I desperately want to love In the Forest of the Night. And indeed, after watching it, I'd say that 90% of the story brings things that I absolutely love, but there's something else that I absolutely hate that I just can't overlook. And it turns what should have been my favourite episode of Doctor Who in Series 8 to something that I'm on the fence about.
So Maebh, the young girl that the story is focussed on, is frequently mentioned to be on medication. It's said she takes it because she hears voices, and that she gets frequent visions, and so she needs it to properly function and not put herself or others at risk. And the story dares to suggest that the medication that she's taking isn't needed and that she should just listen to those voices, because they are spirits of the forest that are using her to communicate. And I can see what the story is trying to do - to tell a story all about how we should listen to children instead of ignore them. But the only problem is that the story treads a dangerous line towards the anti-vaxxer movement, where people will genuinely ignore advice from medical professionals in favour of their own stupid beliefs. And it absolutely infuriates me that Doctor Who, a programme all about science and how wonderful it is, can be interpreted in such a way so easily. Because often-times things like medication and vaccines can be what's best for people, instead of just leaving things to their own devices. It's disappointing to see new writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce leave that plot thread there, because for me it comes to clsoe to ruining the entire story for me.
And I genuinely love the rest of this story. It's a call-back to the fairy tale-esque magic of Series 5, with a story that feels like it's jumped straight from a story-book. I love new director Sheree Folkson's direction, which feels completely different to every other Doctor Who story, focussing on sunlight and greenery when outside - further adding to the magic of the overnight forest, and also choosing several moments to shoot things from a lower angle, which helps give a sense of childlike wonder to the whole adventure. I love Peter Capaldi's performance throughout the story, the expression that he gives when he realises that they've lost Maebh is wonderfully vulnerable and so at odds with the rest of his darker characterisation through the rest of the series that it's one of the funniest moments in the series for me. I'm even overlooking the bad science in this episode (that's not how solar flares work guys), at least partially because the story gives a shout-out to one of my absolute favourite scientific events ever (Tunguska meteor, 1908 - I grinned and laughed like a loon once I realised what the story was going to reference). It's a story that's just beautiful and filled with wonder.
But I can't find it in my heart to absolutely love it. One simple mistake turns the entire episode to a masterpiece into a deeply flawed piece of television. It's perhaps been the biggest disappointment in all of my re-watch of Doctor Who, and I'm really sorry about that.
I thought it was more about "medicate at all costs rather than find out what is actually going on" and how that's the wrong approach, rather than an anti-vax message. Take the time and effort to work out the truth and what's really needed, rather than take the path that is easier for the grown ups. Schools particularly often want difficult kids medicated (as opposed to treated) so it's easier for them, even when medication is not appropriate. I love this episode because it dares put forward the other argument, that it is not always that simple and shouldn't be the default position.
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