Day 794: Hide

I should begin this by saying that I also coincidentally covered this episode for an issue of The Terrible Zodin found here, which I did two or three years ago. I'd really recommend having a look at that issue, there's a lot of good stuff in there besides me blathering on about Hide. Consider that a brief recommendation to start this entry off.

But speaking of recommendations, I would recommend Hide as one of the better episodes in the second half of Series 7. Written by Neil Cross, whose work on this episode would lead to the production team inviting him back to write The Rings of Akhaten, it's actually a very well made episode of Doctor Who. The atmosphere provided is excellent, which helps to strengthen the already well conceived concept of the scientific ghost story. The prosthetics also are very strong, the Crooked Man is a masterpiece because it has to look terrifying from a distance but sympathetic when the camera's allowed to focus on it, which is a complex task, but one that ultimately leads to a strong pay off at the end.

Speaking of the ending, I feel that that is one of the real highlights of this story. I'm struggling to think of any Doctor Who episode that has ended in the exact way in which Hide has done and managed to pull it off. To explain, Hide ends with a spectacularly rushed conclusion as the Doctor suddenly realises that he's misunderstood the entire situation. And, whilst as written it looks as if it should not work, on screen it works amazingly well because Cross has already written the conclusion to the story. With the main human characters all settled, and the Doctor and Clara left to simply talk about their time, it lulls the audience into a false sense of security that everything is alright. But then the Doctor realises that the story isn't over yet and rushes to get everything completed, which lends the conclusion an organic feeling, ensuring that it's not tacked on and that it's part and parcel of the story itself. It's actually one of my favourite endings to any Doctor Who story ever, and whilst I wouldn't necessarily rank this episode as one of my absolute favourites, I still love it for what it does.