This episode is what made me love Bill. I agree with you that the original ending of them still living there and the Doctor becoming their landlord would have been better though., Actually thinking about it, I knew a lot of students when I was at uni that their rented a property their parents owned or what flatmates with someone who did. It seemed to be quite a comon thing to do if parents were in a position to do so, it meant the students were garinteed a good and fair landlord. Bill being an orphan in the foster system is a million miles away from this being an option for her, and obviously none of her flatmates had parents offering either, so it would be really cool for the Doctor as a mentor figure to be that for them. Puls it would be an intresting plot point to explore or just reference in the future once Bill was gone, the fact that he still owned this kinda haunted house and rents to students when he remembers to check in on it.
I think I might be in the minority, but I was a person who enjoyed this episode. Plus, I have a slight biased for David Suchet, who is, if anyone didn't know, in my opinion the definitive Poirot. For me this episode made sense since David Suchet was in an episode of Doctor Who and Peter Capaldi was in an episode of there TV series "Poirot" in which David Suchet starred in. Hope you liked that little fact.😄
Genuinely, the whole "mother/son" twist felt so rewarding to me BECAUSE it`s so cliched, like DW is a parody show of pop culture traits and that whole set up is everywhere in horror, especially cheesy Sam Rami style stuff like knock knock. Like, look at psycho, Friday 13th (part 1 especially), hell even exorcist. Idk i just think it adds to the style of story Moffat and Co were building, rather than subtracting but fair take, you're criticism is valid and i really liked how every point was analyzed, thx mans
A common trope among Doctor Who episodes set in the modern day is the fact that the Doctor’s companion almost always forces themselves to hide the Doctor’s true identity. It’s something I always hated as it wasn’t ever fun or written well. (Kinda why Donna Noble was I think the only exception to this trope as she never hid the fact that the Doctor was an alien Time Traveler)
Would you believe a woman you literally only knew for like a week saying that the weird. Eccentric beloved physics lecturer was actually a time travelling millenia old alien?
What I'll say of series 10 is that even when an episode is bad or poorly written, it's so much fun. To this day it's the series I re-watch the most. There's not a single episode I don't like. Even the bad or mid ones are just so entertaining (and the only story I thought had really REALLY bad writing was the monks arc especially it's conclusion; extremis introduced the monks so well but after it just rushed right through, really feels like the monks should've been the conclusion of series 10 with a more spread out plot and the Missy's character arc and the Doctor falls concluding a following series... oh what could've been). 10:17 It's really unfortunate how none of the roommates got at least a passing reccuring appearance for the rest of the series. I mean they're still students at the university which is 12's base essentially (and he teaches at) and Bill's friends.
The only flaw, in my opinion, is the ending. It makes no sense for the bugs to reconstruct people. I'll never get tired of misunderstood monsters, though that only really applies to the mother. The landlord and the bugs were as bad as we thought. The ending just provides context.
I definitely agree the cut ending where the house doesn’t fall apart and they get to keep it thanks to The Doctor would’ve definitely been a lot better but hey, their decision not mine. Also you didn’t mention it but one of my favourite bits of the episode that I found really relatable was when Bill corrected Paul on her sexuality after cottoning on that he fancied her and him simply saying afterwards “Ohh ok yeah sorry no that’s cool, you do you”, which as a gay guy myself is exactly the sort of response I’d hope for from a girl if she ever felt the same about me
Fun fact and a bit of missed potential: Harry was actually intended to be the grandson of 4th Doctor companion Harry Sulivan, and i feel like that would have added an interesting angle to the character. Shame it was cut.
Is no one going to talk about how this episode was basically a murder-suicide? 💀 The mother could’ve just taken herself out to force her child to move on but she decide to kill him instead 💀💀💀
Wasn't his life artificially extended? I feel he'd continue feeding people to the house to keep himself alive. He proved he wouldn't change. She was protecting everyone from him.
8:05 I don't know why but that imagery feels like it reminds me of a scene from some other sci-fi or horror story but I can't put my finger on WHAT (the closest answer I've ever been able to reach is a scene from X Men Apocalypse but that's not it). Then again, maybe it's something random that happens sometimes... especially as the same thing happened today while listening to the Armish Gallifrey sequences from one of the War Master audios which felt like it reminded me of a specific fantasy setting instead of just Listen's and Hell Bent's Gallifrey barn scenes. Also given what was filmed there, if you're in the Doctor Who universe and see that house... just run.
@@nuttyhutty no, the only thing in Doctor Who that reminds me of that is when the Doctor traps a Cyberman during one of the later episodes of Earthshock.
