Scripted by Mark Gatiss - the brilliant mind behind other Who stories such as The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern, and Victory of the Daleks - Night Terrors sees the Doctor return to contemporary Earth, investigating the scariest place in the Universe... The bedroom of an eight year old boy; George. Filled with humour, tension and a constant sense of uneasiness, Gatiss's adventure is certainly best described as bizarre and creepy!
After receiving a mysterious psychic distress signal, the Doctor and co travel to present-day Earth in search of whoever – or whatever – sent the message. The sender turns out to be George, a haunted child who's terrified of almost everything, including a rather sinister cupboard (which does not contain Hitler). Everything George is ever afraid of goes in the cupboard, and is subsequently the place where most of the terrors manifest themselves.
With Amy and Rory suddenly separated from the Doctor and trapped in a dark and foreboding house, they are left to fend for themselves as they're hunted by the creepiest dolls since Pipkins was on the air (and that ended about a decade before I was born; such is the potency of Pipkins' terror!). Meanwhile, the Doctor and George's dad, Alex (Danny Mays), endeavour to find out what it is that makes this little boy's cupboard so terrifying, and bring an end to the nightmares...
Night Terrors keeps you in suspense throughout, preparing you to jump at any second, but it just keeps you waiting in anticipation... With a continuous sense of uneasiness lurking in the back of the mind, every moment felt as if there was something hanging in the air waiting to pounce, exuding an atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat. My favourite kind of fear!
Of course, bringing this fear to life was George, played by Jamie Oram. Given his incredibly young age, Oram produced a fantastic performance and – judging by footage from behind the scenes – is full of energy and enthusiasm, completely in his element on set. A natural actor and certainly one to watch out for in the future.
After the recent story-arc based episodes, it was a pleasant change to have something that felt like more of a stand-alone adventure. With the exception of the very last minute, which foreshadows the Doctor's imminent death with a rather haunting nursery rhyme, Night Terrors is very much a one-off episode without any ties to the current arc. However, it did seem a little odd that Amy and Rory were more interested in exploring time, space and a weird doll-house than what has happened/is happening/will happen to their daughter. This isn't actually a fault with the episode, but more with the schedule, as Night Terrors had originally been billed to air in the first half of the series – prior to the revelations of River Song. Episodically, this probably would have been better off in it's original slot, but that's just a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent episode.
Overall, Mark Gatiss provides a marvellous stand-alone narrative with a genuine sense of the surreal and sinister. Ranging from the haunting exploration of George's fears to the touching finale (which may or may not have made me well-up...), Night Terrors was a return to the traditional staple of Doctor Who – an enjoyable 45-minute adventure, where even the most mundane and domestic of objects can be scary. If I were still eight (and to an extent, I still am!), I would have certainly been having a sleepless night after that!
If you missed Night Terrors, it's available on iPlayer here.
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