Sleep No More Advance Review
Note: Doctor Who TV’s pre-air reviews aim to be as detail-free as we reasonably can while still offering a critique, but as everyone’s spoiler sensibilities are different, we advise you read on at your own discretion.
What would happen if we could all but eliminate the need for sleep? That’s the intriguing question posed and explored in the appropriately titled Sleep No More.
When the Doctor and Clara arrive on the Le Verrier Space Station in the 38th century, they discover a Morpheus machine, a device that allows the person using it to shrink months of sleep into mere minutes. Also onboard are a small squad sent to investigate what happened to the crew. What they encounter is horrifying Sandmen instead.
Mark Gatiss, one of the revived show’s longest-serving writers, returns with a story quite unlike anything he has ever done so far. Gatiss is also one of the most divisive writers on the show, and while this episode is more appealing to those that prefer something more serious than silly (as with his last effort with Robot of Sherwood), it will still probably split fans due to its rather unique nature.
Yes, the big hook of this episode is that it utilises the “found footage” format. For those unfamiliar with the concept it basically means the whole story is presented as if it was a lost video from a camera or other such device showing the perspective of the person or object filming. This particular filmic approach certainly takes some getting used to and your tolerance of this element will play a factor on your personal enjoyment of this story.
This could also be classed as another “base under siege” story. Coming only a few episodes after Under the Lake, it risks repetition of well-worn tropes (not to mention reused corridors). Fortunately the found footage gimmick does present a different perspective, literally. There’s also quite a surprising narrative that leaves things on an unexpected note and is sure to cause further discussion.
After Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman’s outstanding performances over the last couple of weeks, things inevitably fall under the shadow here. This is a fairly standard affair in terms of the TARDIS duo’s characterisation, with a couple of nice moments. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a bog-standard Doctor/companion episode where they are chased by monsters, but the pair could act out what’s required here in their sleep (ahem).
Leading the guest cast this week is Reece Shearsmith who plays Professor Rassmussen, the inventor of the aforementioned Morpheus machine. He also narrates the story, getting quite meta at times. Shearsmith is definitely the most accomplished actor of the bunch and delivers the most unsettling scene of the episode in a key moment. The rest of the cast are somewhat forgettable. We have a classic base under siege situation where some get more attention than others (in particular Elaine Tan is more memorable as Nagata) due to limited screentime.
This has been teased as one of the scarier episodes of this series and it definitely has its moments, although not any more so than Under the Lake. The Sandmen are a decent foe with a cool ability, even if they look a little familiar to the Time Zombies in Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and will also have Marvel’s lawyers calling.
New Doctor Who director Justin Molotnikov ably handles what must have been an incredibly difficult proposition of an episode. It’s also quite clear this episode is lower budget, which isn’t helped by the found footage angle making for a less glossy looking production, but it does fit in nicely as a B-Movie monster aesthetic. The soundtrack is appropriately sparse, although one popular song in particular takes a key part of the story, which will be stuck in your head for hours after.
All in all, it’s a solid enough episode with an intriguing hook and a strikingly unique filming perspective (at least for Doctor Who), but it doesn’t quite reach greatness.
