Doctor Who: Series 9, Episode 3 – “Under the Lake” (2015)

Fantastic episode.  I always enjoy Toby Whithouse (“School Reunion,” “The Vampires of Venice,” “The God Complex,”) and while I might enjoy some of his others better for various reasons – Sarah Jane!! – this one might be the tightest story I’ve seen from him so far.  Exciting, intriguing, and creepy.  Can’t wait to see how it turns out next week!

The TARDIS lands in the middle of an underwater military base beset by what appears to be actual ghosts, a fact that delights/fascinates the Doctor to no end.  As the ghosts do their darnedest to add to their numbers by picking off the Doctor, Clara, and the base’s crew one by one, our heroes work to reason out how the ghosts operate and learn what they’re after.  It’s an excellent base-under-siege story a la “The Impossible Planet” / “The Satan Pit” or “The Waters of Mars” – it also rings true with a number of classic-series stories in that vein, especially those in the Second Doctor era.

We’re continuing our streak of amazing Doctor, much-improved Clara, and blessedly-great Doctor-companion interactions.  The Doctor takes control of the situation with relish (he’s so excited to encounter something he doesn’t know – I love it,) authority, and his usual lack of social finesse.  His enthusiasm for the mystery is infectious, and he’s 100% on-point awesome Doctor.  Not only does Clara seem like she wants to be there, but her opening scene with the Doctor suggests they’ve been traveling continuously for at least a while.  Could we have come to an end of the annoying part-time companion stuff?  That would be just lovely.  The Doctor’s pretty much running the show here, but Clara provides good support, asking the right questions and being brave in the face of danger.  And I just can’t get over how much they feel like actual friends now.  They show concern for one another, and when they give each other a hard time, it’s not in a painful, on-different-wavelengths way.  It’s in a we-can-joke-‘cause-we’re-friends way, and it makes me so, so happy.

The supporting characters are mostly likeable and interesting – there’s one corporate type that’s wildly archetypal and a bit boring, but the rest are clever, brave, and, even when they’re worried about their safety, ultimately focused on the larger picture rather than themselves.  (Thankfully, the Doctor seems to have gotten past his anti-soldier bias – he doesn’t make a single sanctimonious remark about the military, and he even points out that volunteering to serve their country speaks well of their character.  We’re turning over new leaves everywhere this season!)  Extra cool, the commanding officer Cass is Deaf, signs for her primary language, and uses an interpreter to communicate.  Even though the Doctor of course comes in and does his usual everybody-listen-to-me thing, she’s very much in charge of the crew (all of whom respect her authority and have no issues with interpreted communication) and the Doctor quickly takes note of her intelligence and other strong qualities.

My only big complaint about the episode, so it happens, is also Deaf-related.  I’ve wondered for ages how the TARDIS translates sign language, and I’m bummed that the answer turns out to be, “Um, it doesn’t.”  I know they wanted the keep using the interpreter for our sake, but they could’ve indicated that the Doctor and Clara understand Cass and still had the interpreter for the crew.  Also, the Doctor speaks “baby,” “horse,” and “dinosaur,” but he doesn’t know British Sign Language?  Seriously?  Uncool.