Doctor Who (TV Series) Knock Knock (2017) User Reviews

Creaky floorboards and first rate performances make for a top notch Doctor Who

[ryanjmorris · 6/10 · 7 May 2017]

Doctor Who and horror is always something I can get on board with. I've always been a big fan of the show's scarier episodes - give me "Blink" or "The Empty Child" over "Vincent and the Doctor" any day. More often than not, Doctor Who enjoys toying with the horror genre a little bit. "Listen" takes a moody supernatural tale and questions the existence of the supernatural in the first place, "Hide" turned a haunt house horror into a love story.

"Knock Knock", the first Doctor Who episode penned by Mike Bartlett, doesn't concern itself with such a task. Bill and her student friends can't find anywhere to live until they stumble on a man renting out his big creepy house for a bargain price. Obviously, they leap at the opportunity. But when the floorboards are creaking more than they should be and one of their friends doesn't come out of their room for over a day, the Doctor decides to have a little look deeper inside the house.

Bartlett's script is immediately very clever in how it forms a new kind of Doctor Who story. It gives us a sense of how the rest of the season will unfold in terms of Bill's relationship with the Doctor - her home life is already being suitably fleshed out. Taking a big point in Bill's life and turning it into a Doctor Who story should feel counterproductive, but the episode finds ways to turn this on its head. Once again, Bill is at the front and centre of the episode and Bartlett makes terrific use of the character.

After some creepy goings-on early in the episode - which are handled excellently, by the way, the initial knock knock scene in the corridor was terrifyingly executed - Bill and the Doctor are separated, which gives us the opportunity to see how Bill functions in strange circumstances away from her Timelord friend. Bartlett wisely ensures that Bill is the most intelligent of her friends, slowly piecing the puzzle together herself while the Doctor does the same on the other side of the house.

Pearl Mackie and Peter Capaldi are on reliable form, but the standout performance of "Knock Knock" comes from David Suchet. As the Landlord, Suchet is unnerving and commanding, underplaying his performance in favour of small subtleties and quiet uneasiness. There's a sense of weariness and exhaustion to him, but also something that's impossible to really locate buried even further inside. It's a beautifully textured performance, and one that hides secrets in plain sight.

As has frequently been the case in this season, things start to get a bit wonkier when the story reaches its climax. The ultimate reveal of Suchet's character actually being the son of the wooden woman rather than her mother is unexpected, and Suchet plays this transformation masterfully, but the idea isn't given enough time to flourish. There's some quick narrative reversal and some darting through corridors, and all of our characters are essentially back at square one.

Still, it's tough to dismiss how strong "Knock Knock" is in the build up to this moment. The supporting performances are strong, the horror and atmospheric work is terrific, both the Doctor and Bill are well utilised across the story. "Knock Knock" might stumble in its final moments, but it stands as the strongest episode of the season thus far purely for how off-the-charts exciting its first two acts are. Bartlett understands Doctor Who brilliantly, here's hoping he'll be back next year too.

Grade: A-

www.morrismovies.co.uk

Knotting on Heavens Door...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 4 January 2022]

There was a parasitic alien bug, could absorb you in an instance if you stood, with a complicated timbre, you'd be turned into a timber, a knotted polished plank of periodic wood.

Knock Knock

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 6 May 2017]

A take on the teen horror movie set in a haunted house. Noted playwright and television writer Mike Bartlett's debut Doctor Who episode 'Knock Knock' referenced a joke that we all heard as youngsters.

Bill and her university chums seemed to have sorted their student digs several terms in advance, what they are left with is unsuitable and even then student loans can only stretch so far.

Luck is at hand David Suchet's creepy landlord comes to the rescue, he has a big creaky house, a tower that is out of bounds and plenty of wood. As soon as they go in things start to go bump.

Conveniently the Doctor is helping Bill to move in and decides to stick around and investigate. He quickly gathers that a big draughty house without all the modern conveniences and a landlord harking back to a different age chimes danger.

At its heart, it is the Doctor and companion get split up and one by one the rest disappear. Not a big shake as the rest of the students were thinly sketched and the acting suitably wooden.

