Geek Syndicate
the episode itself. Of course, the script is aided by an excellent cast who seem to be revelling in their roles. In the past, I’ve often bemoaned the fact that the Doctor is able to swan into a situation and take charge without really having to prove himself. Gatiss manages to put the Time Lord in this space without it seeming forced – the threat is revealed to be extra-terrestrial very early on and the Doctor does succeed in helping to stop the submarine from sinking to a depth at which it’s hull could not survive the pressure. Given these facts and the fact that Liam Cunningham’s Captain is clearly the level-headed, rational type of Russian Nuclear Submarine commander it seemed only natural that he would defer to the bizarre interloper. As mentioned, the plot is an Alien style thriller and on this level, Mark Gatiss has hit the nail on the head. The story plods along nicely with the danger and tension ramped up at appropriate points. It’s possible that the inclusion of the Ice Warrior helped this opinion, but I really felt this was an episode that really hearkened back to the late 1960s. This is a proper Base Under Siege story reminiscent of the Second Doctor’s finest outings. I do have a niggle with the resolution of the episode however, which seemed to jar heavily with one of the important elements to the plot. Early in the episode, Skaldak sets of a beacon to summon rescue. After a while, he determines that his race is dead. At the end of the episode a Martian rescue ship turns up to tractor the submarine from the icy depths and then mattertransport Skaldak to safety. I was a bit off put by this for a couple of reasons: first, surely an acknowledgement would have been sent as this vessel was clearly in short-range of Earth. Second, it’s quite convenient that the Martian teleporter required the submarine to be surfaced before the rescue could commence. Thirdly, and this is really picky, the design of the ship seemed a bit incongruous to me. Overall, this was an excellent thriller that filled fifty minutes of Saturday evening quite nicely. It’s standalone nature also means that the episode can be watched by the casual viewer and will also stand up to individual watching later. Personally, I think this will stand up as one of the best episodes of this series … but time will tell. It always does. Rating: try to uncover and exorcise the Witch of the Well who has been said to haunt the site of Caliburn House since saxon times – well before the house was built. As the titles kick in, the Doctor and Clara have arrived at the house, announcing that they are “Ghostbusters”. From here, our regulars must establish their credentials, get to know Palmer and Grayling and on top of this, discover the secret of the Witch. Palmer is revealed to be an ex-military man who has served behind enemy lines on many missions turned ghost-hunter. His companion is the ideal one for such a job: an empathic psychic, Grayling knows intuitively what people are feeling. Interestingly, although the episode is particularly tense, there is no explicit threat to the four investigators. While Doctor Who has toyed with Ghost stories before both onscreen and off (such as BBC Audio’s The Ghosts of N Space and Mark Gatiss’s Big Finish audio Phantasmagoria and TV episode The Unquiet Dead ), Neil Cross manages to bring a different explanation for ghostly encounters to the table. Usually in Science Fiction, these ghosts turn out to be echoes of the past or alien beings from parallel dimensions … but not so here. As with his previous story, Neil Cross manages to bring a fresh view of the Doctor Who universe and, as with Rings of Akhatan, this is refreshing. However, Hide certainly comes over as a more complete realisation of
GGGGG
Hide
Something terrifying is hiding in Caliburn House, and the Doctor finds himself part of the ghost hunt. The episode opens with guest cast Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine as intrepid 1970s ghost-hunters Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling as they
73