Timelord Thoughts 3 - Under The Lake

Some good old fashioned traditional "base under siege" stuff from Doctor Who this week. Or is it? Remember these are just the things I first thought of when I watched the episode, so they might not be very clever observations and I may have missed something that explained one of my questions. It's time to go:

Under The Lake

• "The Drum" is a great name for an undersea base.
• So even though this is another two parter, we get the whole "find an alien craft on the seabed and bring it inside for investigation" part over in the first 20-odd seconds, which is very modern and economical (and gets around the need for seme probably expensive FX). There must be a lot to get through. In the Classic series this would probably have been the plot of the whole first episode.
• It does look a *little* bit too much like a Starfleet shuttlecraft though.
• Immediately I get shades of "The Impossible Planet" with the odd writing on the walls.
• It's a very empty cargo hold though isn't it? And why does no one think to investigate the "control pod" at the front of the craft? I know there are those circular things that "top hat guy" waves his hands at to set off the thrusters, but surely there must be something more?
• Talking of the see-through creature -  those black spaces where his eyes should be are incredibly effective. I'm not entirely sure why he is dressed like a extra from a Dickens adaptation though. 
• And with that Moran is fried to a crisp and becomes a "ghost". A fantastic pre credits sequence.
• I love that the Doctor is talking to the TARDIS like a living creature again.
• Clara comes across as a bit hyper. Maybe the death of Danny Pink has pushed her too far and she is becoming a little reckless. Conversely the Twelfth Doctor seems more relaxed and at ease than before. There is even a fleeting smile across his face.
• I wonder what the significance is of the painting on the wall of a giant sea serpent menacing sailors in what looks like a Viking ship. It seems a strange thing to put in an underwater base. It can't be co-incidental.

• No sorry, that "high five" moment just didn't work. 
• "Hello sailors." Nicely done Doctor.
• Capaldi is doing some wonderful facial acting. Those eyebrows are certainly getting a workout. In fact both Capaldi and Coleman are doing wonders conveying loads with just a glance.
• I'm also amused by the way he runs up the steps of the alien craft. No? Just me then.
• All the alien writing looks like to me is "14 - 51 - 14 - 54", yet when reflected in their eyes it looks far more ornate.
• Oh that hand coming through the wall between them was proper scary. If I had a small child with me right now they would be peeping through their fingers.
• It's a lovely thing that O'Donnell is such a big fan of the Doctor, but I thought he was trying to keep a lower profile these days?
• Okay so I get that Lunn is there as a character to vocalise what Cass is thinking (as most of the audience at home can't read sign language) but it's odd that he says that he "signs for Cass". Surely Cass is quite capable of signing for herself and she can evidently lip read too, so what does she need Lunn for? Maybe what Toby Whithouse meant is that he's there to sign of the rest of the crew - to speed up communication perhaps. Even so, with a limited crew and resources on an underwater base, I'd expect him to have a primary function - say marine biologist -  with signing being his additional job.
• Lovely bit with the Doctor boasting that he can read sign language before realising that actually his knowledge only extends to semaphore.
• Wasn't the planet Tivoli where David Walliams' character came from in "The God Complex"?
• Nice to see that this episode is being even more "traditional" by being about mining. It's always mining (Colony In Space, Monster of Peladon, Robots Of Death, Vengeance On Varos and many many more).
• I'm always suspicious of a sweet sounding female computer voice. They usually turn out to be homicidal maniacs. Perhaps I've just played too much "Portal" (There will be cake).
• Pritchard's got to be the next to die hasn't he? Only concerned about his bonus. "You're an idiot" indeed.
• Heaven forbid that being underwater was dangerous enough, they had to have a nuclear reactor too.
• Cass seems very keen not to let Lunn look inside the spaceship. She's stopped him twice so far. Either she has more than comradely affections for him or Lunn is going to prove pivotal to the resolution of this story because he is the only one who has not looked at that writing.
• Pritchard's greed is really starting to show.
• Sock's, smartphones and... badgers? Maybe a sea badger?!.
• The Doctor seems SO excited to realise that the creatures are really ghosts that he's gone into fan-service overload. In once sentence he references holograms (Mummy On The Orient Express), Flesh Avatars (The Rebel Flesh), Autons and the Nethersphere (Dark Water).
• The prompt cards are just brilliant and the funniest thing in an otherwise pretty dark episode. Does "It was my fault. I should have known you didn't live in Aberdeen" refer to where the Fourth Doctor left Sarah Jane Smith?

