The frightening third episode of Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who season 2, ‘The Well’, references James Cameron’s Aliens.
Sigourney Weaver’s battle-scarred Ellen Ripley, imprisoned on a world full of acid-blooded Xenomorphs following a failed mission, says, “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.” Cassio mentions something similar in ‘The Well’ using nearly those words. It pays homage to a sci-fi sequel that expands its universe without spoiling the original.
Review of Doctor Who season 2: ‘The Well’ Spoilers
This relates to ‘The Well,’ a surprising sequel to the 2008 David Tennant classic ‘Midnight,’ in which an invisible monster possesses Lesley Sharp and starts to imitate everyone. Robyn from ‘Lux’ undoubtedly knew this was coming.
‘Midnight’ is beloved because it’s a rare episode where the Doctor is always behind. He only survived because a lady he barely knew sacrificed herself. He has learned nothing about his danger. Adding the creature’s backstory or showing it in a sequel would be disastrous.
Luckily, ‘The Well’ doesn’t go there. The entity, described in the credits as It Has No Name, is never seen or explained beyond a few fleeting glimpses in the shadows. We don’t even know it’s the same entity—the Doctor assumes it is.
The story takes place 500,000 years hence. In the pre-credits sequence, the TARDIS appears aboard a spaceship, sending the Doctor and Belinda on a dangerous mission with a troop of soldiers to investigate why Planet 6-7-6-7’s mining colony has gone quiet.
Aliss (Rose Ayling-Ellis), a lone survivor, initially believes the crew went insane and killed each other. Aliss is deaf, so while the Doctor can sign, the troops must use a clever communications technology that displays their dialogue as floating speech bubbles, a clever notion beautifully executed on screen.
Aliss’s role in her coworkers’ deaths is unclear for most of the episode, but something unseen has attached itself to her. Anyone who stands behind this invisible creature dies—a terrific “don’t blink” playground horror idea. Killing Aliss would trigger the beast to jump to her killer.
Review of Doctor Who season 2: Whispers at night
“The Well” dwells on this situation’s uneasiness. Amanda Brotchie, directing from a story by Russell T Davies and Doctor Who rookie Sharma Angel Walfall, extracts as much tension as possible from the dismal, claustrophobic set until the thing appears halfway through the episode.
Many will like that. Doctor Who fans often want the show to be “darker,” but that’s usually a surface-level critique as Davies’ Who uses a bright style to hide darker themes. Those who found ‘The Robot Revolution’ and ‘Lux’ too comical will love this. ‘The Well’ complements episodes like ‘The Impossible Planet,’ ‘The Satan Pit,’ and ‘The Waters of Mars.’ No, not ‘Midnight’.
And therein lies my small doubts about ‘The Well’s sequel effectiveness. The entity in ‘Midnight’ replicates humans as it learns how they communicate and turns them against one other. ‘The Well’ has some infighting, but this creature has a different approach. ‘Midnight’s descent from laughs and banter to desperation and paranoia is likewise absent, replaced with a creeping dread from the outset.
I admire that ‘The Well’ never repeats tricks, but I wondered why it was a sequel. You could modify the planet’s name and remove the 10th Doctor and Sky Silvestry’s brief appearances without changing the episode. Besides a fleeting sensation of familiarity, the ‘Midnight’ connection adds nothing to the plot.
However, that may be oversimplified. Like Aliens, ‘The Well’ deliberately attempts something unusual without detracting from the original episode. Gatwa and Sethu remain a good combination, and after two mostly happy adventures, Belinda gets to taste the harsher side of life with the Doctor in a late episode shock that mimics ‘Boom’ last year.
The guest cast includes Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is both empathetic and eerie, and Caoilfhionn Dunne, who plays Shaya, the soldiers’ leader, who is competent and willing to listen to the Doctor and Belinda, which is refreshing for Doctor Who.
This run is looking great after three episodes. Though not as new as ‘Lux,’ ‘The Well’ is rougher, tenser, and more engrossing than ‘The Robot Revolution.’ It will satisfy Saturday terrify fans, and this season’s confidence is impressive. Ruby Sunday returns next.