Under the Lake Advance Review

Note: Doctor Who TV’s pre-air reviews aim to be as detail-free as we reasonably can while still offering a critique, but as everyone’s spoiler sensibilities are different, we advise you read on at your own discretion.

Series 9 opened with finale-fused extravagance, but now it’s time for the show to dial things back a bit and bring us something a bit more traditional. And what better way to start that than utilizing the faithful “base under siege” template. Only this time we’re adding a lot of water and ghosts.

The story sees the Doctor and Clara arrive on The Drum, an underwater mining facility in the future that has seen better days. The TARDIS duo soon bumps into the crew and discovers not all of them are alive. Yes, anyone who dies appears to come back as a ghost. But can this really be the case? And what’s with the strange indecipherable writing?

This is the mystery that begins to unravel as writer Toby Whithouse returns to Doctor Who for the first time since 2012’s A Town Called Mercy. Whithouse seems to be one of those Doctor Who writers who has delivered some solid stories over the years, but none have really gone down in the rankings as modern classics. However, depending on how the second half plays out, this one might be angling for a higher position.

Compared to Whithouse‘s previous episodes this is probably closer to The God Complex. It even shares a connection of sorts with a Tivolian alien making an appearance, played by guest star Paul Kaye in a minor role (at least in this opening half). But while The God Complex went for fears of the mind, this is more overt. The whispering ghosts are excellently realized and will surely give younger viewers a scare, and maybe even some older fans too.

With the Doctor back to having to interact with a lot of new people we get to see Capaldi channel a little more of the harsher-edged Twelve that seems to have been missing for a few episodes now. Only this time Clara is on hand with some social etiquette cards to make sure he doesn’t go too far. Clara herself seems to be pushing some rather dangerous tendencies in her thirst for adventure, which can only be foreboding.

Unlike the opener this episode contains a large guest cast including Colin McFarlane, Sophie Stone, Zaqi Ismail, Morven Christie, Arsher Ali, Steven Robertson and the aforementioned Paul Kaye. While some of them are relegated little more than disposable red shirts and have no time to build-up much of a character, there are a few exceptions.

Sophie Stone’s Cass and Zaqi Ismail’s Lunn make for an interesting dynamic not seen on the show before, with Cass deaf and Lunn as her sign interpreter. Morven Christie, meanwhile, plays what can only be described as a bit of Doctor fangirl as O’Donnel (nobody mention Osgood).

Director Daniel O’Hara, while new to Doctor Who, brings his experience from Whithouse’s supernatural drama Being Human. While this episode is another that sees people running through plenty of identical looking corridors, O’Hara does a good job of hiding the seams and making the base feel imposing, with an eerie atmosphere throughout (helped along by Murray Gold’s fantastically spooky score) as the ghosts stalk their prey.

If you’re going to fault the story, it’s not particularly original. It’s yet another ‘base under siege’ after all and there’s only so many ways that can play out. Even with a sci-fi spin, Whithouse admitted he deliberately adhered to well-worn horror tropes, ones we’ve seen many times before. But the episode does it well enough that this quibble can be overlooked. Plus the conclusion promises a timey-wimey twist that should make things more interesting.

Ultimately, it’s another encouraging start for the second two-parter this year. If you’re looking for a good old-fashioned Doctor Who story, this might be just the ticket. Oh and it ends on another cracking cliffhanger…