Doctor Who - Sleep No More - Advance Preview + Dialogue Teasers

© BBC Pictures
Steven Moffat and writer, Mark Gatiss, have made much of the “found footage” perspective of this episode since the start of the season, so it was one that I had been looking forward to immensely. After witnessing the brilliance of surveillance style filming during the heist in You Can’t Hide From the Dead in Banshee back in February I know that it is a technique that drags you into the action, fully immersing you in the story alongside the characters.

I knew that there would be obvious differences in this case; the First Person Shooter aspect would be drastically toned down, for example, although guns and military action are not omitted entirely here. I wasn’t expecting to see conventional cameras being used opposed to CCTV, GoPro, or other body worn ones though. Using camera shakes, underlit sets, and added artificial static in post-production doesn’t quite give you the same level of immersion into the scene as the aforementioned Banshee episode achieves. As seen in the promotional material, the characters also talk directly into the camera at times rather than to the person they are addressing - who would be slightly off centre to the lens - which I also found a tad off-putting as it doesn’t feel natural.

Aside from those grumbles and the disappointment about the overall look of the episode, the story and performances are pretty solid. Gatiss is at home when it comes to horror and has brought together some intriguing ideas which work well in this base under siege environment. The Doctor and Clara have been unfortunate to land smack bang in the middle of a rescue mission on board an Indo-Japanese space station orbiting Neptune. The only survivor is Professor Rassmussen (Reece Shearsmith), the doctor that runs the laboratory aboard the station and who has pieced together the footage.

As to be expected with these kinds of outings, there is a far bit of running down corridors and lots of creepy moments created to give the kids a scare, you may even find yourself jumping occasionally too. I do feel that this one, more so than any other episode so far this year, will divide opinion amongst the fans; like Blair Witch, the genre isn’t everyone’s cup of tea after all. So while some will adore the dark, eerie tone and enjoy the frights that the monsters provide, others will no doubt be left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. But this is a show that’s known for its diversity, never sticking to one style from week to week, meaning that there will always be some that won’t appeal to all.


Sleep No More airs on Saturday 14th November at 8.15pm on BBC 1 and BBC 1 HD in the UK, and at 9pm on BBC America. Below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then, if you want to have any guesses on who said what I will fill in any correct answers before the episode airs. Don't forget to come back to vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.


“No, you don’t get to name things. I’m the Doctor, I do the naming”

“Of course you do, silly Deep Ando 6897. You must know the song, everyone here knows it”

“Morpheus, named after the god of dreams? Oh yeah, oh yeah, not just this”

“Sleep’s the one thing left to us. The one thing they couldn’t get their filthy mitts on, and now they’re even grabbing that”

“Okay, well, we’ll fix this. You will fix this”

“You will show this film to your family won’t you”

“Chopra not worry. 474 protect Chopra. Chopra pretty”

“We spend a third of our lives asleep, and time is money”

“Must be damage from when we fell out of orbit. We have to go back”

“There are bits missing, sorry about that. I don’t fully understand what’s been going on here”


Trailer Teaser

“Peace on this street depends on one thing. To break it is to face the raven”

About the Author - Sandi

Sandi is part of the Senior Staff at SpoilerTV having been a contributor from back in the Lost days of DarkUFO, and who now writes previews for Banshee, The Musketeers, Poldark, and other UK shows. She also enjoys watching and commenting on other shows such as Vikings, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones and The Flash.

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