Probably unnecessary but it's really fun. Fan brain takes over a lot in this episode but there's enough new things here for it to still be worth while. Rose-Ayling Ellis is an absolute powerhouse, carried the rest on her back.

the first episode in a long time thats ever been so effective that ive had to just stop and take a minute after watching. genuinely peak doctor who.

I really want to say I enjoyed this episode and just leave it at that. Unfortunately, I have far too much to say to be able to do that. It definitely has its strengths, but it also suffers from a lot of the same problems as the rest of RTD2 so far.

The episode opens immediately after we left off with Lux, with the same sort of odd characterisation choice for Belinda no longer having any sort of antagonism with the Doctor. They change clothes in a shot-for-shot remake of the previous clothes changing scene from the very last episode, with Toxic playing overtop. I really don't get that choice; it was fun, meta, and an obvious joke in End of the World, but here it just feels tacked on. The repetition of the scene (while we still don't get to see any other rooms in the TARDIS!) definitely doesn't help immerse me in the episode.

I've seen arguments both for and against the Doctor and Belinda ending up with the exact same space suits as everyone else, and while I didn't mind it that much, it did take me out of the story a little. What bothered me more is the Doctor flashing his psychic paper, apparently showing up to test the troopers, but then ending up in control of the whole operation. I almost agree with Cassio in hindsight, though I found his actions a bit too extreme while watching.

Still, as the episode continued I left my worries behind and got properly invested. The atmosphere was potent. Aliss, especially, did a phenomenal job making everything more tense,being obviously distressed and the only one left alive.

I really appreciate the Deaf representation. I think it was handled really well; there's a lot of aids without eradicating the condition, while still showing how some people remain subtly bigoted. You can really feel her frustration when people turn their backs on her or turn off their subtitles without even noticing.

Belinda got to shine as a nurse again, though I felt she was somewhat sidelined for most of the episode.

The first jumpscare was really expertly done in my opinion, fast enough and jarring enough to make me thing I was just imagining something behind Aliss, affected by the musical sting and Belinda's reaction more than anything. Really fantastic.

And now we get to the big twist: this is a sequel to Midnight. I thankfully went into this episode not knowing that, having avoided spoilers and leaks. I think I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the first half of this episode as much as I did if I had known. That being said, I really don't think this episode needed to be a sequel. Worse, I think it suffered for it. I think the monster acted too differently to be the same one, especially taking its motivations into consideration - I genuinely don't believe the original Midnight entity was toying with the passengers or laughing at them (whether or not the Doctor believes it, or if it's in character for him to say that, is a matter of some debate that I would be very open to having). It doesn't help that the way it acted in this episode alone was somewhat inconsistent.

The reveal itself doesn't really work for me either; I find it hard to believe that people 400,000 years in the future know the old name of the planet. I don't have an opinion on the flashback either way - it's the most necessary of the *three* flashbacks we've had in these *three* episodes (gosh, talk about repetitive and formulaic), but I don't think it added much. The Doctor crying also felt the most deserved in this one and as such didn't take me out of the story, but it's definitely cheapened by having happened every episode so far.

The way the monster flings the soldiers around didn't bother me as much as some other people, but I do think there were probably scarier ways to have it kill that are just as safe for TV. I really like the way Shaya weaponised the monster to stop Cassio, it was clever and powerful.

The ending felt a tad bit rushed. The mirror thing had been set up pretty obviously, though I'm not exactly sure how (or even if) it worked, or how the creature went about smashing the mirrors in the first place (did it swing people at them?). While I appreciate them not fully showing the monster, I would have preferred to not even see the silhouette of it in the hallway.

I didn't notice the airlock counting an extra person, but I definitely thought it was possible that Belinda was just imagining the whispers, only hearing them after everyone else said they didn't have the creature on them.

I liked Shaya sacrificing herself and the implication that it didn't work. It was obvious to me, as the Doctor was running behind her the whole time and never got flung back, even when Shaya paused at the edge of the well. A needless sacrifice is one of the best parts about this episode.

The mystery of what happened to Earth continues to intrigue. I think it would be even more poignant if the non-humans looked a little more alien - even just Star Trek-style forehead bumps would do the trick, especially now that Doctor Who has the budget to make its aliens look the part. I also think it could have been integrated into the story a bit better.

The ending is dragged down a little for me with the appearance of Mrs. Flood. I really enjoyed her little cameos up to this point, but in this episode she just feels like amother Susan Twist, and I *do not* trust RTD to have it pay off after the way that plot was handled last time.

All in all, I think this is a really solid episode bogged down by the stories around it. I think it could have been a 10/10 for me if it was more of a standalone, without the season-wide mysteries and the ties back to Midnight. I would love to see the earliest drafts of this story.

I love the ending of this episode so much. not only is it a fun nod to just about every horror movie ever but we don't see it which means we can't be certain if the creature escaped. instead it just creates this uncertainty, and paranoia which is a wonderful call back to the midnight entity  also russell's commitment to blowing the budget on getting the rights to 'toxic' is easily the best thing ever.

Maybe three stars is a bit generous. I feel about this episode in a way that defies stars, really. I think I enjoyed it, but it was definitely mediocre. But it's mediocre in a different way than The Robot Revolution. It's mediocre in a way that compels a reaction, which I think makes it better.

About halfway through I was thinking, "This is pretty much just a ripoff of Midnight" and then of course it turns out to be a sequel. Perhaps one might consider The Well to be to Midnight what Attack of the Cybermen was to Tomb and Tenth Planet. I don't know if I'd personally endorse that analogy, but it's food for thought.

There was definitely a lot of Idiot Ball tomfoolery. People were constantly being stupid and were only smart when necessary. I'll admit, this annoyed me a bit. Conversely, I was actually laughing during the scene where half the cast got killed. The lighting, camerawork, and soundtrack all came together to create one of the most unintentionally funny scenes in all of Doctor Who. Great job! Also, the ending lasted way too long. I was mortified to see seven more minutes remaining after the story had completely run dry.

It was great to see a traditional science fiction setting again, but there really isn't anything in this episode that we haven't seen before. It's literally just an inferior ripoff of the episode it's picking up from. Also, while I personally am not affected by this, I must wonder what it must be like for new viewers on Disney Plus, who haven't seen Midnight. This episode doesn't give sufficient context. Even I was a little confused, since I only watched Midnight once, several months ago. But I know others have complained about this enough already. I personally doubt there are that many new viewers tuning in at this point, anyway. I haven't been paying attention to leaks or Dr. Who-related news, so I don't know what's currently in store for the show's future. But if the choice were mine, I wouldn't renew this for another series.

I loved this episode and was so excited for a sequel to my favorite episode "Midnight", BUT I didn't really see any similarities in behavior that linked the alien in "The well" to the alien in the original "Midnight" besides it's shifty-ness... bummer. I was hoping to see the alien learning at some point and its evolution/process into becoming the version we see here. Still a wonderful watch but it was missing some key elements in my opinion.

I unfortunately had the reveal spoiled for me (thanks Instagram), but I might as well address the elephant in the room: yep, this is a sequel to Midnight. My feelings on that are complicated. On one hand, this is ultimately an enjoyable episode, and it'll stand as a relative high mark for the Fifteenth Doctor. On the other hand... that isn't exactly saying much at this point, and it utterly fails at even approaching how good Midnight itself is. For starters, I kinda think that this was retrofitted to be the Midnight creature; the rules it follows and how it behaves don't really match up at all. Other than that, we've got the standard RTD2 stuff: messy exposition, Ncuti crying, an excitable costume change, and uninteresting side characters. Still, for all that criticism, I did genuinely really like the horror here. I like it when Who gets dark, and the concepts here are fun to play with.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“THE WELL: A GRIPPING AND GORGEOUSLY TENSE UNEXPECTED SEQUEL”

Following directly on from the fourth-wall-breaking Lux, Sharma Angel-Walfall’s (co-written with Russell T Davies) debut Doctor Who episodeThe Well dials down the scale but not the intensity, plunging us into an eerie, barren mining planet in the distant future. The episode transports the Doctor and Belinda from the glamorous glow of 1950s Miami to a bleak, lifeless world 400,000 years in the future – and in a very classic Doctor Who touch, this vision of sci-fi desolation is brought to life through quarries and steelworks in South Wales. But it’s never once unconvincing, thanks to stellar direction, haunting design, and genuinely chilling atmosphere.

