Sarah -
I’d like to propose we establish a new Sofa of Rassilon honor: The Warriors of the Deep Award (WOTDA), which recognizes episodes of Doctor Who with a decent script that are entirely let down by the story’s production.
Harry -
If it involves drinking a ceremonial toast, I'm in.
Sarah -
It certainly does! We’ll have to mix up a special concoction -- or just pass the gin bottle between us.
In any case, "Fear Her" is my official WOTDA nomination for Series Two.
The story of "Fear Her" begins with Stephen Fry’s legendary unfinished Doctor Who story. Fortunately, the production team had a reserve script standing by, written by none other than Life on Mars co-creator Matthew Graham. In addition to being ready to go, the "Fear Her" script ticked off the most importance box -- it was cheap.
The TARDIS lands on a quiet suburban street. There’s a brief kerfuffle when the TARDIS doors are facing a storage unit wall, but all is set to rights and the Doctor and Rose are ready for the 2012 Olympics. I had the realization that this story was broadcast six years before those Olympics and now we’re six years on from them. Times flies, doesn’t it?
Harry -
This is some genuinely timey-wimey stuff. The first time around it was a futuristic story, now it's a historical.
Sarah -
The street turns out to be not quite as quiet as it looks. Rose immediately notices missing posters for children all over the neighborhood. We saw one of the children vanish before the Doctor and Rose arrived, despite warnings from an elderly neighbor.
Harry -
A bit of farcical police work attempted by the Doctor while the neighbours voiced their concerns. After resorting to shushing everyone, the police procedural can begin properly. Rose and the Doctor both detect signs and smells of a kind of residual energy left behind after children have disappeared.
Sarah -
It doesn’t take long for the Doctor to work out that a girl named Chloe seems to be connected to the missing children. When she draws pictures of the children in her neighborhood, they become trapped in her artwork. It’s chilling.
Harry -
Abisola Agbaje gave a brilliant performance as Chloe, who appears at first to be a lonely girl, but with flashes of inexplicable anger. There seems to be a natural reason for this:
ROSE: What about Chloe's dad?
TRISH: Chloe's dad died a year ago.
ROSE: I'm sorry.
TRISH: You wouldn't be if you'd known him.
But this being Doctor Who, it comes out that something alien is causing her to react, but Agbaje's performance still makes it very believable.
Sarah -
It know it’s fashionable to pick on child actors in certain circles, but I agree Agbaje's performance is effective. No shade to Eros Lyn, but I can’t help but think that another director might have been able to help the actress find more subtlety in her performance. The whispering got a little one-note after a while.
Harry -
Like so many great scares in Doctor Who, it's the commonplace made horrifying that sticks in the mind. The living drawings stayed with me all this time as well.
Sarah -
The Doctor works out that Chloe is possessed by the Isolus, an alien life-form that has four billion siblings. The Isolus is just trying to recreate its family, with potentially billions of human beings.
I find this premise absolutely terrifying. The Isolus is the type of protagonist I often find most interesting. It’s not trying to conquer Earth or carrying out a diabolical plan, it’s just lonely and trying to survive. It’s all very tragic.
Harry -
Another great horror trope: someone's body possessed by a malevolent force. The scene where the Doctor communicates with the Isolus through Chloe was unsettling.
Sarah -
There’s so much that’s unsettling in this story. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an abusive parent in Doctor Who, but Eddie Connolly’s bullying doesn’t seem to come close to the physical and possibly sexual abuse of Chloe’s father. Chloe and her mother Trish are both still suffering from PTSD, which has contributed to the infiltration of the Isolus.
Harry -
There is clearly a stress on the dad having done horrible things.
Sarah -
Nina Sosanya, who portrays Trish, is one of those actresses I have liked every time I’ve seen her. She effectively underplays the role of a mother whose own PTSD is so overwhelming that she can’t even begin to help her daughter. That has led her to swap her abusive relationship with husband for one with her possessed daughter.
