Sleep No More (TV story)

 was the ninth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

It broke away from the traditional filming style of the series by featuring a unique and non-musical title sequence and depicting the events of the story through a found-footage style of direction, featuring all of its scenes in a manner that suggests they were being viewed through video recordings rather than in third-person.

It also was the first episode of Doctor Who to have its title given during the closing credits rather than the opening credits. The only other time that a television story did not feature a title during the opening titles was the 2005 Children in Need Special, which did not display any discernible title at all.

Synopsis
From footage in the Le Verrier space station, the Doctor and Clara are shown to be up against terrifying Sandmen in a situation which involves sleep and lots of death.

Plot
Professor Gagan Rassmussen breathlessly introduces a video he’s assembled from found footage, warning would-be viewers of the recording’s inherent (but unspecified) danger.

Nagata and her team (Chopra, Deep-Ando, and Grunt 474) dock with the Le Verrier space station, armed and ready to execute a rescue mission. The soldiers’ personal equipment apparently includes helmet-cams which — in addition to the station’s security system — document their unsuccessful search for Le Verrier’s personnel.

Instead, they encounter Clara and the Doctor, who present psychic paper to identify themselves as engineers stress-testing the station’s structural integrity. Together, the sextet search the corridors, commenting on 38th-century architecture, which blends Japanese and Indian elements.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Rassmussen - Reece Shearsmith
 * Nagata - Elaine Tan
 * Chopra - Neet Mohan
 * 474 - Bethany Black
 * Deep-Ando - Paul Courtenay Hyu
 * King Sandman - Paul Davis
 * Sandmen - Tom Wilton, Matthew Doman
 * Morpheus Presenter - Zina Badran
 * Hologram Singers - Natasha Patel, Elizabeth Chong, Nikkita Chadha, Gracie Lai

Uncredited cast

 * Voice of the Computer - Nikki Wilson

Story notes

 * This is the first televised episode of Doctor Who to carry no opening titles. The episode title and writer credit were instead placed at the start of the closing credits. The Big Finish audio story LIVE 34 previously utilised a similar format of presentation, with no titles or credits whatsoever. However, when Rassmussen's initial video footage ends, the series title appears in the form of a code. All characters' names as well as the space station's name all appear in the code.
 * The story is notable for using the found footage format, and for using elements of first person monologue told by Professor Rassmussen.
 * It is also notable for being the first episode in the series to cast an openly transgender actress, Bethany Black.
 * The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of a helmeted Nagata, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.15 p.m. / Found footage shows what fate befell the rescue mission led by Nagata (Elaine Tan)".
 * Writer Mark Gatiss had visited the countries Japan and India prior to writing this episode, which in turn inspired the use of them in this episode.
 * This is the first TV story written by Mark Gatiss to be set in the future rather than the past or present.
 * The Doctor mentions "The Great Catastrophe". After the airing of this episode, writer Mark Gatiss confirmed it was a reference to Frontios.
 * The space station in this story is named after French mathematician.

Ratings

 * BBC One Overnight: 4.0m
 * BBC America Overnight: to be added

Filming location
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor uses his psychic paper. (TV: The End of the World  et al.)
 * The Doctor suggest the station have very powerful anti-gravity shielding. The Doctor encountered such shields before.
 * The Doctor suggests the station is in night time setting. The Drum used day and night time setting. (TV: Under the Lake / Before the Flood)
 * The Doctor uses his sonic sunglasses. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice, et al.)
 * The Doctor again confuse "what happened" into meaning from the beginning of everything. (TV: The Girl Who Died)
 * The audience is given a warning prior to the beginning of the story, (TV: The Bells of Saint John) albeit not to watch the episode, rather than avoid a mysterious Wi-Fi icon.
 * Nagata suspects the space station could be attacked by space pirates. (TV: The Space Pirates)
 * The Doctor again uses his finger to tell time. (TV: Under the Lake)
 * The Doctor says, "When I say run, run," which the Second and Fifth Doctors often said. (TV: The Power of the Daleks, The Tomb of the Cybermen, Castrovalva, Warriors of the Deep)
 * The Doctor once before almost mentioned the Great Catastrophe, but never got to say it all. (TV: Frontios)
 * The Doctor references his preference for being the one to name the monsters. (TV: Flatline) He also invokes the naming of the Silurians. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
 * Despite her earlier actions regarding them, Clara has been entrusted with a TARDIS key. (TV: Dark Water)
 * The Doctor has heard "Mr. Sandman" performed before. (TV: Delta and the Bannermen)
 * This is not the first time the Doctor's adventure becomes the subject of a recording that, if played, would infect and kill its audience. (AUDIO: Dead Air)
 * The Doctor moans Clara's naming of the creatures, saying it's the Silurians all over again. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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