An ominous episode which will soon bug you out. A rare event these days, I watched this episode with my daughter who was home on study leave. She and her university mates are currently looking for digs for the autumn term. Whoopee!

So what's the catch?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 7 May 2017]

Which of us when we were students didn't imagine living in quality surroundings, in a massive house with lots of space and grandeur, so when Bill and her friends are offered such a place on the cheap, there must be a catch, mustn't there?

I've forever been a fan of horror, and the darker element in Who always works so well, it feels like an age since we last had a dark episode, the stuff of nightmares, and Knock Knock very much fitted the bill. A great story, well delivered, with some fine performances, but those special effects were among the best I've ever seen on the show, reminded me of Silent Hill. The walls coming alive, the wooden daughter etc, very visual.

A few references to Ghostlight, the insects, the haunted house, the insects, even the 'up the wooden hills,' a better haunted house story then Hide from a few years back.

My love of Dr Who is matched by my love of Agatha Christie, so the joy I felt in learning that the great David Suchet was to appear, I thought he did a particularly fine job, he made his part sinister without going over the top, his speaking voice added to the character.

I must admit my heart sank a little when Bill questioned The Doctor on regeneration, his look......

Naturally the fan world is agog with curiosity as to what or who is imprisoned in that vault. Nice to see there's a thread linking the episodes, but nothing too deep.

I rather enjoyed this. 9/10

Great plot and storytelling to be ruined by a rushed ending

[jackkemp-30612 · 8/10 · 6 May 2017]

The episode starts off greatly, introducing us to new characters who's personalities are very interesting. We then come across the eerie setting for the episode which could not be any better. The buildup starts off very well, as the house seemingly eats you alive, effectively created with sound effects, great directing and acting. The noises certainly add to the creepiness of the story. Everyone later becomes separated, or 'eaten' by the house, which i truly enjoyed as something we've rarely seen in doctor who. Arguably the best scene form this episode is where everyone is locked in to a certain part of the house which is dramatically emphasized by everything literally being locked, in an excellent display of camera shots. Then, we come on to, the end... A very old woman transformed into what seems to be a tree as she ages. This certainly didn't start the downhill, as it could really make the story even more interesting. What did damage it however is the relationship between this woman and the landlord, and how it was shown in flashbacks, which I really did not dig. Within 2 minutes from this, the story pretty much ended which them both dying off, allowing everyone else to return which did not make sense to me at all, and ruined a brilliant episode up to that point. We later get refreshed with this mystery door, as it certainly destroys any previous theory we had of who's behind it. Overall, the acting was on point, the directing was on point, the story was on point until the end. I'd give this 8.5, but so be it, it should be punished after the poor, anticlimactic ending.

15 Minutes, and then Nothing!

[Robinson2511 · 6/10 · 6 May 2017]

I'll get straight to it, Knock Knock was weird.

I'm struggling to form opinions on this story, because there's not much to remember. I was worried that this story would do a 'Hide' (Series 7) on us, where it advertises itself as a dark horror film then suddenly turns into a Sci-Fi adventure half-way in, but it never did that thank god.

Instead, Knock Knock is very methodical, taking it's time with the build-up so it can deliver an engaging experience that captivates the viewer. Does it succeed? Not Quite!

Don't get me wrong, it's fun, and the first act is very creepy, but if I was a casual viewer, I would've turned off 15 minutes in. In fact I think the only reason I stayed until the end was because I'm a fan of the show.

The mystery the episode was trying to build up, was never mysterious enough to become gripping. The characters that the story spent 10 minutes setting up were never interesting enough to become memorable, and after 15 minutes the creepiness ran out, and the whole story became a rather dull runaround.

The dynamic between the Doctor and Bill, one that showed real potential with the Doctor pretending to be Bill's Grandfather was wasted as they spend most of the episode apart.

When the mystery gets solved, it's quite underwhelming, and had a few too many illogical points. This guy apparently always attracted 6 people to the house, no more, no less. Did he always look for exactly 6 students?

