Review - The Woman Who Lived

The Doctor ditches Clara to chase down an alien artefact in 17th century England, only to run into his little hybrid in The Woman Who Lived.

Season 9, Episode 6 - The Woman Who Lived

After landing in the TARDIS, The Doctor stumbles upon a highway robbery in progress, the perpetrator of which turns out to be the immortal Ashieldr, now the notorious Highwayman The Knightmare. Having ruined her attempted robbery and also lost the alien artefact he was searching for, The Doctor returns to Ashieldr's house to learn what she's been up to since he made her immortal.

Ashieldr has forgotten many of the events of her long life including her name, but has volumes of diaries that record them all. These act as a convenient way for The Doctor to learn about many of the tragic events of her life without all the hassle of making her open up and tell him. I can't work out if this is lazy writing or sheer brilliance. I think I'll roll with it though. It just works.

You just saved us a full episode of deep character interaction.

She has loved, and even had children, only to lose them. Some events have been torn out of the diaries, and when asked about them, she reveals she does that when she wants to forget. The Doctor can't understand what could be worse than losing her babies, but she explains she keeps that one to remind her not to have any more.

Williams does a great job of the flashbacks here. They nicely bridge the gap between the slightly naive Viking girl we met before and the old woman in a young woman's body we see now. She has been hardened by her long and lonely life, which was alluded to at the end of the previous episode. Now she is determined to shake the bonds of Earth and explore the universe. She asks The Doctor to take her with him, but he refuses. In the face of that refusal, she goes to the gardens and speaks to a shadowy figure with glowing eyes. It's made pretty clear she is going to betray The Doctor. 

They then work together to retrieve the alien artefact, now identified as a jewelled pendant called the Eyes of Hades. During the break-in to steal the pendant, Ashieldr offers The Doctor a face mask. He declines, saying he has his own. Yep, you guessed it. Those bloody sunglasses are back. Thankfully the only thing he uses them for this episode is lighting a candle, which sound waves could at least conceivably achieve.

*Shakes fist in impotent rage*

After recovering the Eyes of Hades, Ashieldr again asks The Doctor to take her with him. When he again refuses she goes through with her original plan to give the artefact to a stranded alien called Leandro from Delta Leonis (that's right, he's a lion man) who needs it to escape Earth. However it turns out the pendant is only activated by a death. The Doctor is outraged at Ashieldr's willingness to kill, but the embittered woman sees mortal people as transient, and she refers to death as an "abundant resource."

As Ashieldr and Leandro leave to attend the hanging of Ashieldr's rival highwayman, Sam Swift, The Doctor talks his way out of custody and follows hot on their heels. Swift is spending his final moments making jokes, some which were rather bordering on In-Who-Endos, but The Doctor soon shows up and uses his psychic paper to grant Sam a pardon. Ashieldr then goes all in and uses the Eyes of Hades to draw the life force from Sam, creating a portal in the sky. 

Not another one.

But as predicted by The Doctor, Leandro double crosses Ashieldr and his story to her is revealed to be a lie. As alien ships begin firing through the portal, preparing to invade, Ashieldr remembers human compassion and uses her remaining Mire chip to restore Sam's life force and repel the invasion, but not before Leandro escapes through the closing portal. Afterwards, The Doctor and Ashieldr celebrate in the pub with Sam Swift and discuss the future. Ashieldr decides to dedicate her life to looking after the people left behind in The Doctor's wake.

As The Doctor sits in the TARDIS thinking and noodling on his guitar as has become standard this season, Clara returns. She shows him a picture of one of her students. Lurking in the background with a fairly sinister smile is Ashieldr, lending further evidence to her being the season arc.

All up this was a pretty damn good episode. It built on the previous episode despite no direct connection between the two threats. The Doctor and Ashieldr worked together reasonably well, and the lack of Clara had zero impact on the episode. I could maybe see her as a permanent Companion, but I do get why she won't really work well as one.

I was a bit put out by the initial interaction with Sam Swift, but it becomes clear they were setting his jocular attitude up as a catalyst to bringing Ashieldr back on track. An example for The Doctor to point to and say, "he gets it."

I am now genuinely interested in the season arc. Is Ashieldr the Minister of War? Is she still on track? What does that smile mean? I am hoping that the references to the arc drop off for a while though. Definitely the best this season, and possibly the best of Capaldi's run so far.

