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glitter_n_goreThe Final Four! First, I want to send out a huge thank-you to everyone who participated in the polling process. It was a new experience for me, and I think it would go smoother once I have a better handle on exactly how to rank things. All things considered, I feel good about the way this countdown turned out. I hope you've all enjoyed reading my thoughts on these episodes as much as I've enjoyed watching and recapping them.
Without further ado, here is the final batch, numbers 10 through 13!
Number 10: "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood"
This two-parter is a very tight, self-contained story with a clear and satisfying conclusion. It's practically a mini-movie and could easily stand on its own. The Doctor is on the run from a family of carnivorous creatures who can take human form. So, to hide himself, he also takes human form, passing himself off as a school teacher in the pre-WWI English countryside.
Like "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit," the strength of this one comes from its phenomenal guest stars and well-crafted characters. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Harry Lloyd would both star in Game of Thrones after this, and Jessica Hynes as Joan has a quiet kind of resolve that is so effective it does the impossible: she shuts the Doctor right up. But what's most memorable about this one for me is the message that violence--specifically, forcing young children to commit violence to serve their country--is fundamentally wrong. That's been a theme in Doctor Who for a long time, but Lloyd's speech here is one of my favorites.
Number 11: "The God Complex"
Writer Toby Whithouse has a talent for using superficially outrageous ideas to tell very personal, intimate stories that reveal character. It's one of the things that made Being Human such a fantastic series. "The God Complex" draws on the claustrophobic paranoia of Stephen King's The Shining, the impossible geometry of Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, and the Greek legend of the Minotaur all at the same time. One of my favorite things though is the speech the Doctor gives here about the true nature of cowardice:
The conceit of this episode is terrifying in its simplicity: there's a hotel with no doors or windows, and the rooms have "things" in them that tailor to your worst fears. And once you see what's in your room, the Minotaur will come for you. I won't spoil the twist if you haven't seen it, because it's brilliant, but the bottom line is the monster feeds on emotions. What I love about this is how it highlights the idiosyncratic nature of fear. That's why the rooms are all so different. What someone's most afraid of says a lot about them. As does their reaction to keep the fear at bay.
Number 12: "Heaven Sent"
Or, that one where the Doctor got trapped in the Lament Configuration for half of eternity. Okay, technically it's something more sci-fi than a Lament Configuration, and this setting reminds me more of Cube than Hellraiser, but it is a fantastic piece of work. All I knew about it going in was my coworkers recommended it for this countdown, and I strongly recommend doing the same. This is my favorite Peter Capaldi episode.
On the surface, "Heaven Sent" is a trapped-in-the-house style horror story with a creeping but tireless monster. Under the surface, this is an exploration of what eternity might feel like. Relentless, meaningless, and empty, with nothing but your own voice for company. The only thing that stops it from being as bleak as "Midnight" is the way it ends. I won't give it away, but I will say this sort of story is the reason I say "transformative horror" is my favorite type of horror. It is excruciating, brilliant, and features Capaldi's absolute best performance in this role.
Number 13: "World Enough and Time"
This was one of the first responses when I started asking people what the scariest episodes were. The commenter described it as "body horror," which is accurate, although I'd also add that the terror here is of the "I have no mouth and I must scream" variety. Personally, I think it's a lot more effective before you figure out what's going on. But that can be true of a lot of horror tropes; the monster is always scarier before you see it. And there are certain ones in Doctor Who I'm just tired of seeing. Such as. . .
Unfortunately I can't find a decent quality clip of the scene I want to show you, so I'll just describe it here: Bill (Pearl Mackie), hooked up to an IV drip and recovered from a massive wound that would otherwise have killed her, wanders into a hospital room with a row of seated patients. They're all covered head-to-toe, all unable to move, and one is repeatedly pushing a button that says the word, "PAIN," over and over. You don't think much about the existential implications of what it's really like for a person to be turned into a Cymberman--we've always just seen the results after they've been changed. Seeing what that transformation is like from the inside is harrowing on a different level.
