"Fear Her" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science-fiction series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 24 June 2006. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Euros Lyn.

The episode takes place in London on the day of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (David Tennant) and his travelling companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) investigate the lonely girl Chloe Webber (Abisola Agbaje), who has the ability to make people disappear by drawing them.

The episode was brought in to be a low-budget replacement for a script by Stephen Fry that had been pushed back. Location work was filmed mainly in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff in January 2006, with other scenes shot in Cardiff and in the studio in Newport in January and February. Graham was asked to write an episode primarily for children which would soften the much darker finale that would be broadcast after. The episode was watched by 7.14 million viewers in the UK, and was given an Appreciation Index of 83. The episode received praise from reviewers for the acting and the housing estate setting, and was criticised for having a "formulaic" and "ordinary" plot which "plods along". Graham received letters from children who enjoyed the episode, while also later discovering that adult fans' reactions were poor.

Plot

In London, on the day of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Tenth Doctor and Rose investigate the disappearance of three children and a spot of fresh tarmac which cars momentarily break down on. They realise that the source of the problems is a solitary 12-year-old girl named Chloe Webber. She has the unique ability to cause people to disappear by drawing them, causing Dale Hicks, Danny Edwards and Jane McKillen to go missing. The Doctor hypnotises Chloe and finds out that she is possessed by an immature Isolus, an alien that travels through space with a family of four billion siblings. Six days ago, this particular Isolus crashed its pod to Earth due to a solar flare. The Isolus relates to and befriends Chloe, who had a troubled childhood. The Isolus has also caused Chloe to draw a life-sized, exaggerated figure of her late, abusive father.

The Doctor explains that if they can find the Isolus pod and provide it power, the alien will leave Chloe. A frantic Chloe draws the TARDIS and the Doctor, trapping them both in one of her sketches and forcing Rose to try to find the pod herself. She rationalises that the pod is located on the hottest spot on the street, a patch of fresh tarmac, and digs it up with council equipment. Meanwhile, Chloe has caused the entire crowd at the Olympic stadium to disappear and now is set on making everyone in the world disappear. Rose realises that the pod is powered by both heat and emotion and throws it towards the Olympic Torch—a symbol of hope, fortitude, courage, and love—as it passes down the street. The missing children and the crowd at the Olympics reappear, and Rose realises that the drawing Chloe had made of her father will similarly come to life. Chloe and her mother, Trish, are able to calm Chloe by singing the "Kookaburra" song, causing the unseen monster—having fed off of Chloe's emotions and fears—to disappear.

As the torch bearer approaches the Olympic Stadium he collapses, and the Doctor promptly and suddenly appears, picks up the torch, and completes the run to light the Olympic Flame. The heat of the flame and the emotion of the crowd power the pod, allowing the Isolus to leave Chloe and return home.

Production

Writing
"Fear Her" was an overcommissioned episode, which replaced a planned but unproduced script by Stephen Fry.  Writer Matthew Graham was told by showrunner Russell T Davies that it was going to be an inexpensive episode and had to take place on a housing estate, but Graham was nevertheless thrilled to be asked to write an episode. Graham stated in 2011 that they "set out to do right from the start" making the episode more aimed at children, rather than adults and older Doctor Who fans, as the much darker finale would be broadcast following it. Davies specifically asked Graham to write for his seven-year-old son.

Graham originally suggested a story about a man who had the ability to drain Earth of its beauty, but Davies preferred his own idea about the eerie nature of paintings or illustration. The Isolus was inspired by the villains in the 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Early drafts of this episode were titled "Chloe Webber Destroys the Earth", and later, "You're a Bad Girl, Chloe Webber", with one such draft having the episode take place on another planet. Both of these titles were rejected by Davies as they were too long.

Casting and filming

Dame Kelly Holmes, who was mentioned in the episode, was considered for the part of the torchbearer, but was committed to Dancing On Ice at the time. Abisola Agbaje, who portrayed Chloe, was discovered at an after-school drama club, where casting director Andy Pryor had held auditions for the part. Agbaje had to play both Chloe's normal character and her character while being possessed by the Isolus, which Agbaje felt was "weird". When performing as the Isolus she had to whisper, and an echo was added in post-production. Agbaje found it "a bit hard to whisper" because she had a husky voice. A hand double for Agbaje drew the pictures, while the series' storyboarder Shaun Williams drew the father in the cupboard.

Due to Fry's script being dropped, production of some episodes of the second series had to be rescheduled, with "Fear Her" being produced alongside "The Idiot's Lantern". The majority of the episode, including exterior shots and the interior of Chloe's home, was filmed in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff from 24 to 31 January 2006. On 27 January, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was used for the Olympic Stadium. The cold temperatures experienced during filming were explained in the plot as part of the Isolus' endothermic nature. Studio work was mainly filmed from 1 to 4 February in Unit Q2, the Doctor Who studio space in Newport. Additional scenes including the TARDIS' materialisation were filmed in Cardiff on 6 and 10 February. Pick-up shots took place at Unit Q2 from 15 to 23 February.

