From Behind The Sofa

From Behind The Sofa is the tenth episode of the first season of the BloodLoomis Productions Lego Doctor Who Series which was first uploaded on 7th April 2016. It was written and directed by Cameron Hughes.

In the episode, the Doctor and Jess become prisoners in a suburban house when an ancient collective from Gallifreyan mythology takes refuge there. It uses the memories of the victims it kills against the living, which blurs the lines of past and present.

It is a unique episode in the first season with a rather strange plot. The creator considers it the best episode he wrote for the first season, and it received a generally positive response, with many viewers praising its offbeat tone.

Plot
Two children, Daniel and Louise are home alone, watching a horror film. Louise becomes frightened and hides behind the sofa. When Daniel tries to find her, he finds that she has vanished, as a taunting voice tells him that he can't hide.

In the garden, the TARDIS arrives and the Doctor and Jess discover that they are trapped in the area surrounding the house by an invisible force field. They walk into the house and Daniel tells them what happened. The Doctor and Jess tell him they'll investigate. The Doctor realises that time is being distorted when he finds the clocks in the house have begun to warp. Jess looks upstairs and is plagued by what appears to be a ghost. Downstairs, the Doctor is trying to find the source of the time distortion, when Jess runs in and tells him what happened. Daniel explains that what Jess experienced happened a few years ago. The Doctor discovers a computer in the room he's searching, which shouldn't be there in the time period. Suddenly, an apparition materialises in the corner of the room. Daniel discovers it's his granddad, who chases them through the house, his face seemingly dead. Daniel remembers that the man chasing them died years ago, causing the apparition to disappear.

Returning to the living room, the Doctor discovers an entrance to another world in the corner of the room. He enters it, and finds himself in a netherworld, where his memory is viewed by an unseen force. He is released and once back in the real world, is told by Daniel that Jess was taken. He rushes to find her. Upstairs, Jess wakes up in a burnt out room. The room catches fire. The Doctor and Daniel arrive, and Daniel explains that the room cannot be there, as it burnt down years before. The Doctor manages to free Jess and once back in the living room explains that they're being hunted by the Dwellers of Darkness. They're strange creatures from a ghost story told on Gallifrey. They live in dark places, and once they kill their victims, use their memories to create three-dimensional apparitions which are used to terrorise the living. They killed Louise and are using her memories against them. Whilst the trio were distracted, the Dwellers of Darkness have brought them to the End, a dimension that does not exist in any corporeal sense. They are seemingly trapped. The Doctor takes Jess to the hall to say something.

He says that there is a way out, but it involves breaking a link the Dwellers of Darkness hold with someone who shares the memories of their victim. They need to murder Daniel, or the Dwellers of Darkness will be able to take the Doctor's memories and obtain knowledge of time travel. Jess tells him that she can't bring herself to kill someone, and the Doctor says that they may be able to escape it, only if Daniel has something to live for. It turns out he does: he doesn't want to be alone. The Dwellers of Darkness' power wanes, and the house is sent where it came from. In the TARDIS, Jess asks the Doctor if he really would kill Daniel. He just turns his head and says nothing.

Continuity
All of the Doctor's prior incarnations are shown when his mind is being probed, along with a number of companions (Susan, Jamie, the Brigadier, Sarah-Jane, Tegan, Peri and Ace), and enemies (Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons, Autons and Sil). The Dwellers of Darkness are said to be a form of ghost story for young Time Lords.

Writing
The story first came about from the notion that many adults talking about watching Doctor Who growing up said they watched it 'from behind the sofa'. This was then taken and formed into a story where the monsters lived behind the sofa, meaning nowhere was safe. It was then adapted into a longer form story involving time distortion, and emotional disturbances, partially influenced by the Action Figure Theatre's story Holding Tomorrow.

Filming
The sets were dressed with a small selection of typical 1970s wallpaper to give the story some historical accuracy. The lack of monsters helped a lot in terms of character design.

Trivia

 * This is the creator's favourite story from Season 1.
 * The shots of the Doctor's memories are live action, the only use of it in the series so far.