• If the "ghosts" can only pick up metal, how did Tivoli Dickens-guy set off the engines by waving at  that panel of circles? Or did he actually touch them because they *are* metal?
• Love the Shirley Bassey gag.
• I told you that you can't trust those pesky female computers. The TARDIS doesn't like the ghostly "aberrations" either.
• I've only just noticed that the bookcases seem to have gone from the TARDIS console room.
• Even the Doctor has noticed that Clara is getting a bit gung-ho. This is clearly going to be one of the arcs of this season and I'm not sure it's going to end well.
• Bye bye Pritchard. You know he'll be a hollow-eyed translucent killer in a mo. It'll probably be an improvement.
• Was that meant to be something behind Pritchard's eyes or just the back of his skull? Either way it was damned odd.
• I'm not sure how much damage he's doing to do with a plastic chair though.
• Sophie Stone is just wonderful as Cass. She doesn't need to utter commands out loud to show that she is in charge. It's also lovely to see that her deafness is not part of the plot or commented on really at all - it's just who she is. It's a hugely positive message.
• And a "Cabin In The Woods" reference too.
• Would they really still be using Morse code in 2119?
• Using "Apple" instead of numbers goes all the way back to the early RTD years. "End of the World" wasn't it? 
• I'm not sure I'd want to live on a base where the flood locks and security systems don't work fully at night. A leak could happen anytime of day. Bit of a design flaw there - or maybe it's just that nasty Vector Petroleum  trying to save money at the expense of crew safety.
• Thank goodness the Doctor didn't try and sing "Ghostbusters " again.
• Oh that shot of the ghosts half in the walls or standing upside down or sideways is just *so* disconcerting. Now the scares really begin...
• The monitors with the floor plans, along with excellent use of the corridor sets and the Doctor's commentary really gives a sense of scale to the base.
• Why has no one asked how the intangible ghosts can show up on the base monitors?
• Yep I was right. The Prichard ghost can't kill Lunn because he hasn't read the alien script on the shuttle wall. Which means that those words are what makes them ghosts rather than just, you know - dead.
• And here come the sonic sunglasses again. Sigh. Now able to project holograms.
• Oh dear god they have wi-fi too. Actually I have a theory having watched this scene. I reckon that Toby Whithouse needed some way for the Doctor to transmit what he was seeing in the Faraday cage back to the crew on the bridge (wall mounted cameras being too obvious). So he thinks "Hmmm, sunglasses with wi-fi seems like a good idea - let's make them sonic, that will be a funny joke". Moffat then says "Rather than them appearing out of nowhere, I'll seed them into the previous story instead of the screwdriver". Job done. It's helped the plot. Let's never see them used ever again.
• The point where Moran thrusts his hand into the Doctor's chest (and presumably squeezes one of his hearts) is reminiscent of a number of movies, but specifically reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
• Ha! I love that the Doctor was just faking it.
• The concept of people saying the same things at the exact same time is similar to "Midnight", but "Dark Sword, Forsaken Temple" sounds like a 1970s prog rock band.You hum it, I'll play it...

• I'm sorry, the four words are - co-ordinates? I get that it *sounds* clever (although the Orion's sword thing is very specific) but it smacks a bit of creating mysterious clues just to have mysterious clues. Plus why would they be words in English?
• I do like the bit about the ghost being transmitters though. Silently shouting out the four words across the universe. That's horrible and just a little bit sad.
• Good to see that spiky, impatient Doctor hasn't vanished this season.
• Can I just say that the music playing when the Doctor does his "Do you want to go or stay?" speech is some of the best for a long while. Genuine movie quality without overwhelming the dialogue at all.
• For one minute I thought they were going to put on wetsuits and go out into the water. The submersible is a much better idea.
• There are real cinematic shortcuts being taken with the episode this week. Firstly we just get the sub out there in the water, we don't need to see it being launched or exploring . Then once they have discovered the object we instantly cut to it being back on the base. It all helps the keep things moving and lends a palpable sense of pace to the story.
• Lovely to see the Doctor using proper deductive reasoning to work out what is going on and deferring to others to help.

• Notice that when the Doctor talks about the markings and the co-ordinates / words  - and "did anyone not expect them to be that?", Lunn puts his hand up (even though the Doctor talks over him). That's because he hasn't read the words.
• I want to see the clockwork squirrel !
• Peter Andre. "I was begging for the brush of death's merciful hand". Best line in the episode.
• Nope. The "I want to kiss it to death" line doesn't work for me. It just doesn't sound like something the Doctor (or anyone) would say.
• Yet again they have a base with the world's worse safety protocols. Reactor overheating? Just flood the whole damn base.
• Am I the only one who thought the water rushing into the base  in one shot looked like foam? Shades of "Seeds Of Death" or "Fury From The Deep".
• It's not exactly "Titanic" levels of water rushing in but that one CGI shot did look pretty good. Nice dive under the door from the Doctor too.
• I *know* I'm not the only one to make this "Lost" connection with Clara and the Doctor on the opposite sides of the flooded passageway...

• Now *that's* how you do an old-style cliffhanger. How could anyone not want to tune in next week?

Conclusion:

Despite one or two bumpy areas this was a really solid adventure with a lot of fond nods to the classic story structures of the past. It's probably deserving of the later time slot because it's certainly one of the scariest (for kids anyway) for quite a while. Going back in time for part 2 is an innovative move and it will be interesting to see where they go with the story.