Unduly harsh rating imo especially given how much he praises the episode, almost as though hes knocking it down a tier or two just for having a misunderstood monster. In isolation, this is an A tier episode. One of my faves of the series!
I really feel like the Bill Pods Era would've deserved another season. She is my favorite modern companion and it's a bit sad that she got only this short of a run.
I would have liked it if Bartlett made the character of Harry into the grandson of the fourth doctor companion Harry Sullivan also have him become a recurring character like the doctors grandfather-in-law Brian
Even the lowest and slowest Capaldi episodes are so far above anything that came subsequently that it's like watching an entirely different show. This may not be the best, but it's still got an inbuilt quality about it that a firm C is justified.
I'm glad "everybody lives".... but it was wasted... we never knew she had much of a friend group (were any of these people in the pub scenes in Pilot?) and we never see any of them again.
This video is a solid case for why the episode is good as a whole, but the problem is the sudden ending reveal and removal of stakes. All of the deaths suddenly mean nothing because the dryads re-form the roommates(who conveniently never return to the show) and our villains just disappear with the house collapsing, unlike the alternative ending you pointed out. We get less of the tragedy of human loss we saw in Thin Ice, and the rapid ending kills the tension built up over the course of the episode. All of this makes it feel like a filler episode which doesn't do anything but pad out the season until that loading bar moment at the end. I think the misunderstood monster trope isn't the main issue with the story, as its a key part of Doctor Who in general. Sometimes we do get a big monstrous alien who's behind everything, but even then they're really just a scary person who puts their own interests or plans before other peoples lives, which is the same thing we see in the human villains of the show. Even when the monsters are bad, the worst monsters are just people(including alien people).
I think the start of s10 having so many episodes where the aliens are misunderstood would've worked a lot better if in - I personally would put it in extremis - an episode had a specific moment where it establishes that bill has come to believe all aliens are like that and that belief gets shattered. preferably by dr who. if that had happened it would feel a lot more deliberate, and that's where that coincidence has its weakness imo
Good thoughts. I did like the episode and I enjoyed the creepy vibes it had. I can understand about the sympathetic monster being done 4 times. I do like the aspect of letting go for parents. Good video.
Somehow in the span of less than 25 minutes you've made me go from not thinking much of Knock Knock at all to starting to like and appreciate it even to then realising how mediocre it actually is and not thinking much of it all again. It's just an Ok episode overall, not great, but not terrible. Also, as a first year university student living with their parents, I largely but not entirely disagree with what you said at 17:34.
I wouldn't say that Knock Knock is a bad episode. But it's probably the episode from series 10 that I most wish was better than it was. Suchet is such a fine actor, I wish had a bigger role in DW.
The villain was played by David Suchet, and he was Helcule Poirot in an old detective series I used to watch. He is a magnificent actor, and it was a shame that the episode did nothing with his talent
Yeah, this one was kind of meh to me. I don’t think it’s bad and s10 is still my favorite of NuWho, but I think my expectations were undercut because I remember seeing fan speciation about the rumored “monk” villains of the season, and when David Suchet was announced as the the episode’s guest star I hoped he was going to be playing the Meddling Monk. I still think Suchet or Matt Berry would be fantastic casts for the Monk.
I can't lie there's something about this episode that I really like. It's not doing anything special but I like the relationships between the students and I love the doctor in this he's funny and the twist at the end is really emotional imo
wasnt the one you mentioned, it was the one that would have gone in the middle i do agree that the original ending was the better one, though it doesnt make much sense to keep it since they reference the actual ending in a later episode
I honestly feel the opposite (I still think its a middling quality episode) But i never found the body horror or any horror in it to be well delivered (Either from the acting or the CGI and practical effects), the obviously evil nature of the landlord is overlooked by the whole group of students, even bill, that I as a viewer and just rolling my eyes at the characters im supposed to relate to acting unrealisticaly dumb. It doesnt help that the acting quality from those extras is... lacking, making it feel like a bad idea poorly executed. I do like Bill and the Doctors writing and acting in this episode though, it plays into why theyre one of my favourite combinations. That line of "Hes my grandad" "oh come on, father at least" "Ok grandFATHER" is just such a good back and fourth. All that said, i do really like the ending, I like that twist of him being the son and just wanting to hold on, it really flips how you see his character, Going from eye rolling at an obvious villain, to genuine pitty at this desperate old man. One of the weaker episodes of the seires but still something to enjoy in its own ways.
