Doctor Who - Series 8 Episode 4 - Listen - BBC 1 - 13/09/2014

*WARNING MASSIVE SPOILERS*

'Listen' embodies the perfect elements of a Doctor Who episode - An unseen monster, some humour, a moral message and completely scaring the wits out of every one. 'Listen' is what Doctor Who does best, and when it is written by Executive producer and writer, Steven Moffat, you know that you're going to leave the episode behind your sofa. Some of the best, scary episodes of New Doctor Who from 2005 have been written by Steven Moffat - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Silence in The Library/Forest of the Dead, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, and of course the most famous of them all, Blink. Yes, if you wanted to be really picky about this episode there were many similarities between 'Listen' and previous Moffat penned episodes and other episodes.  There was the creepy children home from Day of the Moon, the banging on the door from Russell T Davies story, Midnight, and the not-quite-there/don't-turn-round monster from Blink. Sometimes these can get a little tiresome if repeated again and again, but if like me you appreciate each story on its own separate merits then 'Listen' ticks all the boxes and genuinely left me terrified.

It played on every childhood fear, 'what is under your bed?' and the fear of the dark. This is where Doctor Who comes into its element, it doesn't need showy, tacky monsters who are blatantly obvious. What worked so well in 'Listen' is that you couldn't see a monster, if there was one at all, it was all in our minds, planting questions in our head from the fear of the unknown, as the Doctor said, "are we ever alone?" This is where Peter Capaldi's Doctor comes into his element, asking all the confusing questions that we've never quite asked ourselves before, handling it with eccentricity, humour and darkness. But, the real star of the show had to be Remi Gooding who played the young Danny Pink (more of him later), but in this guise was going by the name of Rupert. He showed the fear that every child goes through when they think that something is under their bed. With some humorous banter with the Doctor "he's not in every book (where's wally)" "Really? Well that's a few years of my life i'll be needing back."The scene in Rupert's bedroom in the children home perfectly captured the essence of the episode and leaving some questions unanswered, what was that thing on the bed? Are we speculating too much? And in true Moffat style, actually turns out to be something very insignificant? Series 8 will tell. 

Another stellar performance again by Jenna Coleman as Clara in 'Listen' who is really showing off her acting talents, she again takes lead, telling the Doctor to "sit!" when dealing with Rupert. With this new Doctor, who isn't quite as cuddly and loving as the Eleventh Doctor, it is left to Clara to comfort, in this case scared children. But while this episode was about something otherworldly, there was also many great scenes that featured in modern day earth. This is where we were re-introduced to Samuel Anderson's Danny Pink. Who it turns out, was called Rupert when he was young before he changed his name. We learn this, plus a lot more about Pink's character in this episode all in scenes with Clara on their first date, which doesn't go particularly well, but thanks to some time-travelling they end up sharing their first kiss at the end of the episode. Danny Pink is coming across extremely well in this series and I hope that if it is continued in the same way, he could become a fan favourite. This was not the only time we saw Samuel Anderson in this episode, he also played the character Orson Pink, Earth's first time traveller from the distant future with some possible clues to the fact that he may be related to Clara, speaking of things to come in her future. 

'Listen' wasn't just about scaring us witless, it was also about some classic Doctor Who plot twists, and boy did they come. It was at the end scenes when the TARDIS materialised in a barn with a child crying in bed. Clara presumed it was Rupert/Orson Pink again, but in what was a very clever cinematography moment, an off-screen voice spoke and said "Well he'll never become a Time Lord" in that moment, the music changed and Jenna Coleman's facial expressions were brilliant. We knew that this was a big moment, and i'll admit I did shout out loud "What the hell!" This was only added to when clips of John Hurt's War Doctor from the 50th Anniversary, The Day of the Doctor were shown, with Clara's accompanying speech. This speech was just beautiful and highlight Coleman's acting perfectly, to which she spoke of how thing young child was going to come back to this barn someday. At this moment, we knew it was significant in the series 8 plot. Again, like most Doctor Who episodes there was a moral message, which was highlighted very beautifully and simply by Clara, which echoes the same words muttered by the First Doctor in the first serial in 1963, "fear makes companions of us all."