Written By: Neil Cross
Directed By: Jamie Payne
The Story: Caliburn House, 1974. The Doctor & Clara arrive to help a psychic and a professor investigate the mysterious hauntings that have occurred at the house, and come face to face with the Witch of the Well!
The Verdict: It’s a darn shame that DOCTOR WHO is on so early in the evenings. If you get the chance, watch HIDE in the dark. It improves the viewing experience tenfold this week, and at times may scare the crap out of you!
It’s been ages since we’ve had an actual scary episode of DOCTOR WHO (2011’s NIGHT TERRORS was the most recent and that was less terrifying then a rather difficult Sudoku puzzle), but Neil Cross delivers a creepy, suspenseful and thrilling story that piles on the scares and pulls no punches in putting the hairs on the back of our necks up.
It’s an episode that’s small in scale yet big on ideas – the pocket universe reveal is a great little idea that lends itself nicely to the more supernatural elements in the story, whilst the more heavy arc plot elements fit seamlessly into the plot without complicating proceedings.
The direction from newcomer Jamie Payne (ASHES TO ASHES, OUTCASTS) is simply put, excellent. His camera work is flawless. And boy does he know how to do a jump scare. This fine direction is complicated by the tremendous sound design, which really adds an extra layer of creepy atmosphere to the already creepy visuals.
Simply put, HIDE is another first class DOCTOR WHO story, and the scary episode fans have been waiting ages for. The final moments may swerve things the wrong side of happy ending for some viewers, but nevertheless, the last 45 minutes or so are superb and bloody terrifying as well!
I may need a night light for the next night or two…
Best Bit: The scenes in the Pocket Universe are wonderfully creepy, and the location work here is marvellous. However, it’s the sweet moment between the Doctor and Clara in the TARDIS that stands out as the best bit this week, as we get a great insight into the difference between the Doctor and his companion in the way they see time travel, both positively and negatively. It’s thought provoking stuff, and genius writing.
Theories: The TARDIS doesn’t like Clara much. That’s made pretty clear this week (was the TARDIS disappearing last week something to do with this also?) and one popular theory is that Clara is a living paradox in time, hence the TARDIS’s dislike. I may be wrong, but evidence suggests otherwise so far.
Trivia: The Metebelis 3 crystal first appeared in 1973’s sublime THE GREEN DEATH, wherein the Doctor gave it to his companion Jo Grant as a wedding present. She returned it to him in 1974’s PLANET OF THE SPIDERS when it apparently bought her nothing but bad luck. Oh, and in both those stories the Doctor saved the world with it!
Star Performance: There’s some great chemistry on display here between guest stars Dougray Scott (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II) and Jessica Raine (CALL THE MIDWIFE) as Alec Palmer and psychic Emma Grayling. Chemistry like this is hard to produce (especially when you’re filming for a couple of weeks at most) but these two fine actors manage it with ease.
Best Line(s):
The Doctor: “You want me to be afraid. Then well done. I am the Doctor. And I am afraid”.
THN’s Doctor Who Series Blog returns next Saturday.
Dan B
Apr 21, 2013 at 8:33 pm
That creepy thing in the shadows initially was properly freaky but yes, a wonderful episode, strong writing and intelligent at that.
Might help that I also love Jessica Raine but hey, that’s another story :p