Listen

As of its air date, this is the best episode in season 8. It starts off with the monologue Capaldi gave in the teasers of whether or not anyone's ever truly alone or if we all have a hidden constant companion that's with us wherever we go before taking the TARDIS to various character's pasts. The episode is executed very well; the pacing is excellent and the writing is top notch. My only complaint about this was that it spent too much time focusing on Clara's relationship with Pink, a fellow teacher at her school. It's not one of those pointless relationships that are shoehorned for the sake of having romance- it actually plays a fairly important role in the plot, but it was pretty frustrating to segway from The Doctor's quest to find the apex hider for some romantic banter that quite honestly, no one really cares about.

It's a Moffat episode with his usual emotion and excellent dialogue, but without any of the gaping plot holes or extravagance that have become synonymous with his name (although the constant lens flare near the end was pretty annoying).

I feel I need to start this off by stating that I am a big fan of Moffat's era of Doctor Who. I am aware that he doesn't always get it right, but then again, neither did Russell T. Davies during his stint as show runner (farting green aliens, anyone?). When Moffat gets it wrong, it does begin to fall apart. Maybe the pressure of entire story arcs is too much, or maybe his ideas are too big for the show. Either way, let's examine his episodes before he became show runner. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink and Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead are all considered some of the best episodes since the show's revival in 2005. So now, for the first time since the third season, Moffat has written a standalone episode, not relating to a plot arc, that doesn't act as a season opener of conclusion of any sorts. And, just as you'd expect, it is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Moffat is an expert at crafting fear in a script, and Listen was no exception. The idea of playing on a nightmare "that everyone has" could have been risky, but Moffat plays it out with perfection. Much like most horror, fear comes from the unknown. In this case, it is the idea of something, or someone, hiding under your bed whilst you sleep. Listen doesn't really follow a basic plot structure, there is no defined beginning, middle or end. But it's all the better for it. Stripping the episode of a basic structure allows it to feel more natural, which, in turn, makes the horror increasingly effective. Almost the entire first half of Listen is played solely to evoke fear in the audience, and it does its job perfectly.

Capaldi is, yet again, even stronger here than we've seen him before; there's a strong possibility he will be everyone's favourite Doctor by the time Series 8 comes to an end. Coleman is incredible here, too. I went into Series 8 loathing Clara, and now she's becoming one of my favourite companions. Her character has developed so nicely so far, I hope this gets continued. But where Listen truly excels is in the direction it takes in the final fifteen minutes. The level of emotion and weight to the story spontaneously deepens, and whilst all suddenly becomes very clear, it simultaneously wraps up perfectly, with a conclusion so powerful it could rival 2006's Doomsday. There isn't really anything sad here, but the dialogue for the entire barn scene, matched with some clever tie-ins with previous episodes, makes a beautiful ending to a beautiful episode. Listen was perfect in every respect; the direction, the writing, the acting, the tone. This is exactly the kind of tone that Moffat should focus on more. As stated at the beginning of this review, I am a huge fan of Moffat's work on this show, and this was no exception. Listen is highly likely to be the best episode of the series, and will potentially go down as one of Doctor Who's very, very best.

"Listen" is the rare exception where an episode can positively live up to all the hype and anticipation surrounding it. This is a beautifully written, chilling, thought-provoking episode that will most definitely go down as one of Capaldi's best.

After a few episodes of fluctuating personality traits, Peter Capaldi's Doctor finally starts to come into his own in this episode. From being cold and angry one minute to encouraging and friendly the next, Capaldi continues to be one of the most enjoyably unpredictable Doctors yet.

This episode not only helped me love Capaldi's Doctor that much more but it also increased my love for Clara Oswald. She is hands down one of my favorite companions of the show and this episodes exemplifies that ten- fold. Series 8 is definitely shaping up to be Clara's definitive season as her development in these past few episodes alone has been phenomenal. As is expected, her chemistry with the Twelfth Doctor continues to be a highlight.

Samuel Anderson also did a good job as Danny Pink. The character is really starting to grow on me and I can't wait to see how his relationship with Clara develops throughout the rest of the season. The rest of the episode's cast does a good job as well.

I don't want to give away too much but I will say that the monster of this episode is incredibly thought-provoking and chilling. And, lastly, the ending of this episode was easily one of the most beautiful endings in the history of the show.

Overall, "Listen" was an amazing episode with fantastic performances, great atmosphere, awesome twists, and a beautiful, thought-provoking resolution.

Everything about this episode was great except one huge thing. WHAT WAS ON DANNY PINKS BED?! It's never answered and it annoys me. But looking past that it's a good episode

I think it's safe to say that Listen is just typical Steven Moffat writing, a collaboration of clever ideas that play on your everyday experiences and emotional narratives involving interesting characters and situations. Listen works really well at face value, and it's only when you look a little deeper that you can see a few problems.

But let's focus on the good stuff: Listen has some really top-notch direction which is atmospheric and spooky at the same time, the scenes in the children's home are really nicely done, such as the scene with Clara under the bed, and the Doctor taking and caretaker's coffee.

Moffat's writing is truly brilliant, there are some lines that really pop and this writing works so well with the 12th Doctor. Peter Capaldi does a brilliant job with this script, bringing emotion and a great sense of energy to the role. Jenna Coleman does a great job too, with that wonderful sense of emotion in her eyes that she delivers in every scene. Samuel Anderson is great too, showing the sense of humour, wonder, and worry brilliantly throughout his performance.

I also love the premise that Steven Moffat develops throughout this story. The Doctor's on the hunt for a creature that is impossible to detect, and believes that the only possible way it can be sensed, is in those few moments when we talk to ourselves. I love this. This is a clever idea which is really well realised, and it makes for some very clever moments. The resolution is real nice too: there was never anything there, the Doctor was just afraid of the dark! This however leads me to some problems I have with this episode...

While Listen is very clever, it's also completely unoriginal. There is nothing in this episode that hasn't already been done several times in the revived series of the show. The Doctor and Clara head to the end of the universe, just like in Utopia, the creature under the bed, just like in The Girl in the Fireplace, what about the "Don't Look Round" line from The Impossible Planet, and the Doctor influencing someone's childhood just like Amy and indeed, Clara.

Also, the Doctor going back to influence Danny's timeline makes him feel less interesting than he could've been had he just been a soldier with an bad past. The fact that he's been reduced to the same level as so many other companions from the past, removes the chances of proper character development later on.

Steven Moffat has tried this story-telling technique several times in the past, and while it does usually work, and it makes for some nice moments here, I can't help but feel that it's getting old now. Moffat used to be really good at giving us a story full of interesting deep characters plenty of emotional weight that helps us connect to them. Now though, they seem to be instruments specifically designed to make an otherwise simple narrative artificially complex and awkward to follow.

Also, the revelation that the creature was completely in the Doctor's head is a good idea, and had it not been for the children's home scene, it would've worked, but the scene in the children's home with something sitting on Danny's bed shows us something completely non-human. Look at this creature under the blanket, it is not human, listen to the sounds it's making, the movements it's making, it is not human, and when it takes the blanket off even from the blurred image, you can tell it is not human.

As I say, I like Listen, but it has problems. Despite a lack of originality and the artificially complex narrative, Listen is visually entertaining and very well written. This is one of the most intelligent episodes of the series, with a few story problems sadly dragging it down.

Listen is good, but it could've been better.