Hide

Hide
by Neil Cross
Originally Broadcasted: April 20th, 2013

The Doctor and Clara investigate haunted happenings at Caliburn House in 1974. A mysterious ghostly figure is haunting the house, and Professor Palmer is trying to get in contact with this ghost. Turns out it's not a ghost at all, but rather a time traveler stuck in a pocket universe. Can the Doctor save this time traveler without being mauled by the grotesque creature chasing him?

Series 7, Part 2 was shaping up to be an amazing string of episodes. The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, and Cold War each impressed me equally in different ways. Sadly, I wasn't too impressed with the fourth episode of the season, Hide. A ghost story with an alien twist, Hide tells the story of a time traveler called Hila who is trapped in a pocket universe that aligns with Caliburn House in 1974. It was actually one of the more interesting premises for a story. You think Doctor Who doing a ghost story would be the makings of a truly great episode. But I was quite underwhelmed with this one. There just wasn't too much happening, and the plot was a little iffy at times. Why did the Doctor suddenly have to go from the beginning of time to the end of time just to figure out who this ghost is? In the pocket universe, Hila (and later the Doctor) was being chased by a hideous deformed creature. This led to one great moment, where the Doctor proclaimed his total utter fear. There have been few instances of the Doctor showing his true fear in Doctor Who, only in stories such as Planet of the Spiders and 42. He needn't have been afraid however, because the monster was really only lonely. Much like all of the other characters in the story, he was just looking for a companion. Speaking of Planet of the Spiders, the famous crystal from Metebelis III used in that story and The Green Death makes a return so the Doctor can enhance Emma the physic's thoughts to create a wormhole. No one bothered to tell Matt Smith how to correctly say it however, so I guess Metebelis has a new pronunciation now... Clara has her first communication with the TARDIS in this episode, and it's not pretty, as it seems the TARDIS doesn't really take a liking to her. A relatively insignificant point, that is until you watch Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Hide, while advertised as a ghost story, really is an endearing love story. Hide is a good example of an OK episode. It is neither terribly great, or terribly bad. But I think every season needs these kind of episodes. If every single episode is absolutely amazing, your not as likely to be impressed.

Luke's Rating: 6/10