Warning: This post contains spoilers for Doctor Who Series 10 Episode 4 Knock Knock. Please come back after watching the episode.
Knock knock, who’s there? Doctor. Doctor Who? That’s right it’s that time of week again, to turn on the TV, get a nice cup of tea ready and literally hide behind the sofa for the scariest episode of Series 10 yet.
Knock Knock, written by playwright and Who first-timer Mike Bartlett, begins with Bill and several university friends trying to find a new place to live. The real estate agent takes them around to several expensive but small properties, though there is nothing the group is able to afford. I feel this is a nice commentary on the current housing affordability crisis currently experienced by young people in areas such as Bristol, London, New York, Sydney and even my hometown Brisbane (if only the Fifth Doctor managed to get Tegan to Brisbane… I’ve always wanted a Who episode to be set here).
As the group of students leaves the real estate agency, having been unsuccessful in their search for a home, they bump into an old man (The Landlord, played by David Suchet) who offers to let them stay in his creepy old mansion (which eagle-eyed viewers might recognise as the filming location of both Blink and Last Christmas). When we see the mansion you can’t help but think ‘this is about to get scary’ and scary, it certainly is.
But first, a bit of light comedy. We see Bill backing up some items from her foster mother’s flat. The TARDIS then lands around all of her boxes and delivers them to the new house. The TARDIS delivery service ladies and gentlemen. When I moved homes four months ago I really could have used such an easy, convenient, quick and probably very cheap delivery service. Ah well, the joys of fiction.
The Doctor helps Bill move some of the boxes into the house, but you can tell he feels something is off with the old home. There is a mystery to solve.
What follows is a montage of haunted house cliches which, despite being expected, are truly terrifying. A number of Bill’s friend start to disappear within the house, seemingly eaten by the walls, windows, shutters, and doors slam shut, there appears to be no escape. Thankfully despite Bill asking the Doctor earlier to leave, he has remained and while separated, the Doctor and Bill begin to solve the mystery.
David Suchet as The Landlord is perhaps one of the best one-off guest performances ever on Who. Despite not have a large amount of screen time, Suchet portrays several different variations of the character throughout the episode. From the welcoming and helpful landlord to a creepy killer and then a young boy just not wanting to be separated from his mother, the actor was just captivating to watch in every scene he was in. It’s a testament to the Poirot actors ability and he was certainly perfectly cast.
Doctor Who seems to shine whenever it features emotional twists relating to family. From the Curse of Fenric in the Seventh Doctor’s final series to Fathers Day in Series 1 of the revival, family stories always seem to pull at the heartstrings. The Oedipus complex aside (ie the very weird relationship to the Landlord had with his mother, pretending he was the mother’s father, when in fact, he was the son), the reveal of the Landlord’s true intentions and who he was lead to an emotional finale in the episode. I certainly felt for the villain of the week.
For writer Mike Bartlett to fit all of that into the 45-minute episode was genius. The episode began with a political statement, then some comedy, became quite scary and then wrapped up in a very emotional way. Knock Knock has certainly been a strong episode of Doctor Who and one I will definitely revisit in the future. I hope Bartlett returns to Doctor Who in the future. He would be a welcome addition back.
Quote of the Week:
“You signed the contract, now it’s time to pay.” – The Landlord
The Story Arc:
In the final scene of the episode, we see Nardole (in his only appearance) playing around with the Vault doors, as Fur Elise by Beethoven plays in the background. The Doctor then appears (with what appears to be bags of takeaway food) and Nardole asks him why he gave whatever is in the vault a piano. The Doctor orders Nardole to leave and he begins to speak to whatever is in the vault. He tells them he has a story he wants to tell them, but they keep playing the piano. They only stop playing when the Doctor mentions the story involves the death of children. Who likes to kill people for fun? Well, I couldn’t help but think of Missy from the series 8 finale where we hear her talking about how much she likes doing just that. Steven Moffatt has promised we will get the answer to what’s in the vault in Episode 6, so only two weeks until we find out.
Next week:
A space station that has sent out a distress call after an incident, only four survivors, series 10 really does feel like Classic Who. Oh, and it finally looks like we are about to see more of Nardole. Join me next Sunday for my recap of Doctor Who series 10 episode 5 Oxygen.