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Doctor Who - Under the Lake receives mostly praise in the press with many reviewers welcoming the move to a more traditional type of Doctor Who story.

The Independent enjoys the variety that Doctor Who offers, with this weeks episode being very different than last week's Dalek battle. Under the Lake neatly pulls off one of the tried-and-tested tricks of Who’s elastic format by gleefully mashing together genres and expectations. It has rarely been done with such palpable tension and slow-burning dread..

The Telegraph thought the episode enjoyably old-fashioned saying This rollicking, hair-raising romp demonstrated that the sci-fi franchise still has the power to thrill and chill in equal measure.

The Express found the story terrifying If you weren't given the willies by Under the Lake - even just a little bit, then you could well be the bravest member of the audience. Doctor Who really did put the frights on this week with a scary episode that left most shuddering.

The return to roots idea was also noticed by Stuff.co.nz. The story ends with a cliff hanger, a device used in every classic Doctor Who story but seldom in new Who, tying something old to something new. And it's a cliff hanger which is bound to have audiences tuning in to next week's episode, Before The Flood, in droves

Online Den of Geek described the episode as a cracking slice of old-style Doctor Who, praising the Director Daniel O'Hara. He had never directed an episode of Doctor Who before this one, but it can’t just be me hoping he gets many repeat calls. He makes full use of the claustrophobia afforded by the base setting, using time honoured tricks such as relaying scale on computer screens and shooting from different angles to make everything appear far bigger on the inside. It works.

O'Hara also won plaudits from Metro praising both him and the writer Toby Whithouse who produce a taut, claustrophobic atmosphere which ramps up the tension beautifully. The physical sets add to that, as does the CGI used to realise the ghosts.

Radio Times is not convinced saying With a tweak and a fiddle, it can remain fresh, and maybe Under the Lake does appear fresh to younger viewers, but this time, to me, it does not. It feels derivative, even by Doctor Who’s standards. They do however praise the casting of Sophie Stone, the first deaf woman to have studied at Rada.

Digital Spy found the story atmospheric but flawed. It's refreshing to have our heroes simply stumble upon a crisis and resolve to fix it. It's the set-up for a good old-fashioned Doctor Who adventure, and spared another of the Doctor's personal crises., while TV.com thought it was better than the season premiere and enjoyed the premise of the episode. As the Doctor said, death was the one thing that united every creature in the universe and the idea of it no longer being a boundary made him giddier than a school girl. More curious than afraid, he had several questions for the ghosts, like whether or not they missed being alive and what death was like.

TV Fanatic feels frustrated by the two part nature of this season. Yeah, I'm a Netflix guy and rather than build anticipation for the second part, waiting a week (with other shows in-between) simply frustrates me. Can't you already tell the juicy stuff is coming in the second half?

Meanwhile Mashable, while being unsure about some of the dialogue, enjoyed the cue cards. I loved the idea that Clara has trained the Time Lord to carry around index cards with little scripts for situations where his emotional cluelessness gets him into trouble. Longtime fans will be punching the air to see a card marked "I'm sorry, I thought you lived in Aberdeen.". Finally IGN welcomes the direction change after the four part Missy story. Under the Lake feels like a bit of a throttle down for Doctor Who with its fairly ordinary tale of just plain old, oh, you know… ghosts!.

You can read the Doctor Who News review in our reviews section.

3.7 million watched Doctor Who: Under the Lake, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Doctor Who, which had a share of 16.3% of the total audience, once more suffered by being placed directly opposite live Rugby, where this week, England V Australia was watched by an average of 8.04 million, to top the overnight figures for Saturday.

BBC One's top programme was Strictly Come Dancing, with 7.92 million watching. Casualty, which was directly after Doctor Who, had 3.77 million, just edging above The Doctor, although the positions are likely to be reversed when consolidated figures are released next week.

Overall Doctor Who was 5th for the day and is currently 43rd for the week.

3.7 million watched Doctor Who: Under the Lake, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Full details shortly

The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of this weeks episode of Doctor Who, Under the Lake.




A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews

FX in India have announced that the latest series of Doctor Who reaches the country this Sunday evening!

FX took up the mantle of Doctor Who in India since May this year, after BBC Entertainment ceased transmission in the country in 2012. Shown daily, viewers have been able to experience the latest adventures of the Doctor over the last few months, leading to the debut of Peter Capaldi this weekend as the channel shows the whole of the eighth series over two afternoons - leading to the premiere of The Magician's Apprentice on Sunday 4th October 2015 at 11:00pm.

The announcement means that India is now the ninth region in the world to see the new adventures of the Doctor, currently being enjoyed by the UK (BBC One), USA (BBC America), Canada (SPACE), Asia (BBC Entertainment), New Zealand (PRIME), Australia (ABC), Benelux (BBC First), and Finland (YLE2). Denmark (DR3), South Africa (BBC First) and Germany (FOX) are due to air the series in the coming weeks.

You can keep up with the latest broadcasts of Doctor Who around the world via This Week in Doctor Who.

The BBC has announced production of a new Doctor Who spin off series has been commissioned for BBC Three for release in 2016, by which time BBC Three is likely to be an online only channel.

Class is a new 8 part series from acclaimed author, Patrick Ness. The series will be set in contemporary London and will feature Coal Hill School, first seen in Doctor Who's very first episode in 1963. Class will the the third full Spin off Series from Doctor Who, commissioned by the BBC. It follows Torchwood, which launched in 2006 and The Sarah Jane Adventures which launched on 2007

Steven Moffat, who will be executive producer on the series, says, On his first television series, writer Patrick Ness says, Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three adds, Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning, adds, Class is executive produced by Steven Moffatt, Patrick Ness and Brian Minchin. The 8 x 45 minute series will film in and around Wales from Spring, 2016 and be released next year.

BBC Worldwide have announced a new boxed set of Doctor Who adventures, this time featuring the Christmas Specials that have aired so far...


The set is out in the United Kingdom on DVD and Blu-Ray from 19th October.

Eruditorum Press has released the latest volume of TARDIS Eruditorum covering The Peter Davison and Colin Baker Years.

Included in this edition

• Revised editions of every TARDIS Eruditorum post from the Peter Davison and Colin Baker eras.
• A book-exclusive Pop Between Realities, Home in Time for Tea essay on the musical Time, an oft overlooked influence on Trial of a Time Lord, and the expansion of another one to include Box of Delights and Robin of Sherwood.
• New essays in praise of Tegan, addressing the stuff left out of the Enlightenment essay, exactly and precisely whose fault the cancellation was, and a completely rewritten essay on "A Fix With Sontarans."
• New Time Can Be Rewritten essays on Burning Heart, Dave Stone's Doctor Who/quasi-Judge Dredd mashup, Peri and the Piscon Paradox, Nev Fountain's two-Doctor timey wimey fish farce, and The Holy Terror, Rob Shearman's first-ever Doctor Who story.
• A pair of Now My Doctor essays looking at the Fifth and Sixth Doctor eras as wholes.

Plus a forty page long interview with Rob Shearman about his work with Colin Baker at Big Finish and his genuine love for the Eric Saward era.

THis magazine is available in the following editions at these links: US Print ($17.99); US Kindle ($4.99); UK Print (£13.99); UK Kindle (£3.99); Other eReaders/Smashwords ($4.99).

DALEK WEEK

The Experience will also be holding a Dalek Day later in the month:

More details about the Dalek Day/Week will be available shortly.

Details have been released about a very special photo-shoot ...