Doctor Who (TV Series) Night Terrors (2011) User Reviews

Doctor to Social worker, Gatiss back on top form.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 6 September 2015]

The Doctor picks up a distress call from a little boy called George, and goes in search of him. George has night terrors which come to life.

I've slated Mark Gatiss's last few offerings, and this is definitely one of his best, I'm pretty sure he dislikes dolls, and that's very evident here. This is wonderfully imaginative and creative, lots of people have an irrational fear of dolls, and boy does this play on it. When they arrive in the place of the dolls it has a feel of the Celestial toymaker about it.

This episode gets a little bit of stick, I understand why, but i really love it. Like Curse of the Black spot it's an episode you can watch without needing to know what's going on with the story arc running through, it feels independent of it somehow.

Does Steven Moffat have a thing about eyes??? Big glass one here, there's the Attraxi, and the eyes belonging to the flesh.

It's fun, exciting, nightmarish, it has some beautifully touching moments, Daniel Mays is a cracking actor, but the young man playing George was so good, their scene at the end is so touching. Even the most hardened people will feel a little lump in the throat.

Some really nice funny bits provided by the neighbours, Mrs Rossiter (Sherpa Tenzing) in particular. I love the idea of the Dolls and people being transformed into them, they are so damn creepy, more scary then anything for a while. It's big fun. 8/10

Traditional Tale Which Is Just What The Doctor Ordered

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 3 September 2011]

You can't really blame the casual viewer if they've given up on the show at this point . Viewers demand to be entertained and this season has seen some of the most ridiculously confused and confusing story telling in the history of television . Same old , same old and it gives de ja vu a bad name and last weeks trailer didn't give much hope since Night Terrors seemed to be a remake of Fear Her which is possibly one of the most boring and predictable episodes seen in NuWho . Considering it was written by Mark Gatiss who responsible for last year's Dalek debacle a fan like myself was suffering the type of fear that the programme might be going from bad to worse

These fears were unfounded . It's not a flawless episode but what Gatiss has done has unrepently made an episode for the target audience of children . DOCTOIR WHO is not a children's show - it's a family one and the ability to absolutely terrify its younger audience without the need for gore speaks volumes as to what a unique and magical show it is . The format allows a story to be about anything in any genre but it's best remembered as a horror show lite for younger viewers and Gatiss develops this to the max As for the flaws it does resemble Fear Her plot wise , it's not a radically different type of adventure but this isn't necessarily a criticism . There does seem a slight problem with structure with the monsters themselves being slightly under developed and the ending rushed and it's very noticeable that the companions are sidelined due to dual plotting but along with Christmas Carol ( Another episode with a sidelined Amy and Rory ) this is the episode I've enjoyed most in the last two years which make me wonder if perhaps the eleventh Doctor would have worked better without companions ?

Nevertheless this is very entertaining television and I for one hope to see Mark Gatiss take helm of the show once Moffat leaves . I can't bare yet another over complicated runaround involving time paradox

The Doctor makes a house call

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 22 September 2011]

Like many young children George is afraid of the monsters that live in his cupboard; in fact he is so afraid that his fear sends out a message that is received by The Doctor. When The Doctor investigates the message he ends up in a block of flats where George lives. The Doctor, Amy and Rory split up in an attempt to find which flat George is in and just as The Doctor finds him Amy and Rory find the lift they are in plummets to the ground; they aren't killed though; instead they find themselves in a strange house that is nothing like the flats. As they try to find a way out they realise there is something not quite right about it; for a start nothing in it is real: the cooking pans are made of wood and the hands are painted on the clock. Meanwhile The Doctor is trying to assure George that there are no monsters in his cupboard; that is until his sonic screwdriver tells him there are! These aren't ordinary monsters though and The Doctor won't be able to defeat them alone; he will need George's help.

After several episodes concerning Amy and her daughter River Song it made a nice change to have a stand-alone episode. It might not have been set in some exotic place in another time but it is the very familiarity of the setting that made it so creepy… after all what child hasn't thought there wasn't something lurking in a cupboard or under the bed? When we finally do meet the monsters they are creepy without being too scary for children. The regular cast did a good job as did Daniel Mays who played George's father and Andrew Tiernan who played the rather unpleasant landlord.

Doctor Who: Night Terrors

[Scarecrow-88 · 3 September 2011]

A child is somehow able to summon The Doctor(Matt Smith) from his bedroom which means he's not what he seems. When his "monsters" are discovered by The Doctor as real, there will be things to do, matters to be sorted out. The child, George (Jamie Oram), needs help for his night terrors and The Doctor will attempt to figure out how to give him the assistance he seeks. But when tenants (and Dr. Who's companions, Amy and Rory (Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) start to disappear into George's "cupboard", The Doctor will have to depend on his genius and ingenuity once again to save them from scary "doll people" running amok throughout the nightmare world, their touch turning victims into walking dolls as well. Where are the trapped characters you might ask? The Doctor calls the cupboard (where George's parents bury away all the things that scare him) a "psychic repository for all his fears" if that helps. Watching Amy and Rory once again trying to find their way out of another nightmarish predicament and the unflappable, exhaustingly energetic Matt Smith as The Doctor grappling with "what George is" while the kid's unemployed father, Alex (Daniel Mays) follows him around in a confused, overwhelmed state, just trying to keep up with this person who is supposed to be some sort of expert with all the answers are reasons why "Night Terrors" remains entertaining. The episode sure comes up with a whopper of a twist regarding George, how he is described by The Doctor to be a tenza, shocking Alex who has a hard time digesting the truth. I imagine Doctor Who fans will probably consider this one of the lesser episodes of the Matt Smith series, but I thought it was still fun as far as entertainment, although the threat involved isn't as menacing as many of his foes from the past. 6/10

Not so much terrors as irritations

[dkiliane · 7/10 · 25 March 2019]

With this episode we endure another Mark Gatiss script (for anyone keeping track of my reviews, I am not a fan of his episodes for Doctor Who). Is the episode genuinely creepy? Yes. Is the acting good? Yes. Is it fun to watch the Doctor do his thing? Always. Is this episode memorable in any way? No. And that is the primary weakness of Mark Gatiss written episodes - - they are forgettable.