The return to a more contained “base-under-siege” setup is a smart pivot after Lux, offering a tense, almost claustrophobic experience that echoes Midnight without mimicking it. The mining base on planet 6-7-6-7 feels lived-in yet ominously abandoned, with detailed set design suggesting a bustling operation brought to a sudden, horrific halt. Every broken mirror and scattered body tells a story, and it’s in the quiet exploration of these ruins that the episode builds its dread.

CHARACTERS: DEATH, DISABILITY, AND DESPERATION

Unlike The Robot Rebellion or The Devil’s Chord, this week’s guest cast gets room to breathe. The episode introduces eleven soldiers, but wisely focuses on just a few: Shay Costallion, the pragmatic and courageous captain; Cassio, the brash, insubordinate soldier who won’t take orders from the Doctor; and Mo, a more soft-spoken and relatable presence. Most of them are doomed, of course – this is a Midnight-sequel after all – but we get to know them just enough for their deaths to sting.

But the real standout is Rose Ayling-Ellis as Aliss Fenley, a deaf cook and the only survivor of the base. Her performance is riveting – equal parts fragile and fierce – and the writing never reduces her to a victim or a gimmick. Instead, her deafness is integral to the plot in a subtle, meaningful way. The future’s use of augmented sign language and speech-to-text tech offers smart, hopeful world-building, and the episode makes several poignant jabs at present-day inequality through lines like Aliss' horror that Belinda doesn’t know BSL – “It’s illegal for nurses not to know sign in my time.” Brilliant.

Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor is, once again, a masterclass in contrast. He’s warm and inquisitive one moment, then suddenly terrified and rattled when he realises where they are. His fearful recognition of Midnight is brilliantly underplayed – a quiet dread creeping in, setting this apart from the louder, more reactive responses of other incarnations. You feel that he remembers what happened last time.

Belinda also continues to grow in strength and presence. Still a bit swept away by the chaos, she’s more confident, improvising, taking initiative, and getting to be a nurse again – a lovely nod to her core identity. Her unwavering support of Aliss, even when everyone else turns on her, is an important beat for her development.

PLOT AND THEMES: THE UNKNOWN, THE UNSEEN, AND THE UNSTOPPABLE

The episode thrives on atmosphere, paranoia and ambiguity. There’s no exposition dump for the monster, no clear solution, no real name. Like Midnight, the fear is in what we don’t know. The creature is never fully seen, but we feel its presence in every shot – whispering, stalking, killing anyone who walks behind Aliss. The visual cue of Aliss’ terror every time someone moves behind her is quietly terrifying, and rewards rewatching.

That this is Midnight again isn’t immediately clear, but when the reveal hits – that the creature is back, and they’ve returned to the same planet – the horror truly sets in. Crucially, this isn’t a lazy retread: the creature has evolved, or is perhaps a different strain of the same threat. It doesn’t mimic people like in the original, but instead hides behind its host, feeding on fear and waiting to strike. The twist that it moves from body to body if its current host is killed adds an unsettling logic to the chaos. The rules are simple but horrifying: don’t walk behind the wrong person.

When it’s finally revealed that the creature is playing with its victims – not hunting out of necessity, but for the thrill – it’s one of the darkest implications the show has dared to make in recent years. The creature is unknowable and unstoppable, and the only option is to run.

ACTION AND CLIMAX: SACRIFICE AND SURVIVAL

The action scenes – especially the one where multiple troopers are flung into the air – do slightly undermine the terror with their silly theatrics, but this is a minor flaw. The episode regains its footing with the emotional and character-driven final act. Costallion’s sacrifice in the airlock to save Belinda is deeply moving and sobering, a brutal reminder of the cost of travelling with the Doctor. It also mirrors The Waters of Mars in tone – fatalism, heroism, and the weight of time.

The Doctor’s desperate gamble to use a wall of mercury to break the creature’s grip on Aliss – despite its toxicity – is a solid moment of practical ingenuity. But it’s not a neat resolution. The final moments don’t bring closure, just survival. And then comes the final shot: the creature is still there, whispering, watching. Ready to strike again. It’s one of the most chilling endings Doctor Who has done in years.

AUDIO, DIRECTION AND ATMOSPHERE: SCARING US SILLY

From its minimalist score to the clever sound design – whispers, static, and the eerie hum of a base gone cold – this episode knows how to use silence. Director Dylan Holmes Williams creates a tangible sense of dread through lighting and camera movement, and the production values are top-tier across the board.

There’s also a fantastic use of lighting and reflections – mirrors are a key motif here, and the shattered remains across the base evoke ideas of broken identities, unseen threats, and shattered lives. Smart visual storytelling all around.

BUILDING THE ARC: ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

The series arc gets a chilling advancement here. The reveal that no one has heard of Earth – because it was destroyed on May 24th, 2025 – adds a whole new layer of existential tension. Suddenly, the Doctor and Belinda’s adventures aren’t just thrilling romps through time and space; they’re a desperate attempt to uncover a mystery and stop a disaster.

📝 VERDICT: 9.9/10

The Well is one of the strongest episodes of the RTD2 era so far – a perfect blend of atmosphere, character, mystery, and existential horror. It builds on Midnight without diminishing it, delivering an entirely new kind of fear while still honouring the legacy of the original. With brilliant performances, particularly from Rose Ayling-Ellis, gorgeous production values, and a slow-burn plot that rewards patience, this is modern Doctor Who firing on all cylinders. Creepy, characterful, and completely captivating.

They took the night out of midnight

The Well felt a bit like a combination of Midnight (I mean obviously) and TIP/TSP without what made either of those special. That’s okay though, I like this TARDIS team enough that they redeem a pretty mediocre episode. Really weird repetition of last episode’s beats in the beginning (Belinda’s worried about Earth and her parents, landing somewhere, change of clothes, music from many seasons ago). The reveal that none of the guest characters know what Earth is is pretty well done. I guess that’s something they couldn’t do with more episodes per season. Overall I just didn’t quite vibe with it.

Doctor Who: The Gatwa Years - Series 15, Episode 3

Genuinely didn't expect this episode to be a sequel to Midnight. Anyway, can't wait to see Ruby again next week!

I have been vocal on here about not being a fan of Midnight. I know that seems odd, because it is widely considered a fan-favourite, however, I just found the constant repetition and talking over one another annoying rather than compelling, and my parents were the same. I get the dramatic intensions and how it is done to showcase human paranoia, and how it leads to humanity at their worst, but in my (unpopular) opinion it just creates a frustrating viewing experience. So I was apprehensive when the leaks suggested The Well would be a sequel to Midnight. I have seen a few people complaining about tweeters spreading the leaks online, but I think it's important to remember a 'leak' isn't always true. Going into the episode, nobody including myself knew for sure whether the Midnight sequel rumours were true or false.

The reveal halfway through the episode, therefore, that the planet the Doctor and Belinda are on is the planet Midnight is still very effective. Ncuti Gatwa plays it fantastically, giving you a real sense of how the events of the episode Midnight still haunt the Doctor to this day. It was an experience that genuinely left him terrified, which is rare for someone who is often the ultimate authority in the room and gives those who are with him the reassurance to fight against the monsters.

Also when it comes to the leaks, just because the Midnight sequel aspects were right doesn't mean the rest of it is true. I won't spoil what the leaks say about Mrs Flood, but based on her appearance here, I do think they will turn out to be right about her, though. The Mrs Flood cameo is excellent this week, and really leaves you hooked and desperate for answers. I can't wait to find out how she knows what a Vindicator is and why it's 'great news' to her that the Doctor and Belinda are using it. Similarly interesting is how nobody seems to know about the Earth or the human race. So far, RTD2 has done a great job at building its series arcs and making you anticipate the answers to them. The answers last year were underwhelming, so hopefully this year the pay-off is better.

The premise of the episode, concerning a group of soldiers investigating a missing mining colony, is such a strong one for a horror base-under-siege. Especially as when they arrive, only one of the mining crew - Aliss - has survived the incident that has taken place. Rose Ayling-Ellis is fantastic as the mining colony's deaf cook; I was also impressed by her on Strictly and in Ludwig. She really makes you feel for poor Aliss, who just wants to see her daughter again, and is forced to kill a ton of people including her best friend after they are driven mad by the Midnight Entity. I've seen some theories suggesting that Aliss was actually possessed by the Entity, which would have been a cool twist, but this is never explicitly confirmed in the episode.