10/10

Can we fix it?

Not much to do here. Shave out some of the sexual innuendos in Sam's gallows humour, or at least make them less overt, and get rid of those freaking sunglasses. They literally added nothing to this episode. Neither, for that matter, did The Doctor playing his guitar again. These things were minor and didn't really affect the quality of the episode, but they are adding to the overall caricature of The Doctor we are seeing this season, and is starting to feel very samey.

More of the same

Something I've been thinking about for a while now is the concept that the writers of Doctor Who are concentrating more on elements of fan service than writing good episodes. This can rear its head in several different ways, and although it doesn't automatically mean the episode will be bad, it can certainly limit the potential.

A few of the things that I would classify as fan service have broader implications and I have discussed or will discuss in greater detail. Things like the sexualisation of The Doctor and forced inclusion of certain fan-favourite monsters where they don’t really fit. Others are minor quibbles, but when stacked together indicate to me there is a strong desire to pander to the fandom.

"And why not?" you may ask. The fans are the audience. Who are you writing for if not them? Yes, the fans are the audience, but a writer should never let the nebulous "them" dictate direction. Just ask George R R Martin. Fans may love a particular aspect, story or monster, but forcing in more of it doesn't automatically make things better. More often than not it retroactively makes the original thing seem worse.

Sexy Doctor

During Season 2 the relationship between The Doctor and Rose was edging towards platonic. Around this time we got The Girl in the Fireplace, which showed The Doctor's sexual side. This episode was very well received critically and by fans, which may have opened the door to more of these sexual antics from The Doctor, particularly under Moffat's tenure as show runner. He did write that episode, after all.

The beginning of the end.

This all came to a head for me during the 2013 Christmas Special and Matt Smith swan song, The Time of The Doctor. We open that episode with The Doctor prancing about naked and offering to be Clara's boyfriend for realsies, and progress to hyper-sexual innuendos with the leader of the Space Catholics whilst sitting on an alter-shaped bed.

I won't go on about this one, as I've covered it more thoroughly in my article about Hunka hunka burning Doc.

Steampunk Tendencies

I've noticed that Steampunk / Doctor Who mash-ups are a strikingly abundant cosplay theme out there. The crossover between the two subcultures of Steampunks and Whovians is significant. I don't know why it exists, but I'm sure it is the reason for the seeming increase in Steampunk influences in the show of late. Seasons 1-6 each saw a single episode that could fall under the broadest banner of Steampunk, either due to the time period, or the general style. The only season in this time that didn't was Season 4, where the closest is The Unicorn and the Wasp set in 1926.

At the same time, some people may be tempted to include Season 2's The Girl in the Fireplace because clockwork also features heavily in Steampunk. Add to that the three Christmas Specials across this time with Steampunk influences, and you've got eight or nine Steampunky episodes across six seasons. Season 7 then added half that number again with a total of three Steampunky episodes and the 2012 Christmas Special. Of course, it's entirely possible that this is purely coincidental, but I don't think so.

Possibly the Steampunkiest picture you can get without cog wheels.

With the advent of Season 8, however, we saw only one Steampunk episode, which combines the not-quite-Steampunk Clockwork Men with the definitely Steampunk Victorian London setting and, yet again, the Paternoster Gang. Perhaps this was the last hurrah for this particular theme. Time will tell, I suppose.

Another explanation lies in the fact that the Paternoster Gang appear in the last four Steampunk-themed episodes. In that case, it's not so much playing the Steampunk angle as it is trotting out Vastra and company at every opportunity. I've said before, I love the Paternoster Gang and if they had a spin-off, I'd watch the crap out of it, but much like the Needlessly Recurring Monsters, pulling these sorts of supporting characters out too much does lessen their impact.

Rockin' Doctor

And now we enter the Capaldi Age, and we are seeing these kind of things drop off a bit. Twelve is not the heart-throb Ten and Eleven were, and as noted, the Steampunk thing seems to have run its course. But now we are seeing something I can only think of as "Fan Bait", giving the fans something else tangible to focus on as a defining feature, rather than the already different and, in my opinion much more interesting, coldness and moral ambiguity he's been displaying since regenerating.

