The Landlord

At first the Landlord is a bit unusual – a little old fashioned, a little too keen for tenants to move in. But then things start getting really creepy. Eerily quiet, the Landlord is able to appear in the house whenever he chooses – even when the doors are closed. He inspects the walls, and carries a tuning fork with him, using it to send a signal to the house.

When Bill and the other housemates come under attack from the terrifying Dryad insects, it soon becomes apparent that the Landlord is the mastermind behind them. "I am your landlord. You came here, you signed a contract. And now… it's time to pay."

He might seem like a terrifying villain with an army of scary woodlice to do his bidding, but deep down he's doing it all with good reason. Disguising the truth by pretending the wooden girl in the attic is his daughter, the Doctor discovers that actually Eliza is his dying mother, and he's gone to extreme lengths to keep her alive. Devastated by Eliza's sudden illness as a little boy, he discovers woodlice like creatures in the garden which help to revive his mum, so lures human prey to the house to keep the lice energised. Living his entire life in the wooden house, he has lied to protect his eternally youthful mother, while he has grown old.

Far from being a sinister patriarch, the Doctor and Bill discover that he's really a vulnerable boy who would go to any length to save his dying mum, but who ultimately has to pay a price for his actions.