"Midnight" is one of my favourite episodes of NuWho, and I was very surprised that it became a favourite of mine.
First of all, it was just after the memorable Moffat two-parter, and not a lot of information had been released about "Midnight". It was also just two episodes before the much anticipated finale so other people also didn't have high expectations. However, "Midnight" turned out to be a masterfully written psychological thriller that will be remembered for a long time.
The small budget and filming (mostly) in just one location really worked and added a real claustrophobic feeling to the episode. This also added extra suspense and made everything more tense. Tennant gives one of his best performances because The Doctor is genuinely frightened, especially when he is under the "monster's" control. However the best performance came from Lesley Sharp who played Sky Silvestry who was also under the control of the "monster". Her performance filled me unease and terror which is something that rarely happens to me. The other characters are also interesting and all serve a purpose.
This is Doctor Who at it's best. "Midnight" takes itself seriously and the plot moves forward at a quick pace, which builds to an exciting climax. The fact that the true identity of the "moster" is not revealed makes the whole thing more terrifying - because the scariest fear is the fear of the unknown.
Donna is hardly featured, but this works well as it gives a lot of screen-time to The Doctor and we see how he would act on his own.
It just goes to show that Davies can write clever stories which have actual plot development as well character development. He has often struggled with this in past episodes, but here he has succeeded enormously. Perhaps Doctor Who should always work on a small budget because that's when the stories are the most simple, and the most effective.
First of all, it was just after the memorable Moffat two-parter, and not a lot of information had been released about "Midnight". It was also just two episodes before the much anticipated finale so other people also didn't have high expectations. However, "Midnight" turned out to be a masterfully written psychological thriller that will be remembered for a long time.
The small budget and filming (mostly) in just one location really worked and added a real claustrophobic feeling to the episode. This also added extra suspense and made everything more tense. Tennant gives one of his best performances because The Doctor is genuinely frightened, especially when he is under the "monster's" control. However the best performance came from Lesley Sharp who played Sky Silvestry who was also under the control of the "monster". Her performance filled me unease and terror which is something that rarely happens to me. The other characters are also interesting and all serve a purpose.
This is Doctor Who at it's best. "Midnight" takes itself seriously and the plot moves forward at a quick pace, which builds to an exciting climax. The fact that the true identity of the "moster" is not revealed makes the whole thing more terrifying - because the scariest fear is the fear of the unknown.
Donna is hardly featured, but this works well as it gives a lot of screen-time to The Doctor and we see how he would act on his own.
It just goes to show that Davies can write clever stories which have actual plot development as well character development. He has often struggled with this in past episodes, but here he has succeeded enormously. Perhaps Doctor Who should always work on a small budget because that's when the stories are the most simple, and the most effective.