The premise of the Doctor making a house visit on a boy afraid of monsters in the closet in all honesty feels a little lazy. And while I recognize this is a real thing that real kids deal with, George's fears become slightly irritating. Once the characters are transferred to the doll house it doesn't get any better and just feels ridiculous.

While there are some decently cathartic moments, and the (obvious) reveal the boy is an alien was done pretty well, there is nothing particularly being said here. I'm sure Gatiss was going for something about true fatherhood but all that gets lost in the muddle of creepy dolls and cardboard cutout side characters (creepy old lady, bully land lord, etc). Don't get me wrong. The episode is perfectly watchable but doesn't achieve anymore than that. 7/10

Tick Tock goes the clock

[warlordartos · 6/10 · 3 April 2021]

It's a mediocre episode but as already mentioned, it is forgettable. While being okay it also doesn't stand out. Not great and not that bad at all and yet the bad episodes will be remembered with the great episode and this one will just be forgotten.

I would have given this a 5/10 due to Amy and Rory dying, as Rory mentioned himself AGAIN. It has become that bad that they even had to joke about it to make it "not so bad" (didn't work for me). However the ending with the line of the song on The Doctors death date was done quite well.

Meh

[wolfordcheyenne · 7/10 · 25 March 2020]

This episode was a bit of a letdown. I didn't like the filming location or the episode premise. Amy and Rory once again didn't have anything to do. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't enjoyable. It was merely okay. I liked it more then I did the Black Spot episode or this season's two parter.

House Calls

[boblipton · 10/10 · 3 September 2011]

The Doctor receives a message on his psychic paper from a small boy who is terrified of everything. What is really frightening him and can the Doctor figure it out before he and Rory, like Amy, are turned into paper-mâché dolls?

Doctor Who has a long history of scary stories. There were entire seasons in the classic series which were little more than tales of Gothic terror, leaving the children who were its primary audience watching it from the only safe place in the universe: from behind the couch with a comforting grandmother sitting between a youngster and the worst thing in the universe. The modern series has continued this tradition under the lead of series runner Stephen Moffat, who has shown a knack for making ordinary things like dust motes and cracks in walls unimaginably horrific threats -- he has a young son himself.

Mark Gatiss, who has written some episodes more notable for good roles than for emotionally telling stories, has written a corker of a story here: why is George so frightened of what's in the cupboard in his bedroom ... and how can he even be here when his mother can't have children? I's a story that starts dark, thanks to the direction of Richard Clark and gets weirder and scarier as it goes along, with a fine role for Daniel Mays as George's at-the-end-of-his-rope father, Alex. It makes its points brilliantly as it exposes what frightens every child. Mark Gatiss has not written merely the best Doctor Who story this season. This is the best one in years. Make sure you don't miss it -- but make sure you have a nice, safe couch and a grandmother to hide behind while you do so.

Welcome to the Doll's House

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 2 February 2019]

I think this episode, written by Mark Gatiss, is very under-rated. I rate it much higher than some of the more epic and popular episodes of Series 6. This episode does not get involved with any convoluted plot devices or have any major flaws.

The premise is that there is an alien which is afraid and takes on a human form for its own reasons. It inadvertently gives power to things which scare it and influences people and things around it.

The plot is a fantasy level story but it works fine on that level as so many equally outlandish ideas in Doctor Who past have. There is sufficient internal logic and the story develops in a satisfying way.

The greatest strength of this episode is that it is effective in creating a very creepy, scary atmosphere which will have children and people of a nervous disposition hiding behind the sofa. Some dislike scares of this kind but I find scariness in Doctor Who great. Gatiss loves horror based ideas and he succeeds in writing a good one here. The episode is very well done with spooky dark rooms, horrible dolls and an unnerving feeling imbued throughout the episode.

The acting is very good from the whole cast. Daniel Mays, who has gone on to great success since this, guest stars as George's father and does a great job. Arthur Darvill as Rory is fantastic in this as usual and Karen Gillan as Amy and Matt Smith as the Doctor are also on great form. The child actor does a good job too.

The setting of the block of flats is good and the effects and filming of the scary dolls house etc is all done perfectly. The dialogue from Gatiss is solid, funny at times and touching at times. The direction from Richard Clark is very strong.

Another thing I like is that when Rory is apparently dying yet again - a massively overused plot device in Moffatt's era - it is made into a really funny joke with him saying "I'm dead!...... Again!"

Overall an excellent episode in my view.

My Rating: 9/10.

Night Terrors

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 8/10 · 9 April 2021]

It was good, yes it was. But I do feel like Rory and Amy could have had a little more use in the episode. The Doctor himself was fine and the explaination for why the little boy named George was a alien I liked but the episode as a whole I feel was missing urgency or something I cannot quite place my finger on.

Terrifyingly Bad (Not in a Good Way)...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 24 December 2021]

Just imagine a young boy's surprise. A strange man in his bedroom arrives. Opens a cupboard. Like Old Mother Hubbard. Sucked in with his dad, miniaturised.

Living dolls with stringy wool hair. A doll's house that they use as their lair. Is this really terror. It must be an error. A filler that's going nowhere.

Simply one of Matt Smith's classics

[hgwsavage · 8/10 · 9 March 2019]

You read it in the title. For me, its the same for most of S6