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Well, in another life we did indeed say “The Midnight sky’s the road I’m takin’,” but that’s enough about an episode with Merlin in it. Written by Russell T Davies, and importantly, there is a use of an ampersand between him & Sharma Angel-Walfall. Meaning the two worked together, and it wasn’t just Russell doing re-writes. Walfall (as she is credited) has only a couple of writing credits, including Hollyoaks, Sparks, and Dreamland, only one of which I’ve sadly heard of. While director Amanda Brotchie continues on from the end of “Lux.”

Landing on a distant planet a few thousand years in Belinda’s future, the two do another costume change and I instantly called it. How am I supposed to ignore that it’s a Russell (and Walfall) episode, we’re in the far-flung future, and Britney’s “Toxic” is playing? The two-step out and suddenly we’re playing a game of Warhammer 40K: Space Marine II, minus the bulky armor but let’s be honest that’s bound to be a pain to run in. Bish, bash, bosh, the episode is flung straight into the “action,” though it’s one of those cosmic space-horror stories, so action isn’t exactly the word.

The planet, an old diamond mine now lacking its sparkle, has once again become uninhabited. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, and all of that. In the mining facility, everyone is dead, the mirrors are broken and the people are either shot or every bone in their body is broken. It’s a horrible place to be, especially if this is your second off-world trip (or second time here) and first into the far-flung future. I’d at least need to go on one more date before I opened my legs for that kind of adventure. Eventually, in the middle of a large room, there is one survivor, just one survivor, Aliss Fenly.

Off the bat, I have to say that there is a lot to like about “The Well.” However, I need to ask the question: Why does it have to be a sequel episode? Part of that episode’s charm (spoiler, we will have to talk about it later) is that it isn’t explicitly said. Looking back on it, I was probably a bit too harsh on it during a review, especially looking back at the whole companion run and how that episode ends.

Though this week there isn’t a big Belinda stamps her heels and demands “no, I want to go home now (gooses, geeses, and all that)” moment, which I bemoaned. There is the emotional “what about my parents,” but it is at the start, we listen to “Toxic,” and we move on. As I said last week, and I had to explain to my editor, I kind of wish that were the case in general. We got it at the end of “The Robot Revolution,” which was fine to set it up, and “Lux” reinforced it, but maybe felt a bit wavering of the character. Do we really need it a third time?

Still explaining several aspects of the show’s premise, “Smith and Jones”, this early portion of the series (not season Russell) it has not been, we get the TARDIS Translation Matrix explained and another use of the psychic paper. As I say, it was that Warhammer-ish drop ship bit and what feels fairly “Bish, bash, bosh,” cutting through a lot of setup with fairly lean exposition that just gets us into the action. Including the planet designation Six-Seven-Six-Seven, avoiding giving it its former name before Earth’s moment during the Medusa Cascade.

Let’s be honest, if my hints were any heavier, I’m sure Ben Drury (“The Robot Revolution” editor) would be editing them to spell them out for you. Medusa Cascade, a companion I didn’t love initially, the Miley Cyrus lyric “The Midnight sky’s,” a diamond mine, might as well spell out the word Midnight (planet) in neon magenta and point to it like Ted Lasso. The only time we saw this planet was through the windshield of a heavily armored tour bus, and Lesley Sharp was creepy. Thousands of years on, raw galvanic radiation, a star that’s collapsed into a grey star, what’s that going to do to the Midnight entity?

In the case of Colony Base 15 and Six-Seven-Six-Seven, it results in everyone but Aliss being killed or seemingly killing themselves. The entity clings to the nearest person after death. The Doctor and Belinda quite literally stepped into the line of faux-Space Marines before they dropped to do a welfare check on the base, so it was never going to be a happy, cheery episode. In fact, within 15 minutes, we get some pretty dark themes as is: Aliss having to kill her best friend at the base, people either shot or every bone broken, and most importantly, the theme of being skeptical towards someone disabled.

We might be in the 5020th Century when humanity is doing a James T Kirk as I’m sure Casandra would bemoan. However, Aliss is deaf, and thus when she and The Doctor sign to each other without speaking, it makes the faux-Space Marines jittery. Typical military types, really. To some degree, I understand the weariness of being so “open” with someone you’re pointing guns at, someone (a “chef” no less) you suspect killed everyone in a mining base. However, there are parts of the episodes that take it too far.

Led by Shaya Costallion (played by Caoilfhionn Dunne), the Troopers as they are referred to, have decent procedures and military doctrine for securing an HVT. As they pass by each other, they lift or lower guns, they keep a radius around Aliss and within her sight, and they call out actions and commands as they work the problem. It’s “correct” for that type of group, which you can’t always say for film and TV, but very quickly the lines of characters are drawn as Shaya becomes the good military personnel, and Roddy Ho from Slow Horses is just aggravating.

Christopher Chung’s Cassio Palin-Paleen and every other Trooper’s characters are those of mindless, face-less, military drones that are just there to annoy. Typical Doctor Who fodder. Aside from my “do we need to do it again?” of “Midnight” and the Midnight entity, this lack of character or superficial level of character is probably my least favorite part. It gives us a sort of antagonist until we realize what planet it is – it sort of feels “icky” but not the way disability was shown in “Lux.”

