The new season of Doctor Who made a daring move by bringing back one of it’s most mysterious and disturbing creatures in the recent episode, The Well. This is one of many times the show has revisited a supposedly one-off villain, but is the decision to revisit such an old and unique foe wise?
Doctor Who has built up an almost endless horde of monsters and villains across its more than 60-year run. Few have made as much impact as the villain of the standalone episode from Series 4, Midnight, which first aired back in 2008, and has since become a fan favourite. Fans praised the episode for how it swapped the show’s usual sci-fi spectacle for a more contained psychological horror that was seeped in ambiguity. The main threat, an unidentified entity, was particularly lauded for how it remained mysterious even until the episodes end, as well as building a sense of menace that left even the Doctor (then played by David Tennant) shell-shocked in a way few other monsters have.
As a result, head-writer and showrunner Russell T Davies, who wrote the original episode, felt compelled to revisit one of his most memorable creations for Series 15, currently airing on the BBC and Disney Plus. The return of the Midnight Entity drew in generally favourable responses, particularly for the way its return was kept a secret. However, some fans and commentators have expressed concern over revisiting one of shows boldest and most self-contained episodes. With the episode ending on the creature very much still at large, it opens up a debate as to whether the show is wise to keep revisiting these older, initially one-off foes.
There are many benefits to revisiting a seemingly one-off monster. First is that, although memorable, they can appear underdeveloped in their singular appearance. Revisiting them offers writers a chance to deepen their mythology, answer long-held questions, and build on the intrigue they created.
The Weeping Angels, for example, were another extraterrestrial threat that tapped into fan’s anxieties. Initially appearing in the standalone episode Blink, from 2007, their mythology and transcendent powers were expanded upon when they returned in the dual-episode, The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, in 2010. Here, it was revealed that the Angels can appear as their sentient selves from mere images of them, in a tense, action-packed two-parter that ramped up the sense of danger they provided.
The Midnight Entity had been the subject of endless fan theories. Given how little was revealed about it, it seemed an ample choice for the writing team to similarly further explore it’s mythology and abilities, without completely betraying what had made it scary in the first place.
The Well reveals that it is hundreds of thousands of years since the Doctor was last on the planet Midnight. Therefore, the creature has evolved and developed its powers. In its first appearance, the creature spent much of the episode passive and observant. A possessed passenger, Sky Silvestry (played with unnerving brilliance by Lesley Sharp), begins by echoing words, then speaking simultaneously with the Doctor, and eventually stealing his voice. Now the creature is more physical in its attacks, throwing people through the air and against walls.
Returning monsters can also automatically raise the stakes of the narrative. Fans remember well how the Doctor barely survived his original encounter with the Entity. Now immersed in how dangerous it is, the audience therefore immediately feels the weight of the being’s threat upon its return. Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor also realises the tense situation. His face is perpetually filled with trauma and helplessness, as even several regenerations on from their last encounter, the Doctor still feels the sheer force and presence of the creature.
However, there are drawbacks. Some monsters work precisely because they were never explained. Monsters like the Vashta Nerada or the Beast in The Pit thrived on ambiguity and primal fear. Bringing them back risks revealing too much, diminishing their original impact, and making them far less scary.
The Midnight Entity was originally a purely psychological threat. Much of the conflict is caused by the tension building between the scared passengers as they debate what to do with the possessed person. The horror comes not from a murder spree or sci-fi spectacle, but from watching a group of ordinary people unravel; a study in mob mentality, fear, and the fragility of reason.
The Weeping Angels suffered from this upon their return. Blink has gone down in history as one of the most popular episodes of the New Who era. Audiences were caught off guard by how genuinely terrifying the climax was, as hero Sally Sparrow (played by Carey Mulligan) was cornered by statues that move faster than a single blink of an eye.
The Angels were also one of the more unique Doctor Who antagonists in how they killed their victims. Despite their demonic appearances and harrowing abilities, they simply sent their victims back across the decades. One interesting aspect is how the victims generally live out happy lives in the past, although they are separated from everyone they knew in the present, with no say in the matter. It made the Angels come across as forces of nature that held the power of time in their hands, which very few species in the Whoniverse did.
However, on their return, their time manipulation was replaced with a simple snapping of people’s necks. This, although still creepy in its own right, reduces the godlike mystery of the Angels to generic monsters.
Furthermore, the reappearance of the Angels showed them move, and not even at the light-speed promised from Blink’s description. The horror of the Angels was that they were so fast that audiences do not see them move, suggesting that their speed was something our visuals cannot comprehend. Seeing them move in real time brings the omnipresent beings to our level as something far more regular and similar to other Doctor Who foes.
The Midnight Entity has a similar problem in its return. The creature now possesses brute strength, throwing people around and wreaking physical havoc. This causes The Well to lack the psychological horror of Midnight.
Viewers are also spoiled with some very minuscule but noticeable glimpses of the creature. The Entity’s actual design can be seen in online images of Paul Kasey, the long-time Doctor Who monster performer, in full makeup. This is an underwhelming limitation to a monster once kept in complete mystery, to the point of hiding its face.
There is an undeniable appeal in giving one-off monsters another moment in the spotlight, capitalising on their popularity. However, it is a delicate balancing act. Monsters like the Daleks and Cybermen lend themselves to frequent encounters as they invoke epic, large-scale battles. The Midnight Entity and other one-off villains are another matter, as they were significant amongst the fandom because they abandoned the typical formula. Midnight placed the Doctor in a tight, claustrophobic setting, stripping away the usual grand sci-fi scope and world-building of other adventures.
While Doctor Who can expand on the mythology and terror of the beings it revisits, it can also risk turning rare terrors into just another recurring foe. Although there is still so much about the creature left in mystery, the tease that more encounters with the Midnight Entity are to follow leaves concern that the significance of the Entity’s singular appearance may be lost.
Words by Joseph Jenkinson
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