Doctor Who: Listen
S08E04 13 Sept 2014
Knock Knock?
Who's there?
Doctor.
Doctor Who?
Exactly.
[Whovian Spoilers Ahead!] Listen follows this trend. Like the silence, don't blink and run; listen will be a new catchword once you finish this episode. They manage to sneak this little gem in at least three times with profound meaning.
Directed by Douglas Mackinnon and written by the amazing Steven Moffat, Listen opens with a unique shot which exemplifies this new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, as being both different, new and original, but still the same old Madman with a Box. There is a frantic energy he brings to the role like he is a man running out of time, although that's certainly unlikely the case for this Timelord. Starting during Matt Smith's reign the show has become distinctly more Elizabethan and Steampunk. Capaldi's use of chalk boards in the TARDIS is both critical to the episode and takes this theme to the next level.
Listen is actually two stories that blend, perhaps crash, together by the conclusion. On one hand we have Clara, played by Jenna Coleman, just trying to have a date with Danny, played by Samuel Anderson. On the other we have the Doctor, obsessed with a hypothesis which drives this episode about as far as one can travel. He practically abducts Clara to come along but shows his caring side when she asks for help with her date.
Previous Doctors have seemed almost omniscient in their ability to understand things but each has had a blind spot. Capaldi's blind spot is people. He's not trying to be normal, to fit in and understand them. When Clara lies to him, it's hard to be sure if he knows, or he's just lying. In the past he has often later admitted that he knew everything, but even that could be a lie.
"Rule one: the Doctor lies." -Matt Smith, Let's Kill Hitler.
Yeah, and then this happened. Yes, in this episode.
While Clara's life gives a human story to this episode, I find myself far more fascinated with the creature that the Doctor is hunting through the episode. He believes there may be a creature whose primary evolutionary trait is hiding and he goes looking for it. And Moffat refuses to tell the audience if there is a creature there or not! Go. Watch it again. Look more carefully.
Look at the chalk scene at the beginning. Did Capaldi write 'Listen' on the chalk board, just off camera and throw the chalk on the ground and forget, or did something else? The way the shot is done, it could go either way. Who was under the sheet? Who opened the door. What did Doctor Who see? Maybe nothing at all? I doubt it.
"And I know things, secrets that must never be told and knowledge that must never be spoken. " - Matt Smith, The Rings of Akhatan.
Doctor Who is a man of secrets that must never be told. He learns one in this episode, possibly, and the audience doesn't get to know what it is! We are often told of these great secrets and here we get to see the crafting of one. Like the Weeping Angels, I have to suspect this will come back as a more in depth sequel but I hope it doesn't at the same time. This is such a brilliant episode, perhaps it could be just left alone on display, perfect, a piece of art finished.
Listen
What’s that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye?
What’s that footstep following, but never passing by?
Perhaps they’re not just waiting.
Perhaps when we’re all dead,
out they’ll come a-slithering from underneath the bed.
(What's that in the mirror? Well, it's Sister of Mine from the Family of Blood because you put her there Doctor! Unless perhaps you've finally forgiven her.)
" ...what if we are never really alone?" - Peter Capaldi, Listen
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