Sleep No More (''Doctor Who'')

"Sleep No More" is the ninth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 November 2015.^[2] The episode is framed around the concept of found footage, and consists of recordings recovered from the wreckage of Le Verrier Space Station.^[2]

Plot

The viewer is addressed by Gagan Rassmussen, a researcher aboard the Le Verrier Space Station in orbit around Neptune in the 38th century, through a glitch-filled video. Rassmussen warns the viewer not to watch the video, but says its found footage will explain the events that have transpired.

Hours earlier, a rescue ship is dispatched from Triton when communication with Le Verrier is lost. Aboard, the four soldiers, Nagata, Chopra, Deep-Ando, and 474, discover the station empty save for the Doctor and Clara, passing off as assessors. The group is chased by "Sandmen", humanoid forms composed of dust that are impervious to weapons.

The Sandmen, as shown at the Doctor Who Experience.

They take safety in a lab filled with large pods, and discover Rassmussen. He explains they were testing the next iteration of Morpheus, a device that uses electrical impulses to the brain to compress a month's worth of sleep into a few minutes, when the Sandmen appeared and devoured the rest of the crew. Chopra notes that Morpheus is controversial and has refused to use it. The Doctor suspects that Morpheus and the Sandmen are connected, the latter formed from rheum. Sandmen flood the room and appear to consume Rassmussen; the others escape when a fluctuation in the station's gravity shielding temporarily disintegrates the Sandmen.

Chopra, Deep-Ando, and 474 are killed during their escape. In safety, the Doctor monitors the Sandmen and realises they are blind and are receiving some type of video signal, which he views through his sonic sunglasses. The video shows the various points-of-view of all but Chopra, and the Doctor confirms the Sandmen are being controlled by the Morpheus signal.

They make their way to the ship but Rassmussen is alive, trapping them in a room with a Sandman. Rassmussen plans to use the ship to return to Triton and release Morpheus there. The Doctor engineers their escape and forces the gravity shielding to fail, sending the station and ship into Neptune. The Doctor comments that the situation seems too contrived for them to have been in any real danger before they leave in the TARDIS.

Aboard the ship, Rassmussen reveals to the viewer he is also a Sandman, being affected by the gravity well. Before disintegrating, Rassmussen explains he wanted to assure the video the viewer is watching was seen by others, as its glitches contain the Morpheus signal and will allow it to spread.

Continuity

When debating with Clara about naming the creatures, the Doctor mutters "It's like the Silurians all over again", referring to an old adversary that first appeared in Doctor Who and the Silurians.^[3][4]

According to writer Mark Gatiss, the Doctor's mention of "the Great Catastrophe" that befell humankind is referring to the collision between the Earth and the Sun described in the Season 21 serial Frontios.^[5]

Outside references

The title is in reference to the Shakespeare play, Macbeth: "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep" which the Doctor quotes during the episode.^[4][6]

Clara asks if the Morpheus Machine is actually named after Morpheus, the god of dreams. The Morpheus hologram also uses the term 'in the arms of Morpheus', a phrase meaning to be in a deep sleep.^[4]

The Morpheus machine theme song, "Mr. Sandman", was popularized by the group the Chordettes among others in 1954.^[4][7]

Those like Chopra who refuse to compress their sleep via the Morpheus process are referred to as 'Rips'—a reference to the short story "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving.^[5]

Production

The read through for this episode took place on 23 July 2015 and filming took place on 27 July to 12 August 2015. A new title screen specially designed for this episode was shown instead of the usual opening sequence, the first such instance in the show's history.^[8]

Cast notes

Reece Shearsmith appeared in "An Adventure in Space and Time" as Patrick Troughton. Tom Wilton appeared as a Zygon in "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion". Bethany Black is the first openly Transgender actor to appear on Doctor Who.^[9]

Broadcast and reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	67%[10]
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	6.1[10]
The A.V. Club	B[11]
Paste Magazine	8.0[12]
SFX Magazine	[13]
TV Fanatic	[14]
IGN	8.4[15]
New York Magazine	[16]
Radio Times	[17]

The episode received mixed reviews and was watched by 4 million viewers overnight in the UK, a 18.2% audience share. This rose to 5.61 in final figures, which made it the lowest of any episode of Doctor Who since the show was revived in 2005, until the episode "Oxygen" in the next series, which received 5.27 million viewers. It received an Appreciation Index score of 78, the lowest since the 2006 story "Love & Monsters", which received a score of 76.^[18] The episode also received the lowest score of the ninth series on Rotten Tomatoes, reporting a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.1/10 based on 15 reviews. The website's consensus reads "Doctor Who's effective horror elements and unexpected cliffhanger save 'Sleep No More' from being a gimmicky found-footage episode."^[19] John Hussey of Cult Fix gave the episode a positive review, praising Gatiss's writing and the acting of Reece Shearsmith.^[20]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Twelfth Doctor

• "Sleep No More" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Sleep No More" on Tardis Data Core, an external wiki
• "Sleep No More" at Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• "Sleep No More" on IMDb