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| The Doctor and Clara investigate a haunted house. |
1 episode. Approx. 47 minutes. Written by: Neil Cross. Directed by: Jamie Payne. Produced by: Marcus Wilson.
THE PLOT
Caiburn House, November, 1974. Professor Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) and his telepathic assistant Emma (Jessica Raine) are exploring a haunting. They have just seen the fabled "witch of the well" when they are interrupted by a loud knocking. It is the Doctor and Clara, here also to find the ghost.
The Doctor claims to be from military intelligence, and regails Emma and Clara with a list of Alec's impressive wartime achievements. He insists he's not here to steal Alec's work, just to observe and to make sure all is safe. But as he and Clara explore the old house, he observes several phenomena - Evidence that he steadily puts together as proof not of a haunting, but of something far stranger...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: When Clara confronts him about his relationship to the human race, declaring that humans must be like ghosts to him, he denies the charge. He tells her, "You're the only mystery worth solving." She takes it as meaning humanity, and there may be truth in that - but he is still talking very personally about the mystery of Clara, herself. When Emma tells him that Clara is just an ordinary girl - pretty, yes; clever, yes; but ordinary - he refuses to believe it. He also identifies very strongly with Alec, recognizing in his background much that reminds him of himself.
Clara: In The Rings of Akhaten, she sensed that the TARDIS disliked her. Here, that becomes a plot point, probably not for the last time this season, as the TARDIS again locks her out. She is able to convince it to rescue the Doctor, but there is no sense that their (apparently mutual) distrust has been resolved. She is disturbed when Emma warns her not to trust the Doctor, and is even more disturbed when the Doctor runs the TARDIS through the entire life and death of the Earth as if simply taking his vehicle out for a spin, but there's no sign of her doubting him at any point. I wonder if suspect warning (which recalls the dark look the DOctor gave at the end of Rings of Akhaten) will likely be paid off before the season's end.
THOUGHTS
"I am the Doctor, and I am afraid."
Hide starts out as a ghost story and gradually transforms into a science fiction story and a story about emotions. The transition from one genre to the other isn't entirely smooth, and I did not end up liking this episode as well as writer Neil Cross' The Rings of Akhaten (despite fandom overall preferring this) - but I still enjoyed this show, which continues the tease of the Clara mystery while managing several effective moments.
The first half is the better half. The haunted house setting allows for some effective atmosphere, and Jamie Payne's direction makes the most of some time-honored trappings: The Doctor and Clara explore dark corridors in candle-light; the Doctor discovers a cold spot when he sees his own breath, then marks it with a chalk circle; the temperature drops drastically throughout the house, to the point that the windows frost over; letters appear on a wall spelling out "Help Me." Very nice ghost story moments.
Balanced against these are good character bits. The Doctor and Alec recognize each other as men who have seen and survived terrible things. There's a terrific scene between the two of them. As they develop pictures in Alec's darkroom, Alec discusses his own survivor's guilt: "I did my duty, but then so did thousands of others, millions of others. I was just lucky enough to come back... I killed and I caused to have killed. I sent young men and women to their deaths. But here I am, still alive, and it does tend to haunt you. Living, after so much of the other thing."
Guest actors Dougray Scott and Jessica Rayne are terrific, and their characters' slow romance actually works. Most television romances where two adults who are clearly attracted to each other won't do anything about it leave me wondering why so many writers think 30 and 40 year olds should act like adolescents in the midst of their first crush. This one does work, because there are actual character-based reasons for both Alec and Emma to be so hesitant.
The second half of the episode is weaker than the first, most of the atmosphere disappearing the instant the Doctor discovers the "ghost's" true nature. But it remains entertaining, and a trip to a pocket universe allows for some further strong visuals. I can't help but wish the story had stayed with the combination of ghost story and character piece, however, as the first half simply works so much better than the second.
I do hope future seasons see more offerings from writer Neil Cross, however. I've enjoyed both of his Series Seven offerings, with The Rings of Akhaten my favorite episode of this season thus far. I also appreciate how different his two stories are from each other, and his ability to play with high concepts without losing sight of the characters. Despite my reservations about this episode's second half, I think he has a strong feel for Doctor Who and I would love to see more from him.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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