What You Thought of Under the Lake: Reaktion Round-Up

David Power is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

At the start of this month, we asked what you all thought of the first part of Toby Whithouse’s aquatic adventure. So, how did you respond?

Enjoyable, atmospheric fun! 60.24%(253 votes)

Instant classic 23.33% (98 votes)

Undecided until Before the Flood 13.57% (57 votes)

Whithouse’s worst yet 1.67% (7 votes)

A let down after The Witch’s Familiar 1.19% (5 votes)

Well that looks about right to me. Compared to all the hype surrounding other episodes this season (Missy! Zygons! Maisie Williams!), Under the Lake didn’t seem to garner as much attention. Once I learned that Toby Whithouse was writing a ghost story I knew it would probably be a solid story and then moved onto other things. Toby’s been a consistently good writer for Doctor Who over the years, and one of his many strengths is making quite buzzwordy concepts feel original.

While you can describe some of his stories casually as “the one with the vampires in Venice” or “the one with the cyborg in the old west town”, there’s always enough going on in said episodes to make them feel compelling and tightly written  when you’re watching them. Under the Lake is no different. The atmosphere is engrossing, the characters are likable, and the ghost design is genuinely spooky.

Undeservedly, the viewership numbers didn’t reflect the quality of the episode. Overnight viewings for this episode barely beat last weeks at 3.74 million, while the final consolidated ratings were 5.63 million, unfortunately being the lowest of any episode of Doctor Who since the revival in 2005. A large possibility is, like with The Witch’s Familiar, the lower ratings are due to the England v Australia match in airing simultaneously. Although thankfully the episode received an Appreciation Index score of 84, one higher than last weeks! So there’s something.

So, what did everyone else think?

The Daily Telegraph‘s Michael Hogan acclaimed the episode, giving it a flawless five stars. He explained:

“This rollicking, hair-raising romp demonstrated that the sci-fi franchise still has the power to thrill and chill in equal measure. Forty minutes flew by and the credits rolled too soon, leaving on a creepy cliffhanger that left me baying for more. If next week’s conclusion of the story – and the 12-part series as a whole – can keep up the standard set by the opening three episodes, we’re in for a treat. Doctor Who will have regenerated once more”.

Digital Spy‘s Morgan Jeffery praised the episode, labeling it “atmospheric”. He said:

“It’s this sense of claustrophobia that is among the episode’s biggest selling points – watching a crew’s camaraderie crumble as the pressure gets to them never grows old. Gloomy visuals and a haunting score from Murray Gold also do much to generate atmosphere and tension. Chills, action, adventure – this is old-school Doctor Who given a modern sheen and, most of all, it’s enormous fun”.

IGN’s Scott Collura was highly impressed with the episode, awarding it a score of 8.5/10, deemed by the site as “great”. He particularly praised the episode’s cliffhanger ending, stating:

“But oh, the ending of this episode! So great! I always welcome the creature-feature Doctor Who episodes, and “Under the Lake” does that tradition proud. The shimmering, ghastly specters are scary enough, but the apparent fate of the Doctor in this cliffhanger is the real shocker”

Now the question remains, what did you guys think of this story’s conclusion…?

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