Hide was the ninth episode of series 7 of Doctor Who. The episode was inspired by the 1959 Gothic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, as well as the broader sub-genre of haunting house fiction, and by the Quatermass serials — with which, at one point in development, it was intended to be a crossover.
It saw the Eleventh Doctor continue his investigation into Clara Oswald's true nature and led her to directly communicate with the Doctor's TARDIS for the first time, leading into the following episode.
Synopsis
Clara and the Eleventh Doctor arrive at the haunted Caliburn House, set alone on a desolate moor. Within its walls, a ghost-hunting professor and a gifted empathic psychic are searching for the Witch of the Well. Her apparition appears throughout the history of the building, but is she really a ghost? And what is chasing her?
Plot
"Caliburn House. Night four. November 25th, 1974. 11:04 pm."
Professor Alec Palmer and his assistant Emma Grayling are attempting to contact an apparition haunting Caliburn House. Emma is a psychic, and uses her gifts to gain the attention of the "ghost". They are interrupted by knocking at the front door, and open it to find the Eleventh Doctor and Clara. The Doctor tells Alec that he is looking for a ghost and Clara claims that they are "Ghostbusters".
The Doctor claims to be from "the Ministry", and knows who Alec and Emma are. Photographs that were taken by the professor show the same figure in the same pose throughout the history of Caliburn House. The Doctor and Clara search the house, as a strange creature stalks them through it. Loud knocking is heard, which is said to be associated with the "Witch of the Well".
The Doctor returns with Clara to the TARDIS and takes a series of photographs of the "ghost" throughout Earth's timeline. Upset at seeing Earth become a lifeless rock, Clara believes that she is nothing more than a ghost to the Doctor because as a time traveller he has been to a time when she is long dead. When she asks 'what are we to you' he tells her that human beings are "the only mystery worth solving". The Doctor uses his photographs to explain that the "ghost" is, in fact, a time traveller called Hila Tacorien, who is trapped in a pocket universe in the process of collapsing and being chased by an unknown creature.
The Doctor uses a crystal from Metebelis III to enhance Emma's thoughts and use them to create a portal to the pocket universe, a reality "well". He goes to rescue Hila, who escapes but is trapped in the pocket universe with the monster after Emma collapses. As the professor encourages Emma to try again - finally admitting he loves her - Clara returns to the TARDIS, and after a brief argument with the voice interface (which appears as herself, much to her annoyance), manages to break into the pocket universe and rescue the Doctor from the creature.
The next morning in conversation with Emma, the Doctor reveals that he brought Clara to Caliburn House in order to see Emma, not the ghost. He asks what she senses about Clara, but Emma reports nothing unusual about her. As the Doctor and Clara are preparing to leave, the Doctor inadvertently reveals that Hila is Emma and Alec's future descendant. Alec and Emma are in love, and the Doctor advises them to "hold hands, and don't let go". Then the Doctor realises that the creature in the pocket universe has been trying to return to another creature in the house. He then states that every lonely monster needs a companion, and explains to Clara that the two creatures have been separated through time and space and certain events, and are yearning to be with one another. He describes this as not a "ghost story" but a "love story". He then returns to the pocket universe, where he reconciles with the monster to bring it back in the exact same manner as before.
Cast
Crew
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
Worldbuilding
The Doctor
- The Doctor says he loves carrier pigeons.
- Emma tells Clara not to trust the Doctor, saying that "he has a sliver of ice in his heart".
Individuals
- Alec is a ghost-hunter, as well as a "member of the Baker Street Irregulars [who] specialised in espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance behind enemy lines, a talented water colourist [and a] professor of psychology."
- Emma is an empathic psychic and assistant to Alec.
Popular culture from the real world
- Clara introduces herself and the Doctor as "Ghostbusters." The Doctor and Rose sang the Ghostbusters theme song earlier in Army of Ghosts.
- The Doctor quotes the song Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) by Cole Porter when he realises the truth about the two monsters; "Birds do it, bees do it - even educated fleas do it!".
Foods and beverages
- The Doctor drinks milk.
