Doctor Who season 10 episode 4 review: Nightmares within walls

On Doctor Who season 10 episode 4, Bill Potts had an opportunity to look at one key question further: How much of a life could she have that does not involve The Doctor? She may want an existence that is somewhat separate from him, but this is her world now. Maybe he pops in here and there, but he can’t just ship him away when she doesn’t want to see him. Sooner or later, he comes back and that is something that she just has to deal with.

For “Knock Knock,” Bill saw The Doctor join her for an almost bottle-episode adventure that took place within the midst of her search for student housing. Every college student needs it, and it’s almost as close of a nightmare sometimes as what we saw here. There was all sorts of nastiness within the place Bill wanted to call home; basically, this is not an episode you enjoyed if you hate insects. It’s a house that was consuming people, but there was a largely purpose behind it.

Basically, the proprietor of said establishment was using bug-like creatures in order to keep his supposed daughter Eliza alive. She was sick, she was suffering, and she was incredibly freaky in her own right. (The makeup job on Eliza was tremendous.) What was so fascinating about this story was that the more we saw of it, the more apparent that it became that this was not a story about good and evil; it was a story in some ways about a sacrifice, and what a father was able to do for his daughter. Was he still an awful human? Absolutely, but it’s a moral dilemma that many parents out there would not want to face.

The Doctor tried to resolve matters within the house by appealing to Eliza and her “father” as an actual doctor, offering that he could find a way to make her better without having to resort to such horrific and terrible means.

Here’s the twist

Eliza was not actually his daughter; instead, she was his mother the whole time, and the proprietor was simply trying to keep her alive. This twist was emotional and ultimately, it did not change the moral or ethical dilemma at the heart of the story. He was just trying to preserve a certain part of his life that he enjoyed; however, this is life, and this must go on. This is the truth that this man was unwilling to face.

As an episode of Doctor Who, we adore just how simple the story and the twist was this time. This is without mentioning the fantastic work by the set designers and the makeup artists who made this world fully believable. It may not have been the funniest hour of the season, but “Knock Knock” was by far the best. Eliza had to make the painful decision to kill her own son to stop the killings and the heartbreak; Bill and her remaining friends would have a chance to move on, and it was time for the owners of this home to face reality and whatever the afterlife would bring. Powerful stuff, and scary at the same time. Grade: A-.

Next time on Doctor Who season 10

We’ve got a preview for the upcoming installment over at this link! Let’s just say that it’s very different than anything that you saw tonight. (Photo: BBC.)

What did you think about “Knock Knock” as a whole? Share in the comments below! (Photo: BBC.)