They are setting The Doctor up with some kind of rock and roll image, complete with electric guitar and those damned Sonic Sunglasses. Now it was fun to see The Doctor ride into that scene on a tank with his sunglasses and guitar. It worked in the context of his strange state of mind at the time. But now it seems we will get treated to a bit of a riff every other episode. And those glasses. I can't say enough how much I hate those glasses. They are probably going to be the equivalent of his Annoying catchphrase.

How did playing the guitar add to his explanation of a Bootstrap Paradox?

The main bit of evidence I have to suggest this is planned comes from the regular feedback surveys the BBC sends out to their Doctor Who Consumer Panel members. Each survey this season has asked respondents to pick two words from a list that describe The Doctor in the episode. One of the listed words is "Rock and Roll." I suppose it could have been there because of the scene in the first episode, but it has remained there in the ensuing three episodes, even the ones where he did not play the guitar. The Marketer in my kinda understands the need to have consistent survey structure, but it also knows that including it as an option was very leading. I feel like any results they get with that ticked will somehow support the Sunglasses, and I can't accept that.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

The thing to remember is that there is a law of diminishing returns at play here. What is awesome the first time becomes good the second time, okay the third and so on. To maintain the same reaction, you need to keep making the thing bigger and better until eventually you get so ridiculous that it becomes a bit of a joke. First we get The Doctor letting a woman into his hearts, but before long he has a list of conquests a mile long. Fans lock into a particular character or monster enough for them to see significant representation amongst cosplayers and BAM! Weeping Angels everywhere!

As the saying goes, "All things in moderation." The Doctor blasting out a couple of songs on an electric guitar whilst wearing sunglasses and riding a freaking tank it pretty awesome. By the end of the season it's just going to be boring.

So essentially, what I'm getting at is that the show has been bogged down in this regurgitation of the same old stuff over and over in an attempt to please the fans, but in the case of this fan, all it is doing is making the show feel stale. Whilst the Capaldi Era appears to be trying to shake things up, it also seems to be falling immediately into the same traps. I hope we can find the balance of keeping things fresh without just turning the show into a procession of memes.

The "Steampunk" episodes

For reference, here's a list of the episodes I was including in my count of Steampunk influenced episodes:

• Season 1 - The Unquiet Dead (1869)
• Season 2 - Tooth and Claw (1879)
• Season 3 - Human Nature/The Family of Blood (1913)
• Christmas 2007 - Voyage of the Damned (retro-futurist steam liner)
• Christmas 2008 - The Next Doctor (1851)
• Season 5 - Vincent and the Doctor - (1890)
• Christmas 2010 - A Christmas Carol - (retro-futurist Dickensian)
• Season 6 - A Good Man Goes to War - (Madame Vastra and Jenny)
• Season 7 - A Town Called Mercy (Wild West, late 1800s); The Snowmen (1892); The Crimson Horror (1893); The Name of the Doctor (some time in 1893, plus the look of the Whispermen)
• Season 8 - Deep Breath (Victorian London and the Paternoster Gang)

Review - The Girl Who Died

The Doctor and Clara set out to save a village of historically inaccurate Vikings in the first instalment of yet another Season 9 two-parter, The Girl Who Died.

Season 9, Episode 5 - The Girl Who Died

We open with The Doctor and Clara mid adventure TARDIS materialising in some kind of wooded grove, with The Doctor and Clara milling about outside. Soon they are surprised and captured by a band of Vikings. You can tell they are Vikings because of their ridiculous horned helmets. Making up for this little historical faux pas, however, is a glorious scene wherein The Doctor tries to threaten a Viking warrior with his Sonic Sunglasses, only to have them removed from his face and snapped in half.

Yesssssssssss!

I honestly couldn't have been happier with how that played out. I've been saying for a while now that these things needed smashing, and here it was happening before my very eyes. Wonderful.

After what we learn is a two-day longboat ride, The Doctor and Clara are brought in chains to the Viking village. The Doctor does his best to trick the Vikings into letting them go by pretending to be Odin, only to be slightly upstaged by what appears to be the real thing. The face of Odin appears in the sky looking for all the world like God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and sets about taking the most powerful warriors to Valhalla.

Clara harnesses her oft-used kid charming skills to get young Viking girl Ashildr to use the apparently still functional remaining half of the Sonic Sunglasses to remove her chains. Unfortunately the resulting display of high technology marks them as powerful enough to warrant being transported along with the warriors.

