Doctor Who: Under the Lake/Before the Flood (2015) - Written Review

 Maybe I'm losing interest in Doctor Who. Maybe it's just that, in its current form, the show doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to. I really enjoyed most of last year's episodes - with 3 or 4 notable exceptions - but this year, we're two stories and four episodes in and I still feel really underwhelmed by Doctor Who. I don't want to feel like this, given that it is my favourite television series, but I just feel very disappointed in the programme.

Under the Lake was a great use of the base-under-siege formula, with a chilling threat, a great supporting cast and a really interesting structural idea set up: with Part 1 being set in the future on an underwater base, and Part 2 being set in the same area, but in 1980. It's an idea that I'm sure Doctor Who must have done before, but obviously not using it in such a specific time travel format as in this story. It's a really clever idea from Toby Whithouse, and it made for a much more interesting cliff-hanger than The Doctor's dead...again...maybe.

Before the Flood, however, was very interesting at the start, but unfolded into a plot hole-ridden mess of a second part, establishing things for Part 1 in a rather forced manner. None of it really felt natural, and the ultimate villain - the Fisher King - didn't seem to be explained properly. I feel like a fell asleep during the scene where this entire two-parter was explained properly, as there are so many things that just don't make sense to me. Why did Part 2 need to be set in a mock-Russian town in Scotland? What was the Fisher King's plan exactly? What exactly was the writing and why did Cass prevent Lunn from going in the spaceship? Wasn't the Fisher King dead in the past? What happened to it when the flood occurred? If the ghost Doctor was a hologram, how did it open the Farraday Chamber and why? Why was the Doctor talking to the audience at the beginning of the episode for his Beethoven speech - couldn't he have been revealed to have been saying this to Clara?

Speaking of that scene though, that rock version of the Doctor Who theme was ace.

Anyway, I felt that this story would have worked much better as a single episode set entirely on the base, as most of the stories problems sprung up during Part 2. It was such a shame after Under the Lake felt like a real, classic Doctor Who episode, and Before the Flood just went off in another direction and almost ruined the story.

I also felt that the scene in the TARDIS between The Doctor and Clara was a little forced. I understand that the writers are trying to give her a character arc, but it didn't need to be so on-the-nose, especially given that the writers were able to focus on Clara as an interesting character last year so easily. We're two stories in and I feel like Clara's just filling in the role of the Doctor's companion. She's not really had any moments to shine, and as this is her last series, I would like to see more of a focus on Clara's character.

But, on to some more good stuff. The sonic sunglasses were surprisingly well-used within the context of the episodes and didn't seem too gimmicky; the music, particularly the awesome synthesised tracks in Part 1, was really good; the episode looked visually great; the Fisher King was a unique and interesting design; and while the episode didn't execute this concept very well, I did like the whole Beethoven concept.

The ghosts looked very creepy, with the dark shadows where their eyes should be, but I'm not entirely sure how they were created or why they didn't have eyes. It was a cool design idea, but without any kind of explanation, it just seems to be for appearances' sake.

Overall though, Under the Lake and Before the Flood were good episodes. While Part 1 was better than Part 2, it didn't completely fall apart and it was a definite improvement over the opening story. Maybe another viewing of the story would help, but for now I'll give the story an overall 7/10. It was good, but not exactly great, and had quite a few problems. I really do hope that the next two-parter is better. Thank you for watching, what did you think of Under the Lake and Before the Flood? Comment below, let me know and I'll see you guys next time.