Neil Cross' second story for Series 33 has a lot riding on it's back - can Neil Cross write a good episode? Warning: the following review contains spoilers, don't read if you haven't seen the episode!

Neil Cross' previous Series 33 script was, all things considered, pretty poor. While it had some great effects, music and set design, the plot and ... other elements left much to be desired. So, is 'Hide' any better? Well, yes, it is, but not by much.

'Hide' sees the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) join Major Alec Palmer (Dougray Scott) and psychic Emma Grayling (Jessica Raine) in a quest to discover exactly what the Witch of the Well is...

The first half of this episode lives up to the hype of it being a ghost story; the camera shots and angles, combined with with dialogue, music, lighting and plot give a very scary feeling, the tension is always there in the background. The glimpses of the 'ghost', the sudden drop in temperature (though the fact that it dropped below zero was a bit silly) and the writing on the wall was spot on. Had the episode carried on in this fashion, making it completely supernatural-themed, 'Hide' would have been much, much, much better.

However, halfway through the episode, Neil Cross appears to have decided to abandon the supernatural tone completely, and instead switches to hardcore sci-fi. This, in my opinion, was a big mistake. We subsequently learn the the ghost is simply a time traveller stranded in a pocket universe, and has somehow managed to leave an imprint on our universe. This in itself is not inherently bad, but Cross' own writing backfires from now on. If the time traveller, Hila Tacorien (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) was running through a forest, then how was she able to:

• Write on the wall?
• Cause the temperature in the house to drop?
• Point exactly where Alec and Emma are standing?
• For that matter, interact with the real universe at all, since it's shown that when you are in the pocket universe, inhabitants of the real universe aren't visible?

The plot holes made by this simple switch in tone show that Cross, when writing the script, should have started with supernatural and stuck with it, or started with sci-fi, and stuck to it. Switching halfway does not cut it.

Complaints about genre aside, some sci-fi elements are well done. The Doctor's trips to the different time zones on Earth was very well done, as was the journey into the pocket universe, achieved via a 'subset of the Eye of Harmony'. The Eye of Harmony, for those who are unfamiliar with Classic Doctor Who, was a power source for the Time Lords, and was located in their Citadel. In the 1996 TV Movie, it was also revealed that the TARDIS contained a link to it, presumably, this is where the Doctor obtained the subset from. In another throwback to the Classic Series, the Doctor gives Emma a blue crystal from Metebelis III, a planet which the Third Doctor visited at least twice. This reference may be hard to pick up on, however, as Matt Smith most annoyingly pronounces it incorrectly!

'Hide' also delved further into the mystery of Clara. The TARDIS once again refuses to let her in, but eventually relents. Clara is also told by the Doctor that she is the 'only mystery worth solving', something we'll most certainly come back to later this series. It was also nice to see Clara have a more realistic reaction to the Doctor's travels along the Earth's timeline from birth to death; she is shocked by the Doctor's indifference to the passage of time.

Characterisation is also strong with two out of three of the supporting cast. Alec is given an extensive backstory that explains why he became a ghost hunter, and, albiet to a lesser extent, Emma was also given a great deal of backstory and motivation. The small romance between the two was a great touch as well. However, Hila Tacorien may as well be a nobody. We don't learn a thing about her apart from the fact that she's from the future and is supposedly a descendent of Emma and Alec. This last bit was really unneccessary, as was the 'bloodline' explanation for Emma's ability to detect Hila whilst she was in the pocket universe.

Regarding the pocket universe, there are a few plot holes relating to how it works. At one point, the TARDIS Voice Interface tells Clara that if she (the TARDIS) enters the pocket universe, her 'power reserves will be depleted in four seconds' and that she'll 'be dead in ten seconds'. Yet, minutes later, the TARDIS flies to the pocket universe to rescue the Doctor ... and stays there for more than four seconds, with no adverse effects! To make matters worse, this happens twice! Also, as shown in 2007 in 'Utopia', travelling through the time vortex while clinging to the TARDIS' exterior will kill you. However, the Doctor does this twice, and the supposedly 'evil' monster does it as well! The second error is almost understandable, given that the action was last seen six years ago, but the first is unforgivable!

So, in conculsion, 'Hide' had a great first act, full of tension and spookiness. The characters were great, the dialogue was great, there was nothing to fault. However, the second act completely ruined the first with contradictions and inconsistencies.

6.5/10

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