Listen
- Episode aired Sep 13, 2014
- TV-PG
- 47m
When ghosts of past and future crowd into their lives, The Doctor and Clara are thrown into an adventure that takes them to the very end of the universe.When ghosts of past and future crowd into their lives, The Doctor and Clara are thrown into an adventure that takes them to the very end of the universe.When ghosts of past and future crowd into their lives, The Doctor and Clara are thrown into an adventure that takes them to the very end of the universe.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSteven Moffat revealed that the episode originated with the decision, "I'm going to do a chamber piece, with no money, in the middle [of the eighth series], because I haven't done one in ages and I'd like to prove that I can actually write."
- GoofsThe Doctor should remember that Clara, as the "Impossible Girl," was present in every moment of the Doctor's life to save him, and not allow the TARDIS extrapolate her time line when it includes all of his as well. But this Doctor has demonstrated other memory loss in series 8, possibly because he is the first regeneration in a new set (of 12) and the consequences of that are not fully known.
- Quotes
Clara Oswald: So listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this. You're always gonna be afraid even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's ok. Because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home. I'm gonna leave you something, just so you'll always remember. Fear makes companions of us all.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Doctor Who Extra: Listen (2014)
Moffat is an expert at crafting fear in a script, and Listen was no exception. The idea of playing on a nightmare "that everyone has" could have been risky, but Moffat plays it out with perfection. Much like most horror, fear comes from the unknown. In this case, it is the idea of something, or someone, hiding under your bed whilst you sleep. Listen doesn't really follow a basic plot structure, there is no defined beginning, middle or end. But it's all the better for it. Stripping the episode of a basic structure allows it to feel more natural, which, in turn, makes the horror increasingly effective. Almost the entire first half of Listen is played solely to evoke fear in the audience, and it does its job perfectly.
Capaldi is, yet again, even stronger here than we've seen him before; there's a strong possibility he will be everyone's favourite Doctor by the time Series 8 comes to an end. Coleman is incredible here, too. I went into Series 8 loathing Clara, and now she's becoming one of my favourite companions. Her character has developed so nicely so far, I hope this gets continued. But where Listen truly excels is in the direction it takes in the final fifteen minutes. The level of emotion and weight to the story spontaneously deepens, and whilst all suddenly becomes very clear, it simultaneously wraps up perfectly, with a conclusion so powerful it could rival 2006's Doomsday. There isn't really anything sad here, but the dialogue for the entire barn scene, matched with some clever tie-ins with previous episodes, makes a beautiful ending to a beautiful episode. Listen was perfect in every respect; the direction, the writing, the acting, the tone. This is exactly the kind of tone that Moffat should focus on more. As stated at the beginning of this review, I am a huge fan of Moffat's work on this show, and this was no exception. Listen is highly likely to be the best episode of the series, and will potentially go down as one of Doctor Who's very, very best.
- ryanjmorris
- Sep 14, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales, UK(Clara and Danny's date - at Mimosa restaurant)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime47 minutes
- Color