For some good points, the direction is pretty great. It's creepy and dark, and provides some very creepy tension in certain scenes.

Capaldi is brilliant, as if I even needed to say it. The way he works with the rest of these kids was funny and rather charming at the same time. Capaldi has never shown this kind of dynamic when working with other characters so it was nice to see this warm welcoming character that you rarely see from the 12th Doctor.

The monsters were fun. Obviously creepy-crawlies are the easiest way to freak people out but they are used to good effect here, although I am a little disappointed that the episode relies on them so much. If the writers could've found some more creative ways to kill people it would've been more interesting.

The script is good but it could've been wittier, and I realise these kids aren't the best actors in the world, but I highly enjoyed their performances none-the-less. Plus, it's hard to act when you have no character to work with.

Lastly, there's the episode's ending, which was awkward. This ending didn't really match up with the rest of the story. When the landlord was trying to keep his daughter alive, it was weird but passable, then the twist happened and everything fell apart for me.

I found this ending too melodramatic, and uncomfortable to watch at points, but once this part was over, we got a cop-out flat ending that didn't lead anywhere or provide any closure, dismissing the characters like they were nothing, which isn't inaccurate.

Overall... I was expecting more from this story. It's good in it's own right, it's creepy and dark, and the acting is strong, but from the pre-release reviews I heard about this episode, I was expecting another classic like 'Blink' or 'Flatline', but the lack of character sadly ruins this.

The ending is awkward and it never manages to hit it's targets, and therefor lack any kind of interest, although I am more fascinated about the Vault than ever before.

Who's There?

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 27 June 2019]

This is basically a twist on a haunted house story. The creepy atmosphere - a big old house with a strange landlord, creaking and scuttling noises and mysterious attacks beginning to happen - works really well.

The biggest plus to this episode is the big name guest actor David Suchet putting in a wonderful performance with real depth. He is a mixture or creepy and gentle then properly scary when he gets angry but he is also very moving when he gets upset.

Peter Capaldi is on usual top form and makes so much entertainment from his humour mixed with his dark intensity.

Pearl Mackie continues her excellent performance as Bill who is a really really good companion. She is strong and full of personality without dominating or being pushy or annoying.

Bill's student friends are believable and well acted and the dialogue all round is high quality. This continues in the end scenes where Nardole makes his usual cameo and the mysterious situation that requires the Doctor and Nardole to guard a vault is built up further with the prisoner within becoming more obvious and interest in that ongoing thread growing nicely from the scene.

The direction and effects are very good and tension and atmosphere are cleverly built. The creepiness is a really great aspect of the story and the payoff is surprisingly emotional and thoughtful. The woodlice creatures are an interesting 'monster' that can be compared to the maggots in The Green Death, although the wish to include bioluminescent elements is a bit too similar to the fish from the previous episode, Thin Ice, and to creatures appearing later this series, so that is a tiny thing I would have changed with the design to avoid overuse of the same thing.

Really this brings everything I want or expect from a Doctor Who episode - a creepy situation, a threatening monster, strong dialogue, amusing humour, great acting and a decent plot. I therefore rate it very highly.

My Rating: 9.5/10.

Series 10 Episode Ranking: 4th out of 14.

Unspectacular filler that utilizes tropes we've seen before

[The-Last-Prydonian · 6/10 · 6 May 2017]

Marking, Mike Bartlett's first writing credit for the series, "Knock Knock" sees Bill and some of her friends searching for the perfect student accommodation. Luck seems to be on their side when they're approached by an elderly landlord (David Suchet) who offers them an old house, big enough to accommodate all of them. Of course with this being "Doctor Who", nothing is quite what it seems and the young students aren't so much new tenants but unsuspecting victims of something dwelling within the walls of the house. Fortunate then of course that the Doctor just happens to be present as he was helping Bill move in, and is soon hot on the case.

