"The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People"

"Fear Her", Matthew Graham’s previous Doctor Who story is a story that is seen by a significant number of fans as the worst episode broadcast since the programme’s revival. While I do not rate that story quite so harshly, I must admit that I was a bit worried about what his next offering would be like. Thankfully, while there are some problems with the story, "The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People" is far superior to its predecessor. The concept of The Flesh is a very strong one and it is used well to explore concepts of identity and, yes (spit) ‘what it means to be human’, without the boneheaded clichés that that sort of aim usually resorts to. At first the story seems to be a throwback to the base-under-siege stories that were so ubiquitous in the Troughton era, even down to the character types; in particular Miranda Cleaves, the authority figure who obstructs the Doctor. The motivations of the ‘gangers’ in particular, could also have been explored further. There are attempts to correct this, however, such as Cleaves’s ganger being used to comment on the motivations of the character, which is some compensation.

The cast, however, manage to make their characters seem far more lively than they are on paper. Marshall Lancaster is as endearing as he was in Life on Mars and Sarah Smart is both endearing and chilling as Jennifer. Jimmy is a character composed of pure cliché, but Mark Bonnar puts in a very soulful performance. Raquel Cassidy is a very subtle actress, but here she clearly has a ball, chewing the scenery without seeming ridiculous. Amy is very good in this, but she is overshadowed by her two leading men. Rory’s fight for human decency is valiantly portrayed by Arthur Darvill and Matt Smith astonishingly ascends to yet another new level- the scenes of the Doctor with his ganger are fun and give Matt plenty to work with, which he does with aplomb.

Overseeing all of this is Julian Simpson and, despite a few editing hiccups, he puts in great work. He is more than equal to conjuring the kind of imagery the story needs and he produces some of the most frightening images that the programme has had to date- the wall of eyes, the sudden cut to the half-formed gangers. There a strong influence from The Thing, with all of the shape-shifting doubles running around and the transformation of ganger-Jennifer into a terrifying monster succeeds in giving Thing-style shocks for a family audience- no small task, especially when one compares it to similar scenes in "The Lazarus Experiment", which are nothing like as scary.

"The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People" overcomes its problems to become a very enjoyable Doctor Who adventure. The Doctor saves the day, of course, but he had an ulterior motive all along. Amy, is not Amy and, as her ganger dissolves, she wakes up in a tiny white cubicle, with a very familiar eye-patched woman looking through a hatch at her. To her horror, she realises that she is about to give birth...

NEXT: "A Good Man Goes to War"

"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"