Doctor Who: Hide

[lizbee]

Okay, that was scary.  Well done, show.



But first, a word from Don Draper.

"This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards and forwards. And it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called The Wheel, it's called The Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again. A place we know we are loved."

(And the full scene on YouTube. Man, remember the days where Don was a complete screw-up in his personal life, and a genius at work? Before everyone had facial hair? When Duck was a character? Season one, you guys. The pain from an old wound.)

This isn't a ghost story, it's a love story.

Neil Cross, man. He's written my two favourite episodes this season. Neither were perfect, but I feel like he really gets Doctor Who.  And he's versatile -- not just with the spookiness of this contrasted with the fairy tale of "The Rings of Akhaten", but both of these against Luther.  Which I couldn't watch past half the first episode, on account of it being triggering, but what I saw was amazingly well-written.  Is it too soon to start a Neil Cross For Next Showrunner campaign?  If he brings in Idris Elba for Twelve, I won't even complain that he's not Dev Patel. 

ANYWAY, I've been thinking about "Hide" all day.  I feel like I should have issues with it, in that Emma is less fleshed out than Palmer, which means she's basically a (significant) plot device, and her scenes with Clara were awkwardly reminiscent of the horrible interaction between Rose and Gwyneth in "The Unquiet Dead".  Except they were less forced, and have serious implications for Clara's relationship with the Doctor.  And I also think the Bechdel test is quite reductive, and doesn't necessarily take into account the limitations of television scheduling (especially when there's a whole plot point resolved in the last 60 seconds), so it shouldn't bother me when it's not passed.  Right?  RIGHT?

Those quibbles aside, I thought this whole episode was amazing.  I was gripped from the first few minutes, even though I thought I knew how this would go -- yesterday my mum, who doesn't usually watch Doctor Who, said she was going to watch this episode because it has a ghost, and I nearly said, "You know it's going to be an alien, right?"

WELL, NO, SMART ALEC DAUGHTER, YOU WERE WRONG.  The alien was the other ghost.  But it's okay, they were both scary. 

But I think what sold this to me was the cast.  Dougray Scott has aged amazingly well, and he was quite sympathetic as a character who could have come across as a bit pompous and self-pitying in lesser hands.  Likewise, Jessica Raine brought immense depth to Emma.  I haven't watched Call the Midwife, so while I knew I'd seen her face before, I couldn't place her.  But now that series has moved way up my list.  She's also playing Verity Lambert in An Adventure in Time and Space later this year, which I'm looking forward to. 

Meanwhile, Matt Smith did his usual amazing job, and JLC was confident and sparky, even though this was actually her first filmed performance as contemporary!Clara.  I thought she did particularly well at portraying Clara's new mistrust of the Doctor, after Emma warns her about the "ice in his heart", while still liking him and going to considerable lengths to rescue him.

On which note, I laughed quite loudly when the TARDIS basically told Clara she was a bit up herself.  One, we've never seen a companion the TARDIS didn't care for -- except for Jack Harkness, and who could blame her? -- and two, I'm pretty sure the TARDIS would do the same thing with me.  Clara may be more afraid than she lets on, as Emma says, but she's also profoundly self-confident and self-reliant.

And that's a good thing.  I keep seeing people praising Clara for not being a "stroppy cow" like Amy, and what they mean is that Clara doesn't walk into a room and aggressively demand to be taken seriously.  But she's tough in a different way, and this reflects that.  She may be several different people, but they all have a really strong sense of self.

What I think impressed me most about "Hide" is not only how scary it was -- quite scary -- but how it featured some of the best aspects of classic Who without reproducing the worst.  That's harder to do than it sounds, and I really respect Neil Cross for not only succeeding, but for trying in the first place.  I'm not joking when I say I'd like to see him take over from Moffat one day -- the other major contenders are Chibnall (mixed feelings) and Gatiss (I wouldn't flounce, but I'd also take a break from New Who for a few years), along with Toby Whithouse (about whom I have no opinion either way).

(Personally, I think the whole subject should be decided with a reality show - So, You Want To Run Doctor Who.  A mixture of professionals and amateurs can present their cases, and the public can vote.  And then bitch loudly about the winner for the rest of time.)