Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Alice Troughton
“Oh my God, it’s coming for me…IT’S COMING FOR ME! NO! NO!”
Well…I sure as hell wasn’t expecting that…and here’s why…
(1) MIDNIGHT IS CREEPY
A story in which we NEVER see the monster. All we get are knocks on walls, a posessed woman repeating everything said by everyone else, and a paranoia straight out of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone (especially episodes such as The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street) . Is Russell Davies trying to out-creep Steven Moffat? He certainly does a superb job, as everything is implicit — only the writing, the direction, and the acting are required to make this school-yard concept into the ultimate night terror.
(2) MIDNIGHT IS CHEAP…THANK GOD!
The ultimate bottle show. A single set — the cabin of the Crusader cruise liner — a small cast, a minimum of special effects, tight direction…this is the type of base-under-siege story that was common-place during the reign of the 2nd Doctor in the late 1960s…except it was never THIS good!
Much of the credit should go to David Tennant and Lesley Sharp, who deliver two exquisitely intense performances using the simplest, most straightforward material. Russell Davies scripts an actor’s wet dream, the director pulls out just the right sort of lens techniques, and the end result is not only simplicity itself…it’s simply magnificent. The sacrifice of the unnamed hostess (a beautiful, paniful realization on the part of the Doctor and the rest of the passengers) is a tragedy that script and direction realize to poetic perfection.
(3) MIDNIGHT IS A COMPLETE SURPRISE
No one (and I mean, NO ONE!) was expecting anything extraordinary from this episode. Written at the last minute to replace a postponed script, Russell Davies sets himself the task to write a budget saving, Donna-lite episode that — at first glance — appeared to be nothing but filler, between two enormous event episodes.
Instead, it’s a psychologically intense descent into captive terror, with stunning performances, and the most damning commentary on human failings since…well…it’s been a LONG time. For all of Doctor Who’s optimism regarding humanity, it’s a series that has never been afraid to show us at our ugliest…and Midnight scores a palpable hit in that respect. At times, it’s difficult to watch (for all the RIGHT reasons), but it’s never less that brilliant. To be honest, it knocked me back completely! Any episode so compelling that it keeps me from going to the bathroom is fabulous in my book. ;-)
9.5
