Some of my favourite Doctor Who episodes are the ones where the Doctor has to deal with every day, ordinary people, especially when those people are friends or relatives of the Doctor’s companions. I just find it funny to see how the Doctor fits into these existing relationship dynamics when they’re ego is often huge and they “don’t get” humans. It also really highlights how different or special the Doctor’s bond is with their companions. They’re ordinary humans but there’s something about them that stands out; their bravery, intelligence, empathy, that makes the Doctor take notice and it’s also the way that the companions roll with the weirdness and some of the Doctor’s antisocial-ness and makes them open up to them.

So, in series 10 the episode “Knock Knock” is one that stood out to me. I enjoyed meeting some of Bill’s friends/housemates and how they were an eclectic mix in terms of personality and interests which is true to life as someone who went to uni and had to move into halls with nine strangers. It was also fun seeing how the Doctor interreacted with them and how some asked the good/clever type of questions that made the Doctor appreciate them more.

“Knock Knock” is also a creepy house story. I’ve already talked about “Blink” and “The Haunting of the Villa Diodati” and both of them have creepy haunted house vibes and honestly it wasn’t until I was putting a list of my favourite episodes for this A-Z Challenge, that I realised that this was a theme in some of my favourite episodes. It’s somewhat surprising because I am a wuss that does not watch proper horror films, but there’s something about the unsettling nature of the house in “Knock Knock”, the score and the sounds of wood creaking that I really liked. It’s an atmospheric location and having the whole episode pretty much set in and around the house makes it its own character.

Really though, I loved David Suchet as the Landlord. Suchet being in Doctor Who seems like one of the most obvious things ever and it seems wild that it never happened before considering how many other big British stage and TV actors have been on the show over the years. I thought he was suitably creepy and manipulative but then when everything is revealed at the end, is also somewhat sympathetic and desperate.