Rose and the Doctor arrive in London just in time for the running of the torch to open the 2012 Olympic Games. But a pall hangs over the perfectly ordinary neighborhood where the TARDIS has materialized: posters for missing children, all of them having disappeared in the space of the week, are everywhere. An elderly woman named Maeve claims to feel an evil presence in the neighborhood, and seems to have known, just before each child disappeared, that they were about to vanish. A woman named Trish keeps a close eye on her daughter Chloe, not out of fear that she’ll disappear next, but out of fear that Chloe may be behind what’s happening. The Doctor and Rose come to that conclusion too, discovering that something evil is exerting its influence, having taken over Chloe’s body. But can they stop more people from disappearing – possibly even the entire human race – and restore Chloe’s true personality?
written by Matthew Graham
directed by Euros Lyn
music by Murray GoldGuest Cast: Nina Sosanya (Trish), Abisola Agbaje (Chloe), Edna Dore (Maeve), Tim Faraday (Tom’s Dad), Abdul Salis (Kel), Richard Nichols (Driver), Erica Eirian (Neighbour), Stephen Marzella (Police Officer), Huw Edwards (Commentator)
LogBook entry & review by Earl Green
Review: A nifty, Twilight Zone-esque tale, Fear Her is something that wouldn’t have been impossible to do on the original series’ budget. Maybe scaled down a bit, sure, what with an entire Olympic stadium full of people vanishing, but not completely impossible. A lot rides on the performance of Abisola Agbaje, playing the parts of both the possessed child and the entity that has taken her over, and she manages to portray both well enough to make her a force for David Tennant’s Doctor to reckon with. Not Exorcist scary, mind you, but unnerving enough.
Overall, a fun little story. It doesn’t blow down any huge barriers in storytelling, but, much like Love & Monsters, it’s a nice change of pace slotted in among some of this season’s more overt attempts to be epic.