This is also a very good episode for Rose. When she’s away from the Doctor, she becomes so capable. She’s the one who first notices the missing posters and connects with people in the neighborhood throughout. This is when I like Rose the most.
Harry -
Agreed. Full credit to Matthew Graham for doing away with the smugness we've had to endure this season.
Sarah -
It’s definitely a respite.
Harry -
Having sorted out that the Isolus is behind the disappearances, the Doctor determines that they need to locate its pod and I quite like what happens next. Instead of waving his sonic screwdriver and locating the pod in two seconds, he and Rose go back to the TARDIS to build a pod detector. Old school!
Sarah -
So much of this story feels old school and, dare I say, cozy. I kind of love how giddy the Doctor is about finding the pod.
Harry -
I wonder if RTD got fidgety while reading this script and decided to throw in the Doctor's casual line about being "a dad once."
Sarah -
OMG! The look on Rose’s face when says that! It’s a great moment that illustrates for the 595th time that there is a gap between them that can never be bridged.
Harry -
Before Rose can question him about it, the gizmo picks up the pod and they set off on the trail. Meanwhile, Chloe begins drawing the Doctor and the TARDIS.
Sarah -
Whoops! The Doctor finds himself trapped in a drawing, but Rose is determined to save him. She grabs a pickaxe and starts digging up the street, much to the dismay of Kel, the local council worker who has been assisting Rose in her investigation. Meanwhile, Chloe is drawing the entire crowd at Olympic Stadium...and then the world.
Following the direction from the Doctor in the drawing, Rose realizes the pod needs warmth and love...right as the Olympic torch is on its way down the street. She chucks the pod into the touch and -- hurrah! -- the missing children begin to reappear.
Harry -
The story felt like it went off the rails here.
Sarah -
Meanwhile, Chloe’s drawing of her father has come to life, terrorizing her and her mother and trapping them in the house. Trish sings to Chloe to drive the terror away, destroying the monster of her father’s memory. Going back to the Warriors of the Deep Award, I have to suggest that this scene would have been significantly more effective and way scarier if it wasn’t so damn bright. The animation of Chloe’s drawing of her father should have been terrifying, but it doesn’t come close, which is a pity. Chloe’s recovery should have been so much more effective.
Harry -
Agreed. The monster that you cannot see is often more terrifying.
Sarah -
But wait, where’s the Doctor? The torch bearer falters from the pod flare, which leads to the dialog that made me want to smash my television: “There's a mystery man. He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. He's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope, and it's courage, and it's love.”
Harry -
Oh man.
Sarah -
The Doctor picks up the torch and lights the cauldron, sending the Isolus home in its pod on a cloud of love. Good grief. My teeth hurt from all the saccharine.
The Doctor and Rose are reunited and all is well. Or is it…?
ROSE: You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will.
DOCTOR: Never say never ever.
ROSE: Nah, we'll always be okay, you and me. Don't you reckon, Doctor?
DOCTOR: There's something in the air. Something coming.
ROSE: What?
DOCTOR: A storm's approaching.
Harry -
Foreshadowing for the extremely foreshadowly challenged. I was quite done with this story by the end. As you said above, a solid story let down by the production and for me the era as well. This could have been a wild CSO thriller in the Pertwee era, or something with insane visuals in the McCoy era. Anyway, we got through it. Drink!
Sarah -
Best Line: No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it.
Favorite Moment: The Doctor absentmindedly eating marmalade from a jar with his fingers, only to be corrected by Rose with an “ahem” and a shake of her head. It’s one of those perfect scenes that remind us that the Doctor is an alien.
Lasting Image: Star Trek was my Sci-Fi gateway drug, so I have to go with the Vulcan Salute
5/10
Harry -
Best Line:
ROSE: Cake?
DOCTOR: Top banana. Mmm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!
Favourite Moment: the initial terror of the dad in the wardrobe.
Lasting Image: the living drawings.
4/10
Our marathon continues with Story #177: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday...
