominates the Doctor, she’s pretty incredible.

Nice to see a real Doctor heavy episode as well, and Tennant turns in a great mirror performance to Sharp’s. Contrasting Sky’s original state, the Doctor is swaggering, engaging, open and a lot of fun as he disables the entertainment system to everyone’s relief and goes about charming people. To the attack on the rover and his attempts to calm the increasingly panicked and hostile passengers, and the final site of him traumatised by his experience, and Donna’s hug (in so many ways one of the most natural and warmest gestures I’ve seen in Who, and emphasising the type of relationship they had).

It’s also great because the enemy is unseen in its natural state. A shadowy poltergeist knocking on walls and possessing people. I’ve seem some people call for a return to Midnight to reveal the mystery. I think that misses a huge point in that some secrets deserve to be kept unknown. It’s what makes the unseen creature in this so memorable. And the Doctor is only saved by the self sacrifice of someone he hardly knows. In many ways, the one member of the expedition he doesn’t try to charm.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Russell, as the writer of Midnight reveals himself as a great guest writer. I can understand why he’s in no rush to return to the roster after exhausting himself, but I hope he does so in the future. The writer of Midnight would be a boon to any series.

[wolfweed @wolfweed]

It’s the experimental episode! Only this time it’s a companion-lite ep, not the Doctor-lite one.

The Doctor would rather talk to actual real people than watch Betty Boop! What a weirdo.

3 knocks!

The concept of having your voice ‘stolen’ is incredibly disturbing.

It’s all about the paranoia – reminds me of The Edge of Destruction. Imagine Sky running ’round the bus with scissors like Susan! (There’s a thought)

Shows the idealism of the Doctor is very dangerous – He’d like to bring Sky back to The Leisure Palace…

Rose Easter Egg! It seems that broadcasting to parallel universes is quite tricky…

Seeing the Doctor so vulnerable is gut-wrenchingly good!

Once again in a RTD  script, the Dr is not the saviour of the day – (This time it’s the Dr’s catchphrases!)

I was teary-eyed @ the end (without shame).

One of RTD’s best (& Dr Who’s).

 

 

[DrDwarf @drdwarf]

It’s a real grity ep one that scared me quite a lot. This doesn’t mean I don’t love it like jammie dogers though.

The major thing that made it so astounding is that it shows how defenseless the Doctor is all the time. He has no gun, weapons or anything that could harm and if he could he wouldn’t, a true pacifist. Not that that’s wrong but hes says to the other people to not kill sky even though he is almost doomed because she… well kinda freezes his body.

Gota love that bit at the end though when everyone’s quite it really gives and atmospheric  feel of dread and well sort of relax. overall one of the finest eps that will be remembered for a whole long time.

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

Funnily enough Midnight has never been an episode that I have particularly warmed to. I can see its merits. It is very well written, directed and acted. It was certainly nice to see David Troughton again. I like the unseen, unknown monster. Some things are best left unexplained. I also like the Doctor’s conclusion at the end, that humans should move their leisure palace elsewhere. The planet is inhabited and they have no place there. It is nice for the alien to sometimes be shown respect even if it is a very creepy alien, one that defys our definition of life.

I think this story also proves that if RTD had not felt compelled to write “bigger and bangier” stories he would have been the better for it. His light touch as in evidence here is excellent.

Having said that, I still would not include Midnight in my list of personal favourites. (as opposed to next week’s episode which I have cheated and watched already.)

Cheers

Janette

[Arbutus @arbutus]

This is one of my favourite AG episodes. I was startled at one point to realize that it was an RTD episode, as it is so different from his usual style. I love that, although there is a dangerous alien element, the real “baddie” of the story is human nature and mob mentality. The story is beautifully reminiscent of classic science fiction stories, with its “base under siege” and mysterious unidentifiable threat.

I loved the arc of the story: the Doctor in his social, human-loving persona amid a mixed group of fairly unexceptional characters; the Doctor in “take-charge” mode amid a group of helpless humans that need his protection; the Doctor fighting against people’s fear to do “the right thing”; the Doctor helpless, at the mercy of both the alien and the fearful, angry crowd; and finally, the Doctor sad, angry, disappointed, disillusioned.

All the performances are just great here, and at the end, I was so glad that he had Donna to come home to!

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

I didn’t see this or the previous two episodes on broadcast, and in fact didn’t watch them until about two years ago. I knew who River was since I’d already seen her later episodes, but I knew absolutely nothing about Midnight other than it was supposed to be really good. Well it is really good, in fact I would say it’s probably RTD2’s best. As you can probably tell by my username, I like stories where people are slowly taken over by alien hosts. It is very dark, but I think Who should always have an element of darkness too it. Also watch out for cameo’s by Patrick Troughton’s son and Merlin.

