I wouldn't say this is full blown bad or anything, but it's a little crap, isn't it? After an incredible atmospheric start that is let down a little by constant irritating quipping (my biggest issue with the later part of this era), then the middle just kinda sags after it stops trying to be a horror story, before ending on an incredibly rushed note. And god the romance stuff with the monster is SO annoying and forced. This was so very much written by a het. It comes totally out of nowhere and it's a baffling choice.

And speaking of the straights, how am I meant to get invested in the main human romance when there's literally no chemistry.

I can see why I always forget that this one exists. There's just nothing really to it other than the early atmosphere.

We actually had to watch this episode at a later time, but we had a good reason. Tricia and I became Mr. And Mrs. that very day as our wedding was going on. We had such fun that day. When we saw it, we loved it. We had such a great honeymoon!

And Neil Cross never wrote for Doctor Who again... and good! He had two cracks at it, both of which in my opinion simply did not work. I do not feel like Hide should not have led to Rings of Akhatan being commissioned.

Hide has frustratingly muddled storytelling. It is initially a brilliantly chilling ghost story, tapping into well loved 1970s horror tropes; then transitions into a generic adventure story, chucking the atmosphere out the window; then rushes awkwardly to the end as an even less focused love story. Its a mishmash of so many uncomplimentary flavours, after what had been initially a very pleasant ride.

​At points it feels like bits had been hacked out of the story in the edit. The ending is especially random and hurried. Its a shame as the cast is brilliant and the production looks phenomenal.

Series 7 does feel like the show is at a point where it has slightly lost its footing.

New Who Review #98

Hide

This story was alright. Its not the best of series 7B but it's definitely not the worst. It's a ghost story with a twist. And the twist being the ghost isn't any ghoul or spectre it's just a lost time traveller stuck in a different universe. I liked that concept but I feel like seeing it on screen is a bit dull. The whole stuff with the Crooked Man and the love story with them just wasn't needed at all it takes away from the entire episode and I really don't like that they did that. The doctor is still on his mission to find out what clara is and he went to see Emma Grayling and unfortunately for him she couldn't sense anything wrong with her. Seeing 11 on his journey to find out what clara is is actually interesting at first watch and still remains interesting once you know what actually happens. Overall an ok ghost story with a twist and some unneeded romance in there too. 7/10

Every lonely monster needs a companion...

Prerequisites: Nothing specific, but there is a reference to The Impossible Girl arc, for which you'll need the previous bits of Series 7 to understand. The rest of the episode is stand-alone though.

Spoilers!
I quite like Hide, and I think it's one of the better episodes of Series 7. For starters, I really like the concept; ghost hunting has always been a fun activity to watch in media, and combining that with Doctor Who seems natural. The setting and atmosphere here are suitably creepy, and I even love the entire concept of this shadowy pocket dimension. The side characters aren't anything amazing, but I think they're suitable (and the love story is cute). Really, the only major complaint I have is that the last-minute of Hide simply doesn't need to exist. From browsing the wiki, it seems like this was tacked on later to emphasize the story's themes, but I honestly think it retroactively weakens the story by portraying The Crooked Man as nothing more than a lovesick creature. In a way, not only does it posthumously remove tension, but it also renders certain story beats confusing (like why The Crooked Man would bother with scaring the Doctor in the first place). Still, I very much enjoy the rest of this episode. It's nothing amazing, but this is a very solid time.