Doctor Who: Series 15 (or 40 depending on how you count) Episode 3: The Well by Russell T Davies and Sharma Angel-Walfall.
You could hardly miss the information in the news that this current series of ‘Doctor Who’ has dropped to two million television viewers. I doubt if that will put a stop to the series as it does very well abroad but I would question the counting system. A lot of people don’t rely on television but other means to watch their favourite programs, including the iPlayer and were numbers from that counted as well? Quite why people would want to watch a TV show on a mobile phone-sized screen beats me. Then again, its also surprising why some shows aren’t given cinema time simultaneously so you can have a group showing. Anyway, if you have been using other options, especially in the UK, get yourself a telly and protect the numbers. Why take chances.
I’m beginning to wonder if the main story is a distraction from why the Doctor can’t return Belinda to the right place in time on Earth. You would have thought the easiest solution is to contact his split regeneration and go to his TARDIS. Beware spoilers. That isn’t one of them.
After planning their co-ordination whatsit, the Doctor and Belinda have 5 hours to wait for the spaceship with their TARDIS on it to slowly land so get flung into an adventure on a diamond mining planet, 6767, with heavy radiation. The mining staff are all dead. Well, except one. A deaf girl. Aliss Fenly (actress Rose Ayling-Ellis). Considering she says everyone has to sign why do they use a gadget and she hasn’t got one?
The Doctor goes with the rest of the troops to check out the rest of the mine while Belinda stays with three troops to keep an eye on Aliss. Only there is something sneaking out from behind her. When the Doctor discovers the planet’s original name, he realises he’s been here before in his Tennant regeneration when it was called Midnight.
Here we go a little spoiler. If you pick up a creature that hides behind your back, if you get killed, it’ll hide behind your back instead. Objectively, I would have thought the easiest way to kill it is leave it with the one person it inhabits and leave and let them die together the natural way. However, this is ‘Doctor Who, even if I was right, no one gets left behind.
The rest is very much spoiler and big spoilers at that. Somewhere down the line there is going to be a third part to this story.
This is actually a strong story and I’m hoping that co-writer Sharma Angel-Walfall contributed the SF element. Will the cosplaying Whovians destroy mirrors from now on?
We have to move quickly onto ‘Doctor Who Unleashed’ and behind the scenes and the main set when its actually fully lit. We can now all sign ‘the Doctor’. It also stops me looking up season 4 for the first episode. Future costume designers: remember actors need to go to the loo. You also get to learn what a grip does on stage and enjoy wearing shorts.
‘The Well’ is described as a bottle show, so obviously it was geared to bring the budget of the other episodes under control. Oddly, bottle shows tend to be amongst the best and this one is one of these. Now if they can apply this to the bigger budget episodes. Upping the suspense and having a fatal twist at the end after the TARDIS leaves does raise a question as to did the Doctor leave before checking everyone was safe or was there an extra worry that in the future not only is there no Earth, no one remembers it.
Don’t look back. It might not say anything next time.
GF Willmetts
April 2025