- Emma and Clara both have a glass of whiskey which they don't like, and so drink tea instead. Furthermore, Clara calls whiskey the "11th most disgusting drink ever invented."
- The Doctor requests some Kendal Mint Cakes to go with his Tacorien rescue.
Places
- Alec owns Caliburn House, which was built sometime before 1474.
- The "Cumbrian agenda" of Series 7 Part 2 continues in this episode with not only the positive reference to Kendal Mint Cakes but also the negative one to Carlisle being the "opposite of bliss".
The TARDIS
- Clara calls the TARDIS a "grumpy old cow."
- The TARDIS unlocks herself in order to allow Clara to enter, even though she doesn't yet have a key.
- Clara says that they need a place to keep her umbrella.
Technology
- The Doctor obsesses over toggle switches and an ACR 99821.
- A subset of the Eye of Harmony is used to open a gateway to the pocket dimension.
- Alec has a Kodak Carousel S projector.
- Alec has a Nikon film camera with electric flash that the Doctor borrows.
- The Doctor builds a psychochronograph.
Story notes
- The read-through for this episode took place on 21 May 2012, and filming began on the 24th.
- Scriptwriter Neil Cross confirmed that the episode had been inspired by Nigel Kneale's acclaimed 1972 TV play The Stone Tape, also about a scientific investigation of a haunted house with a psychic as one of the team.
- Hide was the first episode filmed by Jenna-Louise Coleman as a series regular but screened as the fourth episode in series 7b.
- What the "ghost" version of Hila is saying is "Em pleh", which is "Help me!" backwards.
Ratings
Hide was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 20 April 2013. Overnight ratings showed that the episode was watched by 5 million viewers live. When time-shifted viewers were calculated, the figure rose to 6.61 million viewers, making it the sixth most-watched programme of the week on BBC One.[1] In addition, Hide received 1.53 million requests on the online BBC iPlayer for April, placing sixth for the month on the service. It also received an Appreciation Index of 85.
Reception
- The episode received generally positive feedback from fans and critics. Nerdist's Kyle Anderson stated it was "easily my favourite of this half-series", as well as complimenting the "terrific" direction by newcomer Jamie Payne. Den of Geek liked the episode but criticised the twist ending, as to them it "didn't feel like a comfortable fit", claiming it was "a twist for the sake of a twist".
- The episode was claimed to be the superior of the two Neil Cross-penned scripts for Series 7, as his previous script, The Rings of Akhaten, received mostly negative reactions from the fan base.
Filming locations
- Gethin Woods (forest in pocket universe)
- Margam Castle (also used in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky as Rattigan Academy)
- Plas Llanmihangel
- Tyntesfield, Wraxall[2] (Caliburn House staircase, hallway and other interiors)
Production errors
- Several wires are seen running from the TARDIS to the equipment which opens the wormhole to the pocket universe, but when Clara returns, they are all missing.
- While the Doctor is wandering the pocket universe for the first time, he removes his bow tie. The bow tie then appears and disappears between close and wide shots.
- During one of the scenes, Clara is holding a candelabra with a candle missing. When the camera changes, the candle is back on the candelabra.
- After the Doctor says "It's ghost time", there's a sequence where Palmer takes the Doctor and Clara on a walk down a hallway, in which Clara remarks about Palmer having bought the house. It then cuts to a sequence where the Doctor talks about empaths. For some reason, Clara's hair appears to be wet and she's drying it with a towel. There is nothing in-between to suggest how it got that way. Immediately thereafter Palmer begins telling his history of the ghost and Clara's hair changes arrangement from the way it was when she was drying it.
Continuity
- The Doctor is able to utilise a "subset of the Eye of Harmony" to enter a pocket universe by running cables from the TARDIS. (TV: The Deadly Assassin, Doctor Who)
- The TARDIS' cloister bell chimes. (TV: Logopolis, Castrovalva, Resurrection of the Daleks, Doctor Who, et al.)
- The Doctor references fixed points in time. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii, The Waters of Mars, The Wedding of River Song)
- Clara introduces herself and the Doctor as "Ghostbusters," referencing the film, as had previously the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler. (TV: Army of Ghosts)
- Clara previously stated she didn't believe in ghosts. (TV: The Snowmen)
- The Doctor uses his psychic paper. (TV: The Empty Child, New Earth, Partners in Crime, The Vampires of Venice, et al.)