With the past three episodes being of fairly strong quality; this latest entry marks a slight downturn although that's not to say it's dreadful. It's anything but, however you can't help but feel there's a whiff of being there see that about it. The whole Haunted House motif has been done before as far back as the 1989 classic story "Ghost Light" and with the more relatively recent "Hide" back in 2013. Of course because something has been utilized before doesn't mean something fresh can't be done with it, can't it? Well, yes in theory but with "Knock Knock" it takes an old trope and ultimately does really nothing particularly new with it. The concept of something alien living with walls and pouncing on unsuspecting victims was after all the basic premise of series eight's "Flatline". So far so unremarkable, and that's pretty much the best way to describe this outing. Peter Capaldi is as ever on top form as is Pearl Mackie who has been anything if not consistent since she made her debut on the show, with former "Poirot" star David Suchet putting in a blinder of a supporting performance as the enigmatic Landlord. In general the acting is the kind of standard you'd expect from a BBC production, it's really just all rather run of the mill.

It does score points I suppose in that it allows Bill, to prove her worth as a companion given her deductive reasoning, which leads to a slight twist in the tale which although mildly diverting doesn't come off as enough of a revelation to rise it's story above the so so. Compotently directed with decent enough special effects but a humdrum alien threat it just feels like nothing more than passable filler material, and really that's all that can really the best that can be said for it. The most intriguing thing that could be said for it was the stories coda which references back to the running plot involving the vault, and the unknown prisoner that Nardol (Matt Lucas) has been keeping tabs on while the Doctor is absent. With fan speculation running rife I and no doubt other fans will be waiting keenly to discover if out suspicions of who lies within are what we might suspect.

Old Vs New

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 7 May 2017]

Despite saying DOCTOR WHO has the most flexible format in the history of television I always end up contradicting myself by stating that for me the programme is first and foremost a horror show broadcast at tea time and by and large this is what DOCTOR WHO was circa 1967-77 . Another favourite quote of mine comes from Christopher Hitchens: "Now this is masochism - but it's being offered to you by sadists" . He was referring to religion and as a hardcore fan I watch the show religiously. The Hitchens quote summed my first knowledge of the show as a young child where I'd run out the living room in fear at a particularly scary scene but you could guarantee I'd be watching the next episode a week later. This episode Knock Knock comes across as a traditional type of terror tale

!!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!!

It has all the makings of a great story. A bunch of humans are trapped in a location with no escape and death awaits. I could name several masterworks from the classic show with an identical premise but if there's flaws it's down to how the show is produced in the 21st Century. For some strange reason the director feels the need to bludgeon the audience over the head as to who the villain is by including very intrusive music every time the Landlord appears . With a 45 minute narrative do we really need to have everything spelled out for us ? The supporting characters rather shallow twenty somethings who I couldn't have cared less about and was more than happy to see them killed off . Unfortunately "Everyone lives" is once again the order of the day where as in the old show when someone died it'd emulate the universal law that you'd stay dead . At least in the classic show the supporting characters would be better developed and a bit more diverse. There's also a plot turn involving the Landlord's connection with a relative which had been done before in Moffat's season one story

I shouldn't criticise too much because this is probably the best the contemporary show can come up with. David Suchet is a welcome guest star and something of a casting coup and has a presence rarely seen in NuWho. The monster itself has a great build up and I've no doubt it will have given a few little ones very bad dreams and the episode will be remembered as one of the best from the Moffat era. Just a pity it would have needed a final draft to give it ten out of ten

Wooden story

[dkiliane · 6/10 · 15 December 2019]

After a quick montage to give us the premise of Bill and her mates looking for a place to move into while going to university (not sure why this is, when supposedly the school year already started but whatever) they are approached by an older gentleman offering them exactly the kind of place they are looking for. Of course, it just so happens that the house, along with its landlord, is a bit "off." Basically another Doctor Who take on the haunted house trope, there is nothing particularly special, memorable or exciting about this episode. The first act does get points for being sufficiently creepy, but beyond that there is very little redeemable here.

