Night Terrors (TV story)

Night Terrors was the ninth episode in the sixth series of Doctor Who.

Synopsis
The Doctor receives a distress call from the scariest place in the Universe: a child’s bedroom. Every night George lies awake, terrorised by every fear imaginable – fears that live in his bedroom cupboard. His parents are getting desperate – George needs a doctor. Fortunately for George, his pleas for help break through the barriers of all time and space and the Doctor makes a house call. But allaying his fears won’t be easy. George’s monsters are real.

Plot
In an apartment block in England, a young boy called George is being put to bed by his mother, Claire, before she leaves for work; however, George is terrified of everything and reluctant to go to sleep. He makes his mother turn the lights on and off five times -- a nightly ritual -- and Claire encourages him to put what he's afraid of in his cupboard. When she leaves, George starts whispering, "Please save me from the monsters," over and over. Through the crack in the door, he listens to his mother and father, Alex, talking. Claire insists that George needs to see a doctor.

Meanwhile, in the TARDIS -- which is floating in space at the other end of the universe -- the Doctor receives George's message on his psychic paper and decides to make a house call. The trio arrives outside the apartment block, and Amy and Rory are temporarily unimpressed with where they have ended up, expecting aliens and history. The group splits up to search for George, each meeting a variety of characters, including the elderly Mrs. Rossiter, the beefy landlord Jim Purcell, and a mother and her twin daughters. All residents are suspicious of the strangers and slam the door in their faces; however, as the Doctor is going to meet Amy and Rory, he spots George frantically watching the corridor through the window in his room. Diverting his companions to a lower floor, the Doctor goes to George's apartment and knocks at the door. He is greeted by Alex, who believes that he is a Child Services representative that Claire called. The Doctor confirms this.

Amy and Rory take an elevator to the lower floor, but the sound of the lift terrifies George, who continues chanting, "Please save me from the monsters." His mantra prompts the elevator to plummet downwards at an alarmingly high speed; once it reaches the ground floor, the doors open to reveal that Amy and Rory are no longer inside. They awake on the floor of a dark and unusual house, though Rory suspects they have died (again). He later changes his theory, suggesting that the TARDIS has malfunctioned and they have been transported to the 1700s; however, they later discover a lantern with an electric light bulb inside it, along with a wooden pan painted to look like it was made of copper.

The Doctor speaks to Alex about George's fears, though Alex insists that George is "scared to death of everything." Alex and Claire have created a tradition with George -- anything that scares him, they put in the cupboard. The Doctor meets George, who wonders if the Doctor has come to take him away. Per the Doctor's suggestion, they prepare to open George's cupboard, but Purcell arrives and starts badgering Alex about the rent money he owes. George watches from his room, obviously terrified of Purcell and his dog. The Doctor tries to comfort George by activating all of his electronic toys with the sonic screwdriver; once George has calmed down, the Doctor scans his cupboard for "monsters," and is clearly shocked and terrified by the sonic's readings, which are "off the charts." When Alex returns and reaches for the cupboard door, the Doctor frantically stops him and declares, "George's monsters are real." Alex is outraged that the Doctor has apparently fed George's fears, leading the Doctor to tell Alex who he really is. They argue about whether to open the cupboard or not; however, when they do, the Doctor merely discovers some clothes and a dollhouse.

Elsewhere, Amy and Rory continue to explore the strange house in which they've landed, and become aware of a sinister giggling in a nearby closet. Their fears are temporarily allayed when they see the cupboard merely contains a human-sized wooden doll; however, when they leave the room to continue their exploring, the doll comes to life and begins to follow them. At the same time, Purcell is sucked through the floor of his apartment and Mrs. Rossiter is devoured by a pile of trash bags outside the apartments. Both end up inside the house, and are caught by the dolls. Purcell is turned into one in front of Amy and Rory. The duo tries to escape the dolls, but Amy is caught and also transformed.

Inside the flat, the Doctor realises that he is missing something. Picking up one of the photo albums that Alex had been showing him earlier, the Doctor realises that in a photo taken mere weeks before George's birth, Claire does not appear to be pregnant. Pressured by the Doctor, Alex shouts that Claire can't have children and becomes confused as to how he just remembered that. As the Doctor wonders what George is, the cupboard doors swing open and a bright light begins to suck Alex and the Doctor inside; George watches, horrified while chanting, "Please save me from the monsters." Despite the Doctor's attempts to help George understand that he means no harm, he is sucked inside with Alex.

Inside the cupboard, the Doctor realises that they are in George's dollhouse. They encounter the dolls and are pursued by them; while running, they encounter Rory, who reveals that Amy is the red-haired doll chasing them alongside the others. As the three men attempt to hold off the dolls, the Doctor realises that George is a Tenza -- aliens that hatch in space and then assimilate themselves to their foster parents' needs and desires. George sensed Claire's desire to have a child, and so he took the shape of a human boy and used a "massive psychic field" and a "perfect perception filter" to make his parents believe that he was their genetic son. The Doctor yells that George needs to face his fears or else there'll be nothing left of them; hearing this in his bedroom, a terrified George steps into his cupboard.

George appears in the dollhouse; because of this, the dolls stop focusing on the Doctor, Rory, and Alex, and begin to surround George, who calls for his father. The Doctor realises that it was Alex and Claire's suggestion that George be sent somewhere for help that inspired George's fears; he misunderstood the suggestion as a rejection of him. The Doctor encourages Alex to tell George that he was wrong, and while Alex initially expresses some reluctance at accepting George as his son, when he sees the dolls surrounding him and hears George's cries, he pushes the dolls aside to protect him. Alex tearfully embraces George and promises to never send him away. All the dolls stop moving.

