8 hours Ago By Asyia Iftikhar
The latest episode of Doctor Who could have been excellent (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)Spoilers for Doctor Who episode three, The Well, ahead.The BBC sci-fi series’ newest episode is a surprise follow-up to the beloved David Tennant adventure Midnight – but it just misses the mark.When the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and reluctant companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) arrive on a remote planet 500,000 years in the future, they join a stealth rescue mission to investigate why everyone on the planetary base has gone silent.
The episode introduces a spine-tingling atmosphere, and when the time-travelling duo and group of troopers infiltrate the base, they find everyone has been brutally murdered and their mirrors smashed. All except one woman, Aliss Fenister, portrayed by Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis,who is discovered by herself in the middle of a room.Get personalised updates on Doctor Who Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.British Sign Language (BSL) is brilliantly interwoven into the fabric of the episode, from exploring lingering prejudice to how technological advancements have made society more inclusive than ever.There’s plenty to love about this episode – especially Rose Ayling Ellis’ powerhouse performance (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)And Rose offers a tender and suitably unnerving performance as a terrified mother desperate to be reunited with her daughter.
Elsewhere, growing on Belinda’s nature to help and heal, we see the nurse immediately swoop in to help this vulnerable woman, clearly shaken by what she has witnessed. But all is not as it seems. As the episode progresses, Belinda is frightened by a strange figure that jumps out behind Aliss that, initially, no one else sees.
Meanwhile, the Doctor has left them alone to go and get to the bottom of exactly what has happened.It is here we get the twist of the episode (for those saved from online leaks). That they are on the planet Midnight, where the 10th Doctor was almost murdered after his body was possessed by a mysterious figure back in season four.
The new Disney+ era doesn’t have the bandwidth for two-parters, which is a crying shame (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)It’s a fan-favourite stand-alone episode, so Russell T Davies’ decision to revisit the planet and monster is a bold one that doesn’t quite pay off. Just like in Midnight, there is a steady increase in tension as paranoia and true terror consume Belinda and the troopers as they frantically try to figure out the root of the malevolent force in the room threatening their lives. Honestly, the way the monster operates is slightly baffling.
It latches onto the nearest living victim and will transfer over to whoever kills their host. Oh, and murders anyone who stands directly behind them, although this doesn’t always seem to be the case. There’s plenty to love about this episode but I couldn’t help but feel that, given how popular the original David Tennant adventure was, this should have been a two-parter.
It fits right into the creepy aesthetic of The Satan’s Pit and Silence in the Library (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)Allowing the mystery of what planet they had arrived on to last longer, and giving the viewers more time to connect with the troopers so their deaths would feel like a real tragedy, could have set this apart as a truly excellent two-parter. And it’s prime for the picking. Much like The Satan’s Pit, Silence in the Library and even Flesh and Stone two-parters (to name a few), allowing us time with the side characters enriches these stories tenfold.
What’s more, the majority of the time, there is a heartpounding intergalactic mystery at the heart of the episode that is exquisitely spread across a nail-biting two hours. We desperately need two-parters back in the new season (Picture: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf)Unfortunately, the biggest loss in the Disney+ era of Doctor Who has been mid-season two-parters. And nowhere is that keener than here.
Especially, as we saw in Martha’s Human Nature two-parter, this form of storytelling often separates the Doctor and companion for a while, allowing us to see the companion in action in isolation and deepening our understanding of them. The shortened season length has been a huge blow to nurturing the bond between the audience and characters meaning we don’t even get to spend a good amount of time on one adventure.Not even when it is clearly needed.
Nonetheless, The Well is still a strong follow-up to last week’s widely praised episode Lux, with plenty more action to come and, finally, the return of Ruby Sunday. Doctor Who airs every Saturday on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.Got a story?If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.
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