I actually prefer the Midnight Entity here too. It still plays on people's paranoia, but with none of the irritating copying what people are saying. Instead, it hides behind its hosts and whispers in their ear. It makes for a very dark and atmospheric episode, with one heck of an ending, when it is revealed that the Midnight Entity survived despite Shaya's sacrifice, and attached itself to a new host, rendering her death ultimately futile and meaningless. The Well stands with other Doctor Who stories like The Caves Of Androzani and World Enough And Time/The Doctor Falls, in that it's allvery bleak. The Doctor loses, and all he can do is fight to survive.

The Doctor and Belinda continue to impress as a Doctor and companion pairing. Seeing a companion whose main motivation is to go back home and make sure her parents are safe with whatever is happening with the Earth is refreshing, as the new series has never really done this before. It does seem like she's becoming more accustomed to the adventures now and not as reluctant a traveller as she was in The Robot Revolution, but it still feels worlds apart from the Doctor and Ruby last series, and even the Twelfth Doctor with Nardole, with the latter being somewhat reluctant with his constant nagging for the Doctor to return to the university where he was working and assume his duties guarding the Vault.

Overall, I'd give The Well a 10/10. It's a fantastic, dark and atmospheric story that preys on the paranoia at the heart of the Midnight Entity well. The Doctor and Belinda are a Doctor and companion duo that stand among the greatest, and the hints regards Earth becoming this unknown planet and Mrs. Flood's observations of the Doctor and Belinda's use of the Vindicator leave you feeling suitably intrigued. I'd say The Well is probably the standout of RTD2 so far, and to me is a good example of how keeping an episode shrouded in secrecy can work well, without leaving fans feeling disappointed or unsatisfied.

I disagree with the choice to make this a Midnight sequel. For a start, it had nothing really to do with Midnight, despite what the dialogue assured us there was no real links between this creature and the original. It was needlessly self-referential, and with absolutely zero evidence to support this statement I'm going to say I wish RTD hadn't co-written this and made that reference.

The thing is, other than my one gripe, The Well is a really solid episode! It was atmospheric, well acted, and I really enjoyed the open ending. I don't have anything more to say it was just good

"Please don't turn your back on me." 

A really strong episode. Perhaps the strongest of Gatwa's era thus far. A tense, atmospheric, well paced adventure, that feels pretty tightly packed in its scope. It's a science fiction horror, and that's what it does. The sets are brilliant at creating a sense of claustrophobia and unease, and the main villain is brilliant. A well thought out premise and powers, with interesting uses.

Rose Ayling-Ellis is the total stand out.

Esto es como Red Darkness.

Aún así, buena historia.

This... is the best episode so far of the current era. And if you've seen my opinions on the rest of 15's run, you know that this is a HUGE feat. Spectacular. The sets, the tension, the performances... it's all superb.

S. #KirbyDW

im just really grateful that russell didn't f**k up the midnight entity

Ever since I first heard the rumors about a sequel to Midnight, I immediately thought it was nonsense.

The opening scene is just so goddamn bizarre. Like, it's so convenient that the spacesuits The Doctor and Belinda dress up on the closet room of the Tardis is just THE EXACT SAME suit used by that crew, specially given the fact they both didn't know before hand where the heck they were. The ship they arrive just conveniently having 2 extra helmets just waiting for them baffles me.

The episode was doing quite fine on its own, but by the moment they confirmed it was a sequel to Midnight, it became impossible to me to not compare to the original and oh boy, The Well doesn't live up to that task, even more so since it didn't bring anything substantially new to the table.

Russell seems to have have misunderstood why Midnight is damn special: The claustrophobic environment, The Doctor losing his own voice and control, The monster we barely understood its modus operandi or goal, the hostile terrain, the increasing paranoia and the questioning of the Doctor's authority...

I might end up considering The Well as a good episode later on, but it'll be forever something that lost the opportunity to shine on its own, because it decided to follow up on something that was already bright, timeless and perfect.

This episode was great - loved the spookiness, loved the monster, loved the dilemma, everything - except for ONE major problem. There was no reason for Midnight to be a part of it at all. It didn't add anything, it didn't explain anything about how the monster worked, there was no major reason for the setting to have to be the same, and quite frankly, it wasn't even clear at all that it WAS the same monster since in Midnight the way the monster worked was very different. Russell T Davies seems unable to stop referencing/reusing his older work to the detriment of his stories this era and it's getting tiring. Like come on, the Doctor can go anywhere in the whole universe, there have to be tons of planets and aliens that we haven't seen yet! It's just so frustrating to have an episode that would be perfect except for this one thing. All that said, I LOVE suicide in Doctor Who — excellent to see a story where they use it to solve the problem and it doesn't even work!

Rated based on all other Fifteenth Doctor episodes

Characters: Yeahhhh I really couldn't feel for them, everyone seemed sort of one dimensional and standard. You've got the military type who takes control, causes issues then dies and the character who tries to be a companion-like character than dies. The Doctor seemed much more in character this episode than the past few.

I didn't really feel for the survivor who spoke sign language, not sure why just weren't feeling it.

Costume & Set: Not much to say, kinda unbelievable the TARDIS had the exact outfits they'd need but you could chalk that up to some sort of outfit period appropriate wardrobe mechanism circuit the TARDIS has, or some other techno babble. Cool set, but again, not much to say.

Story: Hey! Use of psychic paper! Is that the first use of the Fifteenth Doctor or am I forgetting something? Whatever. Not really many comments for this part of the episode. I will say the shadow figure behind the survivor actually scared me, I had goosebumps for a majority of the episode.

Now for the part everyone's talking about; It being a sequel to Midnight, unfortunately, I went into this episode having seen that theory and was really convinced. Unfortunately, I hated it, in my opinion it was unnecessary because... the entity acts nothing like the Midnight entity and I do get that it's meant to have evolved but - What's the point of making it the same entity if it's evolved and acts nothing like the Midnight entity?

I still like it but it really didn't need to be a sequel to Midnight. Ignoring that, the scene where The Doctor realises is actually really good. Some pacing issues with the girl who sacrificed herself, I expected her and The Doctor to talk a little but whatever, not a huge issue. Ms. Flood's appearance once more, oh right, and the fact Earth has been erased post 2025, very very interesting! Earth and humanity are extremely important to... everything so I'm wondering how this changes things.

And finally the classic horror movie twist, the killer is alive! I thought that may happen. Very unfortunate, how long ago was Midnight? 17 years ago. Right, okay. See you guys in 17 years for part 3? /hj

Comparison: Solid episode. Probably one of, if not they, best Fifteenth Doctor episode.

I'm actually impressed. This is another idea that sounded pretty awful that's actually been executed really well. It would've been really easy to make the midnight entity a lot less scary or just retread the same things that were already done in Midnight but instead this story opts to go for a new route. It really isn't anything like Midnight and in a way that's what makes it such a successful sequel because that's the midnight entity's whole schtick - evolving and adapting.

Really solid, I think the only thing I would've changed is not have the midnight entity throw people around as that was a bit silly, have them crumple to the ground or something. Otherwise another banger and we're 2 for 3 this season so far. Even the overarching plot is way better here, even if it's mostly the same thing. Mrs Flood is just a much more interesting and dynamic character than Susan Triad and I enjoy every one of her appearances.

Love the commitment to changing outfits regularly, especially since episode 2 and 3 have distinctly different atmospheres

I love industrial space crew episodes, grungy or sleek, and they throw us straight into the action with this one, and then create a really cool sense of dread and atmosphere. It's also great that in the trailer for this series, they don't show the 'monster' for this episode. The establishing shot of the mining centre enveloped in darkness far off in the distance oozes suspense. It's really cool to see Ncuti's Doctor interacting with an environment that aesthetically comes off as a Capaldi episode. The score adds to the sense of foreboding. I feel like they should have had either Belinda or the Doctor find out that the crew don't know anything about Earth instead of the scenes being back to back, so that there is a dramatic irony for one of them, it would probably be better if it was Belinda that found out first because she has more of a stake in the Earth ending, and it could be mildly shrugged off until she mentions it to the Doctor at the end of the episode in the TARDIS, for example, so that it's an idea that is briefly mentioned and seen as slightly weird, but comes into more context when the Doctor learns about it.