Clara and Ashieldr barely escape as the warriors are harvested for their adrenalin and testosterone, which the fake Odin drinks as he explains his evil plan. Clara again does her Doctor impression, attempting to talk their way out of the situation and force the aliens into retreat. It all seems to be going well until Ashieldr eggs Odin on and declares war on him. He vows to return the next day with ten of his best Mire warriors and raze the town.

Upon their return, The Doctor tries to convince the Vikings to run, but for some reason they claim they can't do that. I think this was all about honour and dying well or something, but it all seemed a bit weak to me. The Doctor makes to leave, but Clara encourages him to stay and help the villagers train for the battle.

Pictured: Training

After a brief comedy training montage, The Doctor figures out a plan to take Odin and his warriors out without simultaneously making Earth a target for the rest of the Mire. Using materials from around the village, along with parts from Clara's space suit and the a recent catch of electric eels, The Doctor steals one of the warrior's helmets and reprograms it to allow Ashieldr to project an altered reality into the video feeds of the remaining Mire warriors. Seeing a giant dragon attack is enough force a retreat, leaving Odin standing alone.

The Doctor explains the dragon was merely an altered video feed, and they now have video of Odin's men running in fear from a bundle of garbage, and unless he wants the humiliation of that video appearing on space YouTube, he will leave and never return. The joy of victory is short lived as we learn Ashieldr has died providing the illusion of the dragon. The Doctor is upset and stalks off, but soon has a revelation that encourages him to find a way to save the girl.

By hijacking a piece of Mire tech, The Doctor jump-starts Ashieldr's body into repairing itself. He also leaves her with another chip to give to whomever she chooses. We find out this is because The Doctor suspects his actions have made her functionally immortal. The episode ends with a quite beautiful shot of Ashielder smiling as time wheels past, but as it goes on, she clearly becomes bitter and disillusioned.

I'm expecting a list of names here.

The overall pacing of the episode was good, and although we are left with a "To be continued," this really feels like a standalone episode. The "next time" footage doesn't really seem connected enough for me to consider it a single story, but as as The Doctor himself said, "Time will tell."

I honestly don't have any real issues with this one. It was great to see The Doctor doing some real work to achieve a solution here. The absence of TARDIS and Sonic always makes for a more entertaining episode. Speaking of which, smashing the sunglasses was a joy to behold. I'm hoping they stay smashed.

Maisie Williams was great, and I'd love for her to become a recurring character in some way. We've seen a fairly clumsy connection to the prophesy of the Hybrid that Davros mentioned in the season opener, but could she also be the Minister of War mentioned in Before The Flood? Either way, she's a good contender for the season arc.

This was not quite what I'd call a perfect episode, but it was damn close.

9/10

Can we fix it?

Not a lot to fix here. Some costume changes to the Viking warriors to make them a bit more historically accurate and therefore allow more easy suspension of disbelief would be nice. I also feel like I want to suggest cutting back on some of the comic relief during the training montage, but ultimately I think that helps break the story up a bit.

I'm not sure how the next episode will connect with this one, but it feels complete enough to me for them to not have the "to be continued" at the end. Ashieldr can still turn up in a subsequent episode without it being the same story. Depending on how the rest of the season pans out, they could even be spaced out a little rather than back to back. I'll reserve final judgement on that for later though.

Review - Before The Flood

We travel back to 1980 to figure out what happened Before The Flood to create the homicidal ghosts from Under The Lake in what turns out to be a rather bland conclusion to this two-parter.

Season 9, Episode 4 - Before The Flood

After a cold open in which The Doctor explains the bootstrap paradox (he tells us to Google it), we pick up where last episode left off, with The Doctor, O'Donnell and Bennett appearing in the soon to be submerged town in 1980. The town has been done up to look like a part of the soviet republic, which, The Doctor explains, is because it's a training facility for the army at the height of the Cold War.

They soon discover the alien craft they had salvaged in the future, and The Doctor quickly identifies it as a kind of space hearse. Our top hatted Tivolian turns out to be the undertaker charged with burying a creature called The Fisher King in the traditional manner of taking him to a remote backwater (i.e. Earth). After a couple of truly cringeworthy S&M In-Who-Endos, the team figure out Prentis the undertaker knows nothing about the killer message, and The Doctor returns to the TARDIS to call Clara.

