In the forest of the Night is the penultimate story of the series and another one that has an interesting idea to it. One day everyone wakes up to find the world has become a huge jungle. Landmarks such as Nelson’s column are now surrounded by trees and shrubs. This story has Captain Grumpy back in the show and not just in one scene but from start to finish and I know I have been saying that he hasn't been as grumpy as he started out as but sadly he seems to have reverted back to his old self again. Quite frankly if I had a kid and captain Grumpy was their teacher then I would be worried. This is because he loses a child quite quickly.
The big mystery is how and where the trees came from and why they have appeared overnight. The explanation that they are protecting the earth from a huge solar flare is quite a good one and it quite a creative way of taking a normal thing like a forest and giving it a hugely sci-fi purpose. I think there maybe some science truth in what happens with trees but I don't know nor understand that so that can be left for another blog. Maybe when I finish this marathon then I could do a science blog…..maybe not. Anyway I thought that the writer did a good job with the script but there were a few things that didn't quite work. First the school kids were just a constant source of irritation because it seemed like just when things were getting somewhere the kids would be there to slow things down. Then there is the small matter of Maebh who is an interesting character and has a interesting back story and its that she lost her sister which at first I thought meant that she had died but turns out she went missing. Now for 99% of the time that she is on screen I thought she was quite interesting (more interesting than Clara) but when it's revealed that her sister was in fact in a shrub in her front garden I thought that it slightly ruined the character for me. It seemed like a bit of a cop-out which might seem a bit harsh but it's how I saw things in this episode.
I've gone quite far into this blog before I mentioned the Doctor and there isn't a particular reason for that because it was a fine performance from Peter Capaldi. He dealt with the kids rather well and was running around with the kind of energy that I don't think I have seen from him so far. Jenna Coleman was just frustrating in this and that is because Clara wanted to be having the adventure but the teacher in her stopped her and she seemed at times to be happy to be saddled with Captain Grumpy.
The appearance of Missy was quite enjoyable but I do wonder what interest she has in the earth covered in trees. She acts surprised when the earth is protected and I can't remember whether this is part of the arc so it will be interesting to see whether it's revealed.
On the whole I enjoyed this episode because there was enough to maintain my interest and the idea itself is rather good and the directing was good enough. Sadly the whole thing was ruined by Captain Grumpy and his trusty sidekick Clara. Now the series has reached the finale and the trailer is making me look forward to tomorrow's episode. Everything is going to be explained and I now have just three episodes left and I think that two of them are going to be fantastic but which two ?
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