‘FEAR HER’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Isolus and the London Olympics 2012 with the Tenth Doctor and Rose
Here’s another adventure starring David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose!
I was looking forward to seeing the last three episodes of Series 2 with the Doctor and Rose in them! These included a single-episode story and a two-parter with Daleks and Cybermen in it. It was also to build up to a big swansong for one of the Doctor’s well-loved companions in the series – Rose Tyler.
‘Fear Her’ is an okayish sort of story by Matthew Graham. This is his first contribution to the TV series. It is directed by Euros Lyn and is so creepy in places and it features a familiar setting in the not-so distant future!
This episode is set in 2012 during the London Olympics. Rose and the Doctor visit and discover children are disappearing in a suburban area. They investigate and discover what has been going on.
The mysterious disappearances of the children involve a little girl named Chloe Webber. She abducts them by doing children’s drawings and capturing their likenesses, trapping them inside the drawings.
This is an unusual story as it features some intriguing concepts. It is well executed with the sunny context in the familiar suburban setting, which I recognise as the familiar Tremorfa area in Cardiff. 🙂
To think that the London Olympics 2012 has come and gone, hey? I don’t recall people vanishing in a big stadium and I don’t recall the Doctor carrying the Olympic torch then. I must have missed it. 😀
David Tennant is brilliant in this TV episode. I liked the Doctor’s ‘fingers on lips’ moment when he’s calming everyone down and I also liked it when he reveals to Rose that he used to be a father once.
Billie Piper is equally brilliant as Rose. She and the Doctor work well together when investigating the mystery. She manages to hold her own when the Doctor’s captured and she ends up saving the day.
Rose gets to have her moments when she uses a pickaxe to dig up the road which upsets Kel who’s tarmacked it fresh. Rose uses the pickaxe to break into Chloe’s bedroom when she locks herself in.
Abisola Agbaje guest stars as Chloe Webber, giving an extraordinary performance. Chloe is a girl who stays in her bedroom, drawing and ignoring her mum Nina Sosanya as Trish is concerned about her.
Chloe is being possessed by the Isolus, an immature spore-like alien being that has travelled in space and ended up on Earth. It ended up in Chloe and has the need to be loved, full of intense emotion.
The monster is a drawing of Chloe’s horrible father who she has drawn from her nightmares. This was very scary when I watched it and only Chloe and her mum’s Kookaburra song can scare it away.
There’s a moment that I liked when Rose sees a tabby cat disappearing into a box. Chloe draws the cat on the page and the cat disappears. Also when Rose gets attacked by a ‘scribble’ was frightening.
That moment when Chloe draws the Doctor and the TARDIS and traps them inside was quite horrifying. It terrifies Rose especially when she’s alone and she tries to stop Chloe and her drawings.
‘Fear Her’ has been an interesting and enjoyable episode to watch. It’s not great by any means, but it has been a nice addition in the TV series to watch. The Doctor and Rose work so well and I liked the familiar London Olympics; suburban setting and the scary Chloe who draws people in her drawings.
At the end of the episode, Rose remarks to the Doctor that nothing will ever split them up. But the Doctor isn’t sure, as he looks up to the night sky filled with fireworks and sees a storm approaching…
The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this episode are as follows. There’s an audio commentary with writer Matthew Graham and executive producer Julie Gardner. There’s also the ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ episode ‘The Fright Stuff’.
‘Fear Her’ rating – 7/10
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Bradley's Basement 
I kinda felt the budget ran out on this story & it didn’t quite forfill it’s original premise, not a bad story by any means but could’ve been better.
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Yeah it’s not a great ‘Doctor Who’ episode from the series and it could have been better. But I found it enjoyable anyway and it makes for a nice filler before the big finale of Series 2.
Interesting that this episode was an emergency one following the dropping of Stephen Fry’s episode for the series. I wonder what that story would have been like.
Thanks Simon! Tim. 🙂
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