"I like being enslaved. Get it?"

After learning about the new ghost that's appeared outside the Drum, The Doctor admits that his fate is already sealed, but sets about trying to solve the problem before his time runs out. He tries to talk to his ghost, but it just accesses a control panel and lets the other ghosts out of the Faraday Cage. In the face of this, The Doctor instructs Clara and the others to hide in the cage but leave her phone outside so that the cage doesn't cut off contact.  

While The Doctor it trying to puzzle everything out, we discover The Fisher King has risen from the slab and has carved the message in the side of the hearse. He then kills Prentis, thereby starting the chain of events already witnessed in Under The Lake.

The Fisher King chases The Doctor and his group, and manages to kill O'Donnell. Bennett chastises The Doctor for not saving her, pointing out the coldness that has become characteristic of Twelve. They try to return to the future, but the TARDIS simply loops back half an hour. The Doctor has to physically restrain Bennett from interfering in past events and altering the future.

Meanwhile, in the future (does that make sense?) the newly arrived ghost of O'Donnell steals Clara's phone, forcing her to figure out how to safely leave the Faraday Cage. She realises that Lunn was spared by the ghosts once before, and that is most likely because he hadn't seen the message in the ship. Class isn't happy about it, but he leaves to retrieve the phone. When he fails to return, Clara agrees to go with Cass to find him, despite the danger. 

What danger?

The Doctor confronts The Fisher King, getting a bit of banter back and forth, before tricking it into thinking he'd erased its message. It rushes outside to check, only for The Doctor's ploy to be revealed when the overloading power core taken from the ship detonates, bringing the dam wall down and flooding the town. Presumably the Fisher King is killed in the flood.

As the ghosts close in on the survivors back in the future, the stasis pod opens, revealing it was The Doctor inside the whole time (which I had guessed would be the case last episode). The Doctor uses his ghost, which is actually a hologram, to trick the ghosts back into the Faraday Cage, and things wrap up nicely after that. The Doctor is even able to use his fantasmagorical new Sonic Sunglasses to erase the memory of the message from the minds of the survivors, in a delightful bit of Deus Ex Screwdriver. Or should that be Deus Ex Sunglasses?

Ultimately this is a rather disappointing end to what started off as a solid story. The pacing was really off, and it feels like a lot of nothing happens. Then just as the big bad shows up, he is completely wasted. Also, why is he called The Fisher King? There was absolutely no attempt at explaining that. Ordinarily I'm all for things being unexplained, but this was such a bizarre reference to leave hanging there that it just annoyed me.

We also see what could be the first obvious reference to a season arc, with mention made of "the Minister of War" as something The Doctor had yet to experience. I'd like to hope there will be other subtle references to the finale in previous episodes, but that they were so subtle I didn't pick up on them yet.

So, yeah. A disappointingly flat ending here. Definitely not a favourite.

6/10

Can we fix it?

I think the biggest fix that needs to be made here is just utilising the Fisher King himself more. A couple of off screen kills and a scene of dialogue with The Doctor just wasn't enough. The conversation between the two was great. I very much liked the King referring to the Timelords as "cowardly, vain curators who suddenly remembered they had teeth and became the most war-like race in the galaxy." But so much more could have been done with a physically menacing warrior alien.

I'd have liked to see more chases and close calls as he hunted the heroes down. Perhaps some of the banter we have in the one-on-one between The Doctor and the King could be thrown in here as he's trying to hunt them down.

By culling some of the slower scenes and beefing the tension of this bit up, the solution would have been all the more rewarding. It could also have been good to have Bennett be the one to set the charge by the dam wall, making him far less of a passenger in the final act, and perhaps giving him some sense of revenge for the lost O'Donnell.

Also, I would use a different name for The Fisher King. Unless the season arc turns out to have something to do with Arthurian Legend, it is totally out of place.

Review - Mummy on the Orient Express

The Doctor and Clara go for their "last hoora" with a relaxing train ride that turns out to be less relaxing than planned in Mummy on the Orient Express.

Season 8, Episode 8 - Mummy on the Orient Express

The cold open shows us everything we need to know for the premise of this episode. A woman is killed by a monster only she can see, and this is happening on a train, which for some reason is in space. The on screen timer is a neat little device and clues us in to the time limit before The Doctor has it explained later on.

