Doctor Who Review: Under The Lake – 7 Ways To Sink Or Swim
Three episodes in and series nine Doctor Who is showing no signs of taking on water.
WARNING! SPOILERS: This post contains spoilers and speculation for the Doctor Who series nine episode “Under the Lake”.
Three episodes in and series nine Doctor Who is showing no signs of taking on water. “Under the Lake” is another tight, well paced episode with intriguing bad guys that are so much more than bug-eyed monsters in rubber suits. Base under siege stories are a classic Doctor Who theme and writer Toby Whithouse does not disappoint with this spooky tale of an underwater facility beset by murderous apparitions and an amoral corporate puppet.
Reminiscent of the tenth Doctor story “The Waters of Mars”, this episode features an intelligently written female commander who also happens to be deaf. Sophie Stone brings the character of Cass to vivid life, needing no sound to convey a range of emotion from determination to desperation. Her performance ensures that the commander never feels less than an integrated and respected part of the crew.
“Under the Lake” is a return to the kind of rip-roaring adventure yarn Doctor Who does best. Yet it is more than a well told horror tale. The script is filled with explorations of the importance of language and how we communicate. Let’s dive into the many reasons why “Under the Lake” succeeds so swimmingly.
7. A Base Under Siege
Placing a group of characters in an enclosed space with an imminent threat is a tried and true way to create intensity within a story. The claustrophobic atmosphere heightens the tension and the group begins to fight among themselves as the danger increases. Writer Toby Whithouse keeps his script fresh by giving us interesting and nuanced characters to both sympathize with and scorn. Pritchard is especially effective as the company man who cares only for profit. His panic as his former commander reaches for the airlock button is well played as it lends a tinge of sympathy to a character that is otherwise easy to revile.
In a call back to Whithouse’s series six story “The God Complex” the original ghost is from Tivoli – a planet whose survival depends on the people’s willingness to submit to any force that decides to invade them. In that story the monster fed off a person’s faith. In this one the pilot’s sealed capsule is found within the ruins of a church. Is there a connection?