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Doctor Who: Does ‘In the Forest of the Night’ Deserve a Second Viewing?

By Joel Getter

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For every series of Doctor Who, there is always one story that falls slightly below par. Although Series 8 had a lot more misses than hits, one of the most hated episodes had to be ‘In the Forest of the Night.’ It was voted the worst episode for Peter Capaldi‘s debut series. After watching this episode during its original run, I clearly remember hating it and vowing to never watch it again. I felt that it was just more of the nonsensical fairy tale mess that represented everything that I hated about the Steven Moffat era. Plus it included children in the plot, which I typically find never works.

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Perhaps, I was a bit too critical. Last week, I had nothing to watch so I decided to load it through Netflix and give it another try. So did this rewatch drastically change my viewpoint on an episode I completely detested on initial viewing? Yes and no. I still found the episode had its problems, but I also found several positives about it that I would now like to share.

1) The Doctor Is Out of His Element

Traditionally, the Doctor is quickly able to assess the situation and deliver answers. This time he is frustrated at not being able to sort things out. Even his sonic screwdriver is useless this time because, of course, it doesn’t work when it comes to wood. When the Doctor learns about the solar flare he eventually resolves to leave Earth to its impending doom. On first viewing, this seemed very out of character, but on a repeat watch, I actually found this kind of refreshing. There was no David Tennant getting a moment of inspiration and using the TARDIS to stop the crisis. This is a Doctor who helps, but at the same time, has a respect for the natural outcomes that can occur during his travels. This brought to mind the era of the First Doctor when the character was often in the background to his companions who took on the hero role. Which brings me to my next point which is…

Related: Series 8’s ‘Kill the Moon’ is Worth Reconsidering

2) Danny Pink Gets an Opportunity to Shine

Throughout Series 8, Clara’s boyfriend demonstrated strong capabilities in the face of danger despite being new to all this extraterrestrial business. When the Doctor, Clara, and Maebh are about to be attacked by a tiger, it is Mr. Pink who manages to save them. I also really loved the scene where Danny is leading the children through the woods with a sing-along. He exudes a confidence in a crisis that would have made this character a top companion.

3) Nice Character Development

The lack of a strong alien threat allows the characters to have some nice moments to develop their stories. There is the tension that exists with Danny and Clara when Danny realizes that Clara has been lying to him. The Doctor and Clara have a great moment when she takes him back to the TARDIS to advise him to save himself. There is a sweet moment where the Doctor offers to save Clara, but she refuses as she does not want to be the last of her species. This results in one of the saddest looks I’ve seen from Capaldi’s Doctor. Also, the Doctor expresses his connection to this planet. “This is my world too. I walk your Earth. I breathe your air.” Little moments like these help to elevate these characters.

4) The Aliens Are Good Guys

Finally, it was refreshing to have an episode where the aliens are the ones that save us by creating the trees that protect us from the solar flare. We don’t get to see a lot of this in Doctor Who, and it was nice to be reminded that not all aliens are out to destroy us and sometimes actually help us. The lack of an alien threat allowed for more character moments as I described above. Also, it gave us realistic dangers, such as the tiger and the solar flare.

Related: Revisiting Series 8’s ‘Robot of Sherwood’

I’m not saying this episode is now one of the greatest in the program’s history. However, I’ve come to realize that when I watch something over again, I tend to appreciate little things that I may have overlooked during the first viewing. ‘In the Forest of the Night’ is definitely an episode that I think had some great ideas that maybe just didn’t translate on the screen well enough for a lot of us. I think if the episode is looked at as a character piece, then it can be appreciated a little bit more. Maybe we tend to forget this amidst the more action-oriented stories.

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