After the tense ending to Kill the Moon, Clara has resolved to end her adventuring with one more little jaunt to space. The whole dynamic is that of a couple who know the relationship is dying but are desperately trying to end on good terms. Uncomfortable and slightly melancholy.

The episode plays out at a good pace with hints and clues nicely woven into the dialogue, rather than ham-fistedly slapped in just as they're needed. Moments of character development between The Doctor and Clara are well balanced with the more tense investigation and action during attacks by the Foretold. As the attacks increase in frequency, the tension rises and things come to a head nicely.

The Foretold itself was creepy, even if it was yet another "advance slowly and act menacing" type of monster. At least the 66.6 seconds rule kind of justified that and removed the whole, "why don't you just run away" thing.

"I'm much more spry than I look."

The Doctor maintains the detached alien nature we have seen throughout this season, which is a stress point in his relationship with Clara. He of course gets a chance to kind of explain himself at the end, but whilst he is still the same Doctor in that he wants to solve problems and save people, he seems to now have the ability to switch off. I can't really see Ten or Eleven methodically pumping a doomed person for information with out at least saying, "I'm so, so sorry."

I was disappointed to see yet another thing that can supposedly stop the Sonic Screwdriver. What is it this time? Some kind of "interference field," apparently. This is the main symptom of Deus Ex Screwdriver, and I'm not sure why they couldn't have stuck with one of the established weaknesses instead of making a new one. Hell, they could have said the shoe had cause some kind of issue that meant it would take time to open the lock. Time The Doctor didn't have, because he kinda got arrested.

Ultimately the solution comes about reasonably well, if a bit coincidentally. The fact that Perkins has something to do with it was nice, even if the rest of the scientists in the room seem nothing but window dressing. The Doctor shouldn't always be the only person to have any fun.

Frank Skinner as Perkins is a definite highlight in this episode, and helps to elevate it from merely satisfactory to very enjoyable. Any time The Doctor is challenged by someone is great fun. The offer of Companion status was actually quite exciting, as I could see Perkins' dry wit fitting into the TARDIS crew nicely. I hope to see him return at some point.

"Ooooh, yeah, I see your problem, Guv. Won't be cheap. Can't get the parts, you see."

The decision to not reveal the identity of whomever was pulling the strings here was definitely the right one. Knowing wouldn't have offered any additional value to the episode, and it leaves a thread hanging which could be tied into something else later on. I was also glad to see no season arc reference here, even though one could easily have been slotted in as it has in previous episodes this season.

The episode is book-ended by Clara's attempt to resolve her relationships with The Doctor and Danny. Instead of a grown up resolution though, we see a continuation of the "other man" theme which was the main driver of The Caretaker. Much of the final scene could easily be taken out of context and applied to a romantic or sexual situation. This is a great shame, because it seemed a bit of work had gone into sending Clara down the path of breaking up with The Doctor, only to have her ignore that and go on with the deception that caused all the trouble in the first place. Add to that the conversation between Clara and Maisie, where there is uncertainty around the nature of the whole relationship, and we are treading the dark path of Hunka hunka burning Doc again.

Despite all the confused relationship stuff, this is a tight story that plays out well with a believable threat and likeable characters. It's not perfect, but it's a good, solid effort.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Ordinarily I would say we could lose a good chunk of the Doctor / Clara relationship stuff, but honestly, the episode doesn't suffer for it. Instead I'd try to refocus some of it to clarify this isn't a girl trying to work out which man she loves, but is instead about a girl choosing between two lifestyles. She loves one man so much that she is now facing the inevitable putting away of childish things. The love of Danny Pink has given her something to lose should her dangerous lifestyle finally catch up with her. 

This stuff is all there, but it keeps getting clouded with ambiguous romantic implications. I say, get rid of the ambiguity, just as they finally did with Amy Pond when they showed her talking to Baby Melody about Rory. If Maisie must ask if there is a romantic relationship there, Clara should shut it down immediately. 

"No, I have a boyfriend. He's great. I love him. The Doctor is just a friend. Someone to get in trouble with."
"And what does your boyfriend think about that?"
"He doesn't like trouble. He's had enough of that in his life already."
"But you do like it, don't you?"
"Well... I mean, it's not like I need it."

