I'm definitely not a fan of Russell T. Davies or for that matter his take on Doctor Who in general, but he has written two or three very good scripts in the past- "Tooth and Claw" and "Gridlock" being especially impressive, and he's given us another rare burst of quality in "Midnight", an inventive and exciting little episode that falls a bit short on what could have been greatness by being a bit poorly-realized.
Director Alice Troughton really hasn't impressed with her work on Who and this is no exception. Although I enjoyed the story mostly thanks to the script, it could have been about ten times tenser if Troughton's direction wasn't so poor, workmanlike, and lacking in flair. If she was responsible for Lesley Sharp's performance she is also responsible for the episode's most glaring and obvious flaw, although the casting department might be to blame for that.
Anyway, back to the script and other aspects- Davies' work here is really impressive and not knowing anything about the story beforehand helped me appreciate this one- it really is brilliantly paced and set up leading into the dark, scary, and memorable latter part of the story. Honestly, about 15 minutes in and I really did think this was going to be a light-hearted story. Very good writing in general, and especially for David Tennant's Doctor.
Murray Gold of course never bothers composing original music and once again blatantly rips off popular film and TV scores, but it's hard to completely mess up the obvious scary music cues and he doesn't here, so his score is serviceable.
Good acting (including David Troughton, Pat Troughton's son, and excluding Lesley Sharpe), a quality script, and a well-realized planet make this offering of Who very enjoyable despite very poor direction.
8/10
Director Alice Troughton really hasn't impressed with her work on Who and this is no exception. Although I enjoyed the story mostly thanks to the script, it could have been about ten times tenser if Troughton's direction wasn't so poor, workmanlike, and lacking in flair. If she was responsible for Lesley Sharp's performance she is also responsible for the episode's most glaring and obvious flaw, although the casting department might be to blame for that.
Anyway, back to the script and other aspects- Davies' work here is really impressive and not knowing anything about the story beforehand helped me appreciate this one- it really is brilliantly paced and set up leading into the dark, scary, and memorable latter part of the story. Honestly, about 15 minutes in and I really did think this was going to be a light-hearted story. Very good writing in general, and especially for David Tennant's Doctor.
Murray Gold of course never bothers composing original music and once again blatantly rips off popular film and TV scores, but it's hard to completely mess up the obvious scary music cues and he doesn't here, so his score is serviceable.
Good acting (including David Troughton, Pat Troughton's son, and excluding Lesley Sharpe), a quality script, and a well-realized planet make this offering of Who very enjoyable despite very poor direction.
8/10