First off, the majority of the characters are just wooden horror fodder (and I blame the script more so than the actors) with nothing particularly interesting about them. The Doctor and Bill of course are fine, with some humorous bickering as Bill desperately tries to keep The Doctor out of her personal life, and considering the script Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie are given, they make it work admirably. But the villainous landlord especially feels like a cardboard cutout and comes off more irritating than actually creepy or intimidating. And once he reveals his intentions (which were not hard to guess) there was literally nothing interesting left to watch. The alien termites whatever they were, along with the twist that the landlord is the son and not the father of the wooden woman, were completely pointless and unsatisfying, adding a layer of nothing in an attempt to make an episode that ran out of steam 15 minutes in feel like it had some depth. But the only thing it really did do was make the episode feel like an odd fanfic, especially with the nonsensical undoing of all the deaths (which I normally wouldn't mind cause I prefer happy endings, but this was just ridiculous and without believable explanation), much like Forest of The Night in season eight, and did not deserve to actually be made into television. The good news, after this one we start to get into some better episodes. 6.5/10

Nice Enough Horror; Better Emotional

[scampster-45377 · 9/10 · 7 May 2017]

I was anticipating a great horror story featuring the great David Suchet. What I got instead was a brilliant parent-child emotional story featuring the great David Suchet perfectly playing creepy and victimised.

The entire cast were a joy to watch throughout, as were the parallels between our heroes and enemies as they played off a parent-child story. There weren't many spooks, but it made up for it with the emotional weight at the conclusion. This episode shows how great Mackie's Bill and Capaldi's Doctor work well without needing each other throughout the entire story. Perhaps not as good as Series 8's "Listen", but certainly better than Series 7's "Hide", when comparing Doctor Who horror stories.

Episode 4 "Knock Knock" - 9/10

Who's here!

[tymbus · 6/10 · 8 May 2017]

I imagine part of the appeal of this story's title for the Grand Moff TARDIS is that it echoed that old joke; knock, Knock; Whose there?; Doctor; Doctor Who?; that's right!. Fortunately that was the only creaky part of this story, the fourth episode of the new season, which continued a run of entertaining and unambarrassingly watchable stories.

The Doctor has only occasionally mined the haunted house horror trope. Notable examples include The Chase episode Journey Into Terror, Image of The Fendahl, Ghost Light and, more recently, Hide, a nod to Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape and one of the better Matt Smith escapades. No one does scary like Moffat, so much like Thin Ice, Knock Knock had scary set ups but they never really delivered on the sheer terror of, for example, Listen, that one with the creature lurking in a child's bedroom that, come to think of it, ends up banging on the door of a far future space ship.

Knock Knock reminded us, as Moffat produced stories often do, that the Doctor's companions have a real life that runs parallel with their adventures with the Doctor. It is one of the key ways in which Moffat's seasons play with time travel. This time we follow Bill and her pals as they search for student accommodation. The kids were well cast, engaging as individuals and also as types. David Suchet, gaunt with age, played a spooky landlord that made the friends an offer they should of refused, cheap accommodation in a rambling mansion with turrets, and shadows and no electricity or heating of any kind.

The story itself was a kind of grim fairy tale that bore a lot of the hallmarks of the Moffat reign. The menace turned out to be alien wood lice just going about their business and a doomed relationship kept alive by their ability to turn living matter into...er...wood. A lot of my friends have been left screaming at the screen that it is OK for aliens to be monstrous and evil. I mean would Frontier In Space have been quite as much fun without the Ogrons, the Master or the Daleks? The answer that you are looking for is 'No'. But really aliens for Moffat are just dues ex machine. They are shoe horned in with powers precisely designed to deliver particular settings , ambiances, and moments that he wants on screen.

Mark Bartlett's script nicely caught the themes and ambiances that have (barely) held Moffat's seasons together with a nice nod to Doctor Who's past. Bill calling the Doctor 'Grandfather' could not help but recall Susan and the first Doctor's granddaughter/grandfather relationship. At least it is better that Capaldi's Embarrassing Dad Doctor and despite Bill's embarrassment he got on fine with her pals.

