As he cleans the sand out of his eye and half his face collapses, the DoctorвЂ™s suspicion that none of this has made any sense is confirmed. But the moment that is sure to give nightmares is in that last shot, as Rassmussen reveals the true nature of his, or rather the SandmenвЂ™s, plan.

Sandman hologram song! (The charactersвЂ™ all-present reliance on вЂњthe godsвЂќ could also be interpreted here vis-Г -vis their workaday lives, but IвЂ™m not gonna get into that.) Speaking of which, the Sandmen are creepy enough, although I think this seasonвЂ™s ghosts from вЂњUnder the LakeвЂќ/вЂњBefore the FloodвЂќ were more effective. But hey, at least we all get to watch a Mr. If Rassmussen says Morpheus has created a new generation of wide-awakes, we might just be the first generation. It reminds me of where we all seem to be heading, as so many of us are constantly вЂњonвЂќ these days, always checking our e-mail on our phones no matter the time of day, working nights and weekends, increasingly reliant on double-incomes to pay the mortgage, and so on. Finally, he figures out that itвЂ™s the dust that is watching themвЂ¦ or is it? (ThereвЂ™s even a picture of an artist painting a picture of an artist painting a picture of an artist painting a picture moment which predicts the truth here - that the Doctor and Clara are simply living out RassmussenвЂ™s story.) I enjoyed/was simultaneously dismayed by the concept of Morpheus, the pod-thingees that enable the mankind of this century to get a monthвЂ™s worth of sleep done in five minutes so that everyone can keep on working, get that edge over the competition, and make more money. Why were we seeing things from ClaraвЂ™s point of view? Or from the ceiling? Or from the helmet cams that the characters donвЂ™t have? Of course, thatвЂ™s the mystery at the center of the story, as Gatiss and director Justin Molotnikov are simultaneously poking holes in the shakier (get it?!) found-footage films that have stretched credulity with their premise while also setting up the monsters of вЂњSleep No MoreвЂќ - the Sandmen! It was fun watching the Doctor start to piece together that something was off here, as he gives Clara a double-take (which means he gives us a double-take, since weвЂ™re seeing things from ClaraвЂ™s POV at that moment). But as Rassmussen says, don't get too attached to them! The astute viewer would notice early on that the found-footage aspect of this episode didnвЂ™t really make sense.

Something is up at this floating lab, as it has suddenly gone silent, and this group - the untried leader, the joker, the grunt, and so on - have been instructed to investigate in true Aliens rip-off fashion. You can never un-see it.вЂќ So of course we watch it! But as it turns out, those words will have ramifications laterвЂ¦ A motley cast of characters are introduced as they enter the Le Verrier Space Station in orbit around Neptune. We kick off with a video message from Professor Rassmussen (Reece Shearsmith) talking directly to the camera as he warns us that we вЂњmust not watch this. And yet, frequent DW writer Mark Gatiss turns the concept on its ever-watchful head, essentially making the very notion of found footage into the bad guys of the story. Obviously a show like Who has to find new and different ways to tell its stories, having been on the air for so long, but still. At first glance, the found-footage trope seems a disappointing way to go.

Sleep no more storyline