"Fear Her"

"Fear Her" boasts an original alien race in the Isolus and an intriguing premise- people can be turned into drawings- that recalls such things as Catherine Storr's book Marianne Dreams (filmed as Paperhouse and Escape Into Night) and M.R. James’s short story "The Mezzotint". Set in London at the start of the 2012 Olympics, the story involves the disappearance of children and a sinister child who may be responsible. The writer, Matthew Graham, was the co-creator of the beloved Life on Mars. It has all the ingredients for a great story, yet it doesn’t quite come off- in fact it is probably the most hated Doctor Who story to have been broadcast since 2005. While I do not believe that it deserves the bile directed at it, there are some large-ish problems with the story. Graham’s script, as said, plays with some interesting ideas, but doesn’t spin them into a wholly cohesive story. The two key issues- Chloe Webber’s possession by the Isolus child and Chloe creating a nightmare vision of her dead father are not fully integrated with each other, meaning that what could have been a deft exploration of the loneliness of children and the breakdown of the nuclear family seems to be rushed. This is a pity, as the concepts show a degree of depth. Graham realises something about children that can be terrifying- they exhibit less empathy than adults and behaviour considered normal for a child would be seen as psychopathic in an adult. This is brought into light in the characterisation of the Isolus, but Graham fails to make Chloe/Isolus truly frightening, which is unfortunate, considering the name of the story. a child with great power is something to be feared. There is also the much maligned climax, where the Doctor lights the Olympic Torch. It is important to remember that this does make sense within the context of the story, but it does have to work very hard to not be cheesy- whether it fails is up to the viewer.

Euros Lyn makes this a very polished production, as we have come to expect, with all the scenes shot in a very competent manner. However, there is the problem that this should be a very scary story and it fails. The teaser is perfect, with the boy disappearing and becoming a drawing- which then runs screaming towards us. However, this sense of horror never returns after that, which is a mistake- even the monstrous drawing of her father does not come off well. This is not to say that there are no memorable scenes- Rose being attacked by a scribble, ‘fingers on lips!’ and the hilarious materialisation of the TARDIS, but Lyn is certainly capable of better. There are some nice performances from Abdul Salis, Edna Dore and the lovely Nina Sosanya. Abisola Agbaje is sound enough as Chloe, but she isn’t as scary as she could be although, as said earlier, the script doesn’t help. Tennant and Piper have a last chance to play Rose and the Doctor as happy-go-lucky and succeed admirably.

Despite what many others have said, this is not a bad story, but it could have been so much better. Things that shouldn’t move, but do, are terrifying. It’s a good thing that someone else would realise that a year later…

NEXT: "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"