Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill, Tanya Fear, Sharon D. Clarke, Ravin J. Ganatra, Shobna Gulati, William Meredith, Chris Noth, Bhavnisha Parmar.
If you are going to give your audience a fright then one sure fire way is to relate to their most basic fears, the ordinary phobia made terrifying, by ramping up the size and the possibility of the dread, the audience understands that whilst the science behind it may seem a bit of a non-starter, at least it grabs your attention enough to be memorable.
The complexity of our brain, our D.N.A, is such that a small creature such as a spider sitting still on its web is arguably more excruciatingly alarming than the possibility any manner of imaginary creatures that have lit up the screen over the past several decades…monsters can be explained away, they soon disappear into the realm of cult fantasy reminisce, the place where you go to when you want to give the heart the expected shiver and tingle of excitement, but spiders, they are with us all the time and for the arachnophobe, that is more worrying than any acid dripping alien or weapon wielding predator.
It is not an unjust thought in which some will see spiders as an enemy to be kept out of sight, their cobwebs never forming, you only have to see a picture of one on social media to understand the very human response of believing the only good spider, is a dead one, trampled underfoot, set on fire, eradicated from the face of the Earth, and for any fan of the classic Doctor Who story-lines and adventures, spiders are not creatures to be taken lightly.
Whilst the fourth episode of the new series was laudable for the powerful messages it laced the story Arachnids In The U.K. with, especially ones of environmental concerns, it did seem to be slightly cast heavy, a ponderance perhaps to having three companions in what was essentially a good story that could have been driven with just one. To this end though Tanya Fear as the Sheffield based scientist certainly caught the attention with her poise and delivery and Chris Noth bringing a discernible egomania to the screen as hotel chain owner and businessman Robertson, and alongside Bradley Walsh who continues to impress as one of the 13th Doctor’s companions, the story itself held up with sizeable grace.
A story that will divide the fandom, that will have had viewers either gripped or turning away, only peeking through crossed fingers, in other words, a nod to the classic era when it was anything but cosy.
Ian D. Hall