There were standout moments including the first appearance of a human preserved in wood and one of the students largely absorbed by the wood but kept alive by a stuck record. The wood lice themselves (named Dryads after wood nymphs) were a little over familiar in form and movement. I may be doing programmers a disservice but I got the impression that their CGI moves were governed by a 'plug in' responsible for the scarab beetle's movements in The Mummy series.

Bartlette fitted a lot into the show's scant running time. It was a triumph of acting and plotting that we cared about the student's and their driven landlord scared by intimations of mortality (another Moffat theme from a show runner who seems to live in fear of his own death). We even got a PS in the form of a return to the vault. I was mildly interested in what was contained there in but it now seems certain to be Missy (or perhaps the Master?). The Sixth Doctor was the only incarnation to play piano and the first Doctor wouldn't be reveling in children being eaten so there's one of my theories out of the window.

Knock, Knock was familiar but neither creaky nor wooden. I would welcome the return of cliff hanger endings but I am more than happy to return next week for a run in with zombies in space suits with a life of their own.

We've seen it all before, but this is still a good episode

[studioAT · 5/10 · 7 May 2017]

Mike Bartlett is a great playwright, so seeing his name pop up at the start of this latest Doctor Who episode was intriguing from the start.

Doctor Who has had a marked rise in quality in this its tenth series, with a real 'back to basics' approach.

There were some dark and funny moments throughout this episode, that although didn't have the most original plot, was certainly a better than average episode.

I liked the fact that the companion, Bill, was trying to keep aspects of her life separate from the Doctor, and that the ending was full of genuine emotion.

The only downside (apart from a slightly rushed ending) was the Matt Lucas character, which continues to annoy.

On the whole though, a good episode.

A lot of twists and turns

[doctor-934-207111 · 8/10 · 14 May 2017]

Knock, Knock? Who is there? Doctor . Doctor Who?

Enough funny stuff

What a lot of surprises in that episode. Terrifically written!

So Bill joins up with 5 members looking for a flat. They find one with the help of an old gentleman who is looking for 6 tenants.

1st Tenant moved in and something weird happens.

The Doctor helps Bill to move (How does the TARDIS surround it target? This has not been explained properly)

The Tower is forbidden, why? We shall see.

Bill and the rest

The Doctor decides to check things up on his own.

So insects like lice / cockroaches are eating people alive , why? And why are they part of the wood?

Bill and friend make it to the tower after another mate goes missing. The Doctor finds and elevator and he and a new friend escape under. They find previous tenants . 2 more tenants are enveloped.

The Doctor decides to Help.

All right. Nit pick time.

How come Eliza believed that this was her father and not her son? Not explained.

The slugs, They help the Eliza but no explanation to their origin.

The Doctor opens the windows and a fireworks show is happening.

Mother releases the slugs and takes her son with her.

Why are only the recent 6 released and not everyone else?

Certainly everyone should have been released.

Everyone escapes.

The Doctor opens the vault. What is in there?

Interesting experience

[simonkites · 8/10 · 7 May 2017]

"Knock Knock" was interesting experience.

I very liked the atmosphere of this episode. It was dark episode, with small pieces of humor. Whole episode i was very invested, and i had no idea where plot it's going to. I very liked molar of the story. Moral about, that we may loose some one that we love, and we ready to do horrible things to save them.

But many thing was quite clichéd. Basically, this is "hunted mansion" story. Ghosts, thunders, creepy noises and creepy landlord (playd by amazing Hercule Poirot). Whole episode i had a "Scoody Doo" feeling, and only one thing was missing is the dog himself(replaced by "Doctor Who" himself). Yep, it is funny.

But major problem with episode is the ending. It was dark, and disappointing in the same time. NewWho simply does not have enough balls, to do something dark these day compare OldWho did in Tom Baker era. I want to see some consequences after story, or else story it self feels meaningless.

In the conclusion, this is definitely not the "Blink". More like a weaker version of "Empty Child". Still, i liked the story. "Not amazing, but great".

Mediocre episode. Good to see David Suchet.

