Doctor Who: Night Terrors – series 32, episode 9

"We're either inside the doll's house or this is a refuge for dirty posh people who eat wooden food."

Before we start, can I call shotgun on the obvious line that all little George needed to do was watch last week, and he could have quite easily found out who was in the cupboard. Hitler! Groan, etc.
But this was quite good wasn't it? Taking River out the equation (boo!) allowed the Tardis crew to jet off on an old-fashioned, small-scale adventure set on modern-day Earth. Admittedly, this was a bizarre parallel version of modern-day Earth where they still repeat Bergerac in the year 2011 and you can get a two-bedroom flat in London for £350pcm – but it was modern-day Earth all the same.
The Doctor makes a house call, and the big line out of the pre-publicity, that the scariest place in the entire universe is a child's bedroom, gets thrown away nice and quickly. But Night Terrors is an example of what Doctor Who can do without big story arcs. (Telling really, since this was swapped over in the run with The Curse of the Black Spot – probably because they were the only episodes this year where that would have been possible).
This episode was written by Mark Gatiss, a brilliant writer who is somehow always the bridesmaid when it comes to Doctor Who. Few people are so ingrained in the show and its mythology. He wrote The Unquiet Dead way back at the reboot, but since has been saddled with The Idiot's Lantern, and then last year with the introduction of the iDaleks. Time for an ill-advised writer theory? If he really is being groomed as a future showrunner then that would make sense. Steven Moffat is now writing the Russell T Davies-style barnstormers, and this week Gatiss has written a Moffat episode.
If I was being cruel, I might say that Gatiss has basically written The Empty Child, but I won't (although the day does get saved by a parent finally accepting their kid). The whole conceit of a child's bedroom being the scariest place in the universe is pure Moff, the magic button resolution is plainly not. But here was a classy, creepy episode of retro Doctor Who. And the sight of supposed hard nut Daniel Mays fighting off evil dollies with a giant pair of scissors is, frankly, amazing.

"Lights are great aren't they? If this place was all lit up we wouldn't be worried at all."

Once again, to quote the Doctor, "always with the Rory". But then Arthur Darvill has been very nearly stealing this whole series out of Alex Kingston's bosom. The Ponds' subplot might have existed entirely to support Rory's moment of self-awareness as a Kenny from South Park. That was until the terrifying moment when Amy gets turned into a dolly. With all this going on, you can just about overlook the fact they've both completely forgotten about their kidnapped daughter.

Fear Factor

This is where Night Terrors came completely into its own, with the twin minds of Gatiss and Moffat working overdrive to freak everyone out. An episode set inside a doll's house filled with murderous toys is a win. Did it remind anyone else of The Mind Robber?

Mysteries and Questions

Enemies of River (again, boo!) will be glad to see another adventure-of-the-week after all the timey-wimey shenanigans. But I can't help but wonder now: Another improbably pregnancy? Another miniaturisation ray? Another imaginable evil locked in a cupboard? Is all this getting significant, or am I just reading too much into this?

Time-Space Debris

• The Perception Filter rides again – almost as much of a Nu-Who gadget as the psychic paper. We've seen it disguising fish aliens as in The Vampires of Venice, hiding the Tardis in The Lodger, protecting the Doctor, Martha and Jack in The Sound of Drums and explaining away the invisible lift in old-school Torchwood.
• Tea and jammie dodgers – Gatiss brings back the fonder memories from Victory of the Daleks.
• Take control > Let them in > get dollified. Poor judgment from the otherwise resourceful Mrs Pond.
• "Might pop back around puberty mind you, always a funny time." The Doctor is less out-of-tune with human behaviour than he likes to admit.
• Lovely continuity riffs with The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes and Snow White and The Seven Keys to Doomsday.
• Is it grouchy to wonder why Alex didn't get turned into an evil dolly too as he fought them off to hug George?