I’ve seen people say Knock Knock is superior to Hide. I don’t see it. Knock Knock is a solid C-tier episode. Hide is potentially the best episode of Series 7b. And yeah, low bar, but still
I don’t know how people think Series 10 is the best series when this episode stinks despite Peter Capaldi and David Suchet having a perfect dynamic. Also Oxygen is overrated and then Monk Trilogy is a depreciating return. Extremis: Great Pyramid at the End of the World: Good Lie of the Land: Mediocre at best
I didn’t dislike this episode, but I kinda wish some of Bill’s housemates had just stayed dead rather than being revived in the end. Would have made the episode more impactful. Great concept for a non-traditional haunted house story though.
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Donate
Donate who?
Donate to the Harbo Wholmes Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/harbowholmes
I swear I thought that said Donna Noble
Knock knock
who's there?
Hatch
Hatch who?
Gesundheit!:
Just did, and I saw your comment about the video, which I love. Knock on deep nuts is great
@@RoyalKingOliverDonna Kebab
@@CashelOConnolly So true and well said
The time The Doctor faced the most despicable being in the world; a landlord :p
Unpopular opinion: I liked it
Same!
I always thought it was great and was confused when I learnt people don’t like it
So did i
I loved this episode when I first watched it. It was one of my favorites in this season.
Yeah me too, obviously it’s nothing major to write home about but I thought it was solid
I feel like most fans are in agreement that this is very mid but then I showed my boyfriend series 10 and Knock Knock was one of his favorites
I also really like it and think it's vastly underrated!
Had the same experience with my boyfriend. I personally don't care for it much, but it was one of his and his dad's favourite episodes.
0:43 "And... whatever Ghost Light was."
As someone who has very recently watched it for the first time, that's the best description for the episode.
as someone who loves ghost light, I agree
story*
This episode is what made me love Bill. I agree with you that the original ending of them still living there and the Doctor becoming their landlord would have been better though., Actually thinking about it, I knew a lot of students when I was at uni that their rented a property their parents owned or what flatmates with someone who did. It seemed to be quite a comon thing to do if parents were in a position to do so, it meant the students were garinteed a good and fair landlord. Bill being an orphan in the foster system is a million miles away from this being an option for her, and obviously none of her flatmates had parents offering either, so it would be really cool for the Doctor as a mentor figure to be that for them. Puls it would be an intresting plot point to explore or just reference in the future once Bill was gone, the fact that he still owned this kinda haunted house and rents to students when he remembers to check in on it.
I think I might be in the minority, but I was a person who enjoyed this episode. Plus, I have a slight biased for David Suchet, who is, if anyone didn't know, in my opinion the definitive Poirot.
For me this episode made sense since David Suchet was in an episode of Doctor Who and Peter Capaldi was in an episode of there TV series "Poirot" in which David Suchet starred in. Hope you liked that little fact.😄
there will never be a side character death more emotionally impactive than miss evangelista in silence of the library in my humble opinion
Genuinely, the whole "mother/son" twist felt so rewarding to me BECAUSE it`s so cliched, like DW is a parody show of pop culture traits and that whole set up is everywhere in horror, especially cheesy Sam Rami style stuff like knock knock. Like, look at psycho, Friday 13th (part 1 especially), hell even exorcist. Idk i just think it adds to the style of story Moffat and Co were building, rather than subtracting but fair take, you're criticism is valid and i really liked how every point was analyzed, thx mans
If Bill's roommates are from her uni where the Doctor teaches... shouldn't they recognize the Doctor?
Do you recognize every professor at your school?
they do, the guy literally "yesss doctor" when he sees him
A common trope among Doctor Who episodes set in the modern day is the fact that the Doctor’s companion almost always forces themselves to hide the Doctor’s true identity.
It’s something I always hated as it wasn’t ever fun or written well.
(Kinda why Donna Noble was I think the only exception to this trope as she never hid the fact that the Doctor was an alien Time Traveler)
Would you believe a woman you literally only knew for like a week saying that the weird. Eccentric beloved physics lecturer was actually a time travelling millenia old alien?
O think even Donna did that.
What I'll say of series 10 is that even when an episode is bad or poorly written, it's so much fun. To this day it's the series I re-watch the most. There's not a single episode I don't like. Even the bad or mid ones are just so entertaining (and the only story I thought had really REALLY bad writing was the monks arc especially it's conclusion; extremis introduced the monks so well but after it just rushed right through, really feels like the monks should've been the conclusion of series 10 with a more spread out plot and the Missy's character arc and the Doctor falls concluding a following series... oh what could've been).
10:17 It's really unfortunate how none of the roommates got at least a passing reccuring appearance for the rest of the series. I mean they're still students at the university which is 12's base essentially (and he teaches at) and Bill's friends.
