It’s always great to see a scary Doctor Who episode. The classic series had a reputation for sending kids hiding behind the sofa, and while the first few series of the revival concocted plenty of scary moments and monsters, it’s difficult not to feel that this has declined in recent years, despite spine-chilling episodes like Village of the Angels and Wild Blue Yonder becoming very popular amongst fans. The Well feels like an episode that was intended from the outset to send a new generation of kids behind the sofa, but is it the terrifying tale the series needs?

The Well was co-written by Sharma Angel-Walfall (with additional story development from Temi Wilkey, according to the end credits), which gave me hope that this would be a refreshing change of pace after a run of episodes from long-time scribes Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat that have felt like they’ve been retreading familiar ground. The promise of something new was short-lived however, with Davies taking top billing for a story that reveals itself to be a sequel to Midnight, the 2008 series’ bottle episode which quickly became regarded as an all-time classic. Making a sequel to Midnight would probably be a lot more exciting if this era of the programme wasn’t already looking to the past so much — the return of Donna and Mel, the Fourteenth Doctor being David Tennant, the Toymaker, Sutekh, various key crew members coming back to the series, Murray Gold‘s music and the familiar plot beats and tropes (see Boom, Joy to the World and even last week’s Lux as examples). Doctor Who building on its own mythology isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it feels as though this incarnation of the series doesn’t want to move forwards but instead backwards to its late 2000s heyday (which, quite frankly, is long gone).

The big reveal that planet is in fact Midnight is so overplayed, right down to the flashbacks of David Tennant (is Ncuti Gatwa ever allowed to escape his shadow?) from 2008. It’s easy to understand why the production team think this is a good idea but considering that this is supposed to be Season 2 of a brand-new, standalone version of Doctor Who, it feels like it’s there simply for fan service. Episodes like School Reunion work because returning elements or characters like Sarah Jane and K9 are recontextualised for new viewers without resorting to on-the-nose fan service. It might not be as in-your-face as the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby loading up Pyramids of Mars on BBC iPlayer during Empire of Death, but it still feels like a distraction from the story at hand. Belinda should be the focal point of the story (and season as a whole), and she can’t see the flashbacks to 2008, so why should we as the audience? It’s a small issue in this episode, yet it seems to be recurring problem throughout this era. In fact, one could argue that a little bit more ambiguity would probably make The Well scarier. Does it even need to be clarified as a sequel to Midnight, or could that not simply be left to fan interpretation? Moreover, the Doctor’s line “if it was a clock, you die at midnight” felt so incredibly corny that I’m amazed it wasn’t cut.

Murray Gold’s score really adds to the atmosphere throughout the episode, contributing towards the scary moments before the twist reveal transforms the soundtrack, building in cues from Midnight in a satisfying way. It’s perhaps a bit frustrating then that the tension is lost when the Fifteenth Doctor’s musical theme plays in the third act, announcing the imminent resolution to the story in the same obvious way that I Am The Doctor was used during Matt Smith’s tenure as the Time Lord. But then, when this turns out to be a ‘fake’ resolution, it almost seems like a deliberate choice to manipulate the audience.

Despite these reservations, The Well is a good, spooky Doctor Who story. There’s a great sense of atmosphere when the protagonists are exploring the base, the body count being so high lends a real sense of stakes and the script captures a real sense of paranoia that feels similar to Midnight but builds on it in new and interesting ways – see the tension between the troopers, their anxiety at not understanding sign language and Aliss’ concern as not being able to lip read the Doctor near the end. The sets look so dirty and grimy that builds on the sense of discomfort, while Shaya getting Cassio killed by the creature is a surprisingly dark and effective moment of horror and character work. It’s difficult not to wish that the supporting cast came across as a little more three-dimensional, although it’s great to see Slow Horses star Christopher Chung enter the Whoniverse and Rose Ayling-Ellis is terrific as the terrified Aliss. On Doctor Who Unleashed, Russell T Davies mentions that Ayling-Ellis sent notes on the script to provide a more authentic approach to a deaf character’s experience, and that comes across in the finished episode. It’s a shame Aliss’ final scene is so brief given her role in the story.

It’s also great to have some continuity between episodes, with the Doctor and Belinda clearly having just left Miami at the start of The Well, although their arrival into the adventure felt rushed and contrived (why does the TARDIS have exactly the same spacesuits as the troopers, and how did the Doctor know?) The jump from the ship to the planet is a neat visual but feels like it’s been thrown in for the sake of speeding up the opening act rather than adding anything to the narrative. On the plus side, the Fifteenth Doctor finally turns up on a traditional Doctor Who quarry planet! Ncuti Gatwa’s more emotional Doctor gets to unveil a vulnerable side dealing with the Midnight creature, while Varada Sethu plays the creepy moments incredibly well. It’s also nice to see Belinda out of her depth with the futuristic medical kit. There is, however, an argument that this third episode of Season 2 is repeating the formula of the third episode of Season 1: an incredibly tense adventure that pushes the Doctor to the edge, which also features his companion being shot by a supporting character but surviving thanks to space-age medical equipment. Perhaps this is reading too much into things, but it’s difficult not to spot repeated formulas between this season and the last, and with the fourth episode set to be a Ruby-centric episode like last season’s fourth episode, these trends seem set to continue. (Or maybe this reviewer is just getting cynical…)

The Well aims to do for Midnight what Aliens did for Alien, and while this may have been somewhat overambitious, this is still a solid sequel. The opening act is somewhat rushed, and the ambiguous ending is a bit clunky, yet the creepy atmosphere makes for a genuinely scary Doctor Who adventure. Perhaps the smartest decision in the entire piece is to keep the creature mysterious and hidden away, ensuring that the ambiguity of the Midnight creature isn’t spoiled. Ultimately, The Well isn’t Midnight, and as a sequel it immediately lends itself to unfavourable comparisons with a fan-favourite episode, but even with some reservations, there’s no denying that it’s a good episode of Doctor Who, and one that’s worth revisiting come Halloween.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One next Saturday at 19:10

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