Radio Times: Review by:; Patrick Mulkern

Writer and horrormeister Mark Gatiss reckons that the scariest place in the universe is a child’s bedroom. And even the Doctor, who’s normally such a reassuring presence, when asked to comfort a frightened little boy, takes one look around his room and has to tell him – gulp! – “Monsters are real.”

Night Terrors is an apt title for this episode. Any child spooked by shifting shadows, looming wardrobes or the well of dread in their own imagination – and any grown-ups who recall their own nocturnal gibberings – will immediately empathise with young George (an outstanding performance from newcomer Jamie Oram).

The monsters are large, animated peg dolls, who giggle like mischievous nippers and possess horrifying powers of transformation. Amy and Rory become trapped in their domain, while, in a tower-block flat, the Doctor struggles to help George and his bewildered father, Alex (Daniel Mays from Outcasts and Made in Dagenham).

The denouement may be dispiritingly pat (the third mawkish dad ’n’ lad finale in Doctor Who this year), but there are plenty of chills to give younger viewers a disturbed night.

About this programme

9/13. A child's bedroom is turned into the scariest place in the universe when his cupboard becomes home to every kind of fear imaginable. His parents remain baffled by the problem, so the boy makes a desperate bid for help. When his cries manage to break the barriers of time and space, the Doctor decides to make a house call. Sci-fi adventure, guest starring Daniel Mays (Outcasts), with Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill.