Sunday, October 10, 2021

October Horror Movie Challenge: Doctor Who Midnight (2008)

Watching "The Thing" reminded me of another similar story.  Since I always do a Doctor Who episode I thought the start of Sci-Fi/Horror week could use some 10th doctor.  So without further ado, Allons-y!

Midnight (2008)

Again my wife is joining me for this one, though this time I picked.  She was up for it since it is Doctor Who.  In this one the Doctor is going on a tour of the diamond planet Midnight.  The X-tonic sunlight is poisonous to all lifeforms we are told and everyone has to stay behind glass that is miles thick.  Of course, humans, being humans, build a resort there.

Midnight (2008)

The Doctor, minus Donna (Catherine Tate was filming the Doctor-less "Turn Left"), goes on this tour with six other passengers.  They spend four hours talking and enjoying each other's company when their tour vehicle breaks down.  They send for a rescue truck, but not before the driver's section is completely ripped off the truck.  They then hear knocking, which is impossible of course.  And then everything goes quiet. 

One of the passengers, Sky Silvestry, who we established before was lonely having just been divorced from her wife, begins to repeating everything everyone says including the Doctor. Eventually, she catches up and is saying the same thing at the same time.

Everyone is freaking out and they want to toss Sky out of the cabin.  Soon she "gets her voice back" and the Doctor is now repeating her.  They all want to toss out the Doctor.  The hostess realizes that "Sky" has stolen the Doctor's voice when she begins talking like the Doctor.  The hostess breaks the cabin seal and she and Sky are tossed out into the X-tonic light.

As a "bottle episode," it is quite effective and really ups the paranoia of who is what.  It is in many ways the spiritual successor of "Who Goes There?"

My wife was already a Who fan, so getting her to watch this one was easy. We have been binge-watching "Merlin" and I remembered that Colin Morgan played "Jethro" in this and was later "Merlin." What I didn't know was that Alice Troughton (no relation to Patrick Troughton, the 2nd doctor) was the director for this and one of the main directors used in Merlin.  Also, David Troughton, no relation to Alice BUT is the son of Patrick Troughton, played Professor Hobbes.

This episode also featured the use of one of my favorite Pre-Raphelite poems, the Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti.


2021 October Horror Movie Challenge

October 2021
Viewed: 20
First Time Views: 8.5


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