The only flaw, in my opinion, is the ending. It makes no sense for the bugs to reconstruct people. I'll never get tired of misunderstood monsters, though that only really applies to the mother. The landlord and the bugs were as bad as we thought. The ending just provides context.
I definitely agree the cut ending where the house doesn’t fall apart and they get to keep it thanks to The Doctor would’ve definitely been a lot better but hey, their decision not mine. Also you didn’t mention it but one of my favourite bits of the episode that I found really relatable was when Bill corrected Paul on her sexuality after cottoning on that he fancied her and him simply saying afterwards “Ohh ok yeah sorry no that’s cool, you do you”, which as a gay guy myself is exactly the sort of response I’d hope for from a girl if she ever felt the same about me
I wish David's character was the monk or another time lord that happened to be the previous owner of the Doctors TARDIS
Fun fact and a bit of missed potential: Harry was actually intended to be the grandson of 4th Doctor companion Harry Sulivan, and i feel like that would have added an interesting angle to the character. Shame it was cut.
The only cheap property being made out of bugs that drag you into the walls? Yep, that's londons housing market
Is no one going to talk about how this episode was basically a murder-suicide? 💀 The mother could’ve just taken herself out to force her child to move on but she decide to kill him instead 💀💀💀
Wasn't his life artificially extended? I feel he'd continue feeding people to the house to keep himself alive. He proved he wouldn't change. She was protecting everyone from him.
My huge, expansive review on this episode:
Its fine
8:05 I don't know why but that imagery feels like it reminds me of a scene from some other sci-fi or horror story but I can't put my finger on WHAT (the closest answer I've ever been able to reach is a scene from X Men Apocalypse but that's not it). Then again, maybe it's something random that happens sometimes... especially as the same thing happened today while listening to the Armish Gallifrey sequences from one of the War Master audios which felt like it reminded me of a specific fantasy setting instead of just Listen's and Hell Bent's Gallifrey barn scenes.
Also given what was filmed there, if you're in the Doctor Who universe and see that house... just run.
Han Solo in carbonite?
@@nuttyhutty no, the only thing in Doctor Who that reminds me of that is when the Doctor traps a Cyberman during one of the later episodes of Earthshock.
Unduly harsh rating imo especially given how much he praises the episode, almost as though hes knocking it down a tier or two just for having a misunderstood monster. In isolation, this is an A tier episode. One of my faves of the series!
Is that wester drumlins
I really feel like the Bill Pods Era would've deserved another season. She is my favorite modern companion and it's a bit sad that she got only this short of a run.
love to see a new video come up
I would have liked it if Bartlett made the character of Harry into the grandson of the fourth doctor companion Harry Sullivan also have him become a recurring character like the doctors grandfather-in-law Brian
David suchet saves this episode
Even the lowest and slowest Capaldi episodes are so far above anything that came subsequently that it's like watching an entirely different show. This may not be the best, but it's still got an inbuilt quality about it that a firm C is justified.
Said no-one with a brain ever.
That is the nature of Doctor Who. Always change.
knock knock was the first episode of doctor who I ever saw 💀
Harbo, can you plz do an in deph analysis review video of Rose?
I'm glad "everybody lives".... but it was wasted... we never knew she had much of a friend group (were any of these people in the pub scenes in Pilot?) and we never see any of them again.
Great review mate! Can't wait for the rest of S10
Nathan Gibson where are you
This video is a solid case for why the episode is good as a whole, but the problem is the sudden ending reveal and removal of stakes. All of the deaths suddenly mean nothing because the dryads re-form the roommates(who conveniently never return to the show) and our villains just disappear with the house collapsing, unlike the alternative ending you pointed out. We get less of the tragedy of human loss we saw in Thin Ice, and the rapid ending kills the tension built up over the course of the episode. All of this makes it feel like a filler episode which doesn't do anything but pad out the season until that loading bar moment at the end. I think the misunderstood monster trope isn't the main issue with the story, as its a key part of Doctor Who in general. Sometimes we do get a big monstrous alien who's behind everything, but even then they're really just a scary person who puts their own interests or plans before other peoples lives, which is the same thing we see in the human villains of the show. Even when the monsters are bad, the worst monsters are just people(including alien people).
2:45 absolutely disagree, Little Mix for life 🤙
Great content. I actually like this episode
I really enjoyed this episode. I've watched it quite a few times.
I think the start of s10 having so many episodes where the aliens are misunderstood would've worked a lot better if in - I personally would put it in extremis - an episode had a specific moment where it establishes that bill has come to believe all aliens are like that and that belief gets shattered. preferably by dr who. if that had happened it would feel a lot more deliberate, and that's where that coincidence has its weakness imo
Good thoughts. I did like the episode and I enjoyed the creepy vibes it had. I can understand about the sympathetic monster being done 4 times. I do like the aspect of letting go for parents. Good video.
