Usually when Doctor Who does a story like this, the monster turns out to be alien that the Doctor helps out in the end. While this still happens in a way, I loved the sci-fi explanation of the ghost this time: a girl trapped in a pocket universe where time is much slower than in the real world. The girl, Hila, then turns out to be a descendant of Emma and Alec from the future. For this episode, all these twists worked pretty well.
I particularly liked how the Doctor came to his conclusions by going all through time and taking pictures of the ghost. Clara asks all the right questions about how the Doctor sees us puny humans, and he seems flustered in some ways by her questioning. “You are the only mystery worth solving,” he says, a line holding two meanings, talking not only about humans in general, but specifically about Clara.
Another thing I liked about this episode was the sense of unpredictability. You didn’t quite know what was going to happen, one minute you’re in the house, another minute you’re in a big forest. In the middle of it all the TARDIS is acting crazy with Clara. The CGI and effects–which wasn’t much compared to the past couple of episodes–were pretty well done once again, especially with the Doctor clinging on the TARDIS when returning to the house.
The actual monster of the episode looked pretty neat as well. The last minute twist was kind of clunky where it’s revealed that the monsters in the two universes are both lovers that want to be together. Story-wise, it was a brilliant twist and very much within the spirit of the show, but on-screen it didn’t mesh quite as well. It also took away the likelihood of seeing them again, as they seemed to be quite scary looking things.
On a side note, did anyone else think of Rose the moment Clara mentioned a parallel universe? Knowing that Rose is returning for the 50th special, I can’t help but wonder if they are seeds for the future or just random references. Also, the date this story took place in was the 25th of November, the date when The Five Doctors aired. Normally this is where I’d consider myself to be over-speculating, but seeing as how all the numbers in this season seem to line-up with the show’s history, I’m not ready to dismiss anything just yet.
As always, I must mention Murray Gold’s music here. While there wasn’t anything really new, his energetic score kept the episode moving and made it that much more enjoyable. Especially after last week’s music-free adventure, it was nice to hear it dominate throughout the episode this time.
Overall, I must say I really enjoyed this episode. I sincerely hope Neil Cross returns to write for Series 8. His two episodes so far have been highlights of the current Series. That said, the next episode looks marvelous and I can’t wait to see what treats the heart of the TARDIS holds for us, as it’s an episode I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was announced.
What did you think of this week’s Doctor Who? As always, let us know in the comments.