Emma Talks Nerdy About: Doctor Who "Hide"

WARNING: THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS

Let's get this out of the way first of all, there would have been more than a few fans who upon seeing Neil Cross' name on the credits would have dismissed this story out of hand. To say that his first story broadcast two weeks ago "The Rings of Akhaten" was divisive is putting it lightly. The fan reaction here in the UK in was so bilious it even prompted that bastion of journalistic quality The Sun to "write" an "article" about how it was the Worst. Episode. Ever. Coming back from that was going to take one heck of a story, so does "Hide" cut the proverbial mustard?

Well my answer would be a yes, this was a much better script from Cross, an avowed fan of the series, this story is similar in tone to stories like "Ghost Light" and "Day of the Daleks" in that a story that at first appears to be about the paranormal is actually anything but. This script also borrows heavily from those other great British spook house yarns of The Stone Tape and Quatermass but at it's heart this is a story about love and ultimately possible heartbreak. Where this story really sings is in the performances, in particular the guest appearances by Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine as Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling, their blossoming romance will resonate with anyone who has been in the early, nail bitingly awkward stages of a relationship. As for the heartbreak, I think the relationship between The Doctor and Clara is heading for the rocks, the scene about halfway through the episode where Clara has an epiphany about the nature of time travel and confronts The Doctor as he skips through the entirety of the life of planet Earth with nary a care is haunting. It's notable for how much it shakes The Doctor, only able to stutter out in response some bobbins about things being "wibbly". Emma Grayling's warning to Clara about the "sliver of ice" in The Doctor's heart is stunning also, given Clara's intelligence I don't think it'll be much longer before she finds out the truth of The Doctor's interest in her, is it notable that she calls whiskey "the eleventh most disgusting thing in the world"? Only time will tell.

Here mention must also be made of the TARDIS, coming forward as a proper character in this series for the first time since "The Doctor's Wife" just what is the Old Girl's problem with Clara? At first I wondered if Clara represents some sort of paradox that she doesn't like but it seems to be going deeper than that. The TARDIS has coped with people like Amy and River who are much more time screwed than poor old Clara, and she's never felt the need to summon a replica of a companion specifically to have a cat fight. Maybe she's thrown a strop over Matt Smith's pronunciation of the word "Metebelis" (Me-TEB-elis instead of Mete-BEE-lis). Mind you The Doctor isn't always the sharpest tool in the box, maybe he just forgot.

Note must also be made of the excellent design in this episode, just as "The Rings of Akhaten" looked lush and beautiful the design in "Hide" ratchets up the feelings of tension and suspense, about 10 minutes in to the episode I picked up a cup of tea, 10 minutes later it was still hovering an inch from my lips as I entirely forgot about it, so absorbed I was in the story. One of the best choices was how The Crooked Man was shown with frames edited out, creating a herky, jerky and very scary way of moving, the moment when he appears stood behind The Doctor then suddenly disappears evoked a couple of scared squeaks from the sofa I was sat on! The Crooked Man was one of the most interesting alien designs I've ever seen on Doctor Who, almost Lovercraftian, you know you've got a face only a Mother could love when even The Doctor nearly jumps out of his skin when seeing you for the first time. It also leads into the most satisfying part of the story for me where The Doctor reunites The Crooked Man with his Crooked girlfriend/boyfriend *delete as applicable* just because he looks scary and behaved in a scary way because he was frightened doesn't mean he doesn't deserve rescue. While I think this was meant to be the big twist in the story the more satisfying twist for me was the revelation that The Doctor was only really in this place to talk to Emma Grayling about Clara, I wonder if she was holding something back from him given her seeming caution of him. 

Overall this was a satisfying, unexpectedly lovely story, a much more positive step for Neil Cross and setting up some delicious nerd bait for next week.