Doctor Who Series 9 Reviews - Under the Lake (E3)

When you look over the episodes of Doctor Who screenwriter Toby Whithouse is credited for, you notice an ongoing pattern in terms of quality. On one hand, his opening story School Reunion is best remembered as being the catalyst of a career resurgence for both Elisabeth Sladen and K9 in an well-written love letter to the 70s era of the show; whilst his 2011 episode The God Complex can be considered an underrated gem during a messy period of the show's sixth series. On the other hand, you have The Vampires of Venice, which certainly looks good and has its moments but trudges along the Doctor/Rory conflict and the entire Saturnyne plot is rather weak; while 2012's A Town Called Mercy is dampened by the unneeded Amy and Rory and having only one strong moment included in it which doesn't last nearly as long as it should. But with that mixed résumé, that gives Under the Lake – the first half of a two-part story – a good chance of being good...right?

When the TARDIS arrives unhappily on a sea base in the 22nd century, the Doctor and Clara (Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman respectively)  are immediately faced with a duo of ghostly apparitions (as played by Paul Kaye and Colin McFarlane) who have been terrorising what remains of the crew for the past three days. With the ghosts seemingly only coming out during the allocated night periods – artificially set via remote control due to how deep the base is – and being unable to get through the Faraday Cage that's installed, together the TARDIS team and the crew of the Drum must figure out what on earth is going on, what these ghosts are and what they can do to fix the problem. 

As everyone and their mothers probably knows by now, Doctor Who has often done the secluded base storyline dozens of times since its inception back in 1963, and has been more than popular since the show's revival a decade ago (heck, they brought it back within the space of two episodes with The End of the World). So it's no surprise that very little new is added to an overdone staple – not that I dislike the common story basis, just that something new should be added each time rather than keeping it the same – and as a story in its own right (at least, this first half) it doesn't do much new either. It offers some interesting aspects and costume design for the creatures, and even a point where those god-awful sonic sunglasses are used goes down well, but overall it just has a same-y feel to it which really puts a downer on the whole thing. 

Thankfully, while the story itself has a typical feel to it in which it could likely made up of definitions from TV Tropes, its additional cast thankfully adds more to it. Not necessarily our two main villains, who are there as typical bad guys, but the remainder of the crew. Most notable of which is of course Sophie Stone as the first notable deaf character in the show's history – and once you get past another attempt of the Doctor's ongoing "I speak _____" gag, she makes for a strong enough character. Her rise to commander thankfully doesn't part her in the "I'm in charge ignore the Doctor" seat like countless times before, and as one of the smarter new characters make up for a interesting side character for the first time in a while. By her side is her translator Zaqi Ismail, who doesn't make up much outside of being a translator, but is enjoyable nonetheless and never has a moment where you can't bear him. Even his near-death encounter makes you actually feel for him, and in an era of the show where the common 'death-undo' switch is stuck on that is impressive. Morven Christie as the kinda-tech whiz and Doctor fangirl also could have been unbearable because of her Osgood-levels of fangasms, but thankfully she's limited in that regard and is likeable too if not a little underused. Then there's Arsher Ali as another underused character, and is there only to be the level-headed one, and then there's Steven Robertson as "money-seeking business man". Perhaps the only unbearable character, it's good thing there's little of him because his character is taken straight out of a template book. 

And then we come to our main duo, starting with everyone's favourite (although not everyone's favourite version) titular space adventurer Peter Capaldi, who maintains his power of never having a bad performance, and in this episode his characterisation of his Doctor is thankfully a little more on the serious side. Sure, he has his moments such as when he has to get out the cue cards, but even his interactions with Clara are keeping things on the right level. And Jenna Coleman seems more useful this time around now that she isn’t there just to give Missy company like last week. There's even a hint to a potential story arc with Clara acting so Doctor-like in the situation, and Coleman's more jokey nature clashing with Capaldi's serious approach makes things seem all the more natural. 

Under the Lake may feel like a standard episode, and in many areas it really is, but thanks to its strong batch of characters and a version of the Doctor that thankfully feels like an actual incarnation and not an uneven amalgamation of Matt Smith and Christopher Eccleston makes for an enjoyable episode, and a better first half than the messy The Magician's Apprentice two weeks prior. Here's hoping that Before the Flood doesn't confirm the aforementioned Whithouse curse and ends up being a worthwhile conclusion. 7/10.