[kcmurphy88 · 6/10 · 6 May 2017]

The only good thing about this episode is that David Suchet is in it. Bill and friends go into creepy house with creepy landlord, bad things happen as expected, Doctor does stuff and it's all good. It is no more complicated than that.

Meh. SIX is being generous because I like David Suchet.

Classic horror is classic. Homage is homage.

[docdebrasavage · 8/10 · 6 May 2017]

This episode owes a lot of credit to Shirley Jackson. "The Haunting" was a play and two movies, one "updated" for more modern tastes in the last 90s or early 2000s. The bugs are classic horror devices, but the knock knock was pure Shirley. Love having David Suchet as the landlord.

Do not understand why people are ragging on this episode. Classic is classic.

Knock Knock Who's There?

[ewaf58 · 7/10 · 7 May 2017]

Tears of rain run down my window pane I'm on my own again, good evening, sorrow Sit and dream of how things might have been And as I close my eyes, I get the strangest feeling

Knock, knock, who's there? Could this be love that's calling? The door is always open wide Knock, knock, who's there? Now as the night is falling Take off your coat and come inside

Climb the stair and then I say a prayer For someone who could share my situation But instead as I lay down my head I have to leave it all to my imagination

Knock, knock, who's there? Could this be love that's calling? The door is always open wide Knock, knock, who's there? Now as the night is falling Take off your coat and come inside

La lala lalala la lala... Lalala la lala lalala lala... La lala lalala la lala... Lalala la lala lalala lala...

Sit and dream of how things might have been And as I close my eyes, I get the strangest feeling

Knock, knock, who's there? Could this be love that's calling? The door is always open wide Knock, knock, who's there? Now as the night is falling Take off your coat and come inside

Take off your coat and come inside

Knock Knock

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 8/10 · 6 September 2021]

The best thing about this episode isn't the good plot, the set, the "scares", it's the absolute brilliant casting/acting. David Suchet is absolutely brilliant, all the kids are amazing as well. Peter Capaldi is, as ever a spectacular Doctor. Honestly this episode makes me want to see a Doctor Who where Suchet is the Doctor, that'd be amazing.

The only thing I don't get, is that all the 2017 kids were rebuilt, but those who went missing in 1997, 1977, and 1957 are just gone forever. Tragic.

A nicely scary 'creepy old house' story

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 8 May 2017]

Bill and five friends are looking for new accommodation but nowhere they looks suits their needs. Then, just as they appear ready to give up a man tells them he has a suitable property; it is large with good sized rooms and he doesn't want too much for it… of course there is a catch but they won't discover that for a little while. The Doctor helps Bill move her stuff to the house; she isn't keen for him to come in but he has a feeling that something is wrong so goes in anyway… she tells her friends that he is her grandfather. As night falls strange things start to happen; the house creaks and the doors and window shutters close and can't be opened. The tenants start to get scared as they hear their friends scream then discover one of them half consumed by a wooden wall. More will be consumed before the Doctor learns of the strange infestation and just why the mysterious caretaker is bringing six young victims to the house.

The creepy/haunted house is one of the oldest horror tropes; it could easily be cliché but here it was done in an interesting new way. I really liked the little details such has how it included nothing remotely modern; even the electric sockets were of a style not used in decades… this provided some nice misdirection concerning the house; I was almost certain that the house was somehow in the past but what was happening had nothing to do with that at all. The creatures involved in the infestation were pretty creepy and the way they consumed people was rather disturbing without being too disturbing for younger viewers. The cast do a decent job but it is David Suchet who steals the show as the creepy caretaker. The special effects are impressive; especially those used for the 'woman in the tower'. The only real down point for me was the ending; it was a bit of a cop-out as the people the house 'consumed' are returned apparently none the worse for their strange experience. Overall this was an impressive episode.

Well it's slowing climbing it's way back up the ladder

[warlordartos · 4/10 · 28 April 2021]

But why oh why is Nardole still here. There is something very wrong with that character. It's like they are trying to lighten up the story after a dark couple of seasons, but all they are doing is annoying me.

The rest of the story was a repeat of what we have seen several time already on Doctor Who but still okay.