Catatonia

Catatonia was the second story of Season 35 of Doctor Who. It was written by Nick Huggins, directed by Brian Grant and featured Richard E. Grant as the Doctor, Beverley Cressman as Selene, Laurie Holden as Mohana and Eric Roberts as The Master.

## Catatonia

### Director

Brian Grant

Synopsis

At the Majestic, a condemned hotel in north London, the destitute and the dispossessed gather to seek refuge. They share a woeful lifestyle with the stray cats who roam the derelict’s dilapidated halls. When the Doctor, Selene, and Mohana arrive amid the driving rain of a winter storm, they find a people in desperate need of help but unwilling to place their trust in strangers. One by one, the squatters of the Majestic are being subdued, rendered comatose by an unrelenting telepathic force. Struggling to rally this fractured community, the Doctor and his companions witness a terrifying shift in the status quo: as men and women lose their minds, the feral cats of this forgotten place gain in strength and power!

Plot

To be added.

Cast

The Doctor - Richard E. Grant

Selene - Beverley Cressman

Mohana - Laurie Holden

The Master - Eric Roberts

To be added.

Crew

Executive Producer - David Renwick

Writer - Nick Huggins

Producer - Susan Belbin

Script Editor - Steven Moffat

Director - Brian Grant

Director of Photography - Geoff Harrison

Production Designer - John Asbridge

Visual Effects - Orange Tree VFX

Make-Up Designer - Vanessa White

Casting Director - Andy Pryor

Music - Julian Stewart Lindsay

Costume Designer - James Baylan

Edited by - Mark Lawrence

Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer

Title Music - Julian Stewart Lindsay

Title Sequence by Mike Tucker

Memorable Quotes

To be added.

Background Information

Development

The story was conceived as a deliberately expensive spectacle to show off how much the new Doctor Who could do for the Paramount Deal.

Pre-Production

To be added.

Production

To be added.

Post-Production

To be added.

Reaction

This episode received a 7-Day Viewing Figure from BARB of 9.13m viewers. It ranked at 31st over the week.

Arnold T Blumburg of the magazine Now Playing gave "Canatonia" a grade of "A-", praising the spectacle as well as the performances of French and Holden and their developing characters. However, he felt that the climax suffered from pacing issues.

SFX called it a "brave episode to air so early, but it works", praising the way the alien concepts were reminiscent to the earlier seasons. However, the reviewer wrote that "the full drama of the event is never quite captured" and "the murder plot...never quite takes flight, but it provides the framework for some brilliant scenes".

In Who Is the Doctor, a guide to Chapter Two of the show, Graeme Burk described "Catatonia" as "sheer, unadulterated fun", particularly praising the emotional connection that was built between the Doctor and Sammy. Burk felt that there could have been more of a build-up to the Cassandra revelation, but commented that "a lot of the success of the story" was due to her.

Burk's co-author Robert Smith added that the episode allowed French to shine by offering the Doctor a wide range of emotions. Despite their positive reviews, Burk and Smith noted that the switch at the end of the hallway with giant fans was "contrived" and "silly".

In 2013, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times felt that the episode had everything Doctor Who was: boldness, camp, and emotional and character drama.

The A.V. Club reviewer Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode a grade of B+, noting that the episode was not concerned with plot, but it succeeded in character moments and reintroducing Doctor Who for the Paramount Deal.

Story Notes

To be added.

Continuity

To be added.

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