Splitting the companion from the Doctor in a horror episode is always a good way to go in terms of exposing how the companions act when vulnerable, especially since this is the first time Belinda's been seperated from the Doctor since she met him. It worked really well to solidify companions in Turn Left, Family of Blood/Human Nature etc. in the first RTD era, and even pretty decently for Ruby in 73 Yards before it became convoluted by the whole evil Prime Minister thing. It's really interesting that she tries to keep her cool, even denying what she can see with her own eyes, at the risk of inconveniencing/misleading the others. This could link to the idea that every time she asks to go home and the Doctor says they can't, that she is repressing her feelings so as to not make him think that she is as worried as she is, and maybe this could lead to a point where it builds up to a point where she can't bottle up her emotions anymore to please him. It's a good way for her to react because it is not only in keeping with how she has been up to this point, but it also helps to develop our understanding of her reactions and motives from her primary point of view.

The sound effect when the thing slinks behind Aliss is genuinely terrifying. Okay so I'm watching this as I'm typing but they said extonic radiation, and then mentioned that the planet surface was diamonds: is this Midnight?????? Are we going to see the Midnight monster?!!?!?! woaoaoaoaooah yes it is!!!! Don't know how I feel about reintroducing the Midnight monster because it was so good as a bottle episode, and to reference what is in my opinion one of the best episodes ever is so risky, because it will always be inherently linked to Midnight, and the episodes are incredibly different in most aspects.

I did unfortunately think that the scene where the characters were being thrown into the air was quite goofy, and I'm not sure that they meant for it to be. It's good to see the Doctor put his foot down about not allowing the creature to leave the planet even when it isn't attached to somebody who for all intents and purposes is dead already. And the implied twist at the end is pretty neat.

A review of The Well, written from first impressions:

Well, well. Not exactly the best. To say the least I’d rather watch the first two again, I definitely enjoyed episode two more, for it was more fun and enjoyable. But this one, I feel much more strongly compelled to write about…

Now, I love Midnight. Fantastic episode, absolutely one of the best episodes ever - tense, frightening, sombre ending, claustrophobic, great dialogue (if a bit repetitive haha), overall, incredible, pretty much my favourite and most-watched episode of all. Naturally, therefore, I am a little more critical of this than usual, since I’ve spent years thinking about Midnight, about the mysterious entity, watching it carefully, reading the script, considering the metaphors and symbolism and ideas, how it creates effects, etc. This episode is deliberately playing into the greatness of that, featuring a little scene from it. Nice idea maybe but I didn’t like that, just showing the old episode, it’s kind of like they’re saying “hey, look, remember this old great episode? We’re doing that again!” A bit like that, just like the opening of The Star Beast. I don’t like that. It suggests they’re not so confident, sticking to where they are right now, they have to make a jump from over a decade ago, literally showing it, just to remind everyone. Maybe if one hasn’t watched Midnight for years it would be a lot more effective, but in my case of course, it was quite laughable, like a lot of it.

Great atmosphere for a while here, very much seeking inspiration from Aliens and a number of other DW stories (namely, The Impossible Planet with its equivalent big hole, more mysteriously arrived at and revealed there). Some nice music, although re-using the bit from Midnight (twice even?) was just as over-bearing and over the top as it was the first time. All quiet, subtle, then suddenly WHAM! Really loud crazy theme when everyone’s getting flung around. Reduces the fear, it kind of fits for Doctor Who but it takes away all the build-up. Same with the jump-scares. Every moment building up a sense of fear, relishing in anguish and torment, I love, but then every time there’s a big loud sound, it takes away completely. It’s (sort of) like a drop on a rollercoaster, like, there’s the big scary moment, now we can relax for a bit. Woah! Scary noise. Ok, now let’s calm down. Takes away the rising tension which Midnight handled a lot better over a longer sustained period. Since anyone can just walk out of this room that the creature-infected Aliss is in, it cannot hold such a sense of being trapped in a room, naturally.

This episode demands comparison to Midnight, it outright wants one to go back and watch that episode, it seems, based on showing it in the episode, directly referencing it all over the place. Why does the Doctor act so strange about it? All right, yes, it was a terrifying experience for him the first time, but inevitably in doing a sequel to Midnight, the power of both parts, here and there, are reduced. The compelling aura of Midnight, the name, the planet, the whole original story, is the mystery, much like the mystery of who the Doctor is - of course, showing more of the monster makes it less mysterious, in such a way as it would be very hard to do a sequel without lessening the impact of the original. This seems a lot like the writers wanted to do another go at it, having loved the first one (and since it wasn’t just written by RTD, I wonder which one had the idea), and then to show how massive a fan they are, they show a clip from the old episode. Halfway through, we find this out, it’s like the Sutekh reveal, like the Master reveal in Utopia, but it shouldn’t be, I don’t think. Why must we treat all these monsters like gods? Like the great evil of the universe?

The excellence I love in Midnight is the lack of knowledge. As Professor Hobbes says, “there is no history”. We know very little of the Midnight entity. We don’t know what it looks like, other than Claude’s description of it. Now we have a clear CGI image of it, well, all right then. Shame really. Just like the grey creature behind them in Listen. Showing it directly will always lessen the power of course. Why is it we treat this creature as though it’s the same one? This is set thousands of years later, isn’t it? Way, way after Midnight was set, and that was already a long time in the future. So why would one assume this is the same organism? Why does the Doctor talk to it as though it’s the same thing? Or that it’s evil? It’s just taken ahold of someone, Aliss, that’s how it operates, surely, maybe it’s just curious, not necessarily evil. But, oh, it smashed, or it made her smash, all of the mirrors. Did she forget this, was she possessed, did it do it and then take over her? I’ve only just watched The Well so I’m sure I’ve missed some particular pieces of dialogue, but whatever the explanation is, trapped to those results, not a very good look for poor Aliss. Since this being, behind her apparently, lives on her back, and makes people fly up in the air for some reason, kinetic force as someone says, well, that doesn’t make it evil, does it? Maybe it just has that effect on living organisms altered to its state? For all we know, only this species can survive in an Xtonic light. It acts nothing like the original creature so why does everyone, especially the Doctor, act like it’s the ultimate evil? Not much attempt to reason or comprehend or calm people down.

It doesn’t repeat things as before. Good to do something different, more interesting than a repeat of a repeat, but why treat it as the same organism? Ages and ages dedicated to characters standing around in a room, basically going, there’s nothing there. I just saw something, I swear! No, there’s nothing. No, I saw something. No, nothing. For ages. Predictable. Obviously there’s something, the more we know, the longer we linger, the less scary it is, especially when interrupted by jump-scare sounds, please can we stop having those?

Then people for some reason keep doubting the other people for no reason I see, and walk around the poor Aliss, and die. Predictable. Interesting notion in the sense that no one went “behind” Sky in Midnight, but that was a totally different system of operations. I thought they were going to use the talking function thing, have some kind of dialogue spooky action, using the screens, but nothing came of that, it seemed basically pointless to me. Actually totally pointless from a story perspective. The only one I had trouble understanding was Aliss and she was the only one without subtitles!

They make a huge deal of not walking behind Aliss (leading to a sort of pun, about not turning their back on her, that was fun). A bit like the Time Beetle in Turn Left. But this makes no sense. Someone walks behind her and gets flung, no one ever checks if maybe someone survived, it’s just assumed, oops, they died. I mean, think about it - this creature would be really profitable in a big outer space trampoline party! Flinging people all over the place, great fun! But no, no trampolining here, just everyone gets killed, no point checking apparently. People walk behind Aliss and fly up and back down, but there’s a bit midway through where someone tries walking behind her, leaving someone else directly, 180 degrees behind her, and Aliss turns around to face this person circling her. As she turns her back on the crowd, why don’t they each get flung up into the air? Hmm? What!? I didn’t understand that at all, maybe I missed something obvious. But if it’s behind her that’s the danger, then as she spins around, everyone should just get flung up, surely? I had a huge problem with this in particular, since they make such a big deal of it. Does the person have to be directly behind her, for several seconds then? Maybe she has to maintain that back-view for a while, maybe the creature has to decide to throw people. Calling the entity “behind her” was a little off, as well, I thought, it’s sort of attached to her, “behind” could suggest some unknown distance between her and the creature, rather than attached to her back as it seemed.

