Since Russell T. Davies has taken over Doctor Who again, there are mentions of past monsters and storylines. Some of them have gone back to the original series, but Doctor Who season 15, episode 3 connected to a rather creepy storyline from a David Tennant-era storyline.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Doctor Who season 15, episode 3.
The episode saw Fifteen admit that he doesn’t know why he still can’t get back to Earth. We know why, and it’s clear that Fifteen and Belinda are slowly figuring out that something has happened, as nobody has heard of the planet Earth. Now they just need to find out what that is and why.
Before they can do that, they have to deal with a creature that can’t be seen. It hides behind people, attacking whenever someone gets to the back of a person. Of course, the team sent down to the planet immediately believe that the deaf woman, Aliss, is responsible for all the deaths in the mining compound.
Fifteen knows that he’s met this creature before in Doctor Who season 15, episode 3
As The Doctor figures out what is going on, he turns to Shaya, the platoon leader, to find out where they are. Which planet is this, and what are they mining? Well, they’re mining diamonds on the planet Midnight. With a quick flash to a scene with David Tennant’s Ten on the shuttle bus, we get the reminder of the creature.
Again, that creature was never seen. It would take over people, though, and it looks like the creature in “The Well” has adapted to only standing behind a person; clinging onto them until they’re killed and then someone else is possessed. However, with this one, The Doctor points out that there’s a whispering. The whole reason Aliss isn’t being fully effected by the creature is because she is deaf.
Naturally, members of the platoon decide to go against Shaya’s orders. They go behind Aliss to see what they are dealing with, but it just leads to the exact same issue as before. People are thrown away and killed immediately, showing us what happened to people who had been mining before. Some were shot in the back, in an attempt to kill the creature, while others had broken necks, due to them flying around.
A creature that can’t look at its own reflection
It’s Belinda and Fifteen who work out a possible way to save Aliss and get her off the planet. Maybe then everyone can get off. All the mirrors have been smashed, so it’s clear that the creature can’t look at itself. Well, how about closing in all the water funnels to create a reflection? This is exactly what’s needed to get everyone back to where all the helmets are.
Aliss is able to go with a small team, but Fifteen, Belinda, Shaya, and Mo are stuck. The monster won’t let them leave and is connected to one of them. Belinda realizes that it’s her, because she can hear it whispering to her.
Shaya realizes that the only way out is sacrifice. She has a perfect shot, so she’s able to shoot Belinda in a way that kills her but makes it possible to bring her back to life, and with that, the creature connects to Shaya. So, while Mo is helping Belinda, Fifteen races after Shaya, who throws herself in the well with the creature on her back. It can go back to where it came from.
If only it was as easy as that. The end of the episode makes it clear that Mo is now the one with the creature on her back, and she’s brought it back to the ship.
At the same time, we get another Mrs. Flood moment, as she is now the captain. It looks like Doctor Who will finally start to reveal who she is. Could she be Fifteen’s granddaughter, as many thought Susan Twist’s character was in season 14, or will she be The Master or something else entirely?
Doctor Who airs Saturdays on Disney+.
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