Broadcast and reception
"Fear Her" was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 24 June 2006. Overnight UK figures for the first broadcast of "Fear Her" was 6.6 million viewers, with a 39.7% audience share. Final consolidated ratings rose to 7.14 million, making it the twelfth most-watched programme on the channel for the week. The episode received an Appreciation Index of 83.

Graham was happy with the episode himself and received letters from "loads of kids" who enjoyed it. When discovering that older fans had reacted negatively, he thought, "Well, it's a shame that they have, but it wasn't meant for them". IGN's Ahsan Haque gave the episode a 5 out of 10 rating, calling it "flat and formulaic" and everything about it was "slightly underwhelming", though he thought what did work was the mother-daughter teamwork at the end and Agbaje being "sufficiently capable and creepy" as the possessed Chloe Webber. He also noted "annoying self-aggrandizing moments that made no sense and served only to make the episode feel unnecessarily campy", such as the audience disappearing from the stadium and the Doctor carrying the torch. Comparing the episode to "The Idiot's Lantern" in terms of plot, he felt that the latter was "far more entertaining" and that "Fear Her" lacked originality and humour. Dave Bradley of SFX awarded "Fear Her" three out of five stars, describing the plot as "ordinary" but thought it was "a decent breather before grander adventures to come". He particularly praised the dialogue and thought "the claustrophobic effect of limiting the action to one household works". Arnold T Blumburg, writing for Now Playing, gave the episode a grade of B+. He felt that the guest cast were "only just adequate", describing Agbaje's acting as "decent but not impressive", and that the story "plods along in places", but the story worked because of the "delightful" interactions between the Doctor and Rose and the feel-good ending.

In 2011, SFX published an article stating arguments for and against the episode. The "Defence" stated that, while some minor roles were played "broadly", Sosanya and Agbaje were "extremely good", defined Rose's role as an Inspector Lewis to the Doctor's Morse as "great to see", and opined that the unusual things happening in a typical housing estate and the lack of appearance from a monster were effective. The "Prosecution", on the other hand, described it as a "cheap filler" with a "cheesy" finale and called the lack of a monster a "severe disappointment". Topless Robot named it the third worst Tenth Doctor episode. In a poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine in 2009 which asked readers to rank all 200 stories that had been released, "Fear Her" fell at 192 out of 200, making it the lowest ranked story of the revived series. In another poll conducted by Doctor Who Magazine in 2014 asking readers to rank every story that has been broadcast in the first 50 years of the show, "Fear Her" fell to 240 out of 241 making it not only the lowest ranked story of the revived series, but the second lowest ranked story of all time, just coming above The Twin Dilemma.

References

External links

 
TARDISODE 11
"the thirtieth olympiad"  – episode trailer
Episode commentary by Euros Lyn, Abisola Agbaje and Steffan Morris (MP3)
"Fear Her" episode homepage

Tenth Doctor episodes
2006 British television episodes
2012 Summer Olympics
Doctor Who stories set on Earth
Television episodes about child abuse
Television episodes about spirit possession
Fiction set in 2012
Television episodes set in London
Olympic Games in fiction
"Fear Her" (KBS 방영 제목: 〈그림 습격사건〉)는 영국의 SF 드라마 《닥터 후》 시즌 2의 열한 번째 에피소드로, 2006년 6월 24일에 처음 방영되었다. 매튜 그레이엄이 각본을 맡았으며 유로스 린이 감독했다.

이 에피소드는 2012년 런던 하계 올림픽의 개막식 날을 무대로 한다. 런던 교외의 어느 동네에서 이웃 사람들이 하나둘씩 사라지는 이상한 일이 벌어지고, 시간여행자 닥터 (데이비드 테넌트)와 동행자인 로즈 타일러 (빌리 파이퍼)는 외롭고 수상한 소녀 클로이 웨버 (아비솔라 아그바제)를 만나 그 내막을 밝히게 된다.

원래 계획대로라면 스티븐 프라이가 쓴 에피소드가 들어갈 자리였으나 취소되는 바람에 대신 투입된 저예산 에피소드다. 이 에피소드 직후에 방영될 최종화가 다소 어두운 분위기였기 때문에 작가 그레이엄은 아이들을 위한 가벼운 에피소드를 써 달라는 요청을 받았다고 한다. 작중 배경과는 달리 실제 쵤영은 카디프의 트레모파 주택가에서 이뤄졌다. 영국 첫 방영시 714만 명이 시청하였으며, AI지수로 집계된 시청률은 83%에 달했다. 방영 이후 작가 그레이엄은 아이들로부터 재밌었다는 편지를 받기도 하였으나, 성인 팬과 평론가들 사이에서는 그다지 좋은 평가를 받지 못했다.