It’s left as a mystery exactly how this creature works, why it does this, but treating it like a sort of tutorial, a gimmick explaining the idea for most of the episode takes a lot of time, without really doing anything other than explaining in a slow, supposedly scary way. At least setting it in one room saves money, like a lot of great stories in the past have done. Really nice atmosphere in the first half more-so, good launch into the title sequence, a lot of little… well, some ideas I liked. I will re-watch this at some point and maybe comprehend some bit I missed that explained some of my problems. But overall, I really didn’t care for The Well. Disappointing after such anticipation. Maybe it’s not the best way to view Doctor Who, but somehow the knowledge that a lot of people apparently liked this episode made me even more opposed to it, since I just kept finding problems. Like at the end, when that lady falls back into the Well itself, she just leans back and falls in - gonna hit her head in a few seconds! At least jump into it. All the bits about the people not knowing what humans are, what Earth is, sort of interesting but not very well integrated into the plot. What were they, if not human? Digi-humans, proto-humans, human-ish like Cassandra says in The End of the World, perhaps.

Didn’t make much use of the Well itself, either, it was just in a room, fairly obviously leading to something, the final moment as it turns out. I like the idea of a slow-paced subtle scary story, as DW has attempted many times (loved that it was in a quarry!), but this was really a major failing in many ways. I think if I hadn’t watched Midnight so much, I’d like The Well more, but since the two desire to be linked (and hence compared), the answers as opposed to mystery, the plot confusion and nonsensicality, the simpler characters, the general repetition without much justification, and the general stand-still plot all are factors that negate the merits of the adventure, and my score. Knowing that not much happens, maybe understanding more of the ideas and intentions, maybe I’ll like it more (also from DW Unleashed) but from an initial sudden response, having just watched The Well, … I just didn’t really like it very much. 3/10 = 1.5/5.

Oh and the Doctor cries again.

This didn't need to be a Midnight sequel. This creature has it's own rules, its own lore, and is distinct from the Midnight entity - even if the story admits they're one of the same. The Well entity never once mimics anyone, nor does it show any signs of evolving to a further stage.

The episode is great. I do wish we witnessed some of the prior massacre, and, reminiscent of 'Aliens', we got to see a slow, visual reveal, without The Doctor and Belinda saying what we can already see - written as if for an audio. "Shot in the back", "broken mirror", etc...

Aliss and her actress carried this episode. There's something so haunting about a deaf girl, surrounded by bodies, rendered the unwilling occupant of a symbiotic creature. When it utters The Doctor's name, something deeply personal, and intimate, only worthy to be heard by his lovers, this also demonstrates the parasite's breach of privacy, boundaries, and respect. It reflects the hell that Aliss exists in prior to her being found.

The creature design is one I love. A silhouette, igniting primal fears of the darkness and the unknown, yet inviting it's host to turn to look at them with a soft, feminine, almost tranquil whisper. The same, calm voice the entity uses to whisper The Doctor's name, imitating the companions he trusts the most, his lovers, his family....And a whisper which drives those who aren't deaf to insanity. And how it moves without a host, shrouded in voids, crawling, before latching itself into the shadows of humanity.

I can't help but think that RTD saw this script, for a unique, terrifying monster, which would create so much mystery for audiences....and cannibalized it into his own idea. It makes the Whoniverse feel drastically smaller, emptier...

I would rate the episode lower but I genuinely do prefer to imagine this creature as its own being - as (possibly) intended by the original script. A parasitic animal, survival dependant upon not being witnessed by the gaze of carbon-based life-forms. And yet, requiring a host to not be lost to the cold darkness of its home planet.

This creature has it's own mythos, and doesn't have to be one conjoined into the mystery of another to keep audiences engaged. Just as the show doesn't need to reference it's Tennant-era past. This episode could've explored parasites, Lovecraftian insanity, the way some real-world beasts slaughter upon making eye-contact....

And instead, this idea was cannibalized needlessly, for something that happened 17 years ago. A great tragedy...

Fear and triumph, sadness and warmth. THAT is Doctor Who 🥰

P.S. Caoilfhionn Dunne is like kinda hot in this one

I liked this episode overall, and it was very risky to make a sequel to Midnight without ruining the original episode. They pulled it off well (no pun intended), unlike with Sutekh, and managed not to detract too much from the mystery, while still adding some lore, and it barely even felt like a sequel (which could be a good thing or a bad thing).

The way the entity threw around the soldiers like a tumble dryer did feel a bit cheesy, and I would have liked less casual, early, stupid-looking deaths, and more interesting deaths near the end. There also didn't seem to be much threat or horror (But respect to the characters, they were probably in terror).

Because the entity has evolved, we unfortunately don't get to see any scenes with it talking through people. It would have been interesting to see what would happen if it spoke through Aliss (although it may have taken away from the mystery), and especially if it signed, or talked perfectly, it could have actually been more scary.

TL;DR: They managed not to ruin Midnight, but it wasn't scary enough. (or maybe I'm just not sensitive to horror)

I thought that The Well was a tense and engaging episode, but flawed in several ways. I did feel genuinely tense throughout the majority of the episode and I felt that this was built up well. The peak felt really strong. However, I did feel that this was let down a bit by the somewhat abrupt ending. This is small in comparrison to the entire episode, though.

My larger issue is somewhat spoilerific in nature. I do not think that this should have been a sequel to Midnight. It would have worked best, in my opinion, as a standalone piece with it's own monster. This is because the entity in this episode is different to the one in Midnight. It has its own logic, different from the original. This did take away some of my enjoyment from this episode. 

I also felt that there were some issues with the episode's internal logic. A few of these I do feel are able to be explained, but are poorly communicated in the episode and only became clear when I spoke to other people after watching it. Others, like the entity now being behind the person right at the end, I think are actual issues. I think an episode like this is at its best when it has clear rules with clear consequences, and this episode just falls slightly short to me (and even more short if the fact that the rules don't match with Midnight is considered).

I also felt that some of the dialogue in the TARDIS at the start was... odd, and the changing scene was almost identical to the last episode.

I felt that the episode looked great on the whole. The stunts are impressive (and I loved seeing how they were done in Unleashed), the costumes solid and the sets looked good. There were a few first-person shots which I think were really good. I also really liked the cast. They were all really good in their roles. Unleashed shows how the actors playing the troopers were put through some "military bootcamp" training and I think that this payed off. However, quite a bit of the music from this episode (like the last episode) were re-used from previous series. I don't like this.

Did this need to be a Midnight sequel? No, not really. Did that detract from my enjoyment of the episode? No, not really.

This was gripping and suspenseful throughout, and I really enjoyed the way that paranoia gripped all of the characters throughout in a distinctly different way from Midnight; if it had been a direct rehash of the mob mentality that had occurred on the tour bus, I would've found it far less enjoyable, but this was a fascinating new direction to take it that gave us new lore about the Entity without revealing too much about its nature or form.

I thought that the actors gave incredible performances throughout; Rose Ayling-Ellis rocked her guest star role throughout, and Gatwa and Sethu continue to be compelling and magnetic. Christopher Chung gave a great performance as the intensely hateable Cassio as well. Caoilfhionn Dunne's Shaya left me a little cold, but that wasn't the actress's fault; I just wish she'd been given a little more character to work with.

The visuals were fantastic, especially their early exploration of the mining base with all the shattered mirrors and bodies lying around. Intensely creepy, very well shot.

Everything does come back to the Entity in the room, though. I think this was a worthy successor to Midnight, but ultimately did not (and could not) live up to the original. I do try my best, when evaluating a story, to consider it on its own merits. Snakedance is a different story from Kinda, Web of Fear is distinct from The Abominable Snowmen, and The Well is not the same as Midnight. But at the same time, tying this story to one of the greatest in Tennant's run was always going to invite comparisons that don't favor this one. If you can push past that, it's a cracking story, but it's a little frustrating in that it didn't need to be a Midnight sequel. Comparison is the thief of joy and all that. On the other hand, that's critiquing the episode for what I want it to be, rather than what it is, which is unfair in itself. Ultimately, it's a 9.5 for me. If it were different it would be a 10, and I wish that didn't make me feel like a hypocrite.

