| 255a – "Under the Lake" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who episode | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | Daniel O'Hara | ||
| Written by | Toby Whithouse | ||
| Script editor | Nick Lambon | ||
| Produced by | Derek Ritchie | ||
| Executive producer(s) | Steven Moffat Brian Minchin | ||
| Music by | Murray Gold | ||
| Series | Series 9 | ||
| Running time | 1st of 2-part story, 43 minutes | ||
| First broadcast | 3 October 2015 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"Under the Lake" is the third episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 3 October 2015.[1] It is the first part of a two-part story, the second of which is "Before the Flood" on 10 October; both were written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Daniel O'Hara.
The episode is set in a Scottish underwater mining facility in 2119, where alien time traveller the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) arrive three days after the crew have unearthed an empty black spaceship. The crew members then start dying, and the survivors find themselves faced with an army of hollow-eyed homicidal ghosts. In the form of Prentis, played by Paul Kaye, this episode sees a return for the Tivolians, a race last seen in the 2011 episode "The God Complex", also written by Toby Whithouse.[2]
The episode was watched by 5.63 million viewers and received positive reviews from television critics, with praise directed to the atmosphere, old-fashioned style and the cliffhanger.