Mark Gatiss is generally seen to be one of the more traditional writers on Doctor Who. Where others might try and push the format of the show, Gatiss can usually be counted on to deliver straightforward, entertainment that doesn't particularly challenge the viewers. With Sleep No More Gatiss has attempted to produce a story that is both experimental and traditional at the same time. Sadly it doesn't quite work.
The story sees a military crew arriving on an abandoned 'Le Verrier' space station and finding monsters created by the mad Professor Rassmausen. In that sense it is a very traditional episode, with a bunch of indeterminable space marines being chased down corridors by monsters. The Space Marines all have one stock character traits. The Captain says 'pet' a lot, Chopra is the political one. Deep Ando is the joker, albeit one who never really makes any jokes and 474 is the slave clone. In the role of 474. The Sandman monsters are generally quite straightforwad.
The episode is experimental in the sense that it is a 'found footage' episode. The problem with found footage is that there are points where the story is difficult to follow. It also interferes with the Sandman, which are a very fairytale creature.
The actors are somewhat lost among this found footage experiment. Peter Capaldi is great as ever but Jenna Coleman is stuck playing Clara as a generic companion who gets nothing to do besides falling into a box. In the role of 474, Bethany Black joins the long cast of wasted guest stars in the show. The mad professor is Rassmussen, the big guest star of the episode, played by Reece Shearsmith.
The only other thing that I can say is that I liked the Japanese aesthetic, although that doesn't hide the fact that this is a basic base. I think that sums up the episode in a nutshell. An experimental exterior hiding a traditional and extremely hollow interior. Experimental episodes should not be frowned away from, but they need to be better than this.
5/10
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