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Midnight Format Reviewed: TV Review Midnight represents the start of the run in to the season finale. To a certain degree, the series of Doctor Who have become slightly formulaic in a way I never expected them to be. Each series has two or three establishing stories where the characters are explored more than providing a story as such. We'll then have a couple of two part stories that are relatively stand alone, interspersed with some single episode stories that either advance the linking theme of the series, or provide a stand alone adventure. This series is no different, and we appear now to be in the lul before the big finale. The Doctor leaves Donna in a health spa to take a trip to some nearby diamond fields. Onboard the shuttle, the folk settle down much as you would on a plane, until the shuttle halts inexplicably. The atmosphere becomes tense, and a banging starts to come from outside the craft. Something is outside banging on the hull, trying to get in. There is then an explosion, and the cab of the shuttle is blown completely off. Eventually, the banging stops but one passenger, Sky Silvestry starts to repeat everything the others are saying. This turns into her being able to speak the words as others are saying them, and eventually she exclusively joins with The Doctor. The other passengers want to throw Sky out of the craft, but don't. Sky then gets ahead of The Doctor, who appears to have become locked into repeating Sky's words now. The passengers, influenced by teh possessed Sky now want to throw out The Doctor, but the link is eventually broken and the hostess sacrifices herself removing Sky from the cabin. The rescue party then arrives, and all are returned to safety. In a long shooting schedule, it is inevitable that there will be periods when the lead actors need a break. We then get episodes which are lite on one of the main characters, in this case Donna. Catherine Tate was liekly to have been on holiday when they were shooting this, so only appears briefly. Like the library two parter that preceeds it, Midnight works on a more adult, psychological level and for that I once again applaud. This episode once again features a brief cameo by Billie Piper, and the obvious news of her impending return somewhat overshadows this story. This is a shame because as a single episode story it is a very good example of how far you can take the audience and then bring them back. The cast is relatively small here, but important. Tate does virtually nothing, but Tennant showed some good versatility in his acting with the repitition scenes. The passengers, Ayesha Antione as Dee Dee Blasco, Lindsey Coulson, Daniel Ruan and Colin Morgan as Val, Biff and Jethro Cane respectivey and David Troughton (yes, it is Patrick Troughton's son) as Professor Hobbes all do relatively limited but good jobs. The drivers, Tony Bluto and Duane Henry are fine, and the Hostess, Rakie Ayola is in a similar vane to the passengers in that she has a limited role but does well. Lesley Sharp is very good as Sky Silvestry, and deserves all the credit though in this episode. The impressive aspect of this story is how they edited the story together to be so tight on the repition and talking together scenes. This was discussed at length in the companion Doctor Who Confidential episode, and the difficulties were overcome magnificently. When going back through this episode for this review, I found that there was little to actually write about in terms of story though. Everything happens in atmosphere and tension, and the action can be described very simply. It is to the great credit then of everyone involved that this doesn't create luls in the episode, or periods of padding. Overall, as is often the case, the episodes that are light of one of the main characters proves to be rather better than expected. The suspense and atmosphere created by all concerned build to a crescendo when the hostess makes her ultimate sacrifice and everyone is saved. It really is a good roller coaster ride from beginning to end that will lift you up and carefully deposit you back down again, ready for the lottery numbers afterwards! Rating:  |