A little exchange like this would make it clear that Clara loves Danny and sees The Doctor as a kind of Partner in Crime type of friend. It would also tie in with the talk of addiction at the end, making the closing scene less like someone plotting continued infidelity and more like a junkie justifying their next binge.

Review - Under The Lake

The Doctor and Clara go ghost hunting Under The Lake in this rather enjoyable first instalment of yet another two-part story.

Season 9, Episode 3, Under The Lake

Deep under a Sottish lake, a research facility has salvaged an alien craft. Scrawled inside is a mysterious message which glints menacingly in the eyes of all who look at it. Soon after, the mission commander is incinerated when one of the crew is startled by a dapper looking ghost and accidentally fires the ship's engines. No need to grieve though, as he's back pretty soon, only with fewer eyes.

I see dead people. But they can't see me.

The Doctor and Clara arrive, and the first thing we learn is that the TARDIS is not happy being there. Despite this, or maybe because of it, they choose to investigate, and it doesn't take them long to run across a pair of ghosts, who are intimidating, but non-violent. The ghosts lead them to the ship, but turn nasty after The Doctor and Clara have seen inside. They eventually run into the crew sheltering in a lead-shielded Faraday cage, and learn the ghosts only come out during the facility's artificial night cycle.

The Doctor spends some time trying to puzzle out what these entities are and how they work, but soon things start escalating and we lose another crew member to the ghosts. Of course, as is traditional, the first victim has been established to be utterly loathsome, so we don't really feel bad about it. 

We are treated to a little explanation about how the ghosts are using the facility to try to kill the remaining people, but the why of it is the pertinent question. There is only one thing for it; catch the ghosts. After a thrilling game of cat and mouse to lure the ghosts into the Faraday cage, our resident deaf character Cass is able to read their lips to decipher what they are saying. Sadly the way she is able to do this is through The Doctor's freaking Sonic Sunglasses.

Why?

I had hoped those things were a once-off. When The Doctor got rid of his sonic in the previous story, I wanted to believe they were going to run without one for a while, thereby eliminating the issue of Deus Ex Screwdriver. Sadly, with the inclusion of these damnable sunglasses, it seems the Sonic will be able to do more things now.

Anyway, The Doctor figures out what the ghosts are up to and what their message means, allowing the crew to salvage a stasis pod that was missing from the alien craft. The Doctor decides to travel to the past to discover what happened to cause this and maybe what is inside the pod, but before he can get everyone to the TARDIS, the ghosts manage to overload the facility's nuclear reactor, causing the automatic safety systems to flood the base in an attempt to cool the reactor.

Despite their best efforts, the crew are split up. With The Doctor unable to pilot the TARDIS to the other side of the flooded hallway due to the presence of the ghosts, Clara and friends settle in to wait for his return. The episode comes to a bit of a killer cliffhanger when another ghost emerges from the murky depths of the lake, resolving into the figure of...

How's that regeneration going for you then?

The pacing of this episode was pretty good, which is no doubt due significantly to the fact that it's a two-parter. It was about as far from Go, go, go, Geronimo! as you can get, if anything feeling a little too slow in parts. It was great to give The Doctor some time to puzzle things out, and as an added bonus, allow the other minor characters to be more than just cannon fodder, or substitute audience members to explain things to. The inclusion of Cass was a nice touch, but it kind of did telegraph that she would end up reading the ghost's lips. Still, great to see minor characters adding their skills to solve the mystery. The ghosts themselves are mildly creepy, and their attempts at physical violence are threatening, but the scarier bit is them using the base itself against their victims. I am genuinely curious as to what's going on here, although I have some theories. Again, my score may want revising after part two, but on the face of it, this one is pretty good.

Apart from those freaking glasses.

8/10

Can we fix it?

Not a lot actually needs doing here. Originally I was going to complain about how the base floods itself to cool the reactor, and how little sense this made, but on second thought, Vector Petroleum has already been established as a fairly heartless company (it is an oil company, after all). So with that in mind, I think it's easy to imagine them killing the crew in favour of losing the facility.

The only change then becomes those bloody sunglasses. We clearly need a video link so that Cass can read the ghosts lips, but there is any number of bits of tech that would conceivably be in this facility to establish a video link. The scuba suits could all have GoPros on them, for example. Bing, bam, boom. No need for sunglasses.