Episode 3 of Doctor Who Series 15, titled "The Well," stands tall as the best episode of the Fifteenth Doctor's era so far. Suspenseful, haunting, and filled with the kind of conceptual horror that Doctor Who has always done best, it delivers a gripping, self-contained story that also deepens the mystery of the overarching series arc.
From its opening minutes, "The Well" establishes a tone of claustrophobic dread. Still unable to return to Earth on 24 May 2025, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) arrive 500,000 years in the future, joining a squad of troopers led by the stoic Shaya. The group has been dispatched to investigate a mining colony that has gone mysteriously silent. They find the base deserted, every mirror shattered, and only one survivor: Aliss, a deaf cook, who tells them the colonists killed each other in a fit of madness.
It quickly becomes clear that something unseen is stalking them. When Aliss stands in the room, the troopers begin to believe they can see something behind her. When one of them moves behind her, they are thrown violently to their death. Belinda, sharp as ever, deduces that the entity is concealed behind Aliss, and that it cannot be looked at or directly approached without fatal consequences.
The horror deepens when the Doctor realises he has encountered this creature before. In a clever callback to the fan-favourite Series 4 episode "Midnight," the Doctor discovers that the planet was once known by that name, and this entity is the same one he faced 400,000 years ago. This connective tissue between eras is a masterstroke from writer Russell T Davies, reintroducing a foe that was terrifying precisely because it was unknowable.
What makes "The Well" so effective is how it leans into that unknowability. The entity never speaks, never shows itself, and never explains its motives. Instead, its presence is felt in silences, glances, and fatal movements, drawing out unbearable tension with every scene.
As the troopers are picked off one by one, chaos breaks out. Cassio, one of the soldiers, attempts a mutiny, only to fall victim to the entity himself when Shaya regains command. The Doctor’s realisation that the creature whispers to its host, something Aliss couldn’t hear, is both tragic and brilliant: her deafness saved her, but also made her a vessel.
In a moment of classic Doctor ingenuity, he devises a solution. Using refined mercury to create a liquid mirror, he confronts the entity with its own reflection. The gamble pays off, and Aliss is freed. But the escape attempt doesn’t go smoothly. As the group flees, the entity latches onto Belinda. In a split-second decision, Shaya shoots her in a non-lethal spot, allowing her to be revived after the entity leaves. Shaya herself becomes the final host, sacrificing herself to buy the others time.
It’s a sequence that highlights Doctor Who's strength at balancing sci-fi thrills with emotional weight. Shaya’s death is both heroic and heartbreaking, and Belinda's survival deepens her bond with the Doctor, who shares her lingering unease.
Back aboard the TARDIS, the pair reflect on the most chilling revelation of all: in this far-flung future, no one seems to have heard of Earth or humanity. It’s a chilling hook that continues to raise questions about the Doctor’s current quest through time.
The episode ends on a perfect sting. Mo, one of the few survivors, reports back to Mrs Flood—whose slow-burn villainy continues to grow more ominous—and then, to add further intrigue, another trooper seems to spot something behind Mo. The implication? The entity may still be with them. It’s a brilliant cliffhanger that keeps the terror alive even as the credits roll.
"The Well" is a triumph of mood, tension, and slow-burn storytelling. With a limited cast and a contained setting, it does more with less, anchoring its horror in concept rather than spectacle. Gatwa is at his best here, equal parts compassionate and calculating, and Sethu’s Belinda continues to prove herself a worthy companion with the emotional intelligence and courage that define the greats.
If this is the standard the Fifteenth Doctor’s era is capable of reaching, the future of Doctor Who looks very bright indeed—even when it’s at its darkest.
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