7.10 - Hide

There is a lot of good in this story but a couple of aspects which, for me, hold it back from being a 10/10 classic. Following on from Cold War which was a story where simplicity was its strength in my opinion, this one over complicates what could and should have been a brilliant scary horror episode. Over complication is a main flaw of the Steven Moffatt era but usually that comes hand in hand with a loss of logic whereas this story is not obviously illogical in the world of Doctor Who so I still rate it highly. My issue is that the whole set up and tense build up of horror themes has its impact and quality reduced slightly by the shoehorning in of themes of time travel complications and of 'love conquers all' which Moffatt era stories over use.

The great strengths of this episode are in the genuinely creepy ghost story set up which are effective and give the 'hide behind the sofa' feel I love. The majority of the episode is a strong thrilling adventure. The two brilliant guest stars Dougray Scott and Jessica Raine are extremely high quality and add a lot to the overall enjoyment of the episode. There is decent humour (like the nice reference to the classic era efforts to return companion Tegan to the airport), some smart dialogue and a nice 1970s time period as well as very good direction and effects which make this appear to be heading for a classic Doctor Who piece of horror.

The revelations that the 'ghost' is a pioneering Earth time traveller trapped in a 'pocket universe' and that the monster is a quite silly looking beast just looking for its mate are underwhelming and disappointingly anticlimactic. The over emphasis of making this into a weird 'love story' detract from what should have been a 10/10 but fortunately there was enough quality in the episode that the mediocre ending does not totally ruin it. I still think I can rate it as a very high standard adventure for its many strengths.

It's not a ghost story, it's a love story! great acting with great writing. Two for two for mister Neil Cross, I hope he comes back to write a script for season 10.

Hide is a very good Doctor Who haunted house story, with some clever concetps as to the reason for the haunting as well as the creature behind it.

I had mixed feelings on the the final twist and the character of Alec Palmer works better in theory than in practice. Still, this was one of the more enjoyable episodes of the Second Half of Series 7.

I thought this was great and I also think its a story that will grow on people and be considered more fondly in years to come. Everyone does a great job here and the direction is superb. The change from ghost story to alien love story is surprising and well handled and we have the first sign of chemistry between the doctor and modern day Clara here. I know the ending feels a little rushed but it still manages to leave everything resolved.