[VashtaNerada @vashtanerada]

Midnight is probably my second favorite tenth doctor episode, after silence in the library as you might have guessed, because the monster is unseen. That really adds an aspect of fear because you aren’t quite sure where it is at any time. And like the angels and the silence  you directly interact with it- with the angels you have to look at them or they move, with the silence you can’t look away or you forget they even exist, and with the Midnight monster, you talk to it and it consumes you. I was really moved by this episode, and I have to say I spent the rest of the day thinking about it and doing the whole “what if?” thing in my head, but that’s what I love about this episode. It makes you question how humans think and how far we will go to save our own skin.

[Anonymous @]

@vashtanerada I quite agree with you: very creepy but beautifully acted by one Lesley Sharpe who I just saw in a role when she was 30? The Full Monty. Great laughs there. But in Who, Sharpe is magically terrifying as the ‘possessed’ woman.

Kindest, puro.

[Anonymous @]

I’m with you guys midnight is one of the episodes of tennant ever  and is also where we under ALLONSY

[nerys @nerys]

I really can’t add much to what everyone else here has stated so eloquently, except that “Midnight” was the episode that made me a Doctor Who fan. The minimalist sets and powerful acting revealed a challenging story that was well beyond the fun diversion I’d thought Doctor Who was.

[TheMidnightMonster @themidnightmonster]

I loved this episode in every way – it just seems to contain everything you expect from Doctor Who in general and pulls it into one perfect storyline.

I loved the ‘Doctor’ at 16:35 – It’s so perfectly added, and still gives me a twinge.

 

 

[Rewvian @rewvian]

This was basically a “Donna-lite” episode, and followed the Doctor as he went on a sort of bus trip across the planet Midnight.

I had zero memory of Midnight, so this is an episode I had completely forgotten about over the years.

The plot reminded me of something like 12 Angry Men, but with the passengers getting hysterical and siding against each other.  It is very much about fear and group thinking.  The monster is some entity that possesses one of the passengers and begins copying what others say, before saying things in sync with the others, and then finally saying things before them.  It eventually zeroes in on the Doctor and starts copying him specifically, leaving him in a catatonic copycat state.

What bothered me about the episode was that it had a lot of people yelling and talking over each other.  I don’t particularly like crowds talking around me in person, so it’s funny that I’m watching something to entertain myself and it has crowds talking.  I get where the episode was a little frightening, and it did seem like the Doctor was in a real vulnerable state and there was a sense of danger towards the end.  I still didn’t like the episode as much as many of the others I’ve been rewatching.

I also don’t get the strategy of the creature, since it apparently finds a way to disconnect the driver and mechanic from the front of the rover and kill them, then it bashes the wall and comes through somehow to possess someone, and just messes with all of the passengers the rest of the episode.  It went from overkill to toying with everyone.

I will say that Midnight looked cool every time they showed it.  I’m not really sure why anyone would want to visit such a place with no oxygen outside though.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@rewvian    I thought Midnight was a classic episode, one of RTD’s best, even though it made me uncomfortable and I didn’t find it as much fun to watch as some of the others.    But the reason for that was, that the biggest threat to the Doctor came from his fellow passengers.   It exposed one of the less creditable traits of the human species, the tendency to mob mentality.   And the Doctor’s blind spot, in that he assumed everyone would agree with him because he was the cleverest person on board.   Of course that is another human weakness, resenting anyone better than we are.

The threat was scary – hidden noises where there should be no life, always are.   (The Moff used the same trope in the base in ‘Listen’).   And I found it very dramatically effective that the person who finally saved the day was the stewardess, who was initially hostile to the Doctor.   And nobody even knew her name.

cr

 

[VickyMallard @vickymallard]

Oh, what a brilliant opening. Donna and the Doctor take a break from saving the world and almost getting killed in the process and go on holiday. Ish. Donna relaxing by a completely deserted pool and the Doctor is eager as usual to marvel at the wonders of the universe. Or in this case the planet. Yes, I wonder, what could possibly go wrong?! LOL
The beginning is obviously quite smoothly, the Doctor’s charm turns what would otherwise have been an ordeal for everyone involved into a nice social event. And just when we learn that no one has ever touched the surface of the planet, the vessel stops. And Sky gets possessed by something that according to Mr Know-it-all cannot exist. Nice claustrophobic setting, I like that. And what on earth is Rose Tyler doing on that screen? And apparently she only showed up that one time. Weird.
Wow, that was a close shave. So that whatever-it-was stole the Doctor’s voice, so she could speak and he couldn’t? Not sure I fully understood that. But it was certainly unexpected that the hostess would suddenly commit suicide to save the passengers – and get it right It was creepily fascinating to see the group dynamic here, first the fear brings out the worst in all of them, and then – encouraged by the whatever-it-was – they actually try to throw the Doctor out. Seeing him so helpless and panicked was incredible. And then there’s silence…
I’m glad we got to see the reunion with Donna in the end. What an episode! My favourite lines (from before it got busy): “Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereof…” – I have to remember that 😉 and “Sorry, I’m the Doctor, I’m very clever.” I think that’s a pretty accurate description…

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