Dr. Who Season 4 Episode 10: "Midnight" SPOILERS

[Cthulhudrew]

I get your points about the twist on the Doctor being powerless, and I empathize to some extent (it is a different take on things), but in the absence of another protagonist in the series (in this case, Donna Noble) to serve as a counter to the antagonist of the episode, it just seems to me to be rather poor writing to have your protagonist be completely powerless against adversity.

It reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend a few years back on why Raiders is the far superior movie to Temple and Crusade; in Raiders, Indy gets beat up a lot, but he always manages to overcome the odds through sheer knowledge, willpower, and toughness. In Temple and Crusade, far too often it is just uncanny bouts of luck that save the day for him, or other people. He is no longer the gritty protagonist of the story, but destiny's fool.

Or, in the case of the Doctor, to quote someone on another board I frequent:

He was trapped in a box where the cleverest thing he could do is turn on lights that the back-up generator would have brought up in a few minutes anyway.

That sucks for someone who a week earlier could mention his title and a race of flesh-eating aliens would back down.

Just kind of a disappointment to me in an otherwise great episode.

 

[Grog]

I get your points about the twist on the Doctor being powerless, and I empathize to some extent (it is a different take on things), but in the absence of another protagonist in the series (in this case, Donna Noble) to serve as a counter to the antagonist of the episode, it just seems to me to be rather poor writing to have your protagonist be completely powerless against adversity.

This episode wouldn't have worked if Donna had been there. With another voice speaking up in support of the Doctor, things wouldn't have unfolded the way they did. And at the end, when the passengers were trying to drag the Doctor to the door, she would have been fighting them off, hitting them with a fire extinguisher, etc.

But the fact that she wasn't there made the Doctor completely helpless at the end, and he was at the mercy, not of some galactic supervillain ready to gloat about his plans, but of a panicked mob determined to kill him. That's the stuff true terror is made of.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This episode was indeed really good and creepy. It is not often that the Doctor is powerless. It worked nicely in this episode...

 

[horacethegrey]

I get your points about the twist on the Doctor being powerless, and I empathize to some extent (it is a different take on things), but in the absence of another protagonist in the series (in this case, Donna Noble) to serve as a counter to the antagonist of the episode, it just seems to me to be rather poor writing to have your protagonist be completely powerless against adversity.

Well, I must respectfully disagree with you, as I thought the Doctor's lack of control of the situation was what made this story so great. It's one of rare times where his veritable bag of tricks was wasted and to some extent aggravated the situation rather alleviating it.

I've been very critical of the Tenth Doctor this season for his arrogance and high and mighty moral code, but by and large he's not really paid for it this season. The events of this story however, have him paying for it in full, and when he reunites with Donna at the end of the episode, he's not gleeful nor brimming with pride, but mournful and humbled. The unknown thing that had possessed and threatened him wasn't defeated by his hands, but by someone else's. It's pure luck that he lived through that, and that disturbs him.

 

[Wormwood]

The most frightening episode since Blink.

 

[Mallus]

Well, I must respectfully disagree with you, as I thought the Doctor's lack of control of the situation was what made this story so great.

Exactly. It was Doctor Who in non-heroic mode. The shows been on for a long time. They can afford to do a few episodes where the Doctor isn't a strong protagonist.

Note that the Doctor's still being characterized here in a important way.

 

[Felon]

I get your points about the twist on the Doctor being powerless, and I empathize to some extent (it is a different take on things), but in the absence of another protagonist in the series (in this case, Donna Noble) to serve as a counter to the antagonist of the episode, it just seems to me to be rather poor writing to have your protagonist be completely powerless against adversity.

Well, one way to look at it is that it was the Doctor who helped the hostess to realize something was wrong. At first she just wanted to toss the alien and host out and be done with it--she was the instigator, more or less. It was the Doctor's proddings that made her take note of the alien's tells, and perhaps even helped her choose self-sacrifice over survival at all costs.

It reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend a few years back on why Raiders is the far superior movie to Temple and Crusade; in Raiders, Indy gets beat up a lot, but he always manages to overcome the odds through sheer knowledge, willpower, and toughness. In Temple and Crusade, far too often it is just uncanny bouts of luck that save the day for him, or other people. He is no longer the gritty protagonist of the story, but destiny's fool.

???

In Raiders, Belloq beats Indy by calling his bluff on blowing up the ark, and then Indy sits out the climax tied to a pole while the ark melts the nazis' face off. If he'd just let them have it in the first place, the matter would have taken care of itself. Apparently, nazis are dumb enough not to realize that they're evil.

Of course, had the Doctor just let the alien be tossed out to begin with, all would have ended well there too.

Sometimes a good guy is the last thing we need.

 

[PhoenixDarkDirk]

I thought the Doctor's line "What kind of shadow?" hinted at some lingering nervousness about his recent ordeal in the Library.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

I think a point that's missed with that episode is also that the "thing" was affecting the other people mentally, it was increasing hostility/hate..feeding off it perhaps.

 

[Richards]

I also liked the fact that the Doctor's line "Because I'm clever!" was a parroting of that young jerk that was selling the human race out to the Sontarans a few episodes ago.

Johnathan