Did this need to be a sequel to Midnight? No

However, it absolutely stands as a really solid return to form type of episode. I don’t need high concept stuff all the time, I love a good “we’re trapped in a place and there’s a mystery monster” plot. All the characters felt reasonably fleshed out, I especially loved the attention to Aliss and her deafness. Methinks we need more guest writers.

the way this episode had me in a f**king chokehold. my GOD my stomach was in knots.

wish RTD leaned more into the human element, and mob mentality more like he did in Midnight, but this was still a worthy successor to that mammoth episode.

This did not need to be a Midnight sequel. It’s very good but starts giving the Midnight creature more abilities which is a rocky road that might lead to the same fate as the angels.

Even though I’d already seen the leaks, the planet being Midnight still felt like a good twist. I liked “The Well” and how it didn’t try to explain too much about the antagonist and therefore lose the mystery that made “Midnight” work so well.

This episode was tense from start to finish and didn't let up at all. Just a thrill ride like my favorite episodes of the show, where danger lurks behind every corner coming up against some horrific force. I completely did not expect the reveal that this was a sequel to Midnight, and it absolutely ratcheted up the intensity. The entity was behaving a little differently, but just knowing the extent of its power was enough. Plus: the reveal that the big heroic sacrifice might have been a waste of time? Jaw-dropping horror ending. This is similar to Wild Blue Yonder, these types of episodes are what Doctor Who can do better than anyone else. Fantastic performances by the whole cast too. Bravo!

It was fine.

I think there is a lot to love and dislike with this one, it all comes together to give me the Feeling of "Yup this was fine", which might feel a bit paradoxical but let me explain:

I think it being a Sequel to Midnight was unnecessary. Not even necessarily because I think it handles the Task of a Sequel poor, but mainly because at the End of the Day, I think and don't really see much Point how this adds anything. I am sure some like this Connection Bit and how it handles the Midnight Entity is for the most Part okay. But like many other Things with this Era, if I have any major Issue with it, it's the Need to connect Bits together. Oh look, Sutekh, the Toymaker and the Mara are now in the same Pantheon of Gods! Oh, look, this mysterious Creature is that other Creature from 2008. It just makes the Universe much smaller, and I rather have another mysterious Creature than just say it's the same one. I love a good ol' Sequel, but really if anything Doctor Who's biggest Strength is how it isn't bound to a few Villains, Creatures or anything and yet despite it all, this Era feels the Need to say "Well actually the Universe of this World is much smaller!", which to me feels paradoxical to the Core of the Show.

Despite that, I think the Episode for the most Part is fairly solid. The Side Cast is great, everybody gives a good Performance and feels believable, from the terrified Aliss to the skeptic to the one who fully believes in the Doctor. I think we get to know them well enough for the most Part for it to work enough. That said.. I really must admit the Way this Creature attacked them felt quite silly and it being the Midnight Entity at the same Time makes me enjoy it kinda less(?). Like I said it handles it Sequel Status fine enough, it gets that this Creature would evolve and learn more, but I would lie if I didn't felt too sold on it.

On the other Hand, you have the superb Directing, which is something you could say for most if not all the Episodes. Here it adds to the Atmosphere, which was build really well in the first Half but didn't hit the landing with the last few Minutes. As always, our Leads do a great Job. I particularly like the Beginning with the two in the Tardis, Scenes like that were really missing in the last Season. Probably the Highpoint for me.

I totally get why this one will probably end up for many either a 'love it' or 'hate it' Episode. I think it's solid as it is, but could have been better on its own Feet, since frankly regardless if you think is it handles it Job as a Sequel well, its Nature as such will bring comparisons with it. And in general, I will be more open to a brand-new Creature.

This is probably a prime example that maybe on Rewatch can go either way for me. For now, I think there is equally Stuff I like and equally one that bothers me. Very curious to see how the next Episode will land for me.

This episode is really messy. I’m not sure it ever quite coheres. The references back to Midnight feel pointless and self-indulgent—this monster demonstrably does not work the same way. There’s maybe some thematic echoes, but I think it would have been stronger to just let them remain so. Also, I know this canon had been established previously, but the fact that the TARDIS translation circuits can’t handle signed languages is absurd.

And yet for all my nitpicks I admire The Well for what it’s trying to do. There is something suffocatingly claustrophobic about the whole affair (which I mean as a compliment—it’s successful horror). And I love the imagery, the broken mirrors, flowing mercury, dark landscapes, empty hallways. I like Belinda navigating this alien future; I continue to like Belinda, period.

We. Are. Fricking. Back.

OH MY GODDDDDD????????????? God this season is on FIRE so far!

I feel like I’ve woken up into an alternate universe because I genuinely don’t see the hype with this one, all of the characters including 15 & Belinda were 2 dimensional at best and it tried to be a sequel to Midnight a story that works so well partly because of the mystery and while it isn’t given away as such I think we’re still told too much about it.

The horror is also non-existent after a the first couple of moments at-least for me I thought the logic behind the “If you go behind her you will die” stuff was really stupid and it was made worse when the deaths look like.. *that* I was on the brink of laughing it looked so bad and it’s not that they had to be super gory because Midnight only had two deaths right at the end that were built up to and were impactful instead of random army grunt getting tossed like a ragdoll.

If this is this era’s “peak” I don’t think the show is for me anymore.

It was perfect PERFECT I FEAR

It's no Midnight.

The Well works as your run-of-the-mill sci-fi horror story, except it's a secret sequel to Midnight, with half the characterization, half the writing quality, and somehow, despite the fact that Midnight is a bottle episode that is basically 100% talking, half the story.
That's the trouble with making a sequel to one of the greats, you invite comparison, and in this case, in my opinion, I don't think it's a favourable one.

The story feels like it's building to something big and emotional, a big crechendo, and then The Doctor shouts something to the effect of "I got it!" and suddenly the mood is ruined as it tries, for some reason to have a big, high-energy, save-the-day, run-for-your-life moment, only to kill that momentum immediately afterwards, which in my opinion, just doesn't work at all. It doesn't feel like hope just before the world comes crashing down, it just feels like it wants to be that, and tries to be that in the most brash, in-your-face, ott way possible.

A problem I have had with these two series is that the individual episodes feel small, short, like it's missing a little something that nu-who had for each episode to feel as grand as they could. I personally write it down to their reliance on sets and - seemingly - downright refusal to do location shoots, but perhaps there is something in the writing which feels less substantial than some series, I don't know, I'm still chewing on that. But, whatever it is, I feel it here again, it feels like we've just gotten to the middle point and then it's time to wrap everything up in a neat bow. Maybe stories are too verbose, this episode is certainly an offender of that. Just endless talking of being sad and missing your family in a way that is meant to be impactful, but never manages to feel it for me.

All-in-all it's a decent episode of television, no more than that, one that is perhaps a little confused as to which tone it wants to convey at times and spends too much time yapping without telling, or telling without showing, but really, it's biggest sin is being unremarkable.

6/10

I feel like for people who are normal this is a good episode. And it is, but you can't really improve on peak.

Midnight is a big favourite of mine. It still holds up as one of the best episodes of NuWho even after a good 17 years, and I don't really see *why* RTD wanted to make a sequel for it, except for adding a surprise twist in the middle of this story.

I've seen people say that The Well would hold up better under it's own merits and I wholeheartedly agree. The suspense, especially at the start and very end, is great. The first time Belinda 'sees' the Midnight entity, I legitimately jumped. It was great to feel scared by an episode again.

I think it was cheapened a bit somehow by seeing the actors being thrown around by the entity. And I do think that we shouldn't have seen it as much as we did, if at all. This wasn't a lot, I'll admit, but the fact that I could sort of make out the shape of the entity was disappointing for me personally. Again, a great episode for normal people but it has some drawbacks for neurotic fans such as myself.

Perhaps I am nitpicking too much but ultimately I think that it shouldn't have tried so much so be a sequel - or at least alluded less blatantly to Midnight. There are merits to leaving things to the imagination, which I think is where Midnight originally flourished, and The Well faltered.

holy s**t, he did it. the madman did it. he made a sequel to Midnight that's actually good, without showing the monster, without cheapening the effect.

