Doctor Who: The Well Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs
8. UP - Rose Ayling-Ellis
Hands down, Rose Ayling-Ellis gives us the best guest performance of the season so far. She brings such vulnerability to the role of Aliss – the moment where she pleads for the Doctor not to turn his back on her was astonishing. The dual meaning of it – being left isolated because she can't read the Doctor's lips (or his handy subtitling device) while also fearful of being left behind.
The Well's use of different forms of communication – sign language, subtitling, and lip reading – was a wonderful touch. When the Doctor first encountered the Midnight monster, it was learning to communicate by mimicking the voices around it. In The Well, this is turned on its head, with Aliss' deafness being her very means of survival.
Aliss isn't driven mad like her colleagues because she can't hear the Midnight monster whispering in her ear. Without a corporeal form, it can't communicate with Aliss, and so she sits and waits for rescue, more terrified about never seeing her daughter again than she is about the monster on her back.
You want Aliss to survive, because Ayling-Ellis' performance taps into this isolation, tugging at your heartstrings.