Of course, neither character is really dead, and the Doctor won’t commit murder, giving audiences little reason to look forward to “Familiar”. It’s very much a joke that would have worked early in Capaldi’s first season but feels off now considering how his Doctor has evolved.
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The “base under siege” plot – our heroes and a motley crew trapped in an enclosed space – has been a Doctor Who staple for decades. Finally, he puts pressure on the people inside the base to stay and learn the truth about the ghosts, by appealing to their responsibilities as soldiers and scientists. Though one exhilarating chase sequence peters out with a weak resolution – swapping a hologram Clara for the real deal – the Doctor’s subsequent confrontation with the invaders is both tense and amusing.
And the thing is, Clara does nothing about this.
Meanwhile, there is allegedly another plan that the BBC is considering for Doctor Who’s future, which would see the show rebooted with a brand new cast in 2017.
This bothers the Doctor so much he tries to leave Clara inside the TARDIS at the first sign that things are getting out of hand.
Impressively, though, the episode still gets going really rather quickly.
Leaving the story with things to a resolve, and a cliffhanger worth tuning back in for, Under The Lake is a bit more traditional a Doctor Who story so far than we’ve had over the past two weeks, and a tense piece of television drama. (This point was made as recently as last year’s “The Caretaker”) The companions are the Doctor’s conscience as well as a check on his mania.
The episode has touches of Cold War, Waters of Mars and even The Underwater Menace, for those Whovians dedicated enough to revisit the 1967 adventure. For a few reason, the ghosts only come out at night, which is created artificially on the base due to their depth underwater. “The Temple.” And the Doctor deduces this is a set of coordinates, for someone to find this place on Earth. And once you see them, you’re killed by the other “ghosts” and start repeating the words, setting off a beacon to bring the aliens to Earth. She and Clara make an entertaining pairing throughout the bulk of the story, even if the focus on Missy means that Coleman is not given the chance to show off the actresses’ considerable depth and nuance.
Outside the window of the flooded base, Clara sees another apparition but as it draws near, the haunting final shot reveals that this time it’s the Doctor that has become the ghost.
The Doctor and Clara get separated in the escape and the Doctor decides to travel back in time to when the spaceship landed.
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Fortunately, O’Donnell’s able to override the controls and force the base back into day mode, causing the ghosts to disappear.
