The Witch from the Well [AUDIO/2011.11.8]

★★★☆☆

  It's all well and good for the first installment of a trilogy to be great, but in order for the entire series to be memorable, the follow-up has to at least carry that special feeling -- that flame -- that the starting story had. Mary's Story was a really good proof-of-concept story for a potential Eighth Doctor/Mary Shelley run of adventures and The SIlver Turk proved to be a surprise hit, but would The Witch from the Well be a worthy continuation?

  Turns out, it's more or less so. I certainly remembered very few details from it before revisiting, but I did vaguely remember that I liked the experience. Going back, it's clear that this was probably more suited as a three-parter than four because of how superfluous the Mary/present day segment like, but it still works as a fun little dip into history with witches from outer space living amongst a terror-ridden population. Witch hunts are explored, children are replaced and Doctors are burnt at the stake -- all the hallmarks of a good witch story, don't you think? Paul McGann and Julie Cox are still very much enjoying this run of horror-inspired tales of intrigue and atmosphere (it'll be in their next story, Army of Death, where the novelty starts to run out in their mind), and their performances are nothing short of magical. I would've preferred Witch from the Well if it'd been written with more fun ideas thrown into the mix and a more unique identity than quite literally "a race of space witches/warlocks", but I'm still happy with what we got.