This week the Doctor and Clara take a trip to Scotland in the 22nd century and end up in an underwater mining facility. Things start to get scary when they encounter ghostly beings and a mysterious ship that holds the key to answers as to why there are ghosts haunting an underwater facility.
The TARDIS is acting peculiar and the Doctor is concern about it. On the other hand, Clara is ready and willing to go an adventure just like in the old days. Her dismissal of the Doctor’s concern for the TARDIS is somewhat cold, but it is understandable of her attitude since she hasn’t seen the Doctor for quite a while before the Dalek incident and needs some excitement. The Doctor is also concerned that Clara is becoming increasingly eager to jump into any situation and not step back to evaluate anything, but she swears she is fine.
Right away the Doctor goes into Sherlock Holmes mode to find out what happened to the mining crew and why are there ghosts underwater. They finally catch up to the crew, and discover that they are hiding in a sealed room that acts like a Faraday cage from the ghosts. They claim that their superior, Captain Moran is among the undead along with another ghost they are unfamiliar with. They explain that they were exploring the mysterious ship found outside the facility in the flooded town nearby. Yes, they are in an area that got flooded a long time ago and an oil company has establish rights to mine there. The Doctor uses the Psychic paper and introduces himself as himself working for U.N.I.T., immediately O’Donnell gets very excited to finally to meet the famous Doctor. The rest of the crew introduces themselves, Pritchard immediately declares himself as the person in charge since he is the representative of the oil company, Vector Petroleum. Immediately the Doctor dismisses his ranks and ask the other crew about the ship and the ghosts. The mystery of the ghosts and the ship is like adrenaline for the Doctor. Unfortunately the TARDIS is having trouble translating the language in the ship and one deaf crew member. Normally the TARDIS would have no problem with languages of other species but this time it is different. He believes that the ghosts are interfering with it.
He uses his brain to figure out that the ghosts are trying to reach out to them, but he needs the help of a lip reader, the deaf crew member Cassie. Lunn who translates for her tells him that they are only saying four words over and over again: Dark, Sword, The Forsaken, and the Temple. Trying to piece it together, the Doctor theorizes that the ship is sending out a signal to space for something or someone to track and bring them to Earth, more specifically the flooded town. He believes that someone or something are killing people and using their souls as amplifiers for the signal, more dead people the stronger the signal. He is reminded of what Missy did with the undead and the Cybermen. The crew, the Doctor and Clara able to trap the ghosts in the Faraday cage and buy them time to stop the signal. Bennet, the mining crew’s local scientist believes it is safe for them to go topside because the ghost are trapped. The Doctor finds a way to convince them to stay and help him. He also needs the TARDIS to do it. Unfortunately the mining facility’s system is shutting down and their nuclear reactor is going critical. The system takes emergency action and floods the facility to cool down the reactor. Everybody runs for the TARDIS, but they get split up. Clara, Lunn, and Cass get separated from the Doctor, O’Donnell, and Bennett. Water is filling up the hallway and the. The Doctor promises to save them and leaves with O’Donnell and Bennet in the TARDIS. Clara has no choice but to trust him. Unfortunately, his plan backfires and Clara notices the Doctor’s ghostly body outside in the water.
It’s not a great episode this week, but it is entertaining. The Doctor’s choice of clothing is not something I would expect on him. His choice of a hoodie, jeans, a t-shirt, and the sonic shades is something I have to get used to. Maybe he is trying to be more modern, contemporary, I don’t know, but I’ll have to deal with it. Clara’s choice in wardrobe is an homage to the classic Doctor Who series. I think it is rather cool seeing this style being honored in the new series. This episode the Doctor takes center stage trying to use his superior intellect to solve the mystery of the underwater ghosts and an unknown UFO. Everyone around him clings to his every word hoping he will have the answer to save them, but even he make mistakes.
Next week is the conclusion to this two part episode. We shall see how they will get out of this.
