I think one of the reasons why this episode excels, is down to its very small cast. Alongside The Doctor and Clara, you only have 3 other characters in the episode. This helps as it gives you much more time to get to know the new supporting characters and this makes you care for them much more. It also helps that the cast we have is so strong. Joining Matt and Jenna this week we have Dougray Scott as Alec Palmer and Jessica Raine as Emma Grayling. With these 2 you have a little love story going on which leads perfectly onto the resolution of the episode. Also in this episode, I think the relationship between the Doctor and Clara has not firmly found its feet. You can see that they are the best of friends but with Clara not being scared to challenge the Doctor, which is what I like in the TARDIS team.
The episode is split up into 2 parts. The first half being the ghost story and the second half being the pocket universe. I liked the first half first and I wish that this had continued on a bit longer as there were some generally scary moments in this. I'm not saying that I disliked the last half as that had some great moments in it too but I preferred the ghost story much more.
We got a bit more interaction between Clara and the TARDIS this week which I am loving. Its going to be interesting to see where they lead this to. The scene with Clara talking to the voice interface was nice but I do hope its not going to be overused. Wondering if they are setting it up for usage in 50th anniversary episode.
This episode continued on the usage of references to the past which have been present throughout this second half of the series. This week we got the crystal from Metabelis 3 and a referance to the Eye of Harmony. These were lovely though it was a shame that Metabelis 3 has pronounced incorrectly. It was also nice to get to see a shot of the TARDIS flying though the vortex for the first time since The Pandorica Opens in 2010.
The alien (was going to put villain but he isn't really) looked fantastic. Such an inhuman design which we do lack sometimes. And it looked really creepy. The woodland scenes worked really well and the frantic camera work helped you make you on edge like the Doctor was. I think that this episode was the most scared I have ever seen the Doctor.
I would give this episode an 7/10. It lost a few marks due to a few points that I wasn't keen on and the ending scene seemed a little rushed for me, again. And while I like the love story ending, part of me wishes they had left it as a villain who wants to make you fear.
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