Review of Under the Lake

We haven't seen these things in a long time on New Who:

• a classical "under siege" story with interesting and genuinely mysterious and scary twists - all characters are sympathetic (even the company guy isn't played out as a complete dick head) and act thoughtfully and believable - the characters don't freak out over finding the spaceship (because they live on Earth in the year 2100, after probably 1057 alien invasions in the direct past, and many more in the distant past) - the deaf mute character is not there to prove some moral or "emotional" point or to be a gimmicky character, she is just a normal member of the crew and is treated like that throughout the show - the Doctor does act eccentric, but not over the top, choosing his words carefully and interacting with the other characters in a believable way (actually Capaldi really reminded me of Tom Baker here, and I mean in a good way!) - there is running through corridors, granted - but the usual jump-cut style that looks like in a cartoon for 4-year olds and that is so prominent in new "Who" is not used, instead one actually gets a sense of the layout of the submerged station - no silly music. No cheap laughs. - creepy situations that are not exaggerated so they are not creepy anymore, and humour in places where you don't expect it - well-written dialogue that makes everybody seem like they are adults.

If Moffat (who certainly has his merits) ever tires of "Dr. Who", please let Toby Whithouse continue - he's excellent!