줄거리
2012년 런던 하계 올림픽의 개막식 날, 런던 교외의 한 동네에 타디스가 내린다. 그 동네는 올림픽 성화 봉송이 예정된 곳이었다. 그런데 분명 올림픽 행사로 들떠있어야 할 텐데 무덤덤한 분위기인 것을 이상하게 여긴 닥터는 문득 전신주에 붙어 있는 실종아동 전단지를 발견한다. 알고보니 지난주부터 동네 아이들이 여러 명씩이나 실종되고 있는 상황이었다. 이후 성화봉송 행사 준비로 아스팔트 작업을 하던 켈이라는 남자도 같은 기간 동안 차들이 잠깐씩 고장나곤 헀다고 말한다.

이후 계속해서 동네를 다니며 조사하던 닥터와 로즈는 이 모든 문제의 원인이 12살짜리 꼬마 여자애인 클로이 웨버에게 있음을 알게 된다. 클로이가 창밖의 한 사람을 보고 그대로 그림을 그리면 그 사람이 현실에서 사라지고 그림 속에 갇히게 되는 것이었다. 닥터는 클로이의 능력이 외계의 것임을 깨닫고 최면을 걸어 클로이 속에 깃든 외계생명체의 본 모습을 밝힌다. 그 외계생명체는 이름하여 '아이솔루스' (Isolus)로, 수십억의 가족을 대동하여 우주를 누비는 종족이었다. 클로이에게 깃든 아이솔루스는 자기 우주선이 태양 화염에 휘말려 지구로 추락해 왔고, 이후 어린시절 학대의 기억으로 괴로워하던 클로이를 만나 정신 속에 깃듦으로써 친구가 되어준 것이었다. 아이솔루스는 클로이의 기억 속에서 학대하는 아버지의 모습을 끄집어내어 더더욱 무서운 모습으로 그리는 짓도 벌이고 있었다.

닥터는 아이솔루스의 작은 우주선을 찾아서 동력을 넣으면 아이솔루스가 클로이의 몸에서 빠져나올 것이라고 말한다. 그러나 발작하던 클로이가 하필이면 타디스와 닥터를 그리면서 클로이의 그림 속에 꼼짝없이 갇혀버리게 된다. 홀로 남은 로즈는 닥터의 도움 없이 이제 알아서 우주선을 찾아야 할 처지에 놓인다. 로즈는 고민하다 그 우주선이 동네 거리에서 제일 따뜻한 곳에 숨어있을 거란 생각에 이르고, 이제 막 깔아둔 따뜻한 아스팔트를 발견하고는 곡괭이로 파헤치기 시작한다. 한편 올림픽 중계를 보던 클로이는 올림픽 스타디움에 있던 모든 관중을 화폭에 담아 한순간에 사라지게 만든다. 그 다음으로는 지구 전체를 그려서 전세계 사람을 해치우려 드는 위험천만한 상황에 이른다.

그때 아스팔트 속에서 아이솔루스의 우주선을 발견한 로즈는 동력을 어떻게 넣을지를 다시 고민하다가, 그림 속에 있던 닥터로부터 그 우주선이 작동하려면 '감정이 담긴 열'이 필요하다는 것을 깨닫는다. 그리고 마침 동네 거리를 지나가던 올림픽 성화봉을 향해 우주선을 힘껏 던진다. 희망과 용기, 사랑의 상징인 성화 속에서 우주선이 다시 동력을 얻자 아이솔루스는 클로이의 몸에서 빠져나오고, 그와 동시에 사라졌던 아이들과 올림픽 스타디움의 관중들이 모두 현실로 되돌아온다. 그런데 그때 로즈는 클로이가 그렸던 무서운 아버지 그림도 현실 속 사람으로 돌아온다는 것을 깨닫게 된다. 아니나 다를까 클로이의 공포심을 먹고 자란 무서운 그림자가 클로이를 향해 다가가고 있었다. 이에 로즈와 클로이 엄마는 클로이를 달래기 위해 어릴적 불러주던 동요를 다시 불러주고, 클로이가 침착해지면서 그림자도 사라지게 된다.

이후 올림픽 성화주자가 스타디움을 목전에 두고 갑자기 쓰러지고 만다. 이대로 실패하나 싶던 그때, 닥터가 갑자기 나타나 성화봉을 낚아채고 경기장의 올림픽 성화대를 향해 힘껏 달린다. 닥터의 점화와 함께 성화가 타오르고, 성화의 열기와 경기장에 있던 관중의 환호에 아이솔루스의 우주선도 이륙 동력을 얻어, 클로이의 곁을 떠나 고향으로 돌아간다. 일을 마치고 다시 서로 조우하게 된 닥터와 로즈는 올림픽 경기를 보러 발길을 옮긴다. 그리고 로즈는 우리 둘을 갈라놓는 일은 절대로 없을 것이란 말을 건네는데, 닥터는 일순간 불안한 표정을 짓더니 '폭풍이 다가오고 있어'란 혼잣말을 한다.

각주

외부 링크 

TARDISODE 11 
"the thirtieth olympiad"  - episode trailer
Episode commentary by Euros Lyn, Abisola Agbaje and Steffan Morris (MP3)
"Fear Her" episode homepage

10대 닥터 에피소드
2006년 텔레비전 에피소드
2012년 하계 올림픽
지구를 배경으로 한 닥터 후 스토리
Doctor Who stories set on Earth