TV Review: Doctor Who: S07E09

TV Review: Doctor Who

Series 7, Episode 9: Hide

Air date: April 20th

Series 7: Part 2 of Doctor Who has struggled to find its footing so far; The Bells of Saint John was an excellent opener, certainly, but the two episodes which followed were damp squibs, failing to evoke any sense of tension, excitement or fear that Doctor Who used to be known for.

It's lucky then that Hide is a triumphant return to form for both the show and writer Neil Cross, whose previous episode The Rings Of Akhaten was panned by critics and fans alike. A real ghost story is a tough project to perfect, but Hide manages to be a genuinely engaging, scary episode of Doctor Who which still clings on to the series' sci-fi roots. In fact, Hide is everything that The Rings of Akhaten was not - intimate, claustrophobic, character-driven and tense, the episode succeeds on almost every level.

Doctor Who has dealt with stories of ghosts and demons before though (namely the Season 2 episodes The Satan Pit and Army Of Ghosts) but none have been as spooky as this. After the title sequence has rolled, The Doctor and Clara have gatecrashed an apparently haunted mansion in which ex-wartime hero Alec Palmer and his companion ("It's 1974, she's your assistant," taunts The Doctor) Emma are investigating the mystery of the 'Witch of the Well'. 

Much to everyone else's terrified inconvenience, the spirit of the Witch is banging and wailing her way around the enormous mansion - but of course The Doctor doesn't believe in ghosts and won't settle for anything less than a logical explanation. 

It's here that Hide really impresses - what starts off as a Woman In Black style horror story soon turns into a really clever science fiction tale with monsters, time travel and crash landing TARDIS included.

Then there's the fact that now - at last! - The Doctor is starting to knuckle down with his investigation into how Clara can possibly exist, even drawing up some interesting theories with regards to her future. Clara herself is becoming more than just the bog-standard companion character, questioning why the TARDIS really (really) doesn't like her. Of course, fans of the show will know that the TARDIS isn't a huge fan of Captain Jack Harkness either, the man who should be dead. "You're an impossible thing, Jack." Sounds familiar, yes?

Of course, this wouldn't be Doctor Who without some form of monster involved, and this week's edition is a genuinely scary threat. The ghost performs all those classic paranormal shenanigans, like opening and closing doors inexplicably and appearing behind the characters as they fearfully stare out of the rain-covered window - but The Doctor soon finds that something else is lurking in the house. Thanks to some brilliantly frantic editing, Hide has some very "jumpy" moments as the barely visible creature lurks in the shadows making the episode feel very reminiscent of horror movies like The Ring, Sinister and Alien.

Still, Hide does let itself down by revealing far too much about the monsters - sometimes what is not seen is much more terrifying than the reality. The side characters are instantly forgettable too, albeit with a brilliant acting turn by Dougray Scott as Alec and despite an excellent set-up, the final resolution of the episode feels far too easy considering the problems that preceded it.

Any problems with the episode are redeemed by the fact that Hide ties itself into the overall season as a whole, as The Doctor asks Emma (a psychic) about Clara, while Clara even does the same about her Time Lord traveler. "He has ice in his heart." So far it has felt like Clara has only seen the fun side of The Doctor and hopefully - just hopefully - the show will tread into darker, more psychologically complex territory as we come to the final few episodes of the series.

Summary

Hide is a brilliant episode of Doctor Who that is definitely worth seeing. Writer Neil Cross redeems himself from his frankly awful Rings Of Akhaten episode by providing Doctor Who's audience with a genuinely scary, exciting and tense horror story that echoes some great genre movies. Best of all, plot threads which have been left hanging in previous episodes are finally being explored, such as Clara's existence: "You are the only mystery worth solving." Despite its forgettable supporting characters and its easy resolution, Hide is simply the best episode of Season 7, Part 2 so far - although next week's episode, Journey To The Centre of the TARDIS looks set to claim that title.

9/10 - Brilliant

Next episode: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS

Air Date: April 27th