Doctor Who – The Well Review

Well, that was quite the episode! Not only did we get a nice call back to the Tennant era of Who (now a pretty common occurrence thanks to Russell T Davies’ return to the helm of the series), but we also got a horror-infused mystery with genuine jump scares (which is a heck of a lot harder to achieve on television than one might assume). And yet another incarnation of Mrs. Flood, appearing to indicate that the presence of The Doctor and his attempts to discover just where Earth has disappeared to (or, since it certainly looked this way in the brief shot we got of things back in the season premiere, just who or what destroyed the planet) was a positive thing – and that she’s happy to have seen him rather than trying to stop his attempts. A lot to take in during an episode that, for the most part, told a wholly self-contained story.

The mysterious entity from “Midnight” was a great choice for a returning villain. For one, I suspect most folks haven’t even given that episode a thought since it aired all the way back in series four of the modern series. Hell, when I think back to that season, the following episode in the series – “Turn Left” – is the one I spend much more time recalling. But “Midnight” was a solid horror episode on its own, with an intriguing moral about trust and mob mentality in addition to be the first companion-lite episode of the series (with Donna Noble getting her chance to shine in the aforementioned “Turn Left” the following week). But a villain that you cannot see, who kills seemingly indiscriminately, and who you can’t easily defeat? That’s a conundrum and a hard one to write your way out of. And a button on the end to hint that the entity isn’t gone – or at least there was more than a single entity – and may be terrorizing even more people? Diabolical.

As for the story itself, we were treated to several superb guest stars, from Rose Ayling-Ellis as Aliss, the deaf cook who managed to survive in large part thanks to her deafness (a lovely way to turn a “disability” into a massive strength), Caoilfhionn Dunne (A Thousand Blows) as the doomed mission commander Shaya, and Christopher Chung (Slow Horses) as the tough guy Cassio. When you put together a solid guest cast like this, it elevates even the thinnest of plots. And while the horror elements of the episode were top notch, the story itself wasn’t all that impressive. But the work of those three, the rest of the supporting cast, and, of course, Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu, took this to a level that made it work.

I was happy to see that Belinda is starting to find her groove on the series – and to trust The Doctor a touch more – while still openly yearning to get back home. I don’t need to have a companion who is desperate for adventure and to escape their lowly life on Earth – that’s so often the arc given to a companion. Rather, it’s nice to have someone who is slowly warming up to this way of life, but who doesn’t want it to be a permanent arrangement. That feels a bit more true to life than someone (who has a family they care about) desperately wanting to run around the cosmos and jump head first into danger because it seems fun. There are definitely folks like that in the world, but it’s a bit strange that The Doctor tends to find them so frequently.

As for the continuing mystery of Earth, I’m warming to that as well, especially as it’s starting to turn into “What happened to Earth?” and isn’t “Why is Belinda the reason something happened to Earth?” Sethu is too good of an actor to be relegated to a magical mystery girl role when she can be so much more. But I’m starting to really dig this season. I’m intrigued to see where we head to next.