Who Review: Hide
It’s November, 1974 and Professor Alec Palmer and his “assistant” (and empathic psychic) Emma Grayling are hunting a ghost. They’ve set up equipment in Claiburn mansion to track a centuries-old spirit, using Emma’s unusual abilities to help sense and contact her. When the Doctor and Clara show up, they get involved in the ghost hunt. But if searching for a ghost in a spooky old house isn’t scary enough, discovering the truth results in an adventure that’s more terrifying than things going bump in the night…
SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!
In short, this story by “Rings of Akhaten” writer Neil Cross is a homerun, touchdown, winning goal–whatever sporting analogy you want to use for “complete triumph.” The atmosphere of the haunted house, the set-up to the mystery, the truth behind the ghost, and even the ending (which some critics didn’t like) worked for me. Structurally, I thought it was very well put together, well thought-through, and both scary and fun at the same time.
Doctor Who rarely, if ever, embraces the supernatural as an explanation. Knowing this, one might wonder how the show would deal with ghosts. In season 2’s “Army of Ghosts,” they were Cybermen. Here, it’s a time-traveling explorer trapped in a pocket universe, screaming for help because there’s a monster trapped in the same pocket who’s not very happy and trying to get free. Emma’s psychic powers act as a beacon drawing the traveler back to the “real” universe. This explains her ghostly appearance. And the time warping effects explains why she’s been showing up in the same place for centuries. Clever, clever, clever–at least I think so.
Emma’s powers alone are not enough to traverse the wormhole and rescue the explorer. She needs something to amplify her powers–and the Doctor has the perfect solution: the blue crystal from Metabelis 3, last used for a very similar purpose in “Planet of the Spiders,” the final Third Doctor story, broadcast in… 1974! I must admit, it took me a few minutes to catch this because of Matt Smith’s pronunciation of Metabelis (MeTAbelis, as opposed to MetaBEElis). I wonder if this was a deliberate mispronunciation to catch long-time fans off-guard. I could be wrong, but that’s my theory.
Other classic show references: the whole “assistant”-“companion” thing near the beginning. This is a nod to the fact that in the classic series, the Doctor’s traveling companion (usually female) was referred to as his “assistant.” These days, they’re called “companions,” I think because this makes them seem less like the tea lady, and recognizes the important role they often play in the adventures, as well as the friendship they have with the Doctor. While this came up in reference to Professor Palmer and Emma’s relationship, it’s clear (at least to me) what this was really about.
As for the TARDIS umbrella stand–I don’t recall there ever being one. The Doctor used to have a coat/hat stand in the TARDIS, and he occasionally used this to hang his umbrella on (the Doctor often used an umbrella–indeed, with the Seventh Doctor, it was part of his costume). Maybe this is what the Doctor meant?
One thing that threw me a bit with the story is the fact that the Doctor and Clara just show up at this house. The way the Doctor recognizes the Professor and Emma indicates he intended to visit. But we aren’t told why. This would have been my biggest critique of the episode, if it weren’t for the fact this is explained at the end. The Doctor wanted to consult with Emma about Clara–given Emma’s extraordinary abilities, was there something she could tell him about Clara he should know? As it turned out, there wasn’t. And so the mystery continues…
If you saw this episode, please share your thoughts: the comments are open for as-spoilery-as-you-want discussion (though I encourage you to restrict your comments to this particular episode)! Look out for my review of the next episode, “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS” later today…
I had the same critique about the Doctor’s and Clara’s appearance in the house. I prefer the adventures where they’ve either come to explore and accidentally walked into trouble or intended to come somewhere else… and again walked into trouble. I always find it quite amusing that wherever the Doctor ends up trouble occurs. ^^
I did like this episode although since everything supernatural always ends up being something alien in Dr Who I’m always a tad disappointed because I know it isn’t paranormal. Then again, I have to remind myself I’m watching a sci-fi and not paranormal!
But I did think that while the mystery of the ‘ghost’ and banging was being solved it was a very creepy storyline. When they’re at the window and the time traveller appears behind them… *shudders* The writers can still turn the sci-fi explanation for “ghosts” and “vampires” into your familiar horror.
The Doctor and Clara’s sudden appearance bothered me at first, but then we got the explanation at the end: the Doctor wants to know more about Clara, and he thought asking one of the best empathic psychics would help. I was okay with that.
It helps to remember that Doctor Who was originally supposed to be educational, teaching about science and history. In other words, the creators believed there should be a tangible, scientific or historical reason for everything that happens. Bearing in mind that the show has attracted a number of atheists and skeptics as writers, that worldview (“everything has a scientific explanation”) predominates. Obviously, given my theological persuasion, I would agree that supernatural explanations are just as viable. But that’s outside of Doctor Who’s mandate–at least for right now, I think.
You’re absolutely right, though. There’s as much suspense and terror in this episode even with the “logical” explanation as there would have been in a “real” ghost story. 🙂
I agree with Robin’s last comment about the ‘ghost’ appearing at the window. I’m not known for my ability to cope well with supernatural beings on TV, so that freaked me out a little. As did the strange creatures in the house and through the wormhole. I’m still wondering about those creatures, what relevance did they have to the episode at all? This episode wasn’t one of my favourites, simply because I prefer my Doctor Who to be monsters, not ghostly goings-on! However, I did like the explanation behind the ‘ghost’, although the Doctor did give a bit of a big hint to the professor and Emma about their future together. It just goes to show how out-of-touch with human behaviour he actually is, despite all the contact he has with humans. Is that a result of him being an alien, or him being a time-traveller, or both? I shall end on that psychological note.
But, in response to Matt Smith’s conflicting pronunciation of Metabelis – how on earth did you remember that small detail?!
I think the point of the creature was to give a little twist to the story at the end. They thought it was hostile, which is why the time traveler was running from it. But in the end, the Doctor realized it was as much a victim of the time pocket, and just wanted to be returned to it’s partner.
Yes, I think that kind of hint-dropping and seemingly awkward social interaction is meant to underscore the fact that the Doctor isn’t human, and doesn’t always know how to respond to humans.
The Metabelis crystal is central to the plot in the Third Doctor’s last story, “Planet of the Spiders.” Being a bit of a Who geek, it caught my attention. If you ever get the opportunity to see “Planet of the Spiders,” you’ll understand–especially since the crystal is used there in exactly the same way: to amplify psychic ability.