"Face the Raven"

More than any story than I can think of, "Face the Raven" could exist as a magical fantasy story with only minimal changes to the script. The notions of what secret worlds may lie unseen in a major city is a background to many a genre story and here, the trap street in London forms an irresistible hook for the plot and the hidden community with its rules form a fascinating addition to the corpus of this type of tale. The search for the Street is a puzzle that our heroes have to solve and the rules for the Street are established early on and the Quantum Shade's role as peacekeeper have a real mythic resonance with its form as the titular raven. The way in which events become a puzzle, become a cause, become a trap for the Doctor are expertly woven by writer Sarah Dollard. The realisation of the street owes more than a little to Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter Films and a very confident production is helmed by Justin Molotnikov who makes the aerial survey of London spectacular and the Street sinister and magical.

Supporting the regulars, we have two returnees.¤ Joivan Wade's again gives us his memorable Rigsy. He has clearly matured from the lovable ragamuffin we were introduced to in "Flatline", with a partner and a child, whom even the Doctor finds irresistible. Also returning is Maisie Williams as Me, Mayor Me of the street. Apart from these, the only supporting character of note is Letitia Wright's Janus. However, this story is very much a character story with one in particular taking centre stage – Clara Oswald. The plot tells of a sentence for Rigsy, which is, in reality a trap for the Doctor. The way in which Clara puts herself in harm's way to save the life of a young father is totally believable, as is the way in which she underestimates the nuances of the rules concerning how the Shade takes its prey. Clara is not reckless in taking on Rigsy's sentence, and her naivety in not realising that she has attempted to trick the Shade is understandable. In constructing the events in this way, Sarah Dollard gives Clara's sacrifice a real sense of beauty and dignity and the way in which Jenna Coleman plays it is utterly heartbreaking. Peter Capaldi's portrayal of the Doctor's despair and fury at the death of his best friend is shocking. We have seen him pretend to beg Davros for Clara's life, knowing that she was safe. Now we see what happens when it is real. Not since the Time Lord Victorious have we seen the Doctor more aware of his power and less concerned about how he uses it. Maisie Williams does good work in showing Me's increasing disquiet at the Doctor's anger, but this is Capaldi's show and the line 'the universe is a very small place when I am angry with you' makes the audience feel genuinely afraid about what the Doctor would do if he were to break the promise of his chosen name.

Beautiful, touching and chilling, this story is first-rate Doctor Who, even without the thrill of anticipation over what is to come...

NEXT: "Heaven Sent"

"Sleep No More"

The ‘found-footage’ premise has become a very popular approach since The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, where it has been used to add a degree of verisimilitude to various genres and it is now the turn of our favourite hero to have his tale told in this manner. Immediately, this story looks different, because, for the first time ever, the Doctor Who opening sequence is completely absent from a story. Gone, too, is Murray Gold’s incidental music. We are left alone with the sets, the lights, the cameras and the actors…

It is fitting that, as with other unusual stories, this episode is helmed by a newcomer to the series, in the shape of Justin Molotnikov. The camerawork is either static or hand-held and we are initially led to believe that the sources for the images are helmet cams and security cams. Molotnikov effectively builds up tension and real scares when the Sandmen attack as well as brief, but awe-inspiring views of Neptune from orbit and, of course, the end, which is genuinely unsettling. The set design is as good as ever and, with no non-diegetic music, the sound plays a more important role than usual.

There is effective world-building – the Indo-Japanese fusion, the genetically engineered Grunts and, most notably, the concept of Morpheus, the system that compresses sleep into five minutes. Characterisation is, perhaps inevitably, sketchy, but this is helped by some good guest performances, notably Elaine Tan as Nagata (Indo-Japanese-Geordie, going by her accent!) and Bethany Black as Grunt 474 – designed to be less than human, yet involuntarily striving to be more so. Best of all is Reece Shearsmith as Rasmussen, the final member of the League of Gentlemen to appear in the programme. The regulars are more reactive than is usual, but this is no Eric Saward script and the Doctor soon takes charge. However, there is more going on in Mark Gatiss’s script than meets the eye. There are no cameras either in the helmets of the troops or the station itself. Moreover, events occur seemingly only for effect. In an inspired twist, it turns out that the episode itself is the means for the infection to spread, in the most metafictional the programme has been. It is therefore not, found footage after all – it is an edited mixture of a sinister reality version of Peep Show and the video from The Ring. It is a real pity, therefore that the script shows all the marks of a first draft. Personally I don’t find the idea of sleep dust forming the base of a malevolent new entity particularly ridiculous, especially when the realisation in as effective as it is here, but the way in which the plot develops, though understandable, is oddly paced and resolutions are few. Perhaps this is intentional – even the Doctor says that events make no sense – however, there is a slight sense of dissatisfaction left at the end, which is only partly assuaged by the promise of a sequel.

Nevertheless, this is a gripping tale that definitely works. I hope that the sequel (which I hope is called "Rheum With a View") builds on the foundation laid down.

NEXT: "Face the Raven"