Don’t Worry, We’re Listening

Guest contributor Holly Illis on why Moffat’s next could capture even his dissenters.

Well, I am. And I’m fairly certain everybody else is too. There’s something in the shadows, or the corner of your eye and I cannot wait to discover what it could be. Listen, above all other episodes in the whole of Series 8, is the one I know the least about, and still the one I’m looking forward to the most. And from comments, on various other articles and various other websites, it seems most people feel the same way. But why?

I think it’s safe to say that it’s because it’s Moffat again, and we know the least about it, and the trailer was awesome and all the usual stuff. Not me though. What, I hear you ask, makes me so special? Well apart from my incredible intelligence, wit and charm, and my astonishing good looks, I am not a fan of Steven Moffat anymore. And I know I’m not the only one, but as I’m not psychic I can only write this article on my own behalf. So as someone who hasn’t really been a fan of anything Moffat has written since The Eleventh Hour, oh so many years ago, I am going to try and analyse myself. Why do I have such unwisely high expectations?

Episode 4

The last time Steven Moffat wrote an episode that wasn’t a special, an anniversary, a finale, an opener, feature-length or a two-parter (unless you don’t think of A Good Man Goes To War and Let’s Kill Hitler as a two-parter) was 2010, in the form of The Beast Below. And that was his second episode as showrunner, with a new Doctor still to introduce, and a new companion.

Episode 4 is a pretty ordinary slot. Previous episode 4s have included Aliens of London, Daleks In Manhattan, The Doctor’s Wife. Whether you think them rubbish, or (probably in the case of TDW!) excellent, they are pretty ordinary. Nothing to do with an arc, not particularly special or celebratory. Not something that Steven Moffat has done for a long time. That is why I am so excited for this episode. When Steven Moffat wasn’t tied down with the Silence, or the crack in time, or River he gave us some of the most imaginative, clever and truly terrifying episodes Doctor Who has ever seen. The polls don’t lie people. As a showrunner, his episodes and arcs have been truly divisive. But pre-2010 he was pretty much everybody’s favourite.

That is what I’m hoping Listen will be like. Not special. Not long. Not celebratory. Not arc-y. Back to basics.

Absolutely Terrifying

I know, I know, I’ve got a lot older since Silence In The Library. I’m not expecting nightmares or the need to hide behind the sofa. I am not expecting to be absolutely terrified. But even if it doesn’t scare me, I should be able to know that it’s scary. I should be able to watch it and think “dayum, if I was younger I would be having nightmares for weeks.” Or something along those lines.

That’s where my handy 9-year-old brother comes in! I am a nice sister (honest) but just this once I really hope it properly scares him. Like Moffat scared me when I was 9. I love the feeling of tensing up because I don’t know what’s coming, because something is truly creepy, or dark, or horrifying. I want Moffat to play to all the basic fears again, like he did with child zombies, and losing your parents, or ticking clocks, or the shadows and the dark.

“Almost every species in the Universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they’re wrong. ‘Cause it’s not irrational.”

Wow. Way to go Moffat. Thanks for that one.

And from the really amazing next-time trailer, it looks like that’s exactly what I’m going to get. Who hasn’t been scared of that hand underneath their bed?

Promises

Moffat promised a lot of things for Series 8, and 2 of them really caught my eye. The first, he has already delivered on. Peter Capaldi is definitely a darker Doctor, and about time too. My favourite bit in the whole of Into The Dalek was the bit where the Doctor gave Ross the pill, which the others thought would save him. Spoiler: It didn’t. And did the Doctor show any kind of emotion? Nope!

I don’t believe that in Deep Breath he physically pushed the Half-Faced Man out of the balloon, but whether he did or not is sort of irrelevant. The Doctor was responsible for that death, whether he pushed him or persuaded him. I think the latter more likely, and frankly scarier. There’s a fine line between persuasion and manipulation, and this Doctor doesn’t seem too worried about crossing it. If Listen is even half as dark or creepy as the trailer suggests, Capaldi should be in his element. And you know what? Doomed dialogue does sound a lot better in Scottish!

The second was the promise of a smaller story arc. That, in my opinion, can only be a good thing. I kind of went into this in the Episode 4 section, but I’m hoping the fact that it’s not a finale or an opener, and the fact that the arc is smaller will mean that Moffat can focus on what he does best – scare the hell out of us.

Blink

I get the impression from the name and the trailer that Listen is supposed to remind us of Blink. It’s one word, to do with a sense and with a really creepy premise. Just like I got a Dalek vibe from Into The Dalek, only this time Listen and Blink are by the same person. Listen seems to be a kind of “Greatest Hits” from what I can tell, which to be fair is very little. Playing with that fear of the dark, and things in the corner of your eye. Things under the bed, like in The Girl In The Fireplace. All the best aspects of all my favourite Moffat episodes. You see why I can’t help but have my hopes so high?!

Sometimes we keep our hopes deliberately low so as not to be disappointed. But in some instances it’s just too impossible. You raise your hopes so high, so there is nowhere they could possibly go, and whatever you were hoping for can only fall short. And sometimes, just very, very occasionally if you are very, very lucky… you raise your hopes so high (you can’t even help it) and whatever you were hoping for still manages to exceed them. Still manages to blow. Your. Mind.

If it’s rubbish now, I’m going to be very embarrassed.