Everyone take care of yourselves this coming Halloween. And if you're in the US, VOTE!
(Cross-posted torhoda_rants.)
Without further ado, here is the final batch, numbers 10 through 13!
Number 10: "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood"
This two-parter is a very tight, self-contained story with a clear and satisfying conclusion. It's practically a mini-movie and could easily stand on its own. The Doctor is on the run from a family of carnivorous creatures who can take human form. So, to hide himself, he also takes human form, passing himself off as a school teacher in the pre-WWI English countryside.
Like "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit," the strength of this one comes from its phenomenal guest stars and well-crafted characters. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Harry Lloyd would both star in Game of Thrones after this, and Jessica Hynes as Joan has a quiet kind of resolve that is so effective it does the impossible: she shuts the Doctor right up. But what's most memorable about this one for me is the message that violence--specifically, forcing young children to commit violence to serve their country--is fundamentally wrong. That's been a theme in Doctor Who for a long time, but Lloyd's speech here is one of my favorites.
Number 11: "The God Complex"
Writer Toby Whithouse has a talent for using superficially outrageous ideas to tell very personal, intimate stories that reveal character. It's one of the things that made Being Human such a fantastic series. "The God Complex" draws on the claustrophobic paranoia of Stephen King's The Shining, the impossible geometry of Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, and the Greek legend of the Minotaur all at the same time. One of my favorite things though is the speech the Doctor gives here about the true nature of cowardice:
The conceit of this episode is terrifying in its simplicity: there's a hotel with no doors or windows, and the rooms have "things" in them that tailor to your worst fears. And once you see what's in your room, the Minotaur will come for you. I won't spoil the twist if you haven't seen it, because it's brilliant, but the bottom line is the monster feeds on emotions. What I love about this is how it highlights the idiosyncratic nature of fear. That's why the rooms are all so different. What someone's most afraid of says a lot about them. As does their reaction to keep the fear at bay.
Number 12: "Heaven Sent"
Or, that one where the Doctor got trapped in the Lament Configuration for half of eternity. Okay, technically it's something more sci-fi than a Lament Configuration, and this setting reminds me more of Cube than Hellraiser, but it is a fantastic piece of work. All I knew about it going in was my coworkers recommended it for this countdown, and I strongly recommend doing the same. This is my favorite Peter Capaldi episode.
On the surface, "Heaven Sent" is a trapped-in-the-house style horror story with a creeping but tireless monster. Under the surface, this is an exploration of what eternity might feel like. Relentless, meaningless, and empty, with nothing but your own voice for company. The only thing that stops it from being as bleak as "Midnight" is the way it ends. I won't give it away, but I will say this sort of story is the reason I say "transformative horror" is my favorite type of horror. It is excruciating, brilliant, and features Capaldi's absolute best performance in this role.
Number 13: "World Enough and Time"
This was one of the first responses when I started asking people what the scariest episodes were. The commenter described it as "body horror," which is accurate, although I'd also add that the terror here is of the "I have no mouth and I must scream" variety. Personally, I think it's a lot more effective before you figure out what's going on. But that can be true of a lot of horror tropes; the monster is always scarier before you see it. And there are certain ones in Doctor Who I'm just tired of seeing. Such as. . .
Unfortunately I can't find a decent quality clip of the scene I want to show you, so I'll just describe it here: Bill (Pearl Mackie), hooked up to an IV drip and recovered from a massive wound that would otherwise have killed her, wanders into a hospital room with a row of seated patients. They're all covered head-to-toe, all unable to move, and one is repeatedly pushing a button that says the word, "PAIN," over and over. You don't think much about the existential implications of what it's really like for a person to be turned into a Cymberman--we've always just seen the results after they've been changed. Seeing what that transformation is like from the inside is harrowing on a different level.
Everyone take care of yourselves this coming Halloween. And if you're in the US, VOTE!
(Cross-posted to
rhoda_rants.)