Doctor Who: The God Complex

Let's be very clear on this - in order to be good, Doctor Who does not have to be original. Much of the early output of the Tom Baker era clearly shows this - they merrily plundered the back catalogue of much of Hammer and Universal's horror films to great effect. Taking a familiar scenario and dragging it into the Doctor's world often works very well. And that's what The God Complex is - good without being original. Because anyone who has seen Kubrick's version of The Shining or, to a lesser extent, the film 1408 will feel that last night's episode is somewhat familiar. But by no means in a bad way. I've said it before about the adventures of the good Doctor and no doubt I'll get to say it again, but if you're going to plunder from the archives, plunder from the best. And given the fantastic success of Stephen King's books and (some of) the movies based on those works, Doctor Who would have been missing a trick if it never dipped into his canon of work.

The decor of the ersatz hotel, the different rooms containing different nightmares, the composition of the shots - this was clearly the Doctor staying in the Overlook. And, generally speaking, it worked. Partly because it was more than just rehashing The Shining. The story understood that nightmares take on different forms. Yes, clowns (the fear of one Sarah Jane Smith, oddly enough) and Weeping Angels were obvious choices. But the disappointed father and the mocking girls were very different, and summed up that it isn't just monsters that people fear. There was a certain poignancy as well in the idea that Amy's nightmare was having to be Amelia Pond again, and await the return of her Raggedy Doctor. Then the twist that it was about faith rather than nightmares helped to give what could have been a very simple story an extra layer of depth.

And there were some other good points as well. Rita worked well as a companion who never was - and the Eleventh Doctor's reaction to her death was far more effective than the likely response of his immediate predecessor (who probably would have stood around looking forlorn rather than raging). And Smith's Doctor continues to excel over all - witness his goading of Gibbis around the slyness of the coward (which was, of course, borne out by that character's actions).

That said, this was good rather than great. In part because it was so derivative. You want to be great? You need to be more original than this. Part of that originality is not stealing the resolution of another (genuinely great) Who story - in this case The Curse of Fenric (something possibly referenced in that fact that the Doctor forced Amy to lose faith in him in room 7). Likewise, I don't doubt that the Ponds will be back, despite their apparent departure at the end of this episode. There's no real problem with giving them a false leaving, but here it just felt anti-climactic - not least since Amy has been in near constant danger ever since she met the Doctor (as have all of his companions). Overall, perhaps the biggest problem is that this was essentially a mood piece, but it lacked the time to really build up that mood. One of the reasons why The Shining works is its run time. You can't create the same claustrophobic environment in just 45 minutes - especially when you've got to have a long departure scene at the end between two old friends.

But, before we go away to await the arrival of Closing Time, it is perhaps worth pausing for a moment to think about what the Doctor saw in his room - or, to be clearer, what the Elventh Doctor saw in Room 11. There was the sound of the Cloister Bell and the Doctor almost seemed to have anticipated what was in there. So what did he see? Himself? After all, he was pretty negative about himself in Amy's Choice. But the Cloister Bell signifies danger. Danger for what? Given the Doctor is rushing towards his death, it could well be a portent of that...