Book Review: Doctor Who - The Well

Midnight was an episode of Doctor Who which released on June 14th 2008 as part of the 4th series of the new-revival of the show.  It served as the titular ‘Bottle episode’ in which the format of the show is confined in some way, shape or form to save on the production budget.  It saw David Tennant’s portrayal of the 10th Doctor take part in a shuttle tour on the diamond planet of Midnight.  Exposed to the galvanic rays of an X-tonic star, the surface of the planet is uninhabitable to all forms of life but offers visiting tourists the allure of its diamond surface to view and marvel at.  The four-hour journey to the local sapphire waterfalls takes an unexpected turn however when the shuttle is attacked by a mysterious entity which finds its way inside to possess one of its passengers. The possessed passenger soon begins repeating everyone’s words back to them and eventually learns to talk in sync with them. With the passengers becoming increasingly more tense, the Doctor tries to reason with the entity but ends up becoming its victim as it tries to takes his words instead. The day is soon saved though when the shuttle hostess sacrifices herself to save the Doctor who advises the tourist company to leave the planet and let whatever the mysterious entity that inhabits it stay isolated for good.

I have nothing but good things to say about this particular episode, in fact I’d go so far to say it was and still remains my favourite episode in the entirety of the show.  Its ability to provide a thoroughly captivating story through a singular set and a large ensemble cast is its biggest strength.  Its approach to the story in which we never truly see or define the Midnight entity makes its overwhelming power over the Doctor and passengers even scarier. It highlights to me the key strength of this show in the fact it’s able to produce such an amazing episode because it embraces the limitations presented by its script and production budget. I always have time for this episode and will happily tout it whenever the opportunity comes up to discuss it. The main reason I started this review off with a little nod to Midnight is because of its subsequent follow up story The Well.

The Well was the third episode in Series 15 of Doctor Who which primarily follows Ncuti Gatwa’s portrayal of the fifteenth incarnation of the Doctor.  The script was written by both Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel-Walfall and follows the Doctor and his companion Belinda Chandra as they work to find a way back to Earth on May 24th 2025 which the TARDIS seems unable to hone in on.  The target novelization of this episode was written by British science-fiction author Gareth L. Powell who is a self-professed fan of the long-running show and was an avid reader of the Target books in his youth.  

The Well follows The Doctor and his newest companion Belinda Chandra as they land on a spaceship 500,000 years in the future with the intent of using the Doctor’s Vindicator to anchor and add another triangulation point back to Earth on May 24th 2025.  Their objective is soon overtaken however when they find themselves embroiled in a survey and rescue mission by an alien military division. Landing on the planet with the troopers, they discover a mining colony littered with dead bodies and broken mirrors. Upon exploring deeper into the complex, they discover a lone survivor by the name of Aliss who for inexplicable reasons remains the only colonist alive.  As they dive deeper into the mystery of the complex, The Doctor and company realize there is a dark entity hiding in plain sight which forces the Doctor to face a past horror he long thought buried. 

Let’s review this narrative on two fronts as it would be unfair to judge Powell for the core narrative as it is essentially adapted from the original script. The story in itself works quite nicely because on its own merits. It offers a creepy yet altogether interesting mystery behind the decimated mining complex for the audience to appreciate.  It does well in further exploring the dynamic between The Doctor and Belinda as a TARDIS duo which wasn’t setup under a conventional manner.  The underlying threat is smartly teased throughout the course of the episode and the way it is able to pull the rug and reveal itself as the Midnight Entity from the Doctor’s past is so well-done.  That being said though, all of the books biggest strengths are owed to the script in itself.  I don’t feel Powell does enough with his written interpretation of the story to make it stand out.  I feel ultimately, I am just reading a scene for scene retelling of the story which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity as Targets books are typically fun because they can add or put their own spin on a story.

Don’t get me wrong, Powell does try to inject some of his own original ideas into the book which his character dossiers which serve to break down the military personal involved in the mission.  These dossiers are often boring however and don’t offer much in the way of engaging elements to make us care for these characters.  It doesn’t help that these characters don’t even hold much of a presence in the story besides the main captain and the trademark arrogant solider. It just doesn’t offer much in the way of unique original ideas the other Target books are much better at doing.

The Well is a good story but I would argue it’s far better experienced through its original televised format.  The Target novelization isn’t a bad book, it’s a fairly commendable reading experience which does a decent job formatting this story into a prose format.  Where it ultimately fails though is offering you a reason to pick it up over simply re-watching the episode in itself. It follows the original script to its detriment all the while offering very little in the way of its own ideas to make it stand out with any unique quality. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