All who were taken into the dollhouse wake on Earth the next morning, returned to their human forms. Amy is confused by what happened, though Rory insists that everything that she thinks happened is real. Back at the apartment, Claire returns home, astonished to find her son happy and well. The Doctor prepares to leave, but Alex runs after him, wondering what he should do since George isn't human. The Doctor commends Alex for his actions and insists that George will grow up like a normal boy, and will beocme whatever his parents want him to be. He meets up with Amy and Rory and they return to the TARDIS, with the Doctor remembering that they previously requested aliens and history. As they set a course for their next destination, a nursery rhyme sounds: "Tick, tock, goes the clock, even for the Doctor," as the time and place of the Doctor's death appears onscreen.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Alex - Daniel Mays
 * George - Jamie Oram
 * Claire - Emma Cunniffe
 * Jim Purcell - Andrew Tiernan
 * Elsie Rossiter - Leila Hoffman
 * Julie - Sophie Cosson

The Doctor

 * The Doctor mentions three of his favourite bedtime stories as a child: The Three Little Sontarans, The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes and Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday.

Foods and beverages from the real world

 * The Doctor and Alex drink tea.
 * The Doctor asks for Jammie Dodgers.

Species

 * George is a Tenza. He is able to match himself to people's needs and create perception filters.

Television series from the real world

 * Rory mentions EastEnders.
 * Bergerac was one of the channels Purcell briefly views whilst channel surfing.

Story notes

 * This episode had the working titles: House Call, (The Doctor notes that he doesn't often make house calls) and What are Little Boys Made of? (a play on the Star Trek episode What are Little Girls Made Of?).
 * This was originally going to be the fourth episode of the series, but was moved to the second half as Steven Moffat felt that the first half was "too dark". This necessitated minor changes to the episode. A scene with Madame Kovarian was removed, and the ending with the data file from Let's Kill Hitler was added. (This means Karen Gillan, when she filmed the episode, was in fact performing as the Ganger version of Amy.)
 * The scene where the Doctor and Alex are being sucked into the cupboard is very similar to the movie Poltergeist where the daughter is sucked into the spirit realm through her bedroom cupboard.
 * When Alex is looking at pictures, an announcer from the television can be heard. She says that he is watching BBC One on Saturday night, the same channel and day Doctor Who is on.
 * One of the children's stories the Doctor mentions, Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday, shares its title with a story in the then-recently published Doctor Who The Official Annual 2012. Had Night Terrors aired as originally planned in the first half of the season, the story would have been published afterwards (suggesting a probable tie-in with the episode).

Ratings

 * UK Overnight: 5.5 million
 * UK Final: 7.07 million

Myths

 * Amy will be turned into a doll. This was proven true.

Filming locations

 * Dyrham House, Bristol

Production errors
When the Doctor and Alex are being sucked into the cupboard by George, the bedroom is seen to be wrecked (a bookcase falling over, stuff falling off his bedside table etc.). When we cut back to the bedroom shortly after, everything is perfectly normal. (This may or may not be intentional, ie George made it normal again)

Continuity

 * Inside the dollhouse, Rory initially thinks he and Amy are "dead again". (DW: Amy's Choice, Cold Blood, The Pandorica Opens) He also believes at one point that the TARDIS is altering time and space again. (DW: The Doctor's Wife)
 * The Doctor asks for a Jammie Dodger. (DW: Victory of the Daleks, The Impossible Astronaut)
 * When the Doctor and Alex wake up in the Doll House, Alex wonders how it can be bigger on the inside. The Doctor says "More common than you'd think, actually" referring to the TARDIS.
 * When the Doctor explains to Alex that George is using a perception filter, he stops in the hallway to look in a mirror and makes the same face he did when he first saw his reflection in DW: The Vampires of Venice.
 * The Doctor performs his odd greeting kiss with Claire. (DW: The Lodger)
 * The sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. (DW: Silence in the Library, The Hungry Earth, The Curse of the Black Spot)
 * The information of the Doctor's death is shown (DW: Let's Kill Hitler) and the story arc involving his death is continued with the Peg Dolls' nursery rhyme.
 * The Eighth Doctor was previously turned into a doll by the Celestial Toymaker in a manner similar to Amy. (CC: Solitaire)
 * The Doctor again shows a connection to and concern for children. (DW: The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, The Hungry Earth, A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut, The Curse of the Black Spot).
 * The Doctor asks if there are any jelly babies he can have.
 * The Doctor mentions the titles of children's tales from Gallifrey: "The Three Little Sontarans"; "The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes" and "Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday". The last title marks the first acknowledgment in televised canon of the events of the 1970s stage play SP: Doctor Who and the Daleks in The Seven Keys to Doomsday.
 * The Fourth Doctor was shrunken down and chased through a doll's house by peg dolls in AG: The Dead Shoes.
 * Rory suspects that George's message could be junk mail. Junk mail has made it's way into the TARDIS before, in DW: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: DWM: Tuesday
 * This story occurs before: DWM: Body Snatched

Home video releases
This episode was released on the 10th of October 2011 with the rest of Part 2 of Series 6, and was released on the 21st of November 2011 with the rest of Series 6.