It’s been episode after episode of heavy mythology on Doctor Who, so this week we take a welcome break and go back to classic Who. It’s a standalone episode where childhood fears are becoming frighteningly real for one little boy, and the doctor can’t help but answer the distress call.

Monsters in closets (ahem, cupboard), creepy dolls, and the like are all brought to life in “Night Terrors,” written by Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss. This episode still wasn’t as creepy as “Blink” in my opinion, but it sure got the job done by reminding us of our repressed doll fear.

Doctor Who (s06e09): Night Terrors

Doctor: Today we’re off to a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe: a child’s bedroom.

Maybe it’s because I’m used to seeing horrible child actors in American television, but I thought the kid playing George was the cutest thing. He stood his own against the adults and seemed extra-ordinary from the start. And rightly so since he turned out to be an alien after all!

But the real scene-stealer of this episode was Daniel Mays as the boy’s father, Alex. Mays has had bit parts in Hollywood movies (like Atonement), co-starred in Ashes to Ashes, and was one of the leads in BBC’s Outcasts. Yet, he was given more to do in just this one episode of Doctor Who, than in eight episodes of Outcasts. He and the Doctor played well off each other, and I can’t wait to see him again in something soon.

Rory: We’re dead, aren’t we? The lift fell, and we’re dead. We’re dead…AGAIN.

Amy and Rory, meanwhile, were kind of pushed to the side and into the doll house this week. They were still their usual brand of adorable, of course, and I’m learning to love Rory a lot more this season. He was funny, courageous, and sweet. I can see why a lot of fangirls love him..

Doctor: When I was your age—about, oo, a thousand years ago—I loved a good bedtime story. The Three Little Sontarans, The Emperor Dalek’s New Clothes, Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday, eh? All the classics.

And even the Doctor was back to his seemingly invincible and wise all-knowing self. (That might have something to do with the fact this episode was supposed to air much earlier in the season.) He even got in a lot of funny lines: “We’re either inside the doll’s house or this is a refuge for dirty posh people who eat wooden food.”

Alex: You’re not from social services are you?

Unfortunately, the episode itself didn’t stand out as well as the characters in it. It wasn’t very bad, but it also wasn’t really good. It was more of a character piece for Daniel Mays as a father who learns to help his son, rather than a story about a boy conquering the monsters in his closet. And what was with the Doctor explain about the boy and what was going on in that one quick monologue? As if that helped to clear up everything.

Dolls: Tick tock, goes the clock, even for the Doctor.

Yeah, that’s still going on, too. At the least, I’m looking forward to next week and seeing future Amy be bad-ass.