Somehow in the span of less than 25 minutes you've made me go from not thinking much of Knock Knock at all to starting to like and appreciate it even to then realising how mediocre it actually is and not thinking much of it all again. It's just an Ok episode overall, not great, but not terrible. Also, as a first year university student living with their parents, I largely but not entirely disagree with what you said at 17:34.
Definitely liked the twist in this one better than 'Hide'
I really like this one
I liked this one !
falon Cortez been here since day 1
I wouldn't say that Knock Knock is a bad episode.
But it's probably the episode from series 10 that I most wish was better than it was.
Suchet is such a fine actor, I wish had a bigger role in DW.
I really liked it. /shrugs
I love watching doctor who literally at this episode and then watching a review of it like a day later
The villain was played by David Suchet, and he was Helcule Poirot in an old detective series I used to watch. He is a magnificent actor, and it was a shame that the episode did nothing with his talent
Yeah, this one was kind of meh to me. I don’t think it’s bad and s10 is still my favorite of NuWho, but I think my expectations were undercut because I remember seeing fan speciation about the rumored “monk” villains of the season, and when David Suchet was announced as the the episode’s guest star I hoped he was going to be playing the Meddling Monk. I still think Suchet or Matt Berry would be fantastic casts for the Monk.
I wanted to like Knock Knock.
I can't lie there's something about this episode that I really like. It's not doing anything special but I like the relationships between the students and I love the doctor in this he's funny and the twist at the end is really emotional imo
I think it was really really good. I dont think the misunderstood monster trope is an issue, since theres still another villain
GREAT REVIEW!
imo they should have added that one deleted scene. personally on my backup of the blu ray i spliced it in
wasnt the one you mentioned, it was the one that would have gone in the middle
i do agree that the original ending was the better one, though it doesnt make much sense to keep it since they reference the actual ending in a later episode
20:26 - This feels like another pro-capitalist / anti-middle class cop-out ending common of modern fiction, even if it was done for timing issues.
Better than Villa Diodati
Hawk tuah
silence, fish boy
Jail
I honestly feel the opposite (I still think its a middling quality episode) But i never found the body horror or any horror in it to be well delivered (Either from the acting or the CGI and practical effects), the obviously evil nature of the landlord is overlooked by the whole group of students, even bill, that I as a viewer and just rolling my eyes at the characters im supposed to relate to acting unrealisticaly dumb. It doesnt help that the acting quality from those extras is... lacking, making it feel like a bad idea poorly executed.
I do like Bill and the Doctors writing and acting in this episode though, it plays into why theyre one of my favourite combinations. That line of "Hes my grandad" "oh come on, father at least" "Ok grandFATHER" is just such a good back and fourth.
All that said, i do really like the ending, I like that twist of him being the son and just wanting to hold on, it really flips how you see his character, Going from eye rolling at an obvious villain, to genuine pitty at this desperate old man.
One of the weaker episodes of the seires but still something to enjoy in its own ways.
I simply can't believe these critics .If they had 2 years to produce a 40 - or 45-minute episode in this series.
The. 1:47 im am infertile from eating scented candles. The
I really dislike stories where the villain commits mass murder and face no consequences for their actions.
The landlord _did_ face the consequences
is this why harbo delayed the s10 review, to review knock knock at halloween
I think the ending may have felt a bit flat but the first like 3/4 i thought was really good
I like this episode, still at least oxygen doesn’t have a misunderstood monster 💀
I’ve seen people say Knock Knock is superior to Hide. I don’t see it. Knock Knock is a solid C-tier episode. Hide is potentially the best episode of Series 7b. And yeah, low bar, but still
It was a fun little romp for me.
But now that I’ve been playing FFXIV for years, I’m just like ALPHINAUD (Harry) TRIED TO HIGH FIVE THE DOCTOR
I think this episode is great up until the final 5-10 minutes. Still a fun episode though.
I don’t know how people think Series 10 is the best series when this episode stinks despite Peter Capaldi and David Suchet having a perfect dynamic. Also Oxygen is overrated and then Monk Trilogy is a depreciating return.
Extremis: Great
Pyramid at the End of the World: Good
Lie of the Land: Mediocre at best
more like flop flop
I didn’t dislike this episode, but I kinda wish some of Bill’s housemates had just stayed dead rather than being revived in the end. Would have made the episode more impactful. Great concept for a non-traditional haunted house story though.
my mum likes this episode... not sure why because it's just got literally NOTHING special about it
not sure the videos need to be this long if so much at the start is just you telling us the plot