There is a term in wrestling called “go-away heat,” where you hate someone not because they are the villain in the story, but because they just aren’t doing anything useful to the story. Cassio’s militarist single-mindedness of himself and others has that go-away heat. He alone is annoying, but you can quickly pick up what his point in the plot is, and it becomes tiring, especially by the time he leads a mutiny against Shaya. He and others have a point in the story, but it honestly feels perfunctory.

However, to get back to the point at hand here, Aliss and the Doctor signing, Aliss telling Belinda that it is illegal for a nurse not to know sign language in this century, and the little translation/text-to-speech matrix they put on their chests is really interesting. If you think about it, medical personnel should know multiple languages, and by this point in history, the text-to-speech thing is a great tool. Though it also makes sense to remind people, “A different language doesn’t mean you’re going to die,” especially in Doctor Who.

I also really like the whole cosmic horror of the entity being behind Aliss’ back. The episode is really good and interesting, but not because of the Midnight entity. That’s the sticking point I keep returning to. Had this not been Midnight (the planet) or had it not been explicitly said to be Midnight (still the planet), I’d have left it saying that it is a fantastic horror episode of Doctor Who. I’d have even put it alongside “Blink” and “Hide” for the horror themes. It is genuinely fantastic.

Rose Ayling-Ellis’ Aliss is great, I think Caoilfhionn Dunne’s Shaya Costallion is a military character in Who done correctly, Varada Sethu’s Belinda is very Martha (again), and of course, Ncuti brings an energy that is pitch perfect. Almost entirely from a technical aspect, I can’t complain about the direction, the acting, or most of the writing. The only other bit about the writing that isn’t heavy spoilers for later portions of the episode is probably the moments Aliss turns. It’s revealed that anything behind her will be attacked, but either through writing or through direction, that sometimes doesn’t happen.

Yes, I know, I’m nitpicking on the most granular level, but that’s kind of a good thing. If the episode is so good that I can only find faults in simple little shots or fleeting moments, it doesn’t take away from the overall quality. Despite what Russell’s clear intent was last time out. Yes, I’m also still annoyed about that, too. Returning to the point, think of this “It kills anyone behind her” as a rule, and anything that slightly breaks that rule is going to look odd. Maybe another line explaining it would have “saved” those moments.

However, I don’t know that it would save the episode overall. I keep returning to it because, as I sit here, I’m still bubbling on the idea that this shouldn’t have been a continuation of “Midnight.” Either through the subtext or the overt nature of the episode, the Midnight entity did what it did for a reason when we first saw it. It was new, it was fresh, it was mirroring everyone on the trip and not just copying what they were saying, but rather their behaviors too. It latched onto fear because that’s what everyone had at the time.

Sure, we’re thousands of years on and it may have evolved, but even then I’m left asking why it has to be Midnight (planet), why the Midnight entity, and why did it have to continue from “Midnight?” The episode “Midnight” is about how fear doesn’t help a situation. Here, there isn’t that strong thematic connection between the broad strokes of the episode and its more subtextual aspects, at least after three sittings to watch. Where “Midnight” showed this entity being scared and using that fear to survive, it seems it has progressed to malice and anger for unexplained reasons.

The lack of explanation and deep exploration of the entity on Midnight is what makes the episode of “Midnight” very interesting and good. It is a mystery that works because it is unexplained, and it doesn’t need to be explained because, like the deep ocean, it is something we shouldn’t be touching. I don’t need a power saw with a flashlight dangling over its face in my life like I don’t need the cosmic horrors of deep space either. Having this monster of the week be something completely different would have made more of an impact, rather than feeling like it’s an old record.

It’s a good record, and one that I’ll play again, but the question still stands: did it need to be Midnight? To me, unless we’re going to go on with the Midnight entity sometime soon, then I don’t see the point in doing this sort of arc about it. A whole new mythos, a new idea of a monster you can’t really see or it will kill you, something attached to someone, that’s far more interesting than sentimentality for Russell’s previous era. That’s what this is and comes off as very little else.

Arguably one of the best episodes of Doctor Who in years, “The Well” is ultimately fantastic. You can nitpick here or there, and you can bemoan the use of nostalgia to fuel some people’s love of it as well, but there is no denying it’s the best cosmic horror we’ve had in years. If you take away the Midnight element (hypothetically), it would have been one of the best standalone episodes in a long while. Rose Ayling-Ellis and Caoilfhionn Dunne stole almost every moment they were on screen, only equaled or bested by Ncuti and Varada.

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Doctor Who "The Well"

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Aliss Fenly; a Russell T Davies name if I've ever heard one.
• Rose Ayling-Ellis and Caoilfhionn Dunne were great.
• The comments on disability and accessibility.

Cons

• Cassio Palin-Paleen and the Troopers are superficial.
• Does it really need to be an add-on to "Midnight?"