A scary hotel

Toby Whithouse's The God Complex is an episode of Doctor Who at its very best. The idea is simple, a group of strangers, plus the Doctor and his companions, are chased around a hotel by a monster. It takes me back to the sixties with regular stories of bases being under siege. Then he adds to it.

The crux of this episode, in my opinion, is what the Minotaur does to you. It breaks your faith. This is why it was refreshing to see a non-Christian in the Muslim character of Rita, who even makes a quip about how we see all Muslims as terrorists.

This is what Doctor Who does best. It takes a simple things and makes it scary. To lose your faith is a big, life changing deal, and to have it taken away in this manner, in my opinion is a great idea. Toby Whithouse has produced the best script of his three. The ideas of the story are great and now it takes the talented production team at upper boat to fulfill his vision.

Thankfully they did not let down. The Sets were and design was fantastic. The Hotel is a depressing place and would not be a place I would want to stay. The casting is spot on. I was worried when they announced David Walliams was to be in this episode that he would not be up to the role.

However his acting ability easily outstrips his comedic abilitly. His character was so beautifully written and acted. I was at times if this seemingly innocent and meager character was not in fact charge of the hotel. I will also want to praise Arthur Darvill comedic acting he did. He got some funny lines and brought them alive in away that is not deliberately funny, but a way to lighten the load.

Finally we get to Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. A lot of this episode’s burden was laid at their feet. If it went wrong it would because of them. However, they didn’t. Matt Smith slow realization that he hurts the people closest to him. They way Amy and the Doctor leave (and that was a shock ) was so well done, it was hard not to have a tear in the eye.

This episode was a bold move, someway more daring that the Doctor’s Wife, with a script with little action and more thinking required. I think they have done it well and with the last scene chaning the game I look forward to seeing how it pays off.

8/10