- The Doctor once again pretends to be from Health and Safety. (TV: Partners in Crime)
- Clara references the Eleventh Doctor's big chin, as had previously Oswin Oswald. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)
- The Doctor uses a blue crystal from Metebelis III in order to amplify Emma's powers, though he pronounces it very differently than he did during his third incarnation ("Me-TEB-eh-lis" instead of "Met-a-BEE-lis"). (TV: The Green Death, Planet of the Spiders, AUDIO: Worldwide Web)
- Emma speaks to the ghost, telling it to "speak to me," in the same vein as Gwyneth holding a séance and saying "speak to us." (TV: The Unquiet Dead)
- The Doctor enters a pocket universe. (TV: The Celestial Toymaker, The Mind Robber, Full Circle, The Doctor's Wife, et al.)
- The Doctor uses what appears to be the same reddish-orange space suit he used on Krop Tor (TV: The Impossible Planet) and Mars. (TV: The Waters of Mars) It does not have the "Sanctuary Base 6" logo, however.
- The Seventh Doctor also visited a mysterious stately home due to his companion at the time, Ace. (TV: Ghost Light)
- The Eighth Doctor previously encountered another being referred to by humans as "the Witch from the Well." (AUDIO: The Witch from the Well)
- The Doctor jumps and clings on to the outside of the TARDIS, as had Captain Jack Harkness previously. (TV: Utopia)
- Clara has difficulty coming to terms with seeing a long-dead Earth, as Rose Tyler did. (TV: The End of the World)
- Sarah Jane Smith once visited a haunted house very similar to this, (TV: The Eternity Trap) as did the Seventh Doctor, although there were never really ghosts. (PROSE: Falls the Shadow)
- The Fourth Doctor previously encountered a time traveller from the future, whose journey had gone disastrously wrong. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
- The Doctor previously drew a symbol on the floor with chalk to solve a problem from another pocket universe. (TV: Battlefield)
- Both the Doctor and the TARDIS state that the pocket universe would drain the energy from the TARDIS; this had previously happened in a parallel universe, requiring the Tenth Doctor to give up ten years of his life to "recharge" the TARDIS. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)
- After a heated discussion with the TARDIS, Clara is let in by her without a key, to follow the Doctor into a pocket dimension against his orders. This exact sequence of events was previously also done by Charlotte Pollard in AUDIO: Zagreus. Like Clara does in this story, Charlotte also called the TARDIS a "cow" in AUDIO: The Next Life.
- The TARDIS interface was previously showed images of companions to speak to the Doctor. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler)
- Clara has previously mentioned the TARDIS not liking her. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten)
- Asking for Kendal Mint Cake was not the first time the Doctor has asked for baked confectionery amongst a list of items needed to find someone. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut)
- When jumping into the pocket universe for the first time, the Doctor says, "Geronimo!". (TV: The End of Time, et. al.)
- Clara answers a question of the Doctor's by saying, "That's the chap." This is the same answer that the Fourth Doctor gave when Adric asked if Earth is the planet with all the oceans. (TV: Logopolis)
- The Doctor refers to the Time Vortex with verbiage similar to his "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" description of Time. (TV: Blink)
- Like Clara, Wilfred Mott also wondered if the Doctor viewed humans as insignificant. In both cases, he asserted that he did not. (TV: The End of Time)
- The device the Doctor puts on Emma's head to connect her to the "subset of the Eye of Harmony" has a remarkably similar design to the one the Second Doctor used to show his own thoughts to Zoe Heriot. (TV: The Wheel in Space)
Home video releases
DVD & Blu-ray releases
- Hide was released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of Doctor Who Series 7 Part Two in region 1/A on 28 May 2013, region 2/B on 27 May 2013, and region 4/B on 22 May 2013.
- Also, this episode was released as part of the Complete Seventh Series boxset on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1/A on 24 September 2013, in region 2/B on 28 October 2013 and in region 4/B on 30 October 2013.
Digital releases
- In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.