This, the first instalment in a two-part story, opens in an underwater base where the crew have discovered what appears to be an alien craft. The base is on the site of an old military facility that was flooded when a dam burst; the origins of the craft are unknown. As they examine the craft something happens and one of the team is killed
only to return as a ghost! Shortly afterwards The Doctor and Clara arrive in the Tardis; strangely the Tardis seems to find the location disturbing. At first the Doctor is adamant that there are no such things as ghosts but it isn't long before he changes his mind. Along with the team manning the base he works to discover the true nature of the ghosts, discover what they want and find a way to stop them killing anybody else.
This story got off to a good start; the ghosts, with their strange eyeless faces, are genuinely creepy and there is a solid mystery surrounding them... unlike many of the overused recurring adversaries like the Daleks and Cybermen. The underwater base provided a claustrophobic setting that I liked the idea of being trapped in a small base with a danger has been used many times before but it is very effective and created a good atmosphere. The people manning the base were an interesting bunch; the 'company man' interesting in profit was a bit of a cliché but I really liked the idea of having a deaf person in the group, especially when her lip reading skills proved to be useful. The ending provided a surprising cliff-hanger although it did rely on showing us a major character dead which was a bit too similar to Clara's death in the previous story we know it will be undone fairly soon. Overall though this was a fine opening part to this story; plenty of creepiness and no cheesy comedy moments. If next week's instalment is this good I'll be very happy.
This story got off to a good start; the ghosts, with their strange eyeless faces, are genuinely creepy and there is a solid mystery surrounding them... unlike many of the overused recurring adversaries like the Daleks and Cybermen. The underwater base provided a claustrophobic setting that I liked the idea of being trapped in a small base with a danger has been used many times before but it is very effective and created a good atmosphere. The people manning the base were an interesting bunch; the 'company man' interesting in profit was a bit of a cliché but I really liked the idea of having a deaf person in the group, especially when her lip reading skills proved to be useful. The ending provided a surprising cliff-hanger although it did rely on showing us a major character dead which was a bit too similar to Clara's death in the previous story we know it will be undone fairly soon. Overall though this was a fine opening part to this story; plenty of creepiness and no cheesy comedy moments. If next week's instalment is this good I'll be very happy.