It's been about two and a half years now since Hide first aired. The back half of New Who's seventh season received quite a mixed reaction on first broadcast with significant amounts of vitriol tossed in the direction of both Rings Of Akhaten and Nightmare In Silver in particular. The former was written by Neil Corss, the same writer as Hide which aired two weeks later despite having been written and produced first. Even if you have a more charitable disposition towards Ring, it seems safe to say that Hide is the better of the two.
For thing, it draws from a much different background for a start. Anyone familiar with British "telefantasy" (a term I've only recently come across), will recognize the very strong Nigel Kneale influence on the script. Should anyone out there not know who Kneale was he was the writer of the Quatermass serials of the 1950s, the spiritual precursors (no pun intended) to Doctor Who in many ways, and was also the writer behind the BBC's seminal 1972 ghost story The Stone Tape. The Stone Tape was Kneale's attempt to do a modern ghost story, taking the conventions of ghosts and the haunting associated with them and throwing the science of the early 1970s at it.
As that might suggest, The Stone Tape especially casts a long shadow over much of this episode. There's the scientific equipment set up in the old house, the lady being spotted throughout the house's history (right down to the American soldiers in World War II and their cans of spam which can also be found in The Stone Tape), the woman in the 1970s who can see the lady and indeed right down to the episode's science fiction take on the so-called residual haunting phenomenon, which is better known appropriately enough as the Stone Tape Theory by "investigators" of ghosts. After the episode aired, Cross revealed in DWM that he tried to bring Quatermass as a character into the story, bringing two of Kneale's greatest works together at last, but that the Kneale estate blocked the idea. Given that Kneale was never a fan of Doctor Who when he was alive, it's not surprising if a little sad. In it's fiftieth anniversary year though, Doctor Who found time to pay tribute to a man who never wrote for the series, disliked it but also gave it some of its strongest story ideas.
Yet Hide does what The Stone Tape did in its own way. It takes the convention of the supernatural genre and inverts them. It presents a scientific explanation for the "ghost", one that fits the series that Doctor Who and one that probably would have infuriated Kneale. And then, after all that set-up with its large amount of tension and spookiness, there's a left field change at the end. What had been a ghost story suddenly takes on an entirely unexpected romantic element as it turns out that the monster that we've glimpsed and that has threatened the Doctor isn't that at all. It is this left field change that gives the story that extra something original to this haunted house tale and gives it the ultimate inversion of the typical supernatural tale: it's actually a love story hidden underneath. Cross does what writers have done Doctor Who since 1963 by taking Kneale's ideas and putting his own spin on them.
There's also a strong cast here as well. Smith's Doctor continues to shine brightly throughout, especially in the forest scenes when he's alone as he acts as the audience's barometer for how scared we should be. Despite this episode being early days for Jenna Coleman, a wonderful chemistry is apparent between her and Smith them though there's moments (such as the scenes with the Doctor and Clara wandering the house) where she's finding her way as Clara. Which brings us to the supporting cast, starting with Jessica Raine as the physic Emma. Having not seen Call The Midwife and with An Adventure In Space And Time still months off from broadcast back in 2013, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from her performance but she hit this out of the ballpark, becoming the heart of the episode on her own. It also helps that her and Dougray Scott have an awkward, but oddly realistic chemistry together which sales their relationship rather nicely. Speaking of Scott, while he seems somewhat miscast physically as an academic type, he certainly gets the other aspects of the character down in his performance with his almost obsessive drive and awkwardness with Raine's Emma.
Back in 2013, I considered this to be one of the better episode of series seven. Two years later, I still think that to be the case and consider it to be one of the overlooked gems of the Smith era. It's got a neat Doctor Who take on an old premise, it's got nice performances and never outstays its welcome. More than though, it proves one thing: Only Doctor Who could turn a ghost story into a love story. If that's not what a sign of what this series can do, I'm not sure what is.
For thing, it draws from a much different background for a start. Anyone familiar with British "telefantasy" (a term I've only recently come across), will recognize the very strong Nigel Kneale influence on the script. Should anyone out there not know who Kneale was he was the writer of the Quatermass serials of the 1950s, the spiritual precursors (no pun intended) to Doctor Who in many ways, and was also the writer behind the BBC's seminal 1972 ghost story The Stone Tape. The Stone Tape was Kneale's attempt to do a modern ghost story, taking the conventions of ghosts and the haunting associated with them and throwing the science of the early 1970s at it.
As that might suggest, The Stone Tape especially casts a long shadow over much of this episode. There's the scientific equipment set up in the old house, the lady being spotted throughout the house's history (right down to the American soldiers in World War II and their cans of spam which can also be found in The Stone Tape), the woman in the 1970s who can see the lady and indeed right down to the episode's science fiction take on the so-called residual haunting phenomenon, which is better known appropriately enough as the Stone Tape Theory by "investigators" of ghosts. After the episode aired, Cross revealed in DWM that he tried to bring Quatermass as a character into the story, bringing two of Kneale's greatest works together at last, but that the Kneale estate blocked the idea. Given that Kneale was never a fan of Doctor Who when he was alive, it's not surprising if a little sad. In it's fiftieth anniversary year though, Doctor Who found time to pay tribute to a man who never wrote for the series, disliked it but also gave it some of its strongest story ideas.
Yet Hide does what The Stone Tape did in its own way. It takes the convention of the supernatural genre and inverts them. It presents a scientific explanation for the "ghost", one that fits the series that Doctor Who and one that probably would have infuriated Kneale. And then, after all that set-up with its large amount of tension and spookiness, there's a left field change at the end. What had been a ghost story suddenly takes on an entirely unexpected romantic element as it turns out that the monster that we've glimpsed and that has threatened the Doctor isn't that at all. It is this left field change that gives the story that extra something original to this haunted house tale and gives it the ultimate inversion of the typical supernatural tale: it's actually a love story hidden underneath. Cross does what writers have done Doctor Who since 1963 by taking Kneale's ideas and putting his own spin on them.
There's also a strong cast here as well. Smith's Doctor continues to shine brightly throughout, especially in the forest scenes when he's alone as he acts as the audience's barometer for how scared we should be. Despite this episode being early days for Jenna Coleman, a wonderful chemistry is apparent between her and Smith them though there's moments (such as the scenes with the Doctor and Clara wandering the house) where she's finding her way as Clara. Which brings us to the supporting cast, starting with Jessica Raine as the physic Emma. Having not seen Call The Midwife and with An Adventure In Space And Time still months off from broadcast back in 2013, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from her performance but she hit this out of the ballpark, becoming the heart of the episode on her own. It also helps that her and Dougray Scott have an awkward, but oddly realistic chemistry together which sales their relationship rather nicely. Speaking of Scott, while he seems somewhat miscast physically as an academic type, he certainly gets the other aspects of the character down in his performance with his almost obsessive drive and awkwardness with Raine's Emma.
Back in 2013, I considered this to be one of the better episode of series seven. Two years later, I still think that to be the case and consider it to be one of the overlooked gems of the Smith era. It's got a neat Doctor Who take on an old premise, it's got nice performances and never outstays its welcome. More than though, it proves one thing: Only Doctor Who could turn a ghost story into a love story. If that's not what a sign of what this series can do, I'm not sure what is.