I haven't been scared by 'Doctor Who' in a long time, but this proper terrified me.

Now, do I think it needed to be a 'Midnight' sequel? Probably not. And if this episode were worse, I might be mad at it.

But the story they managed to tell with this impressed me to no end.
The characters were believable and fun to watch.They still didn't show too much of the monster. And the conclusion was heartbreaking.

Right after 'Lux' now this season is shaping up to be great!

Season Two (Series 15); Episode Three - “The Well” by Russell T. Davies and Sharma Angel-Walfall

God damnit, Russell. One change, one thing, and this episode could’ve been decent. Granted, I have a number of other problems but Russell was so close, so very close, to getting it right but just had to go and give into temptation. This episode isn’t as bad as I’ve rated it, I think it’s a competent bit of TV, with some really nice direction and a wonderful set but it pisses me off. It pisses me off because it’s emblematic of one of RTD2’s biggest problems: trying to capture the magic of the first RTD era without really knowing how.

A second attempt at getting Belinda home lands the TARDIS on a nameless planet, where a mining colony has gone silent. Grouped up with a rescue team, the travellers soon find themselves face to face with an unfathomable terror.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This episode was hitting all of the right buttons for me before it was released. A good, creepy central mystery? Check. An isolated location in deep space? Check. A rescue team investigating the horrific aftermath of an unknown event? Check. Check. Check. There is something about the premise of The Well that hits all of the right buttons for me, it fills a weird niche I can’t begin to properly describe or even reference but seem to always love. And I have to say, the first half of this episode did it so well: the setting was really cool, the exploration of the base was unnerving and the implication that something came out of a five mile deep bore hole is a brilliant touch of cosmic horror, hitting yet another weird niche for me in buried creatures beyond comprehension (if anybody knows the video game Still Wakes the Deep, basically that). And then the actual story began.

Before we get to that s**t show, I do want to say the direction and set design are both masterfully crafted. The scene in which we are first faced with the creature, popping up behind deaf survivor Aliss for a split second genuinely made me jump and was the first moment I began to think I might actually be giving a high rating this season. Not only that, but the long shots through the empty corridors and huge, foreboding pit were brilliant. Modern Who is definitely strong on set design so far - pretty much every episode looks fantastic - but something about the grungy, underlit, metalwork corridors just heightened the tension fantastically, the whole first act draped in shadow and corners just out of sight.

And then Russell had the f**king gall to reveal it was a sequel to Midnight. And all I can say is, goddamnit Russell. I groaned when they said the planet was made out of diamond because I knew I wasn’t going to like whatever came next and yeah, it actively tries to recapture the magic of an old episode with bullshit fan service but just makes it worse in the process. Sure, we still don’t entirely know what the entity is, but the simple fact we see it again makes it more knowable. The fact we know it has a physical form makes it more knowable. The fact we know it has personality and intentions and intelligence makes it more knowable. The fact we know it can throw people across a room and break all the bones in their body makes it more knowable. And the more knowable it is, the less scary this episode and Midnight become retroactively. Russell keeps doing this - trying to recapture what made Series 4 so good - but can’t seem to get it right for whatever reason. He also has a tendency to remove previous conflicts in place of convenient resolutions and mawkish happy endings, which is just condescending to fans of the episodes he’s trying to please. I could describe a not insignificant amount of the Modern Era as “patronising”, which isn’t great.

This episode is bad in my opinion because it represents the shallowness of this era to me, feeding off old glory and refusing to allow any kind of resolution that isn’t shoving some underwritten emotional moment in my face. However, it has problems outside the downfall of its central conceit and they mostly stem from pacing; I don’t know what is wrong with this season specifically, but every episode has felt too short. The characters aren’t deep, we don’t get proper build up to our climaxes and by the time they seem to have gotten going, we’re ten minutes from the end. It’s weird, because they’re the same length as every other episode of the show and seem to be identical structurally, but for whatever reason feel so brief and lacking in tension or meaningful payoff. This episode specifically loses its tension completely because we spend what feels like very little time exploring the base or surviving: once the action starts, we have one set piece and then it's basically over.

And this pacing causes another problem too: characters. So far, I have not cared for a single side character this season. It got close a couple times with the projectionist Mr. Pye in Lux and the squadron leader Shaya in this episode, but both are shallow to me and the back to back self sacrifice doesn’t help. Maybe it's the fact their perceived depth is conveyed to us in exposition or maybe it's the weird pacing issues of the series but for whatever reason, they’re already barely present arcs don’t feel well earned. With Shaya specifically, the actress does a great job but her one minded and unexplained trust of the Doctor and her feeling like a function more than a character, what with that amazing shooting ability the episode keeps on telling she has. As for the rest of the cast, the only other character who didn’t just feel like a meatbag padding out the numbers was the standoffish Cassio, played buy Christopher Chung of Slow Horses fame but he’s unceremoniously killed off in an astoundingly dumb scene that was the very thing that killed the tension for me. 

And that’s another thing, this episode is super dumb at times. Why doesn’t Aliss just tell them there is a murderous entity behind her that could kill anybody. And no, you can’t just say she’s scared because she calms down and then frequently denies that anything’s there even when Belinda notices the entity. Also, why is everybody so quick to right off the very obvious movement they keep seeing behind Aliss to the point where they will insist they didn’t see anything the third time they notice it. And then we get to the final moments of the creature latching onto Belinda and there might as well have been a giant neon sign above Shaya saying “self-sacrifice”. The moment I heard that they couldn’t leave the planet without taking the entity, I knew where the character of Shaya was going and it was just annoying. Also, she very much turns her back on the others multiple times, so paired with the hokey flashbacks you get as she’s running and the ending to this episode is just a dud to me.

One final note, Belinda is still getting worse. I feel like Russell’s making fun of me, teasing a companion that wasn’t just going to let the Doctor get away with his antics and then immediately making her have an identical personality to every other RTD companion. She calls people out one fifth of the time and that’s all that differentiates her from Ruby if I’m being honest, and as much as Verada Sethu is doing a good job she doesn’t have the chemistry Gibson and Gatwa had to keep her interesting. Yes, I talked about this before but it annoys me enough that I’m going to list it as a negative every episode that doesn’t follow through on Russell’s promise.

The Well could’ve been a half decent episode if Russell changed one thing: he could’ve easily made it not a sequel to Midnight. Granted, it would still be a poor script with a bad sidecast and unsatisfying resolution, but it would’ve been a decently creepy little episode. Now, it’s just an annoyance that makes this whole era feel like the TV equivalent of a mid-life crisis. Russell’s clearly good at writing horror and all he has to do to have another Midnight is write something original.

5/10

Pros:

+ Really nice direction that heightens the scares

+ Brilliant first half with a nice mystery

+ Excellent location and set design

Cons:

- The nature of the twist ruins the episode

- We don’t spend enough time with the supporting cast to feel for them

- The pacing doesn’t allow the tension to rise properly

- The plot lacks intelligence

- Belinda continues to be wasted potential

im really not sure what to think about this one. i mean it was pretty good on its own, but i dont know if we really needed a sequel to midnight? also the blatant sequel bait wasnt great. tbh i think being a sequel to midnight made this story worse

The scariest Doctor Who has been for a while!

The Doctor and Belinda are (literally) thrown into a tense, dark, and threatening world. At the start, nothing feels impossible to happen next - the usual rules are gone, and death is everywhere. Genuinely, nothing in Doctor Who has been as scary as this in a long time. No puns intended, this would have thrived as a midnight release!

The cast gives phenomenal performances, again some of the best guest actor performances of the era, with special commendation to Rose Ayling-Ellis, who portrays a terrified victim expertly. Handling her deafness incredibly well, this was cleverly incorporated into the story. The sets the actors inhabit are also incredibly well realised, and made everything feel so real.

A sequel to a fan favourite story is risky, especially when most (if not all), were not convinced the sequel was necessary. However, it was handled well. Layers to the mystery was added, the creature has changes slightly in all this time, but the basic fear, paranoia and terror it thrives and develops is still there. And keeping aspects of this mystery, while building on this, was handled incredibly well. The smaller scale of Midnight may perhaps still give the original the edge, but this sequel is certainly a worthy follow up.

