In the Forest of the Night: Reviews and Reaction Roundup

Reviews

Doctor Who Worldwide

Whilst the reviewer takes issue with some of the psychology of the story and the lack of clear messages, its strengths lie in its visual beauty and the wonderful characterisations. As a Father of seven it is perhaps not surprising that the voices of the children themselves in Cottrell Boyce’s script are strongly realistic. The salvific speech of Maebh that is transmitted around the world is beautifully written in an age specific way. Fairy tales certainly express our primal fears in narrative form, but they very often include children at their very heart. For it is the imagination of our children that can bring hope and a future – protection not from the dangers of solar flares but from the dangers we pose to ourselves.

The Independent

‘In the Forest of the Night’ is a novel concept that starts off well but unravels fairly quickly. Too much time is spent to-ing and fro-ing between the Tardis, while the explanation for why trees have mysteriously taken over the Earth feels a bit muddled. Perhaps it’s a generational thing that grown ups just “don’t get”.

The Telegraph

Peter Capaldi was a delight, too, in this episode; his irascibility with the kids feeling reminiscent of William Hartnell’s cantankerous Doctor. Cottrell Boyce gave him some deliciously waspish lines (“Even my incredibly long life is too short for Les Miserables”) and also allowed him a beautiful, brief exchange with Clara (Jenna Coleman) in which he elaborated on his love of humankind. This is a Doctor who may seem mercurial but is capable of unexpected moments of warmth. The animals (a tiger and a pack of leaping wolves) may have been seen too briefly and the story may have lacked the dynamic pace of some earlier episodes, but this was a powerful piece, a fully-realised, meticulously crafted story which proved that Doctor Who can let in an auteur and adapt to his will. Certainly we were told to be kind to the trees but it never felt as if Cottrell Boyce was preaching some eco message. It was too poetic, too subtly drawn for that.

Radio Times

At a stretch, In the Forest of the Night could be interpreted as a modern spin on the origins of Doctor Who. Capaldi as the tetchy, otherworldly Doctor. Danny and Clara as 21st-century equivalents of Coal Hill School teachers Ian and Barbara. And as for Susan, the original Unearthly Child… well, in Maeve we have, in a peculiar sense, An Earthly Child. But whereas that first episode in 1963 transported us away from Totters Lane, there’s a nagging anxiety that 2014 is depositing us in Cobblers Yard.

Den of Geek

Still, mixed feelings on this one. On first watch, as we reported in our spoiler-free review, we enjoyed In The Forest Of The Night. We watched it with a Who-loving ten-year old as it happened, who got an awful lot out of it. Watching it again, in solitude, we still enjoyed it. But the evident plot problems were more prominent. Yet for these issues, we’re a long way from Doctor Who at its weakest, and more towards Doctor Who with its courage pants on. Thus, we’ve got an episode that takes as many, if not more risks than any adventure this series. And while it doesn’t really get away with them all, it tries its damnedest to do so.

SFX

True, the eventual explanation for it all (er, so let’s get this straight: invisible fireflies that pre-date mankind materialising into trees to save the Earth from a solar flare that humanity, with all its advanced technology, is apparently incapable of detecting) proves about as plausible as, say, a giant creature hatching out of the Moon and then laying an egg the size of itself. Plus the final scene, in which little Maebh’s missing sister returns home, is perhaps a spoonful of sugar too much, not to mention puzzlingly absurd – has she been hiding in a hydrangea bush all this time? But these are comparatively trivial issues which don’t detract too much from an episode whose fairytale imagery lingers in the mind long after the credits have rolled, like a strange, vivid dream.

Starburst

What In the Forest of the Night will mostly be judged on, though, is its plot, and there’s no doubt that this is what will irk a lot of fans. There’s no villain, only an act of nature, and in a far more ostentatious manner than the already contentious Kill the Moon undertook to do it, Cottrell-Boyce provides only a symbolic resolution to the dilemma that permeates the entire story, that asks for no forgiveness, and that offers no attempt at plausibility. In the Forest of the Night is perhaps then the least compromising and the most potentially alienating story in the series’ history, and how you react to it depends entirely upon whether you’re willing to accept its concepts at face value. Considering that Cottrell-Boyce throws one impossible thing at the viewer after another – albeit interspersed with some amusing logical extensions – there is only one way to accept the story as presented: it is a fairy tale, pure and simple. It is not a fable, allegory or parable; it is quite brazenly an authentic fairy tale, masquerading as Doctor Who. And it is therefore entirely impractical to try and suspend your disbelief and accept the events as shown; there is nothing “real” about how the episode unfolds and the last few minutes, as the newly-born trees dissolve into fairy dust, are the most striking evidence of this. Doctor Who has never attempted anything quite so mythical before, and this story will no doubt become one of those exceptional and distinct entries in the canon that can’t and should never be repeated.

Personalities Reaction

This is my original pitch for intheforestofthe night. Some ideas grew and some faded away pic.twitter.com/jmTOYOBcp1

— Frank Cottrell-Boyce (@frankcottrell_b) October 25, 2014

Which Doctors *wouldn't* have found life too short for Les Mis? I'm guessing the 4th and 11th. #doctorwho

— Daniel Blythe (@danblythewriter) October 26, 2014

Tiger tiger burning bright. Tonight's #doctorwho was a little bit shite

— Simon Forward (@prefect4d) October 25, 2014

@nimbos You're going to start asking about the 8.3 million Londoners who didn't step outside their homes next.

— Jonny Morris (@jonnymorris1973) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide Great premise, entertaining & intriguing up to the point it dawns the story's founded on more magic and schmalz than Disney

— Simon Forward (@prefect4d) October 25, 2014

Reader Reaction

@DrWhoWorldwide I'm a teacher - I love the fact that practically half of Coal Hill school have now travelled in the TARDIS

— Lovely Ruthie (@Lovelyruthie) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide Really good. Kids that were scripted to sound like kids. Clever idea, nice ending. The Doctor didn't solve anything though.

— Jason Cobley (@CobleyWriter) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide was a good, solid episode. Didn't expect to enjoy it from the trailers, but it was alright. Not quite Flatline or Listen

— Barry Roberts (@silentbazz) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide An utter mess from start to finish. I don't have a single positive thing to say about it. Garbage.

— Hamfisted Bun Vendor (@MetalOllie) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide Silly but at least I watch now just for Capaldi's performance. Such an inspired choice.

— Adrian Last (@LeffeAt49DS) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide moral provoking thoughts packed in the narrative,scarsely compelling though. Best thing for me was Danny's characterization.

— Francesca (@mslavenza) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide really weak. No plot, no character development, no… anything. Very forgettable.

— Jitterbug (@royalcrisp) October 25, 2014

@DrWhoWorldwide great story, thought provoking, this series is different which is good, never stand still, always moving on…

— James Bamford (@TheJamesBamford) October 25, 2014