Sunday, November 16, 2014

Doctor Who: Season 8, Episode 10


Doctor Who
Episode: “In the Forest of the Night”
Channel: BBC
Director: Sheree Folkson
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Runtime: 45 min
Rated: TV-PG
Original Air Date: October 25, 2014

All right, with various holiday parties and what not out of the way, time to get back into Doctor Who.

This was not a good episode. There were too many child actors to maintain a high quality episode. One or two kids with questionable acting abilities can be overcome by experienced actors and decent direction, but when you pile eight of them up in one place the results are too often predictably weak. This was only one of a few problems with “In the Forest of the Night” however. The ludicrous set up, bad writing, ham-fisted emotional notes, terrible conclusion, and useless appearance of Missy made this one of my least favorite episodes of Doctor Who.

The trees grew overnight? Okay, but somehow it was a surprise to everyone. With 24 hour news and the internet this was somehow a surprise to everyone. I know it seems like a small quibble, but it's just the beginning of more frustration concerning everything else going forward. The entire episode is laced with an environmentalist message, but it's so heavy handed that it quickly grated on me. Combine that with the idea that a planet covered by trees would somehow be immune to a solar flare and the whole thing was exceptionally groan worthy. The five seconds of Missy being surprised by the outcome didn't cause any more interest in her part in this season, and should have been left out entirely.

The one bright spot was the direction of the camera work. Folkson's camera usage felt new and fresh for Doctor Who. Most striking was a very fun tracking shot of the Doctor speaking with Maebh, while walking around a catwalk in the TARDIS. She might have overused the POV shots a little bit, but overall it felt like she was doing something we haven't seen from the show before. It won't work for every episode, but at least she was willing to try something new.

Conclusion: There's just not a lot to say. “In the Forest of the Night” is one of my least favorite episodes, not of the season but of the series as a whole. This close to the end of the season it doesn't seem to build any momentum for the finale, and at this point that's what this season desparately needed, momentum.

Rating: 5/10

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