It makes sense that this is a sequel to Midnight (albeit with some strands of Turn Left thrown in). I'm not crazy about the ability additions to the entity itself (although bear in mind I wasn't big on the upgraded Angels in The Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone, another Aliens-ificaton of an iconic NuWho monster), but in terms of theme, it fits. Another iso-horror tale about how easily paranoia can worm its way into people's heads and have them turn on each other.

And yet, this is a bit more hopeful in its examination of the topic. (Actually bloody terrifying conclusion notwithstanding, good lord!) The same concept that must be combated, but approached with a clearer head. The way it treats 'don't turn your back on others' as its thematic mantra hits a similar sweet spot for me as the 'mirror machine' from Vincent And The Doctor. A simple idea that gets at something deep within the core concept that actual words wouldn't have been able to do justice (actual words in the script aside). Where Midnight lingered with the devastating negative effects of that level of paranoia and mob mentality, The Well (while admittedly resorting to a similar heroic sacrifice by the end) is more adamant about the possibility of overcoming it. Not by one person deciding to do the right thing, but by people together making that decision. It creates a nice balance with the incredible sense of dread throughout (it may not be the genuine technical marvel of Alice Troughton's direction for Midnight, but Amanda Brotchie absolutely understood the assignment here), once again showing Dark RTD as willing to offer a positive outcome... but only if the characters (and the audience) earn it.

The way it handled deafness, both specifically with the character of Aliss and as a more general societal norm, was good too. I like its approach that avoids the weird eugenic utopianism of "oh, we'll have cured all that in the future" that crops up every so often in sci-fi, and treated it more realistically. Like, no one on that team knew they'd end up meeting a deaf person, and yet they still had those visual displays ready to use; that alone paints an oddly optimistic picture of disability aid in the future. Rose Ayling-Ellis' performance was terrific, both in giving Ncuti Gatwa room to show his more emotionally-in-tune incarnation of the Doctor, and as just an authentic deaf character in her own right. I got the same joy out of watching her as seeing Marlee Matlin or Millicent Simmonds; I like it when I don't have to deal with passing in stories like this.

I have a few minor niggles to do with the attempts to bridge the entity's behaviour in this and Midnight, and the arc maintenance was more cute than anything else (humans aren't a thing in the future? compared to the imminent threat, that's a bit shrug-worthy), but it offers a comparable adrenaline rush to its predecessor, and Aliss saying "Don't turn your back on me" felt like it was going to rip my heart out of my chest. It succeeded at what it set out to do, and while we still have a while to go, I wouldn't be surprised if this wound up being my favourite of the season.

Another banger!! This season is shaping up super well. I really enjoyed the tension, the atmosphere and the side characters especially Shaya and Aliss. Really another great directed episode too, the same director who did Lux! I hope she'll return in the future.

The Mrs Flood cameo was certainly interesting, as I think its clear she's involved in what's going on with Earth! She looked fantastic too!!

I can't lie though, while I enjoyed this a lot, the leak that the Midnight creature would return massively soured the reveal for me. I just spent the whole ep waiting for it, and was like 'oh sure okay' when it happened. Don't get me wrong, the reveal was good, but it didn't hit as much as it would've had I not known. Also did we need the flashback?

Review #15

00:30

This episode was OK. Its a sequel to midnight but it could be a different entity than what we saw all those years ago. To me the episode felt slow and dragged out. The cameo of Mrs flood was cool and reminded me of the Susan Triad appearance in dot and bubble. This is my least fave of the series so far. 5/10

This is my favourite episode this series, and my second favourite of the RTD2 era (after Wild Blue Yonder). Wild to say because I had this exact thought with Lux! Are we 3/3 for this series so far!?

I absolutely adored the building tension throughout this episode, and while I'm not one for jump scares they really worked for me too once we reached them. I do admit that the throwing across the room stuff got a little silly by the 4th or 5th person with how over the top it was, but it didn't seriously affect my enjoyment.But genuinely the horror stuff worked so well for me. Fear of the unknown is such a common thing to have, and I loooove when DW explores it so much!!!

All the performances were great, and the side cast were fantastic! It's nice having an RTD2 side cast that I care about and feel invested in. Obviously, Ayling-Ellis steals the show with an incredible performance as Allis, who's such an amazing character in her own right. And Shaya's character development from the start (where she was pragmatic and uncaring) to the end (where she remembered she got into this job to bring hope to the people, and was optimistic about saving folks) was so great! With an amazing performance too! I also love that the Slow Horses guy continues to only play smug assholes lol

Gatwa and Sethu continue to be outstanding, and this is a contender for my favourite Gatwa performance as 15 yet. He nails both the gravitas of stepping into a scene and taking control, and the sheer fear and terror perfectly. Plus the empathy he shows Aliss, while still not fully trusting her. Just such a great nuanced performance!

I also absolutely adored the world building and the fact that they explicitly say that the world is more accessible to deaf people, and how that's been taken into account. But then on top of that, the squadron still often forget/choose not to turn on their communicators. Even when directly addressing Allis! Even with all the accessibility options in the world, and the law being made for more accessible people, that sadly doesn't mean people will always take advantage of that to help those that need it. It's a good dose of very depressing realism in what's otherwise optimistic worldbuilding. 

Oh, and no long paragraph about this; but I thought the episode was gorgeous! I love how great the visual direction consistently has been this era.

Only reason this is a 4.5-4.75 star story and not a full 5 is because I really don't think it needed to be a sequel to Midnight. While it tackles similar themes, and thankfully doesn't actually show us the entity, I don't think I gained anything from it being a sequel? It's very much standalone as is and works well enough being so. But this really doesn't majorly take away from my enjoyment.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

This was absolutely perfect,loved it from start to finish,and honestly even if Midnight entity wasnt here it wouldnt have mattered cause this is such a standalone story tbh.Aliss Fenly was great and a cried a few times.Mrs Flood cameo was the best so far! - 10/10

Absolutely terrifying. Scary, sad, emotional. Amazing side characters. Belinda, sweetheart, I love you and you deserved none of that. Amazing episode in my opinion

I knew this was going to be a sequel to Midnight and I couldn't stop thinking that it was going to be the same thing again, but I'm glad to say that it waasn't! Altought I must say that I felt the creature was a tad underutilised compared to the original episode were it had the center of attention. I would've like to see at least one instance of the creature posessing Aliss or the Doctor. It didn't feel as dangerous as before where we didn't know what it was actually capable of, here it feels more like a "Hide" situation, which is fine with me, but I don't know, still the rest was fantastic!

Watched Apr 26th 2025

Boy I'm glad I decided to rewatch Midnight for no reason today.

It’s always great to have another horror focused episode, although I do feel kinda the same as other reviews with wondering exactly why it needed to be a Midnight sequel. Could have easily stood strongly on its own without inviting the comparisons, but was just incredibly solid. My only other gripes would probably be the mild throws taking me out of the episode in what should be a tenser scene, and Cassio being a bit one-note.

A tense and at times terrifying episode shot through with an undeniable sense of dread. Dread because we know some of these characters are doomed. Dread because we know we will not be allowed to understand the Midnight creature.

I appreciated the brief but necessary levity on the TARDIS and into the mission. Because the rest was heavy. Belinda has seen the death that follows the Doctor. Now she has seen the cosmic horror he meets with joy. “You’re dangerous,” she said in The Robot Revolution. What could she be thinking now?

I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts once I’ve sat with the episode

so so so so good but i don't think it needed to be a sequel to Midnight and man do I hate that they showed bits of the creature

if this wasn't related to Midnight it easily would have been a 9-10/10

great episode but the Midnight connection felt a bit arbitrary

And s2 comes out with yet another banger, to the surprise of nobody. Holy f**k what an episode. I will not lie, out of all the episodes of the entire show, Midnight was one of the last ones I would want or expect a sequel to. That said, this is exactly how it should be done - it added just the right amount of information to the entity whilst keeping the mystery and not resorting to the same tricks as before. And both the regular's acting in this one? Dear god. And the ending!!! Is the entity just loose in the universe now???

OMG WOW. I AM STUNNED

10/10 NO NOTES

I AM STRESSED OUT

WHAT AN EPISODE.

Beautiful performances, beautiful direction, beautiful score, beautiful writing, beautiful everything. Favourite RTD2 episode yet

👏👏👏👏👏

Scariest episode of Doctor Who ever.