Doctor Who (Spoilers!) Review: "Under the Lake"

                Airing two pairs of two-part episodes back to back is a little strange even if it’s not at the start of a series. Granted Classic Doctor Who stories consisted of a number of episodes and even The Sarah Jane Adventures episodes were always doubled up. But to have two “to be continued…” shows almost back to back for Doctor Who at this stage is unusual. It’s not a terrible idea but it does mean almost all of the episodes after next week’s “Before the Flood” are going to be one-offs. Which is fine but…I don’t know, I guess what bugs me is THIS was a story they decided to spread across two whole hours.

                Not that there’s anything really wrong with “Under the Lake” written by Being Human creator and Doctor Who semi-regular Toby Whithouse. But for the most part it just feels like a basic Doctor Who monster story.

                The Doctor and Clara come upon the Drum an underwater mining station sometime during the 22^nd century where recently the crew there has recovered what seems to be a spaceship. Soon enough the crewmembers start to be picked off and are replaced with what appear to be eyeless ghosts who then roam the ship looking for the rest of the crew to kill off as well. And the Doctor has to figure out who they are, what they want, and stop them before everyone dies.

                This episode sees the return of a Tivolian (the Victorian ghost) the forgettable villains from “The God Complex”. And this episode is very similar to that only without the real sense of fear and dread and the wonderful Amara Karan. Most of the episode isn’t anything special with a situation we’ve seen before (seems like only yesterday we were in a submarine with Liam Cunningham) and stock characters: there’s the stern determined leader, the guy who cares only about profit basically being Burke from Aliens, the inexperienced rookie, the Whovian shout-out, etc. There really isn’t anything new. The Doctor does discover that this is the first time he’s encountered actual ghosts, which is worth noting. All the other apparent ghosts he’s come in contact with turned out to be aliens or some other supernatural force and so for him to draw no other conclusion is a surprise to both him and us. Though I still say the Tivolian ghost with his top hat and Victorian outfit is a leftover Gelth from “The Unquiet Dead”. And the untranslated runes on the recovered craft create a minor mystery but not one that is very investing.

                The jokes of the episode are hit and miss. There’s some very legitimately funny moments with the Doctor having to read his sympathies off a cue card and his reaction to finding his psychic paper shows him as an operative with UNIT. There’s also a reference to Ghostbusters which is never unwelcome and a nod at the fact that Clara is fairly useless and inconsequential for most of the episode (“I’m fine, in case any of you were worried”, we were not Clara). But then there are a couple cringe moments like Clara trying to get the Doctor to high five her and using the phrase “don’t leave me hanging” which is painfully outdated and forced. And yeah I was afraid of those sunglasses. Peter Capaldi does look good in sunglasses but I just can’t take them seriously as the new sonic screwdriver. Every time he puts them on I feel like the show is trying to be “cool” and “hip” and failing at both. I’d probably have preferred if he just didn’t have the sonic screwdriver like the Doctor did for a couple long stretches of time during the classic series. This is Doctor Who not C.S.I. Miami, and you just know it’s only going to be a matter of time before they make that reference and start to milk those shades just as much… (Sigh). On the bright side, at least we find out that even Doctor Who’s not above making a Peter Andre jab.

                As for that ending: the Doctor pretty much guilts the crew into staying and risking their lives, which to be fair, he’s done a few in times in the past and it’s never really made him look good. They’ve found out the ghosts are receivers calling to their location, so the Doctor decides to go back in time to before the lake they’re under is flooded. On their way back to the TARDIS he and two of the crew are separated from Clara and two of the crew. Not being able to go get her he tells her to stay put. The Doctor’s team takes off in the TARDIS and Clara looks out the window of the dining hall to see a new ghost appearing, that of the Doctor. Certainly this is not as interesting a cliffhanger as in “The Magician’s Apprentice” and it too feels a little generic. Hell even in the classic series we probably got a good half dozen episodes that ended with the Doctor appearing dead. I’m a little interested to see what happens next but yeah, only a little. This really doesn’t feel like a story worthy of two parts. It feels stretched out, like “The Rebel Flesh”/”The Almost People” and maybe “Before the Flood” will give us a surprising, interesting conclusion that makes this episode look good, but as for now it feels like a waste, especially considering we just had a two-parter that was really good, and that there are probably better episodes to come more deserving of an extra hour.

                But on its own “Under the Lake” is just a mediocre episode. It doesn’t have a whole lot of major problems, but doesn’t do anything new or compelling either. It’s a generic Doctor Who monster story, and here’s hoping part two’s a little more.