What happened here? I believe there is a good story at the heart of it but the realisation doesnt quite work. Out of all the stories of series 7 this is the one i think needed more than 1 episode than any other. There are quite a few characters introduced who are wasted by barely doing nothing. Also apart from the opening couple of scenes this story doesnt really utilise the fact that it is set in a disused fun park - what a wasted opportunity. Plus i dont think the director got quite a grasp on how dark and scary the story could be and it often looks quite kiddie. I also think the Doctors internal struggle with the Controller shouldnt have been played so manically and more dark and twisted. Anyway i didnt think it was terrible but it could and should have been much better.

I LOVED this! For me its been the best episode of Series 7 and the episode Mark Gatiss was born to write - its feels like League of Gentleman meets Doctor Who. Completely bonkers yet also incredibly well acted (in particular Rachel Stirling) and directed ( the flashback sequence of how the Doctor and Clara got involved looks incredible and is genius in encompassing a bigger story into the 45 min slot). More like this please!

There's something very odd about Mrs Gillyflower's Sweetville mill, with its perfectly clean streets and beautiful people. There's something even stranger about the bodies washing up in the river, all bright red and waxy. When the Doctor and Clara go missing, it's up to Vastra, Jenny and Strax to rescue them before they too fall victim to the Crimson Horror!

Every series has its low points, and I feel that The Crimson Horror is one of the lower points of Series 7. It had its very good moments, but the silly moments were so silly that they ruined the scary and dramatic ones.


One of my major gripes was that the first half felt more like a Paternoster Gang pilot than a Doctor Who episode. Maybe to others this is a plus, but I've never liked these characters in their three previous appearances and now was no different, especially Strax, who is still making ridiculous grenade jokes.


Still, while I didn't much like the Gang's part in the story, it certainly started out good, and the bodies looked pretty horrifying. Rachael Stirling's was incredible as Ada, and you almost feel her pain. As annoying as Strax was, he did have a few badass scenes near the end which almost made me like him. The scene with the Doctor and Clara was well done, short as it was, and had a lovely reference to the Fifth Doctor's era. The prosthetics for Ada and the bodies looked very convincing, though there was another prosthetic which the same can't be said of.


Overall, this was an episode with an interesting idea that was let down in the execution. The villain's motivation is never totally explained, and Ada is just about the only character who is well developed. However, it's not a truly bad episode, with some truly creepy moments and